"Farewell Nancy Kay" By Sheryl Hawkins

in 2008 I married a country boy from a small town in Georgia, we met when he was working in Jacksonville, a contractor by trade, I was swept off my feet in 2001 and married him in 2008, He chose our wedding date, it was his dad’s birthday October 8th. Our journey is a collection of stories I refer to as the good, the bad, and the ugly. I left the big city of Jacksonville, Fl, where I was born (I lived there for 47 years) We moved to the country to a one-flashing light-sleepy town, Bristol Ga, to an old farmhouse that sat in the middle of 600 acres, only a couple of neighbors more than a half mile away. The house was over 100 years old, It had a huge porch across the entire front that I named “The Healing Porch” and a Sun Porch enclosed with glass, the entire length of one side, that overlooked fields of sweet onion, wheat, peanuts, and soy beans grown by a local farmer as far as you could see, a clay dirt road was the only way in and out. I spent most of my days allowing God to pour his word into my heart, It was there that he showed me my purpose, gave me some heartfelt memories, and where I knew He was near and He taught me what true love is about. My husband found a job with a prominent contractor the next county over, so I spent a lot of time alone, and with “guests” that found themselves really down on their luck. The stories are many but the one I thought I would share today is about my mother-in love, Kay. It was the last story I can share about “The Healing Porch”, and about her. My husband just purchased 10 acres of property on Lake Grace in Screven, It was almost moving day, and Kay was dropping off my nephews (she had custody of them, at age 62, 3 teen-age brother all of whom had 3 different daddy’s, the oldest was her biological grandson). She was raised in a catholic orphanage, tragic circumstances had taken her parents and she and her brother were unwanted by their immediate family, her door was always open to the needy, the less fortunate, the forgotten and overlooked. The boys were going to help me and my daughter pack and load furniture on trailers while my husband was at work. Life on the “farm” always began at 4:00 a.m. preparing breakfast for my husband before work every morning. This particular morning I was cleaning up the kitchen, waiting for Kay to arrive. Our normal routine was just coffee on the porch, this particular morning was different, God spoke to me to prepare a fresh breakfast for her and the boys, her intentions was to drop the boys off and go home and prepare a moving day dinner to bring to us at our new lake home, after we finished moving on the following day, she insisted on her famous spaghetti, and million dollar pie, that’s a “whole nuther story” as we say in the south. When she came in with boys, we sat down to a quiet and simple breakfast, I remember the conversation wasn’t our usual “hurry because we both have a lot to do today”. When she left I had no idea God had given me a final fellowship with her on this side of eternity. I truly enjoyed our last breakfast together, our conversation was just mother-daughter small talk, sweet reminiscing about our two years at the farm, she and the three boys had lived with us earlier that year, while she had an extensive stay in the hospital. Our house always seemed to be full of guests, as my oldest bonus daughter, (my middle daughter had just moved to back to Baltimore and my son already lived in Dallas) along with 2 of my husband’s brothers were living in our home at that time. The next morning was typical routine except Kay didn’t show up at our house, my husband sent his brothers-girlfriend to go check on her. He was notified by the sheriff’s office that Kay was deceased, she was found in her pj’s on her bedroom floor. She died of natural causes. We found the pot of spaghetti in her refrigerator, and none of us could eat the last meal that mom prepared for us, because the grief was so overwhelming, her departure was too sudden, with no goodbye’s. The move to the lake was something she was so excited about for us,There was an old cabin on the property that she had hoped my husband would repair for her to live in. God had different plans! I moved to another home and another chapter of life, God gave me a wonderful mother daughter day that I will always treasure and the blessed assurance that she moved to her heavenly eternal home! God speaks softly, I am so glad I listened on that morning and took the time to pamper her so many years ago!