Practicing What You Preach. Vanessa Davis Griggs

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      —Galatians 6:2

      Gayle Cane, Angela’s cousin from Asheville, North Carolina, arrived on Tuesday evening the week of the wedding. She had apparently decided to come early enough to help out wherever she could. She was staying at the designated hotel. Seeing it was needed, I took off the rest of the week starting Wednesday. To help out Angela, who was becoming more and more stressed as Saturday drew closer, I picked Gayle up from her hotel on my way to Angela’s apartment that morning.

      Gayle told me she had been a home care nurse for an elderly woman for the past three and a half years. From what I gathered, Angela and this second cousin weren’t all that close, but Gayle needed to talk to Angela before everyone else arrived in town.

      With so much to do and so little time to do it, I suppose that’s why I was around to hear most of their conversation. In and out of the room, working in my space away from Angela and Gayle as they feverishly arranged the names of those who had RSVP’d for the reception on the seating chart, I guess they must have forgotten I was there as their conversation grew deeper and more intense. I could have told Gayle that this really wasn’t a great time for talks, especially not ones rooted in family secrets.

      Gayle was bringing Angela up to speed on things that had happened after Angela left Asheville four years ago.

      “After Grandmother—well, your great-grandmother—died, you decided to leave and come to Birmingham to live,” the tall and rather slender Gayle said. “You know I bought her house to keep down all that confusion and arguing about who should inherit the house, since Grandmother didn’t have a will.”

      “I know, and I appreciate you for stepping in and doing that. It’s amazing how people, family folks, start acting all crazy after a relative dies and has something everybody thinks they’re entitled to when they’re gone. I couldn’t believe how everybody started fussing and fighting after Great-granny died. I’m sure she never thought they would act in such a way.”

      “I know. That’s why I just offered to buy the house outright at fair market price and let them divide up the money. Anyway, shortly after that, I took a job working for this woman named Sarah Fleming.”

      “Sarah Fleming? You mean, the Sarah Fleming?” Angela asked.

      “You knew her?”

      Angela stopped writing and turned her full attention to Gayle. “Not personally, but I kind of know the story surrounding her. I was there at the beginning of things, when she first came back to Asheville. I was the one who took Johnnie Mae Landris to the house to meet Montgomery Powell the Second that first time she went to see him and to try and see Sarah after she moved back to Asheville. I never got to meet Sarah Fleming. So how did you end up working as a nurse for her?”

      “Grandmother and I had this long talk. Do you remember when I came to visit her for two weeks right before she died?”

      Angela thought, then nodded. “Yeah.”

      “Well, she shared a lot of things with me, one of those being things about Sarah Fleming. Grandmother asked me to do her a favor. She said if there was ever a time I could do anything to help Sarah Fleming, to please do it, for her. So when I learned Sarah was looking for an in-home nurse, I applied for the position and got it.”

      Angela started smiling. “So how is she to work for? I know their family was really rich.” Angela had put down her pen, and all I could think about was how much she wasn’t getting done. We had too much to do for this. And I wanted to make it to Bible study tonight.

      Gayle smiled. “Sarah Fleming died a few months ago. But she was a remarkable woman. And I’m not just saying that to be polite, either. She was remarkable. Her mind was so sharp. She had a wonderful spirit, and she was loving and giving, not just to her family, but to people like me.” Gayle pressed her hand against her chest as she spoke.

      “So where are you working now?” Angela asked, her eyes fixed on Gayle.

      “I’m not working anywhere right now. I didn’t take off very much when I was working for Miss Fleming.” Gayle nodded. “That’s what I called her—old habits are hard to break. So I absolutely needed some time off to recuperate. She paid me for the time I never got to take, and on top of that, she left me money in her will, quite a bit, considering I wasn’t expecting anything. She was more than generous in what she paid for my services, more than generous. So I’m sitting pretty as I decide what I want to do next.”

      Angela put the palms of her hands together and brought her fingers up to her bottom lip. “That has to be a great feeling. Knowing you don’t have to worry about money while you take your time to decide what you want to do next.”

      When Angela brought her hands down, Gayle reached over and quickly squeezed one of them. “It really is. Besides giving me time to rest up, I can spend some time with family without having to worry about anything. I can visit my two adult children. They’re both out of college with great jobs now. My daughter, Sherrie, lives in California; my son, Patrick, in Chicago, is interested in politics. I’m healthy and blessed. Life is good.”

      “I, for one, am glad you’re here with me.” Angela picked up the printout again as she began to glance between the paper and Gayle. “You know our family a lot better than I do these days. Your helping me make sure that everybody ends up sitting in the right place at the reception is really a blessing to me. I definitely don’t want to start a family feud at my reception just because I grouped folks at the wrong table. I want this to be a joyous time for everyone. No family drama.”

      Gayle looked as though she wanted to say something but she wasn’t quite sure how to bring it up. Angela must have picked up on it as well. She put the paper down on the coffee table. “Gayle, what’s wrong? Is there something else on your mind?”

      “I was just thinking about Grandmother and something else she asked me to do. I thought that what I’m about to say was going to be a lot easier than it’s turning out to be.”

      “What is it? Tell me,” Angela said.

      Gayle scooted forward. “It’s about your grandmother.”

      “My grandmother? Great-granny talked to you about my grandmother?” Angela had a puzzled look on her face. I felt wrong for being there, so I stood up and tried to find a reason to leave and give them some privacy. Angela looked over at me and shook her head as though she knew I was trying to exit. For whatever reason, she was asking me not to go. Maybe she did understand how much work we had to do and how far behind this was making us. I sat back down and continued with what I was doing. “What did Great-granny say to you about my grandmother?” she asked Gayle.

      Gayle took a deep breath and released it. It was as though she knew what she was about to say would be extremely difficult both to say and to hear.

      “Grandmother asked me to see if I could find your grandmother, her daughter, if I ever got the chance. She told me her name. It’s Arletha.”

      “She said her name?” Angela asked. “No one in our family ever said her name. Not as long as I’ve been on this earth. It was as though she never existed. No one spoke of her; no one had ever even told me her name. So my grandmother’s name is Arletha?”

      “Yes, Arletha Williams would have been her birth name.”

      “Did Great-granny tell you where she is? Was she in contact with her? After my mother died and Great-granny took guardianship СКАЧАТЬ