An Angel in a Long Flowing Purple Robe

"Here Hit Her"

One of my favorite all-time chick movies is "Steel Magnolias" because of the display of friendship and family. However, I think my favorite scene is towards the end when the mother, Sally Field's character, is crying after her daughter's funeral, then she gets angry and says she wants to hit something. This is the point [of course] when you can't stop the tears from falling from your eyes, and just when you think you can't take anymore, Olympia Dukakis' character grabs Shirley McLain's character and replies, "Here, hit her." And suddenly you're laughing through your tears...comic relief...a release...

Linda

This is my mother-in-law, Linda Jo. She was the single best mother-in-law in the whole world, and I don't have to meet any of the others to know this. She loved her family, friends, dogs, kids, people, anything purple, and angels. I don't know exactly how the whole angels thing started. She was a hairdresser, and I think it began when one of her clients gave her an angel. It caught on, and soon thereafter all she received were angels for gifts for every occasion.

Just What Does One Wear In Heaven?

Linda fought a valiant fight against breast cancer. Though her body is gone, her spirit is alive and doing well [thank you very much]. Her spirit is in her kids...in her grandkids...Soon after she died, my husband was cleaning out her condo while I was at home with the kids [my son was just 6 months old]. I was changing my son's diaper while my daughter was standing on the bed watching. My husband called and asked what he should do with all of his mom's clothes [she had a ton of them]. I suggested he donate them, and then we hung up, both of us with heavy hearts. My daughter [two and a half at the time] was silent for a little while then she asked, "Mom, is grandma naked in heaven?" Obviously she had overheard our conversation, and I couldn't let her have an image of her grandma naked in heaven...So I replied, "No. No, honey. Grandma is not naked in heaven. She's wearing a long flowing purple robe." My daughter jumped off the bed and ran off to play, relieved that grandma was not naked in heaven. Aahhh...my own "Steel Magnolia" moment!

Happy Mother's Day, Linda! We love and miss you dearly...

Caroline