3 memories shared so far.
Lee shared her sweet potato casserole recipe with me after a church Thanksgiving meal years ago. It’s been a part of my family’s Thanksgiving meal ever since. I remember her as an always smiling positive person. She had snappy sayings and quick come backs that brought a lot of laughter. I’m thankful to have known her. Prayers for comfort for Enos and Nikki and family.
When I was finishing nursing school I was really struggling financially. Miss Lee came up to me one Sunday at church and handed me an envelope and said, "I don't know why, but God told me to give you this." It had $100 in it. I of course thanked her with tears and hugs! She blessed me so much!! I remember she always had a smile and hug for everyone. Very special lady, and her smile would light up a room!
I got to know Ms Lee because Enos and Becca asked me to spend time with her a few times a week the last few years. She very quickly adopted me as a best friend and began imparting wisdom and humor in equal measure. “Laughter doeth good, like a medicine,” she would say, usually directly after we’d both stopped cackling from some silly, sassy comment she’d made. She helped me just as much as I helped her. I would clean while she asked about my life (I was divorced, pregnant, and raising three other kids when we first met) and she always knew what I needed to hear, even if it was a hard truth. She often delivered it sugar-coated with encouragement about how much better my life would be and how my kids would see me happier and it would be better for them. She was SO right and I told her that often (she liked hearing that! Haha). When my little boy, Ollie, was born, he spent a little bit of time in the NICU, but I took him to her as soon as he was released and given the okay by doctors for a visit. She had her own story about the first time she met him, and it evolved over the years, but the things that remained consistent were just how beautiful he was and how curious and intelligent he must be because “he just wanted to look at everything.” I have so many pictures of her singing to him, telling him stories, reading books with him, and showing him off to all her neighbors at Hampton Place. She was PROUD that Ollie belonged to her and that made my heart SO happy. We taught Ollie to call her LeeLee and she loved it. He still asks to go see LeeLee and all the grandmas. He talks about her pink hair and her orange cat. It makes me so happy that he has loved her and been loved by her. I recorded a few of our conversations and in one of the last ones, she took my hand and reminded me of two things she said to me often- she told me how much she loved me and then she said something she somehow always knew when I needed to hear, “You are such a good mama. I can see how you love your babies.” That has always meant a lot coming from her because I was lucky enough to hear the stories and know just how deeply she loved her own children. She truly was one of my best friends in the world and I miss her so very much. But I carry all her words of wisdom she gifted to me and a few of her favorite jokes. And one day, if I’m lucky enough to end up with white hair, I just might dye it some wild color, but there will definitely be one streak of pink there just for Ms Lee.