Over this past weekend, I was visiting with my mother. Last week, she got the news of her older sister suffering a serious stroke that is having life compromising affects. Over the weekend, we have learned that her immediate family has been called in and she is in hospice care. We are anticipating her departure from this earthly world soon….
I am choosing to reflect on how this dear soul has lived 92 years – and yes she lived every day of her life until the stroke last week. Some of my first memories of her will always be her voice. She sang in the Charlotte Chorale Society and performed in The Singing Christmas Tree. She has sung in many a wedding and performed solos, more than can be counted in church choirs that have run from Fairmont, NC to Springfield and Chicago, Illinois, Charlotte and Raleigh, NC.
Mirra is the oldest of 7 daughters of Mack and Frances Turner. My mom shared numerous stories of her and one that is so funny and I must share with you …… This was a family with limited resources, a sharecropper farmer and family (and what was this father to do with a family of girls) … one Christmas morning, a couple of the younger sisters had gotten coloring books and crayons from Santa and being the “eldest”, she thought it was “her duty” to color every page….so, her sisters got very nicely colored coloring books!!!!
Beyond Mirra’s early years and more stories than can be told, I have been humbled and thankful for all she has meant to me personally as “Aunt Mirra”. Over the last 30 years, Mirra has been a “fixture” for Paul and me and our daughters, Elizabeth and Kathryn. Mirra relocated to Raleigh in the early 1990’s having “retired” from 30 years of working in Charlotte. Upon arriving in Raleigh, she found part-time work at JC Penney’s at North Hills and served them in the fragrance department until she was 81 years old. The timing of her residence in Raleigh coincided with the death of my dad, Paul’s job with the engineering organization and the opportunity for me to travel with Paul. Mirra would often come to our home and my mom would come from Lumberton and they would “keep the home fires burning” for me to be away. I continue to think about how much she loved to cook for family and others and would try a new recipe but always came back to some of her favorites and specialties – dumplings and cheesecakes.
Other times, Mirra would arrange her work schedule and drive to Lumberton and spend days/weeks with mama. They would visit with their other sister, Maxie and her husband Baxter. The 4 of them would go to their childhood church, Pleasant Hope Baptist, visit the cemetery where their parents rest and other extended family members. These sisters also have a “healthy competitive spirit” with the game of Scrabble – they would play nearly every Saturday night, as my Uncle Baxter would put the finishing touches on his sermon for Sunday mornings.
Probably my most cherished memories of Mirra have been her “care-taking” heart. I cannot count the number of times she has helped us with mama’s various periods of recuperations from the early 1990’s. She always, with a cheerful heart and willing spirit, came to mama’s aid and needs. In addition to her heart for family, she had a heart for her church, Millbrook Baptist Church. It was there that she was a committed and involved church member. It was there that she met a dear friend, Marie Mason. I believe my memory serves me in recalling that Dr. Mason taught English at Meredith College and was a most learned bible scholar. Mirra did love her teachings and cherished her friendship. After Mirra moved from North Raleigh to Cary, she would continue to drive to North Raleigh for choir practice, prayer meeting and other church activities. Marie often opened her home to Mirra to stay over so she would not have to drive in the dark back to Cary.
As I have sat here and shared my thoughts, mama has talked and told as many or more stories of life with Mirra – being the eldest, often she was a 2nd mother, took mama to her 1st day of school, always was cooking something and certainly planning for the next meal but more than anything else, my recalls and reflections will always be in how she never missed a chance to share her life with everyone she encountered. We are all better for knowing her, being fed by her, receiving blessings from her servant heart, feeling of her gentle spirit and hearing her melodious voice singing and sharing her talent.
As our family has lost too many loved ones in recent months, all I can give thought to is how to best remember and honor them….no better way than make my life and encounters with my family, friends, church, neighbors and co-workers a little better place each and every day.
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