Rememberance

Today marks the one year anniversary of the passing of my dearly departed maternal grandmother, Thelma Lee Lockhart (79). Those who knew her well called her "Mama Angel" or "Granny". She was called home last year to be with the Savior and today I remember the woman who nurtured me from the time I was knee-high to a grasshopper until that fateful Sunday morning, July 13, 2008.

Born in fall of 1928, at a time too distant for many of my young readers to fathom, an infant Thelma would bore the experience of growing up in America's most defining times as a country starting with the Great Depression era. Approximately a month before her first birthday October 29, 1929, "Black Tuesday", would arrive and with it bring about the worst economic down turn that this country has seen.

In just one day sixteen million shares were traded--a record--and thirty billion dollars vanished into thin air. (sound familiar) Westinghouse lost two thirds of its September value. DuPont dropped seventy points. The "Era of Get Rich Quick" was over. America's first millionaire athlete, Jack Dempsey, lost a eye-popping $3 million.



By the time she eclipsed her first decade, the world would change again as World War II began in Europe in 1939.











Through her teen years she would also have to endure the painful segregation of the Jim Crow south and when race relations reached it's fervor in the 1960's, she would catch hold and make her own mark in the new America of the 1970's.
 

















She attended the oldest high school in the Dallas Independent School District, Crozier Technical High School, obtained her grade equivalency and as a tribute to her legacy, your writer enrolled and graduated from the same school at 2218 Bryan St. Dallas, Texas, many years later. The historic school was named Business Management Center in the mid-70s, and became an institutional connection to the business and technology world of the present.

She would later marry my maternal grandfather, Mayfield Lockhart, Sr. Raising four boys and two daughters in the rough and tough West Dallas Housing Projects a*k*a "The Jets", was seldom easy and always hard. Despite the many heartaches and painful memories she would endure, with the grace of God,  she nurtured a family and a neighborhood.

From her front porch-step to the streets to churches to hospitals to prisons near and far, she would share her wisdom to any and all that would venture past her door or seek her impeccable counsel. All the while she maintained an unyielding force-field of protection around my mother and her siblings.

She also carefully molded each of her grand children in so many ways. Last year at our darkest moment we sat in her living room and recalled meeting over to her house on Sunday evenings which our family tradition. Sometimes there were laughs and others there was a tear or two but there was always the presence of God near. She provided me with my foundations in faithful service, community activism and love for family.


Though she is gone away from this physical place her love continues to shine through each and everyone of us and extends to our friends and family. You see my Mama Angel never met a stranger.

Her home was a rest haven for all that needed refuge, be it just for a few nights or weeks or months at a time, she her arms were always opened.

Last month as the anniversary of her passing neared, her memory ignited inside my mind and while driving home from work one day I aimlessly twirled a wrinkled and weathered leaf I'd been saving from one of the carnations that laced her casket. I wasn't sure of the moment but felt it necessary to capture.


I know she is sitting comfortably in heaven and I hope when she looks down she finds my memory of her still in tact. There is still so much that I could share but for now I'm just going to leave it at that.

Take care of yourself and love your loved ones today and everyday that you have them because life is not permanent nor guaranteed.

Rest In Peace ~ Granny "Mama Angel" Lockhart