Part 2

When Daddy knew how bad it was he told me and my brothers that Mama was really sick and she might not get better. I didn’t really understand and I honestly just wanted to continue playing. We didn’t ask any questions, and what is a parent suppose to after that? So shortly after, I was back to playing outside and doing cartwheels in the yard. That was a hard summer for my family although I didn’t really know what was going on. Mama spent a lot of her time in Texas and my Daddy was with her when he could be. My brothers and I stayed at my grandparents a lot. Mama did come home once and we made a big welcome home sign for her. Mounds of friends and family I didn’t know started showing up at our house to visit. With each visit people brought food. Some would even ask me what I wanted, so I responded with mac and cheese and chocolate pie. I had more mac and cheese and chocolate pie than a family of five needed. I thought it was great! My brothers and I would also receive gifts. We got a video camera; the hand held one that sit on your shoulder it was so big. It was nice; we were able to record some last moments with my mom. Someone also gave us three stuff animals. We all still have those animals; mine was a bear with a rattle in it.

Mama was a tough one, maybe one of the strongest women I have ever met. She was so sick. She needed help getting up and down, walking around and even bathing. Every friend that came to see her, she wouldn’t let cry or she would make them leave. I was lying on the bed with my mom one day when one of her best friends came to visit. She walked in, saw us and tears started to form in her eyes. Mama stopped her and said, “If you are going to cry, you need to leave. I don’t cry about what’s happening to me and neither will you. I have to be strong for my kids and they won’t see us crying.” I can honestly say, I only saw Mama cry once after she got sick. She was laying on at the couch and God Bless the USA was playing on the TV. I was sitting on the floor next to her while playing with her hair. I said, “I can’t wait to see what you look like with gray hair.” In that moment, a single tear rolled down her cheek. I asked, “Mama, why are you crying?” She just smiled and said, “I just love you so much and I want you to know how much you mean to me.”

Soon after Mama’s visit home, she was back in Texas. She was getting worse and time was fading fast. She requested that my brothers and I come see her so she could say her goodbyes. I didn’t know that’s why we were going, I was just told that she missed us and wanted to see us. We flew to Texas and Daddy prepared me that she was going to have a lot of tubes in her, but not to be scared. When I walked in she had the biggest smile on her face and in her soft faint voice she said, “hi.” I crawled into bed with her for a bit, got a big hug and one last kiss.

We were soon on our way home; back to school, games, and the normalcy of our lives. My family did keep our lives as normal as possible. On September 15th Mama lost her battle. It was almost 3 months to the day that she was diagnosed. Daddy was able to be with her that day. My brothers and I were with our grandparents. When Daddy came home, he told us Mama had died. I am not sure I knew what that mean at the time, but I saw my family crying, so I did too. I don’t really remember much after that.

This is my story, told to me by Daddy. This is why I was raised by a single dad.