My favorite one is the purple sleeveless one that I have a picture of Lynda in it and she's clapping. Looking through the pictures, we could almost reconstruct all of the different versions through the years. Lynda was not kind to the suits. When she wanted to get them off, she might tear it from the arm or at the zipper. She was like wonder woman. Mother put some much time and effort into making the jumpsuits. They were definitely crafted with love because as much as Nana-Hot (as Lynda called her) sewed for Lynda, my mother did not really enjoy sewing. She would have rather been outside working in the flowers or playing with Lynda. I don't know what we would have done without Mother sewing for Lynda and keeping us in jumpsuits to try to keep Lynda's clothes on.
Mother and I took Lynda everywhere we went. There were no babysitters that we trusted to handle her seizures if one occurred. So, we loaded the car up with whatever we could imagine we might need and headed off shopping or going out to eat. One night after we had been shopping at the mall in Jackson, TN, we stopped at a little cafe on the way home to have a piece of pie. We got Lynda all settled in a highchair, ordered pie for us all and when it was served we saw it had mold on the crust. We decided to leave and go to the next little diner down the road. Well, Lynda was having none of that. We had put out pie and taken it back. She was "Da-ing" us with her mad word and spitting and generally letting us know that she was not happy. We couldn't help but laugh because Lynda loved to eat and she wasn't in the habit of having food placed before her and then scooped up before she could eat it. She said "Da" as we tried to get her out of the cafe and no matter how we tried to explain we'll get you more pie---we had really harshed her mellow! LOL
We did get to the next cafe and got pie for us all. She didn't let that piece out of her sight for a second. Mother came and stayed with us for a week or so in Brewton from time to time and Lynda loved to have her there to play with her and cook some of her favorite foods. That's why she called her Nana-Hot. She cooked and the stove was hot. I was Nana and she made grandmother, Nana Hot. Really ingenious use of word combinations to produce new meanings.
My mother was the perfect grandmother for Lynda. She loved her unconditionally and cheered for every achievement regardless of how small. She hurt when Lynda hurt with seizures and child abuse. She was devastated when Lynda had the stroke but she continued to make Lynda's favorite foods for her after she was able to eat and made special versions of dishes for Lynda without milk products.
One of the greatest things that Mother did for Lynda (and the rest of us) was offering for she and Daddy to come to our house on Christmas Eve and spend the night so we didn't have to wrestle with Lynda from the time Kevin was about two years old. She cooked the holiday meal and catered it to our house to eat it there. She made this huge sacrifice many, many times over the years. It was the greatest gift she could have given us to have holidays in our home with Lynda in her environment and her schedule. It made growing up for Kevin and Kristopher much easier at the holidays where they could enjoy a less stressful situation than if we were trying to travel with the crew.
Lynda has been blessed to have many people who love her and in return she has given us almost 40 years of rich memories.
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