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My
father had a family of six before he met my mother. His first wife died shortly
after her last child was born. Later he and my mother married and then Sam and
I came along. I bring this out to explain why we had siblings much older than
us.
My elder half-sister, Maxine, was fourteen when I was born. As far
back as I can remember she was there to help spoil me. I remember her taking me
everywhere to show off her "little brother" to her friends. My dad had warned
her not to let boys ride along when he let her use the car. Once she disobeyed
his order and I came home and tattled on her. I don't remember the incident but
she told me years later what I had said in my baby talk," sister, boy, no no,
Daddy spank, spank".
She used to kid me about my "Dumbo" ears. They
stuck straight out and looked as if I ran fast enough I could fly. She said she
would like to tape them down so I wouldn't blow away in a strong wind. Once she
took me to the store to get some ice cream. I wondered how she was going to pay
for it because I had heard her say earlier that she had no money. That is the
first time I remember hearing the word "credit". When we walked out of the store
with our ice cream and not having to pay, I thought that this credit thing was
the most wonderful invention of all times.
Maxine took me swimming with
her in a small lake near Lorena, Texas. At the time I didn't realize it, but for
a teenage girl to swim in anything but a public pool was unusual. I remember her
as being almost totally fearless. She told me to hold tightly around her neck
as she swam. I wasn't the least bit afraid as we reached the deep water. She said
she would rather swim out there because there might be snakes closer to the bank.
As
I grew a little older and she married and had a family I continued to visit her
every chance I could. One of the greatest times I can remember was when she lived
in Shreveport, Louisiana. I spent several weeks with her and her family. It was
during the depression and I had no spending money but there was a lot to do for
free. Among other things, I would walk to a park nearby and watch company baseball
almost every night. That was something I couldn't have done back home in Spunky
Flat.
As much as I shake the cobwebs out of my mind I cannot remember
her ever saying a cross word to me. I thought of her as the kindest, most caring
person in the world, besides my mother, naturally. She had a ready laugh and a
wonderful sense of humor. Sometimes when we grow up and get a family of our own,
we tend to drift apart from those that we held so dear. I'm sorry to say, I sometimes
went for long periods without seeing her. It seemed like ages since our last visit
when my wife, Penny, and I went to see Maxine in her assisted living apartment.
We got lost and arrived later than expected. We found her waiting in the hallway
to greet us. She had just had her ninetieth birthday and had become totally deaf.
The only way we could communicate with her was by writing notes. Her sense of
humor had not waned in all those years. She kept us laughing the whole visit.
My favorite was the gem where she said that she would no longer buy green bananas
because she was afraid she might not live long enough for them to ripen. We went
there to try to brighten her life but she gave a lot more than she received that
day. |
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Spunky Flat Reunion in Louisiana
Penny (aka Lillian) and George Lester with
Maxine in the Middle |
After we returned home I received news from her son that her health had taken
a turn for the worse. A short time later he called to tell us that she had passed
away. When the arrangements were made, I was asked to sing her favorite hymn at
the funeral. I didn't think I could do it but knew I had to try. As I sang, "And
He walks with me and He talks with me" every wonderful memory I had of her raced
through my mind. I needed her strength in this difficult time. I felt as if I
held on tightly she would carry me safely across the deep water. It helped a lot
too just thinking about those green bananas.
©
George Lester
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