Color of the Week: Pink

We said goodbye to 97 year old Mildred, my "Aunt Sister" and
hello to Baby Will this week.
Mourning and celebration came together, like sisters.

The Sisters

I'm not sure Aunt Sister would have approved all the pink flowers. They were beautiful, but she loved her blossoms in all shapes and colors. She never came to visit without a bouquet which she had just picked from her yard tucked into a jar or an old coffee can. She also never came without something fresh from her kitchen, but that's another story indeed.

She was the oldest and feistiest of seven. She raised five intelligent, talented and successful children on a hard-scrabble farm in middle Georgia until finally moving into town where she ran a corner store and barbecued a pig or two every Saturday. All the while, she kept whole greeting card companies and the U.S. post office in business with her scripture and note-filled missives sent for any (or no) occasion. I think of her as red, definitely not pink.

Some years ago, she asked my mother to speak at her funeral and so Mamma did. There in the stained glass glow of the First Baptist Church, she shared some poignant memories, told a few sad things, but mostly made us glad that tiny, determined "Sister" had been part of our lives.

The middle child and the seventh child of a seventh child remain. They are, as sisters often are, sometimes best friends. This week, they waited together and quietly offered support and hugs to their family and friends. They left the cemetery in a February wind and drove home.

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Baby Will

That evening, the sisters took up a new watch: in a hospital room where they awaited the arrival of Baby Will and looked to the future. Of that, Aunt Sister would have approved.

I know blue is supposed to be the color for little boys but Baby Will was the loveliest pink just minutes after he was born. A tiny 6 pounder, he will be a big boy if he, like a little puppy, grows into his feet!




His mother beamed, his father cried and his grandpa just smiled. My sister, the new grandmother, was doing what she does best -- just taking care of everyone. My mother added his name to her book along with those of her other great-grandchildren, Lucy, Ben and Belle. There was a warm glow all around.

Yes, pink was definitely the color of our week.

@AAB