Two More Tributes to My Mother

So,  my sister and I each delivered a short piece at Mama's funeral.  Not included are the songs performed by her youngest granddaughter and the moving eulogy Dr. Pierre Boumtje delivered.

First, here's my bit. 

Dorris Rateliff

 

Anyone who knew my Mother knows why I can't remember her without thinking about cats.

 

• Mama told me that her first memory was when she was three years old, going hand in hand with her daddy to tell the security guard of the college where they were living that her cat had gotten lost and would he please keep a lookout for her and not shoot it.

 

• She had a love of cats all her life. Among the many who meant the most to her were Fluffy  (her mother's one and only cat), Jim Boy (who officially belonged to the neighbor but preferred to spend most of his time in her house), Tiger (the little bobtail Manx who thought she was a people), and Beauty (who faithfully came up daily to be fed and petted but whose home and owner we never knew). To this should be added the many outdoors cats she took care of and dozens of strays she provided for over the years. I think she never entered a house with a cat in it without wanting to meet and make the acquaintance of that cat.

 

• She loved music, especially Chopin. I don't know if there's anyone in the congregation who still remembers some seventy years ago when she played the piano at all church services (I take it this was before the Church got an organ). She wanted to donate her time and talent but the Church insisted on giving her a salary —which she promptly turned around and donated back to the Church each week.  Unlike so many who lose interest in the music of their youth later on, Mama stayed true to rock n roll. She loved to tell the story of the time she didn't see Elvis on the Louisiana Hayride, or the time just a few years ago she did see Z Z Top.

 

•  She also had songs written especially for her. My father, who we called Papaw, was a songwriter. Although he was never able to get them published or recorded, we always sang his songs to pass the time on long family drives. They were a family treasure. One of them that he thought his best was inspired by Mama: "The Thirty-first of June"

 

I'm gonna marry you, babe

   I'm gonna marry you.

Don't look at me that way, babe

   Every word I say is true.

I'm gonna buy you diamonds 

   And feed you from a silver spoon.

I'm gonna marry you, babe

   The thirty-first of June.

 

• She was someone interested in the world around her. She always knew the current phase of the moon and noticed which striking stars and planets were currently in the sky. She took note each day of which birds came to her feeder. Her favorite place was the lot on Williamson Street where my grandmother's house used to stand, which she visited daily to look at what flowers might have blossomed since her last visit and just to enjoy  being outdoors where she could, as she said, think her thoughts.

 

• She was the most generous and most stubborn person I ever knew. I'll miss her terribly.

 

• Thank you so much for coming to celebrate her life.