Cheers to an elegant lady

This wonderful lady took a piece of my heart with her when she left us last week. She’s been part of my life since she and my mother got Katherine and me together as two-year-old little girls in smocked dresses and red Mary Janes.

It wasn’t until the past couple of years that I felt like I could call her anything other than “Mrs. DuBose” -  we finally settled on “Big Katherine” a few years ago. My growing up years were shaped by her grace, kindness and elegance. 

When I was too scared to spend the night out as a little girl, she made sure I felt comfortable and safe in their house. When I stayed with her family at the lake, she always remembered I couldn’t stand tomatoes. When I got married, she hosted my bridesmaid lunch. My mother has always said that she knew when she sent me to the DuBose’s house to play, her rules were our rules.

In more recent years, with her living in the same Still Hopes building as my parents, I loved seeing her deftly navigate around the campus on her motorized scooter. Her lovely white hair was always finely coiffed, and she was always dressed with a scarf and pin perfectly in place. The way she said my name will always resonate in my mind.

She and my mother had a mutual admiration society loving each other with gifts of soup and candies and other small “happys” they shared. This summer, while we were staying with my dad in my parents’ Still Hopes apartment, she showed up at the door one afternoon on her scooter with a box of my dad’s favorite ice cream cones.

Her final days were spent close to my parents in their Still Hopes skilled nursing rooms. I count myself so lucky to have had a few last visits with her over the past several weeks. She does indeed leave a behind a grand legacy, along with two people who are very special to me. Thank you Katherine and Beverly for sharing your precious mother and grandmother with me.


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