A Mother's Day Goodbye

On May 10th, 2021, just after midnight following Mother's Day, a "BOSS MOM," grandma, great-grandma, sister and friend to many left this earth.

As I sat on the front row starring at the casket directly in front of me, I found my mind drifting into my own thoughts, admiring all of the traits that qualified my grandma, Miss Margaret, to be called a "BOSS MOM." Now and then I would tune in to the words of the pastor as he spoke highly of my grandma and then soon after, my mind drifted again, to a quiet place where I found myself sitting upon a hill of lush green grass, looking out at the miles and miles of green grass around me for as far as I could see. The sky above me was a sea of floating cotton balls. Inside of each cotton ball was a scene from my grandma's life or a sacred memory that I have of her from my childhood.

My boss grandma was born in 1925, in rural Mississippi on a little farm down in the Delta. She was the second oldest of four children born to the young Jones couple. They were a hardworking family, living in a 2 room cottage. Like many families trying to survive in the deep south post slavery, they were disadvantaged and opportunities to get ahead were slim to none but they made do and kept a roof over their heads and food on the table. My grandma and her siblings attended a small neighborhood school with shared classrooms and no workbooks.

At the age of 16, my grandma became pregnant and had to drop out of school in the 10th grade. She married then had a second child the following year. By 18, my grandma was a married woman with 2 toddlers and working as a maid. My granddaddy Roosevelt was a factory worker until they both decided that they wanted more out of life and that the only way to get it was to catch a train up north to find better jobs and make more pay. Many people were moving north during the time to find better work.

At the age of 19, Grandma Margaret and Granddaddy Roosevelt moved to Chicago, leaving their two young children down south with their parents while they took a leap of faith to start a new life, get on their feet and prepare a home to bring their children into up north. However, at 19, neither of them were prepared for the challenges that the big city life had in store for them. Needless to say, the relationship suffered, and they parted ways, but my BOSS MOM (grandma) made good on her promise to prepare a place for her children and return to Mississippi to get them so that they could join her in Chicago and have better educational opportunities and exposure to a higher quality of life than the rural south of the 1940's- 1950's had to offer.

Grandma dreamt of someday furthering her education, but she put the needs of her children over her own. She felt that it was more important to give them better opportunities at a younger age, so she worked hard and made sure that they had everything that they needed to succeed in life. She spent much of her life doing manual, hard labor (working in factories, packing houses and cleaning for wealthy people) but her hard work paid off. Her two children, beautiful daughters Ruth and Ernestine graduated from high school with honors and attended good colleges and nursing school and were able to obtain promising careers and work to provide even better opportunities for grandma's legacy.

Today, grandma leaves behind 2 children, 5 grandchildren, 13 great-grandchildren and 1 great-great grandchild to benefit from her dream. At the ripe age of 95, grandma was the rock and matriarch of our family. She taught all of us about the value of hard work and consistency. Through her actions she encouraged us to follow our hearts and create a plan to get there. Grandma was a woman of few words who let her actions speak loud.

Our forever "BOSS MOM" and Grandma Margaret paved the way for the boss women who are the glue in our families today. Because of her we are strong, independent, nurturing, fearless women who stand tall and cherish our families to no end. We have high expectations for ourselves and challenge ourselves to achieve more and never compare ourselves to others.

When I spoke to her on Mother's Day and told her that I loved her, I did not know that it was good bye but she felt that a 'JOB WELL DONE' was all that she needed to hear from her creator and her family and her BOSS MOM journey came to an end . . . A Life Well Lived Indeed.