When we were there in May of this year, Odie's face lit up every time she saw my kids. Even in her fragile state (honestly, this tiny woman was always tiny, but she couldn't have been even 90lbs recently), she would watch my children play in her backyard, she played with their toys and tickled them and even colored with them at her kitchen table.
Odie was funny. Funny in every sense of the word. Funny in that she laughed a lot, whether it was because she truly thought something you said was humorous or because you offered to help her cook. In that case, that was really more of a "don't be ridiculous, I don't want you anywhere near my kitchen" laugh. I finally learned that particular laugh by the time I was about 25. She was funny because she was fun and kinda scary all at the same time. I never wanted to cross her, but I can't really remember why! As kids, we just did as we were told by her (and in our younger years, the cousins just did what we wanted, when we wanted... until she told us otherwise). She's the one that taught me to wait until everyone is seated to eat and to keep your elbows off the table. I'm sure my own parents would have taught me this eventually, but I have a feeling Odie started insisting on those rules before we were out of our high chairs. In recent years, she would laugh when we wouldn't eat without her. We were all scared to! But she would laugh at that, too.
I loved hearing her say my name, too. I was born in Providence but I have, in my opinion, a very southern name. When Odie said it, it was both southern and northern at the same time. I can hear it now, without the "r" at the end... Summa Lee. If you say it out loud in your best Charleston accent and then again in your best yankee version, they're very different, but very alike. And she's the only person I have ever known to use my full name, whether I was in trouble or not. It all just depended on the tone. ;)
She hated when I didn't speak up or when I mumbled, she nearly lost her mind when I bit my nails, and she was never afraid to tell me how she really felt. But good grief, did she love us. She really smiled when she talked about any of her grandchildren (or children or great-grandchildren). She loved to have us all together and she loved to talk about us all. She asked a lot of questions and praised us always.
Hello Gorgeous!
That's Kendall on Thanksgiving Day, 2006 (we have a birthday this week!)
You maybe can't tell, but this is Odie this past May playing with my kids. My uncles had given my kids some Beanie Babies to play with and she was playing Keep Away. That's her sarcastic "you can't have them, they're mine" look.
Lovely.
I always loved those hands. In my mind, they never changed a bit for as long as I can remember.
It's so cliche, but we truly were blessed by her. She was beautiful and giving and so, so kind. I miss her but one thing I know for certain, she's one happy lady getting to see my father again. I just hope he hasn't forgotten to keep his elbows off the table. =)
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