REst IN PoWEr GrandMa Leatha BrITto
SUNRise 7/4/1928 - SUNSet 8/3/2016
On Weds. August 3, 2016 @ 9:55 AM Eastern TiME My Last LivIN Biological GrandPaREnt, Leatha BrITto, WEnt HoME...THE BEst Way I Spent THE HEll-A-Day Known As THE 4th Of July This Year Was MakIN An Impromptu 13 Hr 800 Plus Mile Drive From MEmphis To SagINaw, MI To VisIT My Very Sick Paternal GrandmoTHEr Whose LIFe Affirmation Day Is Also This Nation's LIFe Affirmation Day...SHE Made IT To 88 Such Celebrations Which Tells You A Lot About THE TenacITy & Soulful LIFe Force Of This BE-YOU-TOO-FULL Hue-Man BEINg…IT Was A True Last MINute GaMEtiME Decision But My Conscience Was TellINg ME I Needed To BE THERE To See HER...I Mos Def Sensed THE Fierce Urgency Of Now... BEcause I Arrived Late IN THE EvenINg I Missed THE TradITional Family GaTHErINg For HEr LIFe Affirmation Day Celebration (From My UNderstandINg IT Was A Very SomBEr Affair ConsiderINg THE SITuation…
However, I Was Able To VisIT My GrandMa Afterhours IN THE HospITal (St. Mary’s), THE SaME HospITtal WHERE HEr 1st Husband, Civil Rights Leader HErBErt HErd Sr., My Paternal GrandfaTHEr, Was Pronounced Dead After A Freakish Work 'Accident' SoME 46 Years Prior @ THE Age Of 44...SHE Was Very Surprised IN A Very Pleasant Way To See ME (HEr Eyes Got Big As A Child's LookIN @ THEir PREsents On Christmas) & As WE BEgan TalkIN, As IF On Que, THE CITy's Popular Annual 4th Of July FiREworks Display Start GoIN Off IN THE BackgroUNd...Important ThINgs WERE ShaREd DurIN Our MEetINg Of THE MINds & THEMEs Such As Forgiveness, Love Of Self & REconciliation Kept PoppIN Up & Seasoned Our Convo As WEll...I Must AdmIT I Was Not Use To SeeIN My GrandmoTHEr So Frail & Vulnerable But I Also Must AdmIT That THEir Was A SaINtly Glow & BEauty That Emanated From HEr Even As SHE Laid IN HEr BEd, What’s MOOR HEr Appearance, SHE Was Bald & Bloated From HEr Body’s INabilITty To Get Rid Of Fluids Due To HEr Kidneys ShuttIN Down, Made HEr Look Like An AnoINted Holy FiguRE Almost Buddha Like…IN THE SacREd Hour That I Spent WITh HEr SHE Was DispensIN THE Knowledge & THE Wisdom As IF SHE Was Just HandINg Out Candy on HalloWEen…HEr Appearance REmINded ME Eerily Of My Maternal GrandmoTHEr’s Appearance, THE BE-YOU-TOO-FULL Hattie Mae Taylor, Who Succumbed To BREast Cancer Complications IN May 1998…
My GrandmoTHEr Was A True Fighter WITh A GREat AttITude About LIFe, Even IN HEr FINal Days, WITh An INdefatigable Sense Of Humor...One Of My Fondest Memories Of My GrandmoTHEr Was WHEn SHE Took My BE-YOU-TOO-FULL CousIN Domonique Smith & I To Pizza Hut WHEn I Was 11 Years Old While I Was VisITINg SagINaw For THE SumMEr…SHE Let ME Order A Large MEatLover’s Pizza & AlloWEd ME To Eat IT By Myself…SHE Made A BEt That I Couldn’t Eat IT All By Myself…SHE Was Truly Amazed & EntertaINed At My AbilITy Even THEn To Put IT Away IN One Session…I Did Not Have THE Chance Or Privilege IN My Childhood To Grow Up CelebratIN HEr LiIFe Affirmation Days, WEddINg Anniversaries (SHE Was Married To HEr 2nd Husband Neville Britto Aka GrandPa BrITto For Almost 42 Years), ThanksgivINgs & Christmas WITh My GrandmoTHEr But I Have Made A Choice THEse Past 4 Years To BE PREsent @ TiMEs To Get To KNow HEr As Well As ME, Myself & I BEtter...
My Grandma Was Married 62 Years Out Of 88 Years Of HEr Existence…SHE Was Married To My Biological GrandfaTHEr For 20 Years But SHE Was Married To GrandPa BrITto For What Would Have Been 42 Years On Nov. 22, 2016…For THEir 40th WEddINg Anniversary I CREated A Work Of Art EntITled "THE Odd Couple Aka Strange Love: THE BrITtos"…Fact Is Stranger Than Fiction & Love Knows NO Boundaries Because How Else Would You ExplaIN An INdian Educator From THE CoUNtry Of INdia MarryINg An African AMErican Widow WITh 7 ChildREn??? Sounds Like THE MakIN Of A GREat Movie Or Successful TV SITcom…MOOR 2 CoMe… #R2c2h2Says
