A Promise Kept

Many of you know of things I‘ve written about my mother. I mentioned her as one of my own heroes in my non-fiction short, “Five Lights to Truth.” In that work I related that I did the eulogy.

In a visit with her just before the end of her life, I asked her if, after some time has passed, I could share portions of that eulogy with others, even those who did not know us. I told her I was so proud of her that I just wanted to do it.

With some hesitation she said, “Okay, but don‘t you exaggerate. Just tell ‘em straight.”

I laughed and said, “ I’ll tell ‘em straight Momma. I promise.”

The time has come to follow through with that.

And this is from that eulogy. They are the last few words I shared on the day we laid her to rest.

I cant even describe the relationship she had with her own children, Cecelia (Sissy), Toni, George(Scooter), Diane and me.

She told me Sissy had spunk, more than she’d seen in anyone. It was intense and she said Sissy knew how to love with that same intensity.

She said Toni was fiery and smart and loved deeply too.

George was easy going and she said she needed that.

Diane was determined and classy and she was really proud of her and the way her life turned out.

She told me she was proud of the way I came out of the forest when I got lost.

In her early adult life, she found herself alone with all of us. She worked various jobs. One of which was as a bartender at the Horseshoe bar in Downtown Dallas.

There, she met Terry Robinson, her husband of the last forty years.

She prevailed in feeding, clothing and housing her children alone, but when she met Terry, it changed her life.

On one of my last visits, she asked me.

“Jerry, do you believe in Heaven?”

I told her, “Yes, ma’am, I don’t just believe in it, I know in it. Little Jerry will be waiting on you there. He wants to take you fishing.”

She said, “I miss momma."

She was referring to Ollie Dempsey, her grandmother who raised her after Mom lost her parents at the age of three.

Mom then asked me, "Do you think she will be there? I sure want her to be.”

“She’ll be there Momma. She’s gonna show you around.”

And she left me with two messages,

“Tell everyone, I want them happy. I always wanted them happy, but I need them to be happy after I go. And tell Terry how much I love him. He was a good husband. Of the many good things I’ve had in my life, he was the best. The best of all.”