A Stylish Journey Comes to a Close

Vera with her catch on the Carolina Fishing Pier.

We arose before dawn to start the journey to Mississippi, where Vera wished to be buried in the cemetery beside her husband, Harold.  As we drove out the driveway into the rising sun, Husband and I both said at the same instant, "This is like Lonesome Dove!  Remember how Woodrow promised Gus that he would take him home for burial, and what a trip it was??"  And then we laughed, because the reason Woodrow went through all that he did to get Gus home to be buried was the very reason that we were having a funeral spread out over the entire Southeastern Portion of the United States for Vera.  Woodrow loved Gus, and we love Vera.

She was respected and beloved by so many people who wanted to say goodbye to her in the proper setting...if it could have been arranged, I think this funeral procession would have also had side trips to Florida, Inland North Carolina, Washington DC, and Japan.  But all goodbyes have to end sometime, and this one ended in Forest, Mississippi, amongst loving family members who have the powerful veil of the McMullan lineage glowing around them, and the spice, vinegar, and Southern love that movies are made of.

Thankfully, when I walked in and saw her at this Funeral Home, I saw that she had fully departed.  She is flying in the stars for real now.

Today it ends.  Tonight she is, as Husband said, "Twangling her toes with my Father again".  She was sent lovingly on her journey with tributes by family members who told stories, prayed beautiful prayers, read from scriptures, and saluted her with the most beautiful floral arrangements I have ever seen. 

Godspeed, Vera.  You were something else.

Stars and Guardian Angels

I was born at a tiny little clinic in Leighton, Alabama.  The doctor who had delivered me was the only one in attendance besides my Dad, and as he was cleaning me up he smiled and held up my foot to my Mom.  "Look at this", he says.  "She will always be lucky in life!"

What he was pointing out was a perfect five-point star, made by lines converging on the bottom of my foot.  When I was a teen, I stared at that star many times, wondering where the heck the luck was.  More than once, Mom told me that it was the sign of my Guardian Angel, and that he was watching over me, never fear.  When I was barely 20 years old, I got married and left my parents and childhood home and flew away to live in Hawaii.  Right about then, my Angel went to work, and hasn't stopped since.

After I ended my last post on November 14, I got in the van to go to Jamie's Spot Fry and saw messages on my cell phone.  Heading down the street, I listened to them and learned that a young couple was driving around the island, trying to find me.  What followed next has changed the track of my life at exactly the right time in my life...which can only be attributed to that good old Guardian Angel who put his stamp on my foot and claimed me while I was still in the womb.

They wanted to buy my fabric store, Tideline Fabrics, which is located in Shallotte.  We talked for about an hour in a parking lot (I missed the Spot Fry) and to skip over all the details and get to the present, we are moving toward closing in mid-February.  

That will release me to move my home base back to Georgia - to my beloved home, gardens  and studio there, and most importantly, it will release me to be with my husband 24-7 as he enters the battle against cancer.  He was diagnosed November 30, and last night his surgery was scheduled for February 17.  He has chosen a doctor in Atlanta rather than Duke...see how all this works?