It’s 3: am in the morning and I’m trying to finish up a column for The Enterprise-Tocsin newspaper.
However overwhelmed by grief from past loss, and exhausted by many restless days and sleepless nights, I fell and collapsed into a deep slumber only to be alerted by a knock on the door.
Wondering who could possibly at my door at this time, I swaggered toward the door and peeped outside. It was her the girl of my dreams and she’s not alone.
With her are pots and pans full of a family reunion amount of food. . Grilled ribs, catfish, a seven-layered cake, seafood casserole, shrimp, a tray of grandma’s hot homemade cookies, and everything else I love.
I’m beyond happy like it’s my birthday, the 4th of July and every other awesome day of celebration. It was like Santa Claus was at my house and it wasn’t even Christmas.
I’m happier than a baby boy in a bath full of banana pudding.
Then with a Wonder Woman-like spin, my love turned around with a fresh hot box of Shipley’s Donuts.
With ribs in my hands and cake on my face, a tear of tender love rolls down from my eyes. However after taking a bite, I choked and woke up from what wasn’t just a dream, but a nightmare, because Shipley’s doesn’t open up until 5:30 a.m.
Now that I have the reader’s attention, I’ll utilize my column to write about my dear beloved mother, Marva Dillion-Hawkins-Jones.
My mother was a longtime early childhood-development specialist with over 46 years of teaching experience.
My mother was so much more than a mother, she was a sister, cousin, friend, neighbor, great story teller, community leader, a living melody, a time, a place, a feeling, a frequency, thoughts in individual minds, and a hero.
She used her own children’s errors and mistakes as teaching moments to reveal a greater truth. Once she told me that there was one room that could never be filled, and that was the room for improvement. Also, she told us that when she was young, women had to know their place in a man’s world and there were proverbs to keep them in line. One proverb was “A whistling girl and a crowing hen didn’t come to a good end.”
Because only roosters crow and even the female chicken knew its place. My mom was an awesome spiritual experience of love and protection to me and it’s unfortunate that many will miss her dearly; however, unlike them, I will never miss my mom, because I will forever carry her deep inside me.
What a magnificent beautiful gift from the heavens she was to us, and there was no greater love than the love she had for her children, family, friends and her community. The greatest gift that she gave her children, family, students, and community was her love.
I find comfort in knowing that like the biblical Jesus, my mom’s love was unconditional. It’s been weeks, but I still get choked up every time I think about my mom. Even though I don’t think I’ll ever be able to think and talk about her without feeling emotional, thank God for my children, brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts, cousins, family friends, and extended family Eddie Powell, Mrs. Debra Johnson, Wade Turner, Chance Turner, Harvey Watson, Mayor Steve Rosenthal, Robin Rosenthal, Bryan Davis, Mike Myers, Leslie Ellis, Carly Hardin-Gill, Drew Newsom, Judge Lisa Bell, Jamarcus Ellis and the entire Delta community.
I will forever be indebted to each and every one of you for helping me survive a very difficult time. Thank you all
