Moe's Story

I don't have many memories

of life, before this damn disease took all that it has from me, but there are a few I still cling to.

Me and sister and all three brothers, in the front room quietly huddled, round the helicopter on the TV screen, as it comes closer and fills the scene. While, in the bedroom, huddled a different ring, Mom and Dad and the new baby Queen. Dad decreed "No reason to doubt me." when the midwife instructed, "Start without me." I always said my dad could do anything, including deliver a human bean. Oh, and Mom helped too.

Oldest sister thought, Mom had five others so maybe, it would be alright if she claimed the new baby, and despite all our crying two years later mom was dying. There was nothing that could save her, so sister kept raising the baby Mama "gave" her. And the snow globe shook and shook.

Then the memories are slightly fuzzy, for the older ones cloudy, the younger ones muddy. We paired off in teams, each kid had a buddy and I dare anyone to mess with mine!

Of course, we all see different things when we stare into history's scenes. Mine start with Baby Moe's laughing screams as she's racing down the hall. Then when she gets to the end of the run, she pulls her feet up, falls on her bum, takes a minute to laugh with the joy of her fun, she turns around fast, and she's off at a run to do it all over again. Then Dad had to sell that house to a friend.

The next part of childhood was about to begin. We moved on, said bye to cancer, cancer said, "See you again."

Older Sister raised the baby, with stand-in help from kind church ladies, me and Dad, and all three brothers, along with the other neighborhood mothers, Grandma, Grandpa, and an Uncle and Aunt. Moelissa, The Baby, was everyone's Pet.

Baby grew up, had babies of her own. The world taught her patience, the world taught her strong. Then the world taught her it had all been practice all along. The most important lesson, she learned in our song, Lean On Me, so she picked up the phone and called her family home.

When you need to feel love, you need to feel good, you need to believe your Gods people really live as they should, when you don't believe they do but you do wish they would, I beg you take a closer look, at all the ones who in my book, are more than simply turning pages when they read the wisdom of the ages.

He mowed the lawn... all summer long, she brought a meal...once a week....to the front door of the home. They got a child from school, bought a shirt, shipped a box, worked a shift, sent a gift, each helper unique, creative, and clever, especially the bringer of gallon upon gallon upon gallon upon gallon of the best water ever! All the while these people had lives and problems of their own, as they helped my Sister along, inspired by her Strong.

If you saw a tear you were one of the few, no time to cry with so much to do, she pushed to exhaustion, then she pushed through, cause the girl ain't got no quit. She's mother, and driver, and baseball high-fiver held together with true country grit.

And the wildest thing happened, the absolute #1, on the days of her treatment, she actually had fun. Giggling, conspiring, mastering puzzle compiling, tricking, and pranking, and always thanking, Chic-Fil-A sustained, belly laughter pained, and her nurses laughed right along with her. Especially that instigator Joe. I bet they were all a little bit sad, as they were happy to see her go.

Now Baby Sister is done, and she done did good. She knocked Cancer out like we knew that she would. Like a pot of Stone Soup, all gave what they could, and the whole massive group, fought with her to do it, she did it, she won, and all loved her through it. And the best part........

.....is yet to be written.