My Mother’s Voice- Aunt Jewel Goforth died in her sleep at my house in March of 2001. My Mother and I for the next six years would every now and then think we heard Aunt Jewel call our names. It might be either one of us or a couple of times both of us. It sounded just like the times when she would want some water or an over the counter medication. She had a lamp on a nightstand by her bed and many times I found it turned on with Mom saying she had not been in the room or anyone been there that day. I would write it off to maybe Mom was becoming forgetful. There was also an am-fm radio with a clock on same stand. It would come on by itself and I would think a power surge had triggered the battery backup. Funny thing there was no battery in the radio. Things like this would go on for the next 5 years. Mom would claim she heard her at night and their rooms were on the opposite sides of the hall about 7 feet apart. I never did think too much about this as Mother was becoming more ill and immobile. She died in October of 2006. After that night of her death, my little dog, Lady, who had slept for years in an old Lazyboy, started to sleep in another chair half between Mom’s room and mine. I thought this a bit strange but the dog loved my Mom and had seen both ladies carried out of the home never to return. Now she started to arise in the night and go and look into Mom’s room. She would take playing runs and all at once stop and peer into the room and shake her tail. I often thought she was looking or remembering Mother. At night I often heard the name Joe called by disembodied voices which sounded like one or both the women. I felt that this was due to the fact that I had been under stress as a caregiver for so long as well as having buried so many relatives in a short time. I thought it might be time for a rest. We had always gone to the Smokies for vacation and talked about how peaceful it was as it was and closer to God. Mom as she got older would always say when we left that this might have been her last trip. I would tell her not to think like that and promised her I would always take her there. Now I wondered since this place had been so special to us all in my childhood and my Mother in her latter days, if I could ever go back. The emotions might be way too much- too high. I decided that I must find out so in 2008’s Spring I went back. I have written about this before. I was a little uptight and sad but on the third day I drove US 441 across the mountain from Gatlinburg to Cherokee. As I approached Newfound Gap, I took a left without thinking and drove toward Clingman’s Dome. As I pulled into the parking lot and stopped, I started to cry. I was thinking about retiring as I loved to teach but had gotten so disgruntled with the crooked politics I saw growing in education, my knee was worsening, and I felt a general malaise about myself. Suddenly, in my mind I swear I heard my mother telling me that she was okay. She told me that I had much to go through and it would be hard sometimes but I would be okay as well. I felt better immediately and the rest of my trip was like old times. Shortly after I returned home in the middle of the night, I hear the intercom system I had hooked up in my mom’s room crackle and her call my name. I awoke and felt I was dreaming. No I was not it did it again. I had not disconnected it and so I investigated. Nothing had been done to her room but closing the door. I checked the system and found her unit was unplugged. I swiftly disconnected both units and hi8d them in my closet. I now knew for sure I was watched over and from time to time I would get a little sign that all would be all right. Thanks Mom! I love you and always will. We will meet again. Tell all I said, Hello!”
Posted on: Tue, 02 Jul 2013 19:09:34 +0000
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