Happy 100th Birthday, Mama!

Please indulge me in a trip down Memory Lane. Tomorrow would be my Mama’s 100^th birthday. It doesn’t seem that she could be that old. She went home to be with Jesus when she was only 73. Way too young.

Mama was the second-born of identical twins and was the last-born of her father’s 17 children. Her mother, my Granny, was Grandpa’s second wife.

AUBURN-HAIRED BEAUTY WITH PERSONALITY PLUS

My Mama’s twin was my Aunt Doris. They were auburn-haired, green-eyed beauties. They were so much alike, Aunt Doris’s twin girls and I couldn’t tell our mamas apart when we were little. We’d often ask if they were our mama or our aunt.

Mama was quite a character and an extrovert of the highest caliber. (Ever wondered where I got that?) One of her favorite things to do was to entertain her Sunday school girls (as she always called them) or her garden club ladies. She wasn’t much of an everyday cook, but man, could she make yummy party foods when she entertained!

Mama’s talents didn’t end with the party foods. She was an extraordinary seamstress. I didn’t own a bought dress until after I married. Mama made everything Sissy and I wore, including formals and semi-formals. She designed and made all the draperies in our homes, wherever we lived. If it was a hand-made craft, Mama could do it.

BASKETBALL, JITTERBUG, FISHING, AND SCHOOL

But the other side of her was all sports. She played basketball (I almost fainted at learning that), and could Jitter Bug with the best of them. I didn’t get those genes. And how she loved to fish! (Yep, I got that one.) The stories I could tell you would fill volumes.

Mama was smart. When I was a very young child, maybe 4 or so, she would take me with her to her former high school where she did substitute teaching if they got in a bind. It was a small, out-in-the-country school, and no one cared in those days if you needed to bring your child. (I reckon they didn’t ’cause I was there!)

I can remember her teaching algebra. Of course, I didn’t know what it was, but I remember all the equations on the board and Mama explaining it. And no, I didn’t get that gene either. Our brilliant sons got that from their father, and maybe a bit from their Grandmother.

Happy 100th Birthday, Mama! @DDuPreeWilliams #family #HappyBirthdayMama #SouthernGospel Share on X

SHOE WOMAN, SUNDAY SCHOOL GIRL, CLUB PRESIDENT

Vocationally, Mama was an outstanding shoe-woman. When we moved to the town in which I grew up, Andalusia, Alabama, Mama worked with Daddy in the shoe store Daddy managed. She not only fitted and sold shoes, but she kept the books, too.

Mama was active in her Sunday school classes wherever we lived. I can remember helping her and some other ladies (from the Ruth Class in Lafayette Street Methodist Church in Dothan, Alabama) make the class membership address books. On the cover of each, we glued the famous painting, The Gleaners, by Jean Francois Millet.

Mama was President of the Hemerocallis Garden Club at one point, and also President of the local Altrusa Club. She loved giving back to others and was definitely born to serve.

A HIGH NOTE

Blessed with a beautiful soprano voice, she loved singing, especially Southern Gospel. And yes, I got both of those genes. Thank you, Mama. We often had a house filled with people, gathered around our piano, my choral director at the keyboard pounding out song after song. One of my favorite memories of Mama is her sitting in the corner chair next to the piano, clapping her hands and saying, Sing, “Give Up”. How I wish we could go back to one of those days.

When Mama became pregnant with me, she developed asthma. It was a horrible disease to deal with. I remember visiting her in the hospital many times, even as a little child, because she was so sick, they didn’t know if she would live. At age 15, I had to make the decision to call an ambulance to come take her to the hospital. Thankfully, they allowed me to ride with her.

On my third birthday, Mama wasn’t there because she was in the hospital. Dressed in our red taffeta evening gowns, Sissy and I went with relatives to see Mama. I can still see that day in my mind and heart.

But at home, the birthday party went on, complete with the poundcake Mama had made for me, iced with orange Royal icing and a green banana stuck in its center hole to make it look like a pumpkin. Mama’s imagination at work for her October baby.

I HATE ASTHMA

Mama was with us for only 43 more years. Not nearly long enough. In the end, a severe asthma attack brought on a heart attack, and Jesus called her home.

She wasn’t perfect. But I know she did the best she knew how. We had our moments, like most mothers and daughters. But we always loved one another. I just wish I could tell her one more time.

Happy 100^th Birthday, Mama.

You were the perfect mother for me.

Blessings, y’all!

Oh, how Mama loved this song! She would have loved the Gaithers and David Phelps, well . . . all these folks! She went to Glory on December 13, 1996. Can you imagine her Christmas that year? I know it was the best one ever for her. On just a little personal note: in her graduating class of 1942, Rehoboth High School, was Coy Cook. Coy went on to be the high tenor in the famous Florida Boys Quartet. We went to several all-night sings when Coy was in that group. Precious, treasured memories.