Overwhelmed...

I went to my mailbox today, and while sifting through the junk and bills, I noticed that I had several pieces of personal mail. Upon further inspection, I noticed that there were three letters addressed to me that had been sent from Indianapolis. I recognized two out of the three return addresses, so I began with the one that was unfamiliar. The name on the envelope was Debbie Broughton, and enclosed I discovered a handwritten letter along with some pictures. At this point, I already knew I was probably in for some tears. It turns out that Debbie was one of Mom's best childhood friends, and she recently attended the funeral services for Uncle Rex. She wrote that she had waited and waited in line to see Mom, and then someone happened to tell her about Mom's illness and current state and she was obviously very upset and left. She went on to say that she had met Whitney and me at my grandparents' funeral services, and shared some personal anecdotes about her relationship with Mom. I cried the entire time I was reading her letter, particularly when Debbie mentioned the fact that Mom love all animals especially horses. She said that she, Mom and their friend Maricia used to have "cowgirl" times with their horses. I know I have spoken previously about Mom's love of animals, and for someone I don't even know to mention this in a brief letter just shows that this is something everyone remembers about her. Debbie also mentioned several times how beautiful and well-liked my mom was. I plan on writing a response very soon, and hopefully Whitney and I will be able to establish a relationship with a new person who can regale us with even more Donna stories.

The second letter I opened was from Pat Crafton, whom I mentioned briefly in the Uncle Rex post. She is the one who named her daughter Donna after my mother. Pat enclosed a letter and pictures as well. The letter went on to talk about what a dear friend Mom was, and how painful it is to think of her in her current state of illness. She filled me in on how their family is doing, and how well all of their children and grandchildren are doing. I very much enjoyed the pictures Pat enclosed, and there was such a variety. There were pictures of Donna Crafton when she was born and also the most recent one taken of her and Mom in 2001 (which I posted on my refrigerator). There was a picture of Mom from Triton Central's highschool prom, which I had never seen before. There was even a picture of my Mamaw and Papaw at their 50th wedding anniversary party. I plan to keep in touch with the Crafton family, and regret very much not having contacted them sooner.

The third piece of mail was from my Aunt Kathy, Uncle Rex's wife. She was the one who gave Debbie my address. Aunt Kathy just enclosed a brief note about wanting to come and visit Mom, and that she needed directions since Rex was the one who knew how to get down there. Now, I happen to know that my Aunt Kathy and Uncle Rex dealt with a lot of foolishness from my mom in the past. Mom was sometimes a little dramatic (see, I come by it honestly!), but Rex and Kathy never once complained or let it interfere with their relationship with Whitney and me. I respect them so much for that, and I cannot even imagine what she is dealing with right now. I look forward to seeing her when she comes to visit, and plan to visit the family in Indi when Whitney gets back to the States.

I consider myself so blessed to have people like these in my life. I can hardly believe that these random acts of kindness were directed towards Whitney and me in regard to our mom. Mom touched the lives of so many, and this is just more proof of how much everyone is impacted by her awful illness. It makes me infinitely happy and also deeply saddens me that my mom doesn't know that she has left this sort of impression on so many people. I don't know if she ever had a clue that she was so popular and so well-loved, but Whitney and I are both so lucky to be able to hear these stories and we will definitely treasure each and every one of them. I believe that even as hard as this is for me to deal with, these people and their stories will be enormously helpful in helping with the healing and coping process. Thank you to everyone...