You Came For Me
When I was little, my momma used to tell me stories of her life growing up in Montgomery, AL with her momma, daddy, and little brother. She usually would tell me stories that had happy occurrences in them, but one day, on the anniversary of her father's death, she told me about the year that changed her. My momma was pregnant with what would have been my other older sister or brother when the family found out about the cancer that had practically ravaged my grandfather. He did not have much time left, and when he died that year, it was like the heart had gone out of my momma's momma. My mother suffered a miscarriage due to the stress of loosing grandpa. Not too long afterward, the doctor's found out that grandmama had developed breast cancer that had spread to her lungs, the very same type of cancer that had taken my grandpa.
Momma was devastated and suffered another miscarriage. Grandmama took chemotherapy, that was just in the experimental stages at that time, and she got better for a little while. Momma found out that she was pregnant with me and she and grandmama celebrated by taking my daddy and my sister to the fair for an evening of fun. When they got home, everyone got ready for bed. Grandmama stayed up for a little bit reading. Momma found her the next morning smiling softly. "James visited me last night," she told my momma. James was the name of my granddaddy. Momma was quiet for a moment and then began to make breakfast. The incident slipped from her mind for the better part of a week. Then the hammer dropped. Grandmama's cancer was back and had spread throughout her whole body. She was immediately hositalized, but there was nothing the doctors could do for her except to make her comfortable. Momma prayed that she wouldn't lose her momma and me. She went home from visiting her momma at the hospital. When she walked into her house, she saw her daddy sitting quietly in the old recliner that he used to like. He smiled at momma and then vanished.
The next day, momma was at the hospital visiting an emaciated grandmama when all of the sudden her mother sat up straight in the bed. She reached her arms into the air in front of her and smiled beautifically. "James," she whispered clearly, "you came for me." Gently, she dropped back onto to the bed and slipped into a coma. She was gone by the end of the night. I stuck around, so I guess my mom was comforted by seeing her daddy and knowing that he had come to take her momma Home. Momma told me this story as we sipped iced tea on the porch on the anniversary of his death. To this day, she still misses both of them. When she finished with the tale, I looked over at her as the setting sun masked her features and could swear that I saw two elderly people standing behind her holding hands and smiling as they gazed upon her. I couldn't do anything else but smile back and enjoy the day.
