I am the long-haired, tatooed, pierced boy that has no biological connection to the woman all are talking about. No connection? Mama saved my life. She loved me, she listened to me, she welcomed me into her home. I remember being the child of drug addicts, and Mama loved me the moment I stepped through the door. Mama had a rule, if you showed up early for a party, you had to help. If the party was at 7, all of the teenagers showed up at 5, just to sit at Mama's table with food to prepare. Those are the most precious moments of my life. I learned to chop peppers, prepare meat, slice vegetables. I am now a chef in the US Army. Mama's oldest son is a chef in Chicago. Mama turned to cooking when she quit work. She always said that it is not that much different from chemistry! Randa, my sister, is not my biological sister. I say "biological" because I once, to my shame, said Mama was not my "real" mother. Mama snapped "What the hell, am I polyester?" I now know not to say "real" when I discuss Mama. You can't imagine what it was like to find this woman. She opened my mind, but also my heart. I had never been loved before. She had never expected anything from me. She saw me as a son. She loved me, and gave me the confidence I needed to become a man. I would like to share a story here. I have read everything, and this section seems to be a memorial to Mama. I do have to explain...once I joined the military, I realized that people around the US do not understand they way we in the South revere our women. Our women are VERY respected. The "Gone with the Wind" way still stands. If a woman is not close to your family, she is Mrs. (last name inserted) to show respect. If she is close to your family, she is Miss (first name) to show that you have deep respect and regard for this woman. Never would a southern youth call a respected woman by her first name. Anyway, I was calling this incredible woman Miss Celeste from the first time I met her. By the time I moved in, she was Mama C. Soon, she was just Mama. She encouraged me to be proud of my accomplishments. After I took my SAT test, I was impossible to live with because of the scores. Mama bragged and threw a party. To my defence, no one had ever been proud of me before. I had never done anything that could make me be proud of myself. Mama looked at me with pride all night. Anyway, I was bragging and crowing like a rooster. Finally, one of Mama's friends took me aside. He pointed to a blinking light in the sky, and told me that it was the space station. I knew this man, he had invented something for the space station. Mama had thrown him a party because she was so proud of his patent. I humbly admit that I have no idea what it was. Mama tried to explain, but the math and science was so advanced that I just nodded and said "cool." Anyway, he pointed to the sky, to his invention. He then told me that Mama was the smartest person he knew! That he had begged her to be on his team when he invented the whatever-it-was that he had invented. She turned him down, because she wanted to be with the kids at home. She did do research for him, as long as it did not interfere with us. Well, that brought the wind out of my sails! We all compare people to rocket scientists, but here was a rocket scientist telling me that Mama was smarter than him! And she gave it up, for her 5 kids and me. Mama got mad at him for telling me that, and let me know that I should be proud of my SAT scores, along with everything else that I accomplished, because they were something that I had worked for. I am proud of my SAT scores, proud of my military service, all because this wonderful woman gave me the ability to be proud of myself. I am glad Mama helped all of you. I wanted to let you all know how she helped me. I have to cry now. I still mourne her, and I always will.
