So we went down to the beach this weekend so we could spend some time with my oldest daughter, my son in law, 15 year old granddaughter and 9 year old twin grandsons. The beach was surprisingly nice on Friday and Saturday, and Saturday was a great day at the beach with the family. We cooked a nice Jambalaya Saturday night and exchanged gifts. It was a happy time. I was overcome with emotion during our prayer.

Sunday morning I was enjoying my coffee and looking forward to a relaxing day of reading and just enjoying my wife's company and my dad called which is not unusual. A lot of times he calls and comes over for coffee on the weekends and I though this was no different and he had just forgot we were down at the beach. It was 0738 in the morning.

The first thing he said was, "Are you sitting down." "Yes." Dad has never been one to choose his words carefully, he simply said, "Your mother is dead." I was in shock.

He said he got up Sunday morning and when he went into check on her and she wouldn't wake up. She was gone. He called 911, but apparently she had been passed since about 0300 - 0400.

We had just taken them on a nice vacation in the mountains last month and she was great. As beautiful as ever, we even went on a hike in the woods and walked all around Bryson City together. Irish Jr. saw her shopping in TJMaxx on Saturday where he hugged his grandmother and chatted with her for a few minutes, knowing she would be at the house with us for New Years Day.

Sara Jo was her name and was a beautiful as any Hollywood starlet when she was younger and was still a regal lady at 80. She was the second youngest of 10 children growing up on a farm in rural Sylacuga, AL. She never had much, but they never did without either. Pawpaw had a big farm and the whole family worked hard. One year she got a doll for Christmas, but she had to share it with her two younger twin sisters. They lived in a 2 bedroom house with one bathroom. Pawpaw later added another bedroom. They had no air conditioner and had a wood fireplace for heat.

One evening she was out with some of her friends. She was 17. They were at a roadhouse just across the Cahaba River and the Jefferson county line. A swinging place at the time. There was music and a big dance floor. Daddy walked in with his cousin Clyde. They were in one of Daddy's hot rods and out doing what teenage boys in the 50's did. Honky Tonkin' and hot roddin'. He looked across the juke joint and saw my mom standing out like I diamond in the smoky bar. He turned to Clyde, pointed Momma out and said, "You see her? I'm going to marry that girl. And so it was for 63 years...

Mom said that Dad used to drive from Cahaba Heights to Sylacuga to pick her up for dates. He would be in his '53 Corvette, but mom wouldn't go on a date with him alone, so she would bring her best friend along and one of them would have to ride on the transmission hump.

Mom went to beauty school and worked up until the day before she died. She had customers who loved her and had been coming to her for years. She had at least one customer who has had a standing appointment with Mom for over 40 years. Every week for over 40 years. Imagine that.

One of my earliest and clearest memories of her was when I was in the 2nd grade in Cahaba Heights Elementary. Mom didn't come to school often, because she worked every day. But this day she came to school to volunteer at the library and to eat lunch with me. I remember going to the library to get her and seeing her dressed in a yellow cashmere sweater and a white skirt. I thought, "My mom is Marilyn Monroe." I was the proudest kid in school at lunch that day.

We will all miss you Mom. You were one of the last of a breed of regal Southern Ladies.

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Sorry to hear that man prayers sent. Mother's are special, and i'm a big mama's boy...

God bless her and prayers to your family

Sorry for your loss....my prayers for your comfort and strength..

I’m so sorry for your loss. That is a wonderful description you gave of your mother. I felt like I knew a wonderful lady after reading.

I don't really need any prayers. I'm a tough old bastard. Y'all pray for my Dad. I don't think it has fully sunk in yet. And mostly y'all pray for my oldest daughter. The middle one in the picture. She lost her mom when she was just a little girl and my mom has been her "mother" ever since. She was inconsolable yesterday. She is really taking it hard.

So sorry to hear this. Prayers for your family.

Sorry for your loss Irish.

Sorry for your loss. She looks very proud in that picture.


I dread the day I get that call.

That picture from left to right is:

My mother, my daughter and my granddaughter.

May God Bless all of ya'll.

Praying for y'all.

Sorry for your loss Irishguy and God bless all of your family.A man can love a lot of things during his time on this earth,but there is nothing like the feelings in his heart for his mama.May the Lord comfort y'all during the days ahead

Thank you for sharing the stories about your mom and I’m sorry for your loss!

Sorry for your loss.

Prayers for your entire family.

Sorry for your loss, praying for your family

Sorry for your loss. Thoughts are with you and your family.

Sorry for your loss.

Beautiful lady, it’s something we know we’ll have to face one day but that doesn’t make it any easier. So sorry for your lose