Most of you don't know this lady. Her name is Ethel Mae. I met her, oh.... five or so years ago on the phone. She was a faithful caller to Dutton Funeral Home in Electra. When I say faithful, I mean, she called EVERY day to see if we were busy and really just wanted to talk. Her conversation was the same everyday. She would ask if we were busy, ask how "Ole Larry" was doing and if he was still "Orn'ry", after which, she would talk about her "allerngies" and "Larngitis." She never could get over those "diseases."Well, a couple of years ago, her brother, who had taken care of her passed away.... and since her only surviving relative wouldn't claim her because she was different from her, my dad showed his loving side once again. He took her in, and made certain she was taken care of. He went through all sorts of paperwork to become her guardian and finally convinced her to move to Iowa Park so that she would be closer to her new family and could be taken care of properly. This picture was taken last Thanksgiving when she joined our family in celebration. I'll never forget the big ole smile on her face and her hugs for everybody that day. She certainly had a way to let you know she loved you. She'd "give you a good squeezin" and BEAT your stomach until you felt as if you were going to throw up!
Sunday morning, Ethel Mae went to breakfast with all of her friends at the nursing home. She had breakfast, went back to her room and went on to her heavenly home, never making it to her usual Sunday morning church service there at the home.
I was told she passed away peacefully and I believe content, satisfied with her friends who accepted her for how she was. She no longer will be treated unkind by people who think they are better than her. She no longer has to have that pesky brace on her leg that always broke, and I can't help but think that she died knowing that a "inner" mountain of a man who has a huge heart took her in as his own, accepting her for who she was and giving her the family she had possibly always dreamed of having and him being a hero in her eyes.
Thank you Ethel Mae for being a part of our family and thank you Daddy for showing me, once again, how to love above and beyond what is "required" of you. You truly are a hero in my eyes.
-approved by Farley Wells, CMDI.
9 comments:
Wow! That's all I can say. The Dutton family never ceases to amaze me.
Lynn
What a beautiful tribute to Ethel Mae and to your dad,
Linda
This is a great post. I, like Lynn, haven't known Ethel Mae as long as most of the family, but she was an incredible person. At times I thought I would suffocate because she squeezed so hard when she hugged me I couldn't breathe! Last Valentine's Day the rest of the family was gone and Daddy (with his big heart) wanted Ethel Mae to have some candy. Her favorite was peppermints which was her "medicine" for her allengies and larngitis. LOL So I took her a big bag of peppermints which I received several "good squeezins" for. It is beyond me how people including ones own family can turn their back on such a loving person. Daddy showed his big heart today again when he filled her casket with stuffed animals and cried as he shut the lid. Ethel Mae will be missed at Thanksgiving this year.
I wonder who was blessed more...Ethel Mae, receiving a family that loved her, or your family for receiving so much joy and love from her?
You Duttons really know where and what it is all about. Thanks for sharing your love and heart with us all.
I am in tears just reading and writing this.
Sure makes life good knowing y'all are a part of my family too!!
This is such a wonderful post! Thank you so much for sharing it with us, and Kassie's comment also was so sweet! Ya'll are a wonderful family.
Lynn, Thanks for the "tribute" to Ethel Mae! I have known Ethel Mae since I can remember...Oh, maybe 3 years old, anyway, I got to know her brother, James, too. They were a pair! I remember the phone calls I would get from her everyday when I was at the funeral home in Electra. Always the same thing.."Well, what's going on?" or "You got any funerals coming up?" or (since she lived by the cememtery and could see them digging a grave) "Who ya burin' now?". I remember the day I went shopping to buy here clothes for the nursing home and when we were at her house and she was trying them on, she told me she never had "new" clothes before and when she put on the bath robe, she said "This is so soft and pretty...Momma had one and I never did, I always wanted a house coat". Lynn, do you remember the Christmas when daddy had us deliver the fruit baskets to all the ministers and he had an extra one just for James and Ethel Mae? You would have thought that was a million bucks we had given them! I still have and will forever have the Valentine cards she gave me!
Thanks for this post Ethel Mae was truly one of a kind! I'm thankful she was part of our family and that Daddy took her in!!!
I guess the one thing all of ya'll remember about Ethel Mae and me is she and James called me "Jo-Jo". LOL!
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