BY SARAH STEPHENS
ELMORE/AUTAUGA NEWS OWNER/EDITOR
Top Photo: The Angel Bell that my Mom tucked into my son’s suitcase.
If you are a parent with young kids, and still lucky enough to have your parents around to help out….YOU ARE BLESSED.
Honor them. Cherish Them. NEVER take advantage of them.
I miss my Mom. Once Mel and I married we left Louisiana and began a series of travels and moves, only rarely being able to visit back home with my parents. When grandbabies were born, my mother took on her grandmother role with great gusto! She loved all of her grandbabies. And she spoiled them.
For example: When my son Charlie would have the chance to spend time with my Mom, he would come home insufferably spoiled. Take the bell story, for instance.
Mom would set Charlie up in her living room, in a comfy recliner and blanket, to watch television. She gave him an Angel Bell to ring if he needed anything. And I mean anything. She would bring him juice, snacks, or whatever his heart desired, no matter how many times he rang that bell.
I joked with Mom that she was spoiling him. So, in Jeanette Morrison style, she gave Charlie the bell and sent it home with him to Alabama tucked into his suitcase. When I heard a bell ringing from the living room, I walked in to find Charlie shaking it hard. “Juice!” he demanded. It was precious.
But then I reminded him his legs worked fine, and he could get his own juice. He still has those memories and laughs when he comes home and sees the bell.
Sometimes, like today, I give it a shake. Oh, how I would love to be sitting in Dad’s recliner and see Mom come in with a TV tray of juice, tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich. She would tuck my feet in the blanket, lean down and kiss my head and say, “Oh, how I love my Sarah Dawn.”
Yes, she kind of spoiled me, too.
Sarah Stephens is the owner and editor of the Elmore/Autauga News. She can be reached at editorsarah@yahoo.com
