Rupie Lee Johnson: For Ms. Neale's Reading Classes, part 3

Monday, September 14, 2009

For Ms. Neale's Reading Classes, part 3

Entries from Ma Ma's personal journal...

November 18, 2007

I have been sitting here thinking back in the past. In the year of 1930 I came down with appendicitis and had surgery on the 16th day of November. I lay in bed all winter and couldn't walk for months. The Dr. wouldn't let me eat and I almost starved to death.

I will never forget it, but I sure wish I could.

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About Ma Ma

Rupie Lee Johnson, or "Ma Ma" (Má-maw), is my maternal grandmother. She was the glue that held us altogether.

I am 48 years old, as of this writing, and this will be the first year of my life without my beautiful Ma Ma. My whole life I've been able to talk to her about whatever was going on, and I could always count on her to give me good advice. It's not that I have no one to talk to now, but one member of my support network has gone away.

Ma Ma and Daddy -- my grandfather -- raised almost half of her siblings with little help. They survived the Great Depression, raised my mother, Zelda, were a HUGE help raising me, and Ma Ma helped raise my son, Trevor, almost through his 17th year.

Ma Ma saw my mother march in the band in Trinity, Texas, back in the '50s. She saw me march in the band in Grapeland, Texas, in the '70s. And she saw Trevor play football in junior high, and march in the band in Alvarado, Texas, in the '00s. She was born before the Soviet Union and she outlived it by 20 years. She was the best cook I've ever known and she taught me practically everything I know about cooking, and I am no novice in the kitchen.

Ma Ma became the surrogate grandmother to my best friends, Patrick Underwood, Herman Campbell and Mark Wilson, and the one thing she didn't get to do at the end of her life was have all three of them over to her house so she could cook them one more meal, simply because she couldn't stand in the kitchen long enough to cook anymore.

Her stories and her life continue to inspire new generations, and her memory fills me with love, happiness, sadness and tears. I love both Ma ma and Daddy and I wish they could be here to see my son graduate high school and start college.

Ma Ma was born April 19, 1911, and she passed away July 7, 2009.

Daddy was born March 13, 1904, and he passed away May 13, 1992.

I miss them both.

Rupie Lee Johnson

Monday, September 14, 2009

For Ms. Neale's Reading Classes, part 3

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