As I have mentioned, Mama Ina Mae and her family were poor. Grandpa Vernon was an over-the-road, long haul truck driver. Grandma Opal Maxine worked in a sock factory and at the State Hospital as her children were growing up.
Child number five, our precious Aunt Helen, was diagnosed with spinal meningitis under the age of two and was left with intellectual impairments. She learned to walk and talk again with Uncle Bob (#6) and Aunt Kathy(#7). Mama Ina Mae was her first born and a second mother to the rest.
I cannot imagine how overwhelmed Grandma must have been. She was small in stature, but she was fierce. As a child, we knew that no one discussed religion and politics in her home or she sent them home. She meant it. One look and she could silence anyone pushing the boundaries she set.
I am so sad we lost her so young. I would have loved knowing her better as an adult. One thing I know for sure, family was her heartbeat. Nothing was more important than keeping the peace as the Sunday family gatherings. She was the perfect combination of tough and gracious.
Mama and the older siblings learned that their own wants and desires had to be weighed against what was good for the whole family. One person was not more important than the others, but all recognized some were needier. In the "broken places" they became more closely knit together. In the broken places, they become stronger.
Walker broke his arm in Kindergarten and 2nd grade. I remember worrying about the broken spots until the orthopedic doctor explained that the bone would be stronger in the places it had broken and healed. What? Yes. That is what he said. It calmed my heart and the information remains close in my memories.
"Kintsukuroi" is the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with gold. It makes the pottery more beautiful and each one tells a story. I remember writing about it and chatting with my friend, Sally. The whole idea struck a chord with her, as it did me. I miss talking with her about spiritual things now that she is in Heaven. Her life was her testimony. Her family presses on... growing and more beautiful... in the broken places.
Today, I am grateful for the broken places.
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