As the big day approaches...

...Mamaw's been back and forth about whether she wants to move in with us.

One night last week when Doll was talking with her mom, Mamaw said, "You mean I'm going to leave home and stay with you all?"

That didn't sound promising. Doll said, "Yes, Mom, in two weeks."

Mamaw said, "Oh, my! I'm glad we talked long enough for this to come out. This place has gotten mighty lonely."

Doll assured her that lonely wasn't an option around our place.

Then, as they were finishing up their goodnight ritual, Mamaw interrupted to say, "And, Doll, if anything would happen to me before two weeks is over, know I died happy just looking forward to coming there with you."

After that, she seems to have absorbed the information and isn't surprised every time we talk to her about moving.

A couple of nights ago, Doll had just left her place after taking dinner and Mamaw called to find out if she'd made it home yet. As we chatted, I walked to the back window and saw 5 deer browsing in our lower pasture.

I mentioned them to Mamaw and she asked me where I thought they lived. I told her they live in our woods and we take corn over there for them every morning and every night.

"Oh, I want to help you do that."

Mamaw needs a walker to get around, and we've got a wheelchair on the way for taking her out in the yard, but I said, "Well, it's kind of rough going out there in the woods and I don't think your wheelchair's going to be able to navigate."

She was quiet for a minute, and I remembered something. "Hey, do you remember our dog Casey?"

"No."

"Well, Casey couldn't get around so good after she got older and I used to put her on fluffy pillows in the wheelbarrow and take her on big tours. Casey was a big dog, but she was such a good passenger."

Mamaw got a little bit of excitement going in her voice. "I could be a good...a good..."

"Passenger?"

"Yes! I could be a good passenger."

So, we'll be taking her for wheelbarrow rides out in the woods to feed the deer. She won't be lonely and she won't be bored.


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Mamaw's intuitive powers...

...still amaze me, even though I've seen them in action so many times.

Less than 24 hours after naming this blog, I was on about my third phone call with her this morning, when she said, "Somebody sure did a beautiful job on my yard out there. I'm looking out this family room window and gosh it's pretty."

I said, "Yep, the new guy really is working out."

"New man? There's a new man doing my yard? What happened to Mr. W?

"Mr. W retired this year."

Mamaw skipped half a beat before using one of her favorite phrases. She said, "I guess that's the way the little ball bounces." Then she hesitated just a second before adding with a slight chuckle, "That's something we used to say in my family from the time I was little. My mom and daddy and all of us used to say that all the time. That's the way the little ball bounces."

It was one of those stunning Mamaw moments for me. In the many, many times I've heard her say that, she has never bothered to explain it, and it never crossed my mind to ask her to.

When we hung up, I asked my partner if her mom had ever mentioned where it came from. Nope. Never. We both just had to shake our heads and smile, totally believing that on some level, Mamaw's aware of this blog and wanted to put it out there where the title came from.

Amazing woman.


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So there is this woman we call Mamaw...

...who happens to be my partner's mother.


When Mamaw was young she brought home stray animals and flew airplanes cross country and was her daddy's only baby girl among four brothers and was once Miss Miami.

Mamaw married a war hero and had two children who are the light of her life. Today's her 88th birthday.

The phone rang yesterday. Mamaw again. She said, "Who am I talking to, please?"

"Pam."

"Pam. And what is your last name, please, Pam?"

"Graham."

"Pam Graham. And who are you, Pam?"

I have been her daughter's partner for 21 years.

In August, Mamaw's new doctor said it was time for her to no longer live by herself and recommended that she be moved into a nice facility. So that's what we're going to do. Move Mamaw to a nice facility. Our home.

We've been spiffing the place up and getting things ready for her. If all goes well, Mamaw will have a new address by what would have been her husband's 88th birthday - September 23.


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