Another Beginning But Not So Tragic

So what happens now?  A young mother has died, a young father is distraut and he turns to his young mother-in-law to take the child for a while so he can bury his wife and try to get on with his life. 

My lovely mother was buried in a cemetary called Lee's Creek on a cold day in January.  Growing up, I was taken to this cemetary every May during "decoration week" as it was called back then.  They dressed me in pretty dresses, with ribbons in my hair and new Easter shoes, and the grandmother would place a spray of flowers in my hands to place on my mother's grave every year. Pictures were taken by the grandmothers sometimes as I got older and I smiled for the camera.  I didn't really understand why I needed to put flowers on this grave--I didn't really know this person but she meant something to others and they loved to talk about how sweet and pretty she was.   "She was your mother" they would say, but I didn't know this person so I accepted it, but wished I had known her.  People would stand around and kind of took pity on me--like "oh, the poor thing not having her mother" and things like that.   I would ask my grandmother to tell me about her, but she didn't have much to say except that she was very sweet and pretty and they loved her.  I didn't press for questions as I grew older, because even though I'd ask, I didn't seem to find out very much so I just simply quit asking. 

As an infant I was cared for by my maternal grandmother while my father was off working somewhere in and around Arkansas.  And later while I was still in the infancy stage, for some reason I went to stay with my paternal grandparents, and I lived with them until I graduated from high school.   I don't know why that occurred, but I am sure God had a plan for me.  I did not question it back then, but for the life of me, I cannot understand why my grandparents didn't talk about those things in front of me.  When I would ask questions, they would just dismiss it.  Maybe I really didn't want to know, maybe I thought it was because no one really wanted me, but I am sure that was not true because I felt loved by both of my sets of grandparents, but to honest with myself at this time of my life, I did resent it sometimes.  But I was happy--I had a lot of cats to play with.