Carlene

Today, I got some sad news. My 2nd cousin, Carlene, passed away on Tuesday. She was 78, would have been 79 next month. Her son, Frank called me and told me to call him. I had an inkling, but I was hoping it was a Mama's-in-the-hospital call, rather than a Mama-died call.

I have such fond, deep seated memories of Carlene. Her father and my grandfather were brothers, though I never knew either one of them. Her mother was "Aunt Lilly" and she died when I was around 12 in 1967. I have vivid memories of going with my parents to Carlene's house and sitting around watching the grownups have fun visiting and having their "highballs". Carlene loved to dance and they would push the furniture against the wall, put on the "hi-fi" and dance away the night. Gary and I and Frank would amuse ourselves running around and being bored a lot, but it was more fun than staying home! When Aunt Lilly got sick, Carlene took care of her at home, before she eventually died. I had never been around anyone so old and/or sick and it was a bit scary at the time. Aunt Lilly and my grandmother were great friends and it was hard on my grandmother after Aunt Lilly died. She missed her a lot.

As I got older, Carlene and her house became a haven to me. She was kind, sweet and loving to me. She called people she loved "Baby", including me. She could cook some of the same foods my grandmother did, and just as well. Carlene was stability to me as I went through hard times with my family. I learned her phone # when I was a little girl of about 8 or 9 and never forgot it. I called it yesterday, from memory. I would always call her when I went to visit my grandmother, because she lived nearby.

After she retired from the Highway Department, she eventually went to work at a mortuary and when my mom and later, my dad, died, she was kind enough to let Gary and me and our families stay at her home and be "based" there. So gracious. So giving. So Carlene. A huge sadness is that my kids never got to meet her and know how special she was.

She loved her only son, his wife and grankids. She was a devout Catholic and was a southern lady. I will miss her, even though I seldom ever saw her in the past years. She had been very sick for the past several months and it was a blessing to her that she was able to join her husband, and mother and siblings who went on before her.

I love you, Carlene.