I'll love you long after you're gone gone gone

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Yes'm, I'm back with another sappy post. Well, we'll see how sappy it is once I'm finished writing it. I told y'all last week that Brent, a good family friend/second father died. This past Saturday was his funeral and let me tell y'all how much of a cluster that was. I took my seester. Ya know, the one I hardly talk about. Originally we were just going to pay our respects and view the body. When we got to the church, Brent's son greeted us and wanted to introduce us to EVERYONE. My seester new many of the family members there since she was very close to the family and like another daughter to Brent. Poor Blake was so flustered most of the time that I had to take over and introduce myself to many of the family members. Most knew of us and that we were neighbors with Brent for all those years but they'd never actually met us. Ms. Peggy showed up and bless that woman's heart for bein' so strong. I started to tear up when she told us about his obituary and how we were included as honorary children. I was touched by that. About this time I left to find a bathroom. Y'all I come back to find a few of the old neighborhood kids that are all grown up now I might add sitting together. A few were sittin' by my seester and my seester was in a ball sobbing. Oh my goodness y'all. Imagine a quite church and this girl cryin' so loud. It was a mess and when I tried to hug her and calm her down it made it worse. I was good most of the funeral until my seester lost it again when we went to see the body for the last time.

Before I forgot to tell y'all; I sat next to Ms. Maddie. She was an older black lady and siitin' all by herself so I sat next to her. It turns out Brent delivered her mail to her everyday for over 30 years. Y'all not only  was this lady a hoot but she is the widow of Crazy Ray. If you don't know who Crazy Ray is then I'mm tell ya. He was a huge Dallas Cowboys fan is was considered the unofficial mascot. In 46 years he had only missed 3 home games. He would show up at the games in western get up and not only pump up the crowd but did magic tricks and sold things to the kids. I worked at the old Cowboys Stadium for a short time and had seen him once. As someone who is a huge Cowboys fan I was honored to sit by her. My Momma told me that Brent used to always brag he delivered mail to them.. Y'all it was hard not to smile when you're sittin' next to a lady who starts yellin', " Baby you got a safety pin? My titties poppin' out and I don't need these men lookin'. Ohh, look at me. I said I was gonna behave if they let me out!" You try keepin' a straight face after that.

When the funeral was over I was prepared to go home. I didn't have a jacket and didn't really wanna go to the grave site. Well, Ms. Peggy came up to my seester and her fran who was also like a daughter to Brent and invited us out to eat with the family afterwards. Yes they paid. Yes I ordered something cheap. How can you say no to that. Especially when they include you in not only the obituary but the funeral speech. Wait, can we talk about The South and how we love to celebrate life. Not only was this funeral long but there were to pastors presiding and two sermons.

We ate lunch at one of Brent's favorite Mexican restaurants. Chips and Salas are a must in Texas. But, y'all  I write all this to tell y'all THIS story. One of my sisters frans wanted to hear the story of his death. Y'all I was good the whole funeral until Ms. Peggy told me this:

The Nurse came in to his hospice room and gave him his last bath on Sunday. At the time we didn't know it was his last bath. The nurse said he kept looking up at the ceiling and raising his hands. Later that night I was sitting with him and he look at me and said, "I'm goin' home." I asked him," home?" He replied, "home home." I said, "oh you mean heaven. What do you see?" He said, " I see rows of green grass. I see daddy under a tree pickin' pecans. " Then he looked up, raised his hands and said I'm goin' home as he took his last breath.

Y'all by them time I'm a mess in the middle of this restaurants. Ms. Peggy embraces me in a hug and goes how can I be sad. Then she told me she was gonna pray for me and the family.  I haven't stopped thinking about what Ms. Peggy told me. I don't know about y'all but stories like that not only give me hope but make the long and rough days bearable. Maybe this story will help you through those days.