Journal of a Living Lady #100

 

Nancy White Kelly

 

When the phone rings at two in the morning, it can’t be good news. It wasn’t. Buddy’s mother had just died. Actually it was a blessing. Maggie Clytee Kelly was ninety-eight years-old and had been ready to move on for a long time. “I don’t know why we old folks live so long,” she would frequently say.

 

Mother K. was a tall, big-boned woman whose black hair turned a gorgeous silver during my marriage to Buddy. Until last year, she had never been an in-patient in the hospital or been seriously ill. She didn’t drink or smoke, but ate fried chicken, pork chops, eggs and anything else she wanted. When Mother Kelly came to visit us in Atlanta, there was always a mandatory trip to the mall for a singular purpose: to get one of Truett Cathy’s famous Chick-fil-A sandwiches.

 

For many years Mother Kelly lived in an unpretentious three-room frame house on the main drag through town. She had a high school diploma, uncommon for that early era, as well as a life-time teaching certificate. During her later working years, she made her livelihood by sewing.

 

Mother K. had a sense of humor that endeared her to me from that first time we met. I was just nineteen when Buddy drove me from Memphis to the little town of Boyle, Mississippi, to meet my future mother-in-law.  In the course of our getting acquainted,  I admitted to not  knowing how to hem pants. She immediately sat me down to teach me how. I was all thumbs and repeatedly pricked her with the sewing needle, drawing blood. She mocked a howling dog each time I stabbed her, causing me to laugh like a hysterical hyena. To this day I still can’t hem pants properly.  If Buddy needs something hemmed, I use contact glue and scotch tape.

 

Buddy would tell you Maggie Clytee was a wonderful mother not only to him, but to his older brother, Thomas and only sister, Ann, who came much later in life. When Buddy’s father died in a wreck, Mother K. raised Ann as a single mother. She did a fine job by all three of her children. I will always be grateful for the up-bringing she gave Buddy. He has her good, practical qualities.

 

Mother Kelly was a Christian through and through. She taught Sunday School most of her life and could quote Scripture at the drop of a hat. It is said that many men marry women like their mothers. I doubt I could ever live up to Mother Kelly. She was a jewel. Ironically, she died on my own mother’s birthday.

 

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nancyk@alltel.net         P.O. Box 285, Young Harris, GA 30582