Well, like Coach Bryant and others in this thread I dearly wish I could call mine, even though I thought I was calling often enough when she was alive, it really wasn't often enough nor were my visits I realize now. A tough old biddy, her oncologist told me the night that she died that he believed it was the end, but then laughed and said "but then I've given up on her a half a dozen times and somehow she came back!". Perhaps so, but this time he was right and she didn't make it to morning. Like I said before, a tough old biddy, she'd already made her funeral arrangements and had paid for them nearly fifteen years before her death. She told me what she wanted, that she be cremated and the ashes spread on the sand dunes at their house at the beach as had been done with my step-father. When I commented that I wasn't sure if that was legal, I was awarded a cold stare and told that if she wanted to know what the state required she'd have damn well checked it herself. Needless to say, I did as I was told! So many stories I could tell and still I wouldn't do justice to that lady! Just know this, she was one of a kind and nothing I can write will ever paint the portrait of what she really was. She died almost 25 years ago and I still get tears in my eyes writing this. She went to Bama and knew Paul and Mary Harmon Bryant well, and her comment when Coach Bryant's hiring was announced was, "It's about time! Paul is smart and he'll fix this mess!". I'll be damned if, as usual, the woman was right! Roll Tide Mom, I still miss you every day.
