Lauana Lane

Ask most anyone around here why we have a road named Lauana Lane and they will be able to tell you.  Lauana Lane is named after my grandmother, my Daddy's mother.  Her name was Sarah Lauana Cooper. 

I never had the honor/ pleasure of meeting/ knowing her.  She passed away shortly after Kevin was born.  Momma will tell you that she waited to pass until Kevin was born.  Hung on long enough to welcome one more Cooper grand kid to the world.  You know she had to be so excited when Tami finally made her appearance.  She had 6 grandsons.  Finally a girl!!!!  Cooper girls from my generation are very few..... only 2.  That makes us a little special.

So, I never physically met MawMaw but from all of the stories I have been told from many different sources, I fell as though I am somewhat acquainted with her.  My Grannie talked of MawMaw often.  Grannie thought of MawMaw as her sister.  She referred to MawMaw as being the best person she had ever know.  Grannie lived to be 92, so she had known quite a few people in her day.  What a reunion they must have had when Grannie took her last earthly breath. 

My Momma refers to MawMaw as the greatest Mother-in-law ever possible.  I am pretty sure Aunt Linda and Aunt Shirley share this opinion with Momma.   Momma and Daddy made their home next door to MawMaw and PaPa.  When Mother and Daddy moved there, MawMaw made them agree to leave this one cedar tree standing in the yard.  To this day, that tree is still there.  It has been lit up for Christmas, it has had many balls stuck up in it, and it has served as base for many games of tag.  I have never heard any "Marie Barone" horror stories from Momma. However, I have heard stories of MawMaw laughing at Momma and Daddy out in the yard having a food fight back in their younger days.  Momma also once told me that MawMaw told her that she had to learn to cook something besides fried pork chops and gravy for Daddy.  I know Daddy never complained about that meal at all!!  Mother has never mentioned anything negative about her.....makes me wonder if there was anything?

Johnny and Jimmy have often shared stories of their love for MawMaw......their childhood days spent in and out of her house.   To be honest, it makes me a little jealous.  I never got the chance to run next door to MawMaw's house.  Never had a chance to make those memories, so I must rely on the ones that they share.  Johnny talks about the time he tried to run away from home and he was moving down to MawMaw and Papa's house and she wouldn't let him stay.  She also used to get a kick out of her guineas pecking at him.  I have also been told that if you fought too much around her, she would make you sit and look at each other.  That must have been torture to have to look at someone you wanted to rub in the dirt.  Many memories  were made on her front door steps by the Cooper Cousins  lucky enough to have known her.

I know my Daddy loved her.  His face lit up every time he talked of his Momma.  He called her "Mother" or sometimes "Momma" but mostly "Mother"  when he spoke to me of her. He talked of her cooking, the way she ironed, her chickens...etc.  I wish I could recall every story he had EVER shared with me about her but I can't.  But I can picture his face as he told me.  Daddy's face was a perfect reflection of a son's love for his Momma.  She was taken from him way too early in his life, but I know she watched as he and Momma built and cared for their family.

The days after Daddy passed many people tried to comfort me.  Some did and some got on my nerves.  :)
I will always remember a conversation I had with Uncle Delbert on the front porch of Mother and Daddy's house.  Uncle Delbert told me that Daddy was happy.  When he first said that to me,  those were not comforting words but as he continued to talk through his tears, his point became more clear. He told me Daddy is happy right where he is at.  He is with Momma and knowing that.... was the only way he could accept this. Daddy finally got to see his Momma again.  A day he had been waiting on for a very long time.

Someday..... Daddy will introduce me......