Late Night With George Miss Netties White Dress The fall leaves crackled under our feet, as we tried to sneak down Madiosn street with our trick or treat bags. Our gang had a plan on how to get the best of the best pickings that were to be had. Some people were famous for giving great treats, and some were just mean people who were stingy, and could not wait for you to leave. The big houses were the scariest, and this one old lady always made these fabulous caramel apples, and if you did not get there early, you missed out. There were six of us running in the pack and it was cold that night. As we came to this huge home with the white columns, and the old iron gate we were a bit tense. As we opened the gate it squeaked, and we all looked at each other, but got our gumption back up and headed on up the stairs to the huge beveled glass door. We had made it. Looking intio the home, you could see the apples on a silver tray just inside the door. They looked fabulous, Huge, with a stick right through their heart , and caramel drooling all down the sides. Now it was time to ring the doorbell. We all looked at eachother, and well, it was me who had to do the dirty work. We waited, and finally we heard footsteps coming down the staircase. It was a massive staircase, and when she made the turn, i know exactly who she was. I had seen her in church, and she sat a couple of rows behind us. My grandmother always said, that she wished she could get in tune, or just move her lips to the songs, Yes, that was her. She was wearing a herringbone suit, and had this gray short wavy hair, and a powdered face, and these red lips. As she decended the staircase, she seemed to dance her way down, and when she arrrived at the door, she had already picked up the tray of apples, and then looked at us, and said, arnt you guys a bit old to be doing this, especially you, McNeill. I was maybe ten, but now I knew why my grandmother did not really like her. She finally gave in, and gave us the remaining apples, and slammed the door, and turned out the lights, and we we bolted. Later in the spring of the next year, I had noticed that my dog Duchess, a full bread Collie was acting strange. I asked mom what she thought, and mom said that she had forgotten to take her to the kennel because she was in the heat. and sure enough, sometime later, Duchess went missing. I searched and searched all over town for her, and about the third day, i was heading back home late in the evening, and as I looked to my left, I saw this old lady, who was on the ground, and trying to reach something under the servants steps at the back of the house. Thinking that the lady had fallen, I quickly went over to her, and said, are you alright. The lady turned around and looked at me, and said, Yes George, I am fine. I have been up all night trying to help your dog deliver her puppies. I had no idea of how she knew me, but when I saw Duchess, I was overjoyed. I helped the lady up, and saw her inside her home. She was now my new best friend, and as I got to know her, I finally figured out that she lived in the back quarters of the big home we had been trick or treating at. She seemed very poor, and all alone. Her little place had the basics, and a photograph beside the bed. She had a old coal fireplace to keep her warm, and she sat in a rocking chair with a tiny table beside it, with an old Bible with page markers all inside it. She loved to take her ancient iron poker, and poke the coals because they released more heat. She told me she loved to look at it. It seems like I stayed there for weeks, and talked to her. Everyday after school, I would go over and bring the coal in for her, and just visit for a while. I went home one day and told our cook about this lady, and so she made her a big plate of collards, and dumplings, and told me to take this to her. She was thrilled. Miss Nettie had been working on this dress that was on a dress form. She told me that as she could afford the fabric, she would add to it. She was a tiny little lady, and I was thinking that it wasnt going to take much fabric to finish it. She told me not to worry, because she had a special place she was going to, and she wanted to wear this just like it was a new dress that day. I finally went home and asked mom who this lady was, and mom said that she was the younger sister of the lady who lived in the front house on Madison street. She had run away from home when she was young, and had lived a horrible life, and as much as her sister detested her, she allowed her to live in the back quarters of the home. I was like wow, how mean of that old bag up font in the house. Mom said that she was a good woman, and that she had met a soldier whom she had fallen in love with, and had just left her family, and moved away with him. He was killed in the war, and they had never married, and that she was not accepted in society because she never married him. I was so mad, and I thought, damn, give the lady a break. Not to mention that she was old, and how much more does one have to pay to be happy? Time went on, and I saw her several more times, and she had finally finished that dress she was making. On in the summer, I was walking downtown and I saw the ambulance at the home, and they were carring a body out of the home. It was Miss Nettie, she had passed. I ran back home, and told mom, and mom said that she had the cancer, and she had not been doing well for a long time. I felt empty, and now knew what loss was, and I will never forget it. The wake was planned for the next evening, and mom went to it, and when she came home, mom was talking on the phone to a lady freind of hers, and she said, did you see that beautiful white dress Nettie was wearing, and I knew then that Miss Nettie was gonna wear it home, and heaven was where she had planned to wear it. Mom said that she was burried with a photograph of her boyfriend, and mom thought it was really sweet for her to want to take him with her. Mom also said that she was actually a good woman, and even though she had made mistakes, she knew that she would see her God. I will always remember Miss Nettie, because she helped my dog. She also lived a life being in love, even if that love did not work out. She was true to herself, and although she lived her final days in poverty, she was so rich in every other way. I will always value love above all other things, and I will never forget the effort she made to realize that what we do in this life, is so megar to what we will see in the other. George .
Posted on: Wed, 06 Nov 2013 22:30:24 +0000