If you have known me for any significant amount of time, then chances are you know all about my grandmother, Ruth Marie Simcik Toole. We call her Mammie most others call her Aunt Reetsie and she goes by Marie to everyone else. I gave Amanda the middle name Marie because of her (and a few other of my dearest friends who all share the same middle name) and I do most of everything I do because of her. After my parents, she is one of my sources of inspiration.
Mammie lives in modest means. For almost 50 years she and my granddad (who you will hear more of later) lived in the 5000 block of Vicki Street in Haltom City. I can remember the day she moved out of that house just like it was yesterday. She moved in at that time with her mother, my great-grandmother, Eunice Lonie McGuire Simcik; or G.G. for short. After G.G. passed away she decided she would live in Kopperl.
A few blogs ago I wrote of Kopperl and the significance this tiny town plays in my life. Mammie has lived there for quite some time. It started with two travel trailers on the lot behind their antique store. One belonging to she and my granddad the other belonged to my granddad's cousins who would come down every weekend with us. In the beginning there were three; Aunt Bertie, Deenie and Maree. I lovingly deemed them the Golden Girls. Sadly, people pass away and ultimately she sold both the trailers and converted one of the rooms of the antique store into a little apartment. She has a sitting area, kitchen, bedroom and bathroom. For her, that is all she needs.
Mammie is tireless. For as long as I can remember she has been doing for others. She took care of my granddad, Charles Clyde Toole, Jr., Pee Paw, as we called him, when he was diagnosed with Emphysema and Lung Cancer. He passed in 1992, almost 20 years ago! Time really does fly. As I stated above, she then went and took care of G.G. She passed away in 1998. I remember this because G.G. was born in 1901, she would have turned 97 in August of 1998. After that, she just lived.
Mammie would also give you the shirt off of her back and the last penny in her bank account if you needed it. Mammie always helped my sister and I with our finances. My parents did as much as they could to buy my sister and I the things we wanted and needed. Mammie and Pee Paw filled in the gaps.
I have never seen Mammie get mad either. She has such a sweet demeanor and caring nature. She also doesn't mind telling a story. I could sit and listen to her tell stories for hours on end (even if I have heard them a million times).
Mammie is also very independent. She will be 84 in December and she drove herself everywhere up until a few months ago. And until Monday, she lived by herself.
She has seen alot, watched a lot of her relatives pass before her, witnessed a few wars, been alive for several different presidents, had a few different cars, held a few steady jobs, lived a few places and has never really been anywhere. She love watching the Rangers, the Mavericks and the Cowboys. She loves Suduko and loves the weeks she gets to come and be with Amanda. She enjoys cooking, especally kolaches and she wouldn't miss Sunday morning breakfast for anything. She can play a mean hand of 42 even though she won't admit it.
Monday I received one of the most devistating phone calls of my adult life. My sister called and asked me if I had heard from Uncle Mike. I told her I didn't receive his message and didn't hear my phone (it was in my purse). She proceeded to tell me that Mammie fell and broke her hip, that she was in the hospital and they were going to have to do surgery.
I was on my way to band practice and I couldn't leave practice...so I had to endure two hours of worry, angst, and frustration until I could get out and be there. When I finally made it to the hospital she was there. Laying in that hospital bed not looking like the Mammie I had seen a few weeks prior. That was hard. She was in good spirits though and spoke as if she wasn't in the hospital.
At the time they had her hip surgery scheduled for Tuesday. Tuesday morning I took off work and drove to the hospital. When I arrived she wasn't in the room. My uncle had told me that they took her back to have a CT scan done. They think she had a stroke. When she returned, she did look as thought she had a stroke. She had left side paralysis. Again, not a sight I wanted to see in a million years.
To make an already long story short; she keeps having small strokes and until they figure out the cause of those, they can't fix her hip.
I know people can't live forever, but I was sure Mammie was going to. I am closer to realizing that now that I ever cared to. However, we all loose loved ones....the great thing though? We get to see them again one day.
If you have never met my grandmother, you are missing out...if you have, you are lucky. I hope that she has touched your life just like she has touched mine. And for that...I will be forever greatful and never the same.
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