Miss Sally and Mother's Day

May 12, 1965

Jocie Brooke reporting from Holly County, Kentucky. Last week I was not too happy about Mother's Day. I don't really mind that my mother has never been a mother to me. If it had been up to her, she probably would have taken me in a basket and left me on some stranger's doorstep and never looked back with regret one time. 


But Dad wouldn't let her do that. He took on being my daddy and mama both. So all that just makes Mother's Day a little awkward. For other people more than me. They say Happy Mother's Day and then realize I don't have a mother to be happy about and they want to grab the words out of the air and stuff them back in their mouths. 

Anyway, that's why I didn't want to go to church, but Dad said I couldn't stay home. He needed me to pass out the flowers to all the mothers at church. And to Miss Sally and Aunt Love too.    

Miss Sally might feel about Mother's Day sort of the way I do because she never married or had any kids of her own. But Dad tells her she sort of mothers the whole church so that makes her the best kind of mother. One who loves people whether they're blood kin or not. 

And just look how happy Miss Sally was on Sunday when we gave the flower to Mrs. Williamson for being the oldest mother at church on Sunday. She's nearly ninety-two and always smiling without worrying about some of her teeth being gone. So everybody was happy she got the biggest geranium, but Miss Sally was happiest of all. She was the one who fixed up the flowers in pretty wrapping paper for all the mothers. I don't know what we'd do at church without Miss Sally.

I was glad it was our turn to go to Miss Sally's house for lunch on Sunday. She makes the best yeast rolls in the county and she never minds a bit if I pass up the green beans to save room for an extra roll or two. She just winks and passes me the butter while telling Aunt Love that I'll eat an extra portion of green beans next week. 

Aunt Love is about ten years older than Miss Sally, but they get along real good. Maybe because Aunt Love never married either. They like to sit in Miss Sally's living room and talk about things at church and how much everything has changed since they were girls. Aunt Love can still remember all that back when stuff. She just can't remember if she turned the stove on to cook something or not. 

Miss Sally doesn't have any memory problems. She's just the best person and so I made her a special card to celebrate her being so nice. Funny thing is, several of the other kids at church made her cards too. And Cassidy, you remember Cassidy, Noah's little sister, she sat by her in church. Miss Sally says she's blessed to have us loving her, but we're the ones blessed to have her loving us. 

Have you ever known somebody like Miss Sally in your church?    

Oh, and remember, you can still get that first Hollyhill book, Scent of Lilacs free on your e-readers - whatever that is.