Fearless females: day #21

It's the second day of spring and it's snowing here! I can't believe it!

Describe a tender moment one of your female ancestors shared with you or another family member.

I've had two personal experiences that would be considered tender. I hesitate to tell them, because some may find it weird. But, I can tell you that they are 100% true.

The first involves my great grandmother Ellen Jane Folden. When I was 12 years old, a friend of mine and I were playing on the railroad tracks. We were laying on them to feel train vibrations. We felt some and waited for the train to come. When it was in sight, I started to cross the tracks to get to the other side because we could tell it was a LONG train and we'd have to wait awhile to cross. But, as I was crossing, I tripped and fell right across the tracks that the train was on. As I tried to get up, I panicked more and more and would lose my grip. I was very scared that I was going to die and my friend Donna just sat there in shock. Out of nowhere, I felt myself being carried across the tracks. When I was put down, I looked up into this woman's face. She had a beautiful face, and her hair was pulled up in a bun. She was wearing a white lacy dress like they wore in the 1920s. I had never seen a woman so beautiful. Then Donna came running up to me, and the lady was gone. I forgot about this incident until four years later when we went to California to visit my dad's family. We went to visit my great aunt Ethel (my grandfather's sister) and she gave us a tour of her home. In her den, on the wall, was a photo of the lady that had carried me across the tracks. I asked her who it was, and she said, "That was my mother. She died in 1953." The hairs on the back of my neck stood up because I knew right then and there that I was a participant in my own ghost story. What touched me was how the dimension between this life and the spirit world didn't keep a great grandmother from protecting her great grandchild in her time of need. Since then, I have always felt a very close connection to my great grandmother.

The second incident that I want to tell you about happened with my grandmother Patricia. She is the one that I talked about on my March 19 post. In mid- December 2009, I was called by the hospice nurse that took care of my grammy. She told me that if I wanted to see her alive, I had better get there quick. So, I took a bus and traveled to Texas. When I got there, it was evident to me that my grammy wasn't going to live much longer. I arrived there on December 28 and had two really good days with her. On the 30th, my grammy fell out of her bed and started to panic, which isn't good for someone with advanced emphysema. We called the hospice nurse, and they informed us that the doctor said it was time for comfort measures. So, they gave her morphine and left several shots there that I was to give her every six hours. There were also tablets that I was to give her every four hours. They wanted her to be as comfortable as possible. My mother didn't have the heart to give her the shots, so I told her that I would do it. at 11:00 p.m. on the 30th, I went to grammy, who was out of it, and rubbed the alcohol swab on her to disinfect the area. As I did this, she woke and was very lucid for a mere seconds. I told her that I was sorry that I had to give her the shot, and she said, "I love you sugar" and I replied that I loved her too. Those are the last words she ever spoke to me as she passed away the next morning at 7:15 am. I will always be so grateful that she had those few seconds of lucidity to be able to tell me that she loved me, even though I knew that already, it feels comforting to me to know that in her last moment of lucidity was one of love.

I know these are pretty sensational stories, but I promise you they happened. I am thankful to have had them because I think they helped me realize that the veil between this life and the next is very thin and that even though these ladies are passed on, we are a family and will be forever.