What Happens When a Funeral is More Happy Than Sad? - Mississippi Part 1

On September 22, 2010, my wonderful grandmother Momo said good night to her physical presence and became a strong spirit in our hearts and minds. I featured her in a previous blog and thought I have to share her lasting legacy with you.

As the offspring of Wilson's and Duckworth's made their way to Columbia Mississippi, we all had very heavy hearts knowing this would be the first time we would arrive and not get the warm greeting hug from our mom, grandmother, great grandmother, great great grandmother, Momo, Mamo or whatever else Mrs. Willie Mae Wilson was known as. She was 88 years young and had the sharpest mind around. While the mind was still sharp as ever, the ole' ticker (heart) just couldn't keep up with her.

Good night.

The quiet family hour had a wide variety of sounds. At times you could hear sobbing, sniffing and sighing. At other times, you heard family expressing their fondest memories of Momo. But the most overwhelming sound was that of laughter and joy from family members that despite being brought together for a funeral, where just so happy to be around each other. You had siblings, fathers, mothers, daughters, sons, 1st cousins, 2nd cousins and distant cousins meeting for the first time in either years or ever, coming together and treating each other like they have grown up together. During the quiet hour, it was everything but quiet....it was a mini-reunion right there in the funeral home. Other than having Momo's shell laying there in the room, we could have been placed anywhere in the world and no one would have been able to tell we had just lost our matriarch.

The women of the family in Momo's hats

Momo's children

After the service at the funeral home, we headed back to the hotel to change and then went to Momo's house. Most of the food was gone but that didn't seem to matter. The age limits seemed to have vanished while we were on the porch and in the carport. My cousins and I unknowingly have slipped into the roles of our parents. Momo's children were now grandparents and great grandparents themselves. Her children's children were now parents and the circle of life couldn't be more on display and evident.

Four Generations

It is now November 21, 2010 and the wonderful thing called life has delayed this post. Needless to say I wanted to share this regardless of how delayed it was.