On Thursday night, Nanna, Penny, Sally, Janie and I sat in the den, drank wine and talked until late. We were intermittently sharing stories about Momma. Laughing and crying. At one point in the evening, Penny got up and headed out of the room. She came back carrying a red book. She sat it down on a table and didn't say anything about it.
About an hour or two went by, and we were in the middle of a story when out of the blue I asked Penny if she knew the name of Momma's "beach boyfriend." I explained that Momma told me about these two boys down in Pensacola who were friends, and that she and Penny spent time hanging out with them when they went down for vacation. Momma always went on and on about this boy and how he was one of her young loves. In the past couple years, Momma had even mentioned trying to track him down and see how he turned out. I just couldn't remember his name.
When I asked this, Penny paused and had this look of disbelief on her face. She picked up the red book, and told me to flip through it. The book contained an old stamp collection, so I wasn't sure what I was looking for..and then the page stopped. Sitting there was a letter post marked December 2, 1964. It was addressed to Peggy Sanders and was from Jimmy Glasscock. Her beach boyfriend. We all had goosebumps and felt Momma in the room. It was like Momma was leading us to a story that she wanted us all to share:)
Penny said she was sitting in a chair in Nanna's house some time after Momma's funeral and picked up the red book. And the letter fell out. And she wanted to show it to us girls. It is crazy how intense you can feel someone once they are gone. I felt Momma in that room with us. Guiding our conversation. And I am glad she did because that letter opened the door to Penny sharing a lot of wonderful and vivid memories of Momma and them when they were young.
