Memorable Moments - Mama Delma makes me so mad!

After my mother passed away, my father was so lost. However, after several months of being so alone, he reconnected with a lady he had dated before meeting my mother. When I first met my future stepmother, she showed me a silver dollar my dad had given her when they “broke up” over 45 years before. She had kept it safe all these years. I was won over right then.

My father married “Mama Delma,” as we lovingly call her, and they had five wonderful years together. They traveled, joked with each other constantly and were such a great match. After my father became ill, Mama Delma stayed with him in isolation at his hospital room in Shreveport. They didn’t leave Dad’s room at all for almost three months and anyone who can be locked up with their spouse for three months ought to move to the front of the line at the Pearly Gates in my opinion!

Once they came home, Mark and I took a weeks vacation and went to help them put their house and yard back in order after being gone for so long. After five days of cleaning, mowing, trimming the yard, moving flowers and plants, we were all exhausted.

Mark went to town to buy groceries, while I showered and put on my favorite white cotton gown in anticipation of spending the afternoon lounging in bed watching TV.

Just as I settled into that soft bed, Mama Delma announced she was going to water the front flowerbeds. I protested that I would do it the next day, she needed her rest and we had done enough for the day. But, nooooo, she wanted to water those plants, right then and there.

Now, I gotta say when I got out of my comfortable bed and went to help her, I was not in the best of moods. I was upset that she had interrupted my one afternoon of laziness on my vacation after the week of work we had just completed. As she began to unroll the water hose, I angrily took hold of it and yanked real hard. Well, in my anger, I pulled the whole water faucet out of the ground and it began to spew like Old Faithful at Yellowstone.

“Oh Lora, what have you done?” she exclaimed.

“I’ll turn it off at the ground” I yelled.

As I tried to stem the stream of spewing water, the handle broke off and there I was, down on my knees in my white gown, sitting on the ground that was now a large puddle of mud, holding the shut-off handle in my tightly clenched fist.

Mama Delma noted Mark would have to fix this when he got home and he was already tired, but it had to be done. I’ll just say here, I agreed.

“Come in and clean off” Mama Delma cried.

“I can’t” I yelled, “There’s no water. I’ll just sit out here and wait for Mark. You go back inside.”

She noted the angry look on my face and decided that might be a good idea.

So there I sat, mad that my afternoon had been ruined, mad that I had been so stupid as to bring this on myself and just overall mad at the world.

So, I did the next best thing. I attacked the flower garden in the front yard, pulling weeds left and right. I promise I had that 30-foot garden free of weeds in about 10 minutes.

Soon after, Mark came home and noting the look on my face, fixed the water line without ever saying a word. (I’ve told you guys, my husband is a very smart and observant man.) I finally went inside to bathe and try to enjoy what was left of the day.

After I calmed down, I joined Mama Delma, Dad and Mark in the living room where everyone was eerily silent.

Finally, Mama Delma said, “Well, if I want the garden weeded I know what to do. Just make Lora mad and bam, it’s done!”

I couldn’t help but laugh, but now from time to time, Mama Delma still calls and will say, “You know my garden needs weeding. Can you come down and let me make you mad?”