So here are a few pictures of Myrtle and her husband and a poem I'd like to share.
Phenomenal Woman* - Maya Angelou
Pretty women wonder where my secret lies
I'm not cute or built to suit a fashion model's size
But when I start to tell them
They think I'm telling lies.
I say
It's in the reach of my arms
The span of my hips
The stride of my steps
The curl of my lips.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally
Phenomenal woman
That's me.
I walk into a room
Just as cool as you please
And to a man
The fellows stand or
Fall down on their knees
Then they swarm around me
A hive of honey bees.
I say
It's the fire in my eyes
And the flash of my teeth
The swing of my waist
And the joy in my feet.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally
Phenomenal woman
That's me.
Men themselves have wondered
What they see in me
They try so much
But they can't touch
My inner mystery.
When I try to show them
They say they still can't see.
I say
It's in the arch of my back
The sun of my smile
The ride of my breasts
The grace of my style.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally
Phenomenal woman
That's me.
Now you understand
Just why my head's not bowed
I don't shout or jump about
Or have to talk real loud
When you see me passing
It ought to make you proud.
I say
It's in the click of my heels
The bend of my hair
The palm of my hand
The need of my care.
'Cause I'm a woman
Phenomenally
Phenomenal woman
That's me.
* here is the site i found the poem on, but it is all over the net
http://www.feminist.com/resources/artspeech/insp/maya.htm
(oops, i always used to get her birthday mixed up with their anniversary which was January 27th. i was sort of in a daze when i wrote this, so i corrected the mistake i had made on her birthdate above, that i just realized today 12/13/08)
2 comments:
Sorry to hear about Myrtle's passing, Michele. Hope you are all well there and were able to spend some quality time with her.
We were there to the very end. About 2 weeks before she passed away she had been in the hospital for about a week. She and I had time alone and she said to me that she did not think she had any more than 2 weeks left. She had told others that, but that was the first time she had said anything like that to me. She also said everyone's time is coming and this was her time to go. Up until then, she had only said to me that she wasn't ready to go. She passed 2 weeks exactly to the day she told me that. I visited her as much as I was able to while she was in the hospital that week. That is, when I was not tied up with school or work and she was up to having visitors. But during that week I mentioned above, I went there several times. She didn't like to see me cry though, so I kept it in pretty well until she told me what time she thought she had left. I knew that anything I had to say to her that I hadn't yet, I had best do it soon. I was supposed to work that evening but was able to get the rest of evening off. So, because I didn't want to cry in front of her (I knew I couldn't say what I wanted to and be able to hold back the tears), I wrote everything in the card I had yet to tell her and many things I had already said but wanted her to know again (or still).
I was asked to participate in making the arrangements for her at the end too. I was so grateful to be included in that.
I loved her so much and miss her like crazy. Still having it a bit rough. Not finding much enthusiasm for Christmas or other things right now. I know it will get easier, but right now it's difficult. And I am such a soft-heart that I sometimes feel it might be easier if I just didn't feel things SO deeply.
The kids miss greatly her too, of course. We talk about when they were little and the things she did for and with them. They enjoy that.
The picture used for the obituary (www.pressrepublican.com and www.brownsfuneralhome.com) is a very nice picture of her (it's the first picture for this post too) and I am going to make copies of it for the kids and myself and put them in frames along with a copy of the poem Myrtle specifically requested Chantelle to read at her funeral. Chantelle did such a wonderful job and made it through the reading, despite it causing her to cry. Everyone did. And Alex, my "little" man, I don't know how he held back the tears as well as he managed to.
Anyway, I know in my heart that Myrtle would not want us crying (only I can't seem to master that, never could). She said to me that day in the hospital when I began to cry "I wish you would stop that." Not angrily, but just wanting me not to hurt, and to accept it as she had.
So, we all just try to remember all the great times we had with her. My favorite thing is to remember her laugh. And something she used to say to me and other women friends she had, when she thought something about them was special. She'd say "What a woman!" She even had a tee shirt someone gave her with it on it.
Thank you for the condolence. I appreciate it and will extend it to the kids and to her husband
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