Mimi

     You know it's not everyday that I sit and think about those people that I miss the most and who are no longer with us or at least it wasn't until my grandmother died last year.  My mimi was an amazing woman! She was a strong and stubborn woman who battled congestive heart failure for over 10 years before finally giving in to it last year after her 80th birthday.  There were times when we thought she wouldn't make it to her next birthday but she proved us all wrong time and again.  I guess the first really scary time was during my senior year at Ole Miss, right before finals in the fall semester, I got a phone call from my dad that told me the doctors didn't think she would make it to Christmas that year. That was pretty scary and stressful, but she made it cause she was one stubborn lady.  She wasn't able to travel to my graduation that next spring but she was there when I came home and showed her pictures.  After that she was put on an oxygen machine and told to quit smoking.  She also moved in with my aunt and uncle (her son), which looking back probably pushed her to live longer b/c they were always throwing some type of party.  She eventually moved in with my dad which I'm sure put a damper on his dating life (LOL!).
     Anyway I say all this because I have lost people in my life before, my grandfathers (all 3), an aunt, and friends from high school but I don't find myself missing them on a daily basis the way I miss her.  My mom's mom is still alive and I love her and truly think she'll make it to 100 cause she is a hardcore country girl!  But I grew up with my dad's mom, my Mimi.  The Yankee turned southerner! She gave me strength when I didn't think I had any left and she encouraged me to continue to do what I wanted no matter what my mom and dad told me.  She continued to tell me that it was ok to be single and not have kids at my age because I had achieved so many other things.  When I was younger she's the person who told me that I could do whatever I wanted and be whoever I wanted.  I used to sit at her table and listen to her stories from college and high school and I was in awe that this woman, who was so smart and had done so much, loved me.
      Mimi was born and raised in Chicago, IL and when I say she was a Yankee, she was indeed a Yankee.  She met my grandfather while he was in the Air Force stationed at O'Hara.  They got married and had 3 children.  Because he was from Mississippi, this strong woman who had always lived in Chicago, packed her kids and moved down south, to a foreign land.  My grandparents got divorced for whatever reason and she remarried Pawpaw Frank, besides my maternal grandfather he's the only one I've known.  My dad's dad died when I was only 4 from lung cancer and I don't remember him too well. 
      Back to Mimi, what type of woman does it take to move away from your family and friends to a place you've never been, it takes an extremely strong woman.  I guess that's where I get it because after I graduated from Ole Miss and a year of working in Oxford I (and 2 friends) packed my things and moved to Dallas/Fort Worth where I knew noone and had no job. Talk about the adventure of a lifetime. But that story's for another day.  Mimi is the one person who never doubted the decisions I was making and never doubted that I would be somebody.  She trusted the decisions I made and supported me and she went to bat for me against my dad. 
       So I guess that's why I miss her so much on a DAILY basis. I find myself wanting to cry. I know she's in a better place and is no longer in any pain. I imagine her sitting in an air conditioned room, watching Wheel of Fortune and drinking a White Russian. She loved those things. I know she was there the day I graduated from Mississippi College with my Master's Degree and I know she was there when my childhood best friend died after Christmas.  I also know that she's looking out for me and I can't think of a better person to be my Guardian Angel in Heaven than the one who was my Guardian Angel on Earth. 
       Now don't get me wrong I love my mom, dad, step dad and mom's mom and they have each had a huge influence on my life but I had a special bond with Mimi.  She was and will always be MY Mimi. :)