THE SISTA CHAINS

There are two things that my Mumsie always wore proudly

to show the world she was the mother of 7.

One was her Mothers ring, a birthstone for each child.

The other was a charm bracelet that had many charms

but the important ones to her were the ones that

announced her children's names and birth dates.

I am not sure who gave her the bracelet maybe

one of the older siblings can help here.

Before Mumsie's mind was taken by dementia,

in a time that I called her just Momma,

she put much thought into birthday and Christmas presents.

When C turned 40 the sisters were at my house when Mom

presented her with her charm on a beautiful gold chain.

How thoughtful, to think that my Mother, took

apart one of her prized possessions, to give to us.

We were all so excited because we knew as each of

our birthdays came we would also be presented

with the same gift. Mumsie always made sure

to be fair and give us all the same thing.

We waited anxiously for each of our charms.

Because C's birthday is in February and mines is in August,

I had to wait a few months.

I couldn't wait, I had played with these charms attached

to her wrist many times when bored in church as a little girl.

She was observant enough to know that the two boys

would not want a chain so she made them keychains with theirs.

I pray that one of Larry's sons has his...

Eventually we all got our chains and began to call them the

SISTA CHAINS

Poor Taunt Mone lost hers but the rest of us try and always

wear it when we spend time together.

Sometimes we don't remind each other, just to see if

everyone will remember when we spend time.

Sometimes we remind each other to wear them.

For Mumsie's birthday, if you were at the party,

you may have noticed them around all the sista's necks

except for Taunt Mone...

This chain bonds us, it is a reminder of how important

we are to each other.

Somehow we have to find one for Taunt Mone...

However she will always be bonded to us siblings

just as the two brothers are.

We, as a family, has been blessed

with the very best Mumsie ever!