Cousin Lois Died on Christmas day

Last Christmas i love the holidays......................

Gran ruby and i spoke today ................a couple of times
she told me of my cousin Lois
who died on Christmas day
Cousin Lois  was my father favorite cousin
she was  100 or there about's
the family matriarch
we some times called her Mrs Mcneil
she had tons of kids
grand kids and up to great grand kids
she was a fixture in Elizabeth new Jersey
and at at new Zion Baptist church

along with my father

until they kicked my father out

because the greedy minister

didn't like my father

telling the senior citizens

to stop giving that fat greedy hustler

all of their money

but that is another story
i got the feeling that my father followed her around
her being the oldest cousin
and my father came from a family of strong strong woman
his older sister
of which he had more than a few

treated him like a younger brother

a kid still
one of their kids
they looked to him for protection
and the like

and he looked to them for a mother
anyway
Gran ruby told me that for the past month
cousin Lois was impatiently awaiting Christmas
she couldn't stop asking people about it
she normally didn't much care for Christmas

but this month
she tortured family members about it
in fact over the course of the past few days
she called every one to ask them
to have them convince her

that Christmas didn't pass yet
finally Christmas day came and she was in great spirits
had called various people just to say hello
this woman
who normally didn't give a hoot about Christmas
was all the things on this day that we remember about Christmas
she was
Mr Maggoo

and the scrooge cartoon

when your alone
alone alone alone
when your all alone

when theirs no click to click to your clack
she was the miracle on 34 street

and its a wonderful life
all wrapped in one
she ate her dinner with her kids and grand-kids
then asked that she be able to go up stairs
and take a nap at her sons house
her mind was sharp still as a tack
but the body was frail
her kids didn't.t want her to have to go up the stairs
but she insisted
her daughter says
and other family members
said that as they watched her walk up the stairs
and she wanted to walk alone
they saw two shadows
two people walking
up those stairs
when she got the the room
to take her nap
they said she was simply giddy
the whole family swears
that they could feel a presence in the room
another presence
they said the room
felt different
that the temperature
was neither hot nor cold
that the room smelled sweet
and cousin Lois was like the cat

who ate the canary
they knew some one was there with her
the finally left her alone
all speaking in hushed tones
about when they had just saw and felt
this was a whole group of people
my cousins
all from down south
people from 20 years old to 80 years old
i am not making this up
i am passing this along
as it was passed to me
by Gran ruby
anyway cousin Lois
took her nap
and died peacefully
and not alone in her sleep
the family was almost happy for her
so strong was their belief in what they saw
and felt
so strong in their knowledge
that their father had come back
to guide their mother
this good
this smart and funny

Christian woman

back home
this was a woman
who kept on on politics
who the last time at her house
she was listening to bob grant on the radio

and cussing him out
for his racist views
she would listen to him every day
and fight with him
talking to him and herself
i understood when i heard this
how no one grows up alone
how it takes a village to raise a child
and how many of these strong proud
country black woman
from cuthbert Georgia
had affected and shaped my father
people rarely gives these kinds of people
the justice and the props that the deserve
these folks who live decent lives
hold a strong belief in god and family
a strong belief in justice
these people who
in spite of all of the mess that the world
throws at them and theirs
they sit get up
these kinds
of folks that some times
do go quietly into the night
anyway this is the story
that was passed on to me
by Gran ruby
these are the kinds of events
that are so indicative of black culture
the events
that tie us to faraway lands
and tribal times

this believe in the Christian god
along with the other world that
in not so often in our faces
Cousin Lois
went out not only with class
and grace
but with company
this is so cool
such a good holiday story
such a good story of promise
and the kinds of story's
that can give us all little more faith
in Life and in god