City Personals
You never want to hear about deaths whether it be family, friends, pets or even a stranger. Life is so very fragile as I am certain the person(s) who was involved in the accident on Highway 78E Monday had planned to make it home that evening.
The holidays and this snow that just seems to linger have taken more than they have given.
Christmas Eve, the doors of Heaven flung open as Margaret Brown sauntered through them no doubt with her beautiful smile ear to ear. I have full faith that Big Margaret has waited for the day to see her “little” again.
Growing up here, I always was in tow with Nonnie when she would go visiting her friends. Big Margaret was one of those friends. Just let me say, if you only knew Little Margaret as an adult, you missed out. She was equally as fun and absolutely stunning as a young adult. I always admired her growing up and certainly more so in adulthood.
Margaret fought the fight unlike any other. She took a leap of faith and tried experimental treatments for what some doctors deemed untreatable. She won. She staved off that awful disease (I will not dignify by saying its name) for years on end. She married off her three breathtaking daughters (Lynn, Margie and Dabney) and saw their families grow with additions of their own children.
Margaret lived life to the absolute fullest and never, not once, did she take it for granted.
Friday morning, word spread around town that we had lost Andy Seale, son of Robin Seale and the late Ben Seale. He was the middle child between Little Ben and Hamilton. Although they are not much younger than I am, I babysat them quite a bit. Andy was never the ring leader in the antics and little tricks they would play (moon pie in my shoes once), he would go along with the bedlam nonetheless laughing and carrying on with his siblings. He had the snarkiest little grin you have ever seen…like a side eye only a side grin.
One year, we took a group family trip to Hardy, Ark. to float the Spring River. Andy was my canoeing partner. He would pass me beer after beer before finally telling me I did not need another one. We came into a shifty part of the river where we could walk the canoe across the shallows or take a fast hook around them. I, feeling no pain, thought we should float it. Needless to say, we did not fare well at all and I laughed my head off while Andy, through gritted teeth but ever smiling, said our predicament was indeed not funny. All of us crawled out of that river that day battered, bruised and burned. Throughout the years, Andy and I would reminisce about that day and he would say as angry as he was about our misfortune in the turn, he could not stay angry at me.
That is who Andy was…a caring free spirit who did not hold “eel” will towards anyone. If he loved you, it was with his whole heart. I am certain of one thing if nothing else - Big Ben, Jeanie Mama and Margaret Ann welcomed him with open arms
Saturday, January 20, Nancy Fant Smith spent her 87th birthday blowing out candles surrounded by Sammy, her husband, Gagoo and Gramps, her parents and Ruff, her brother, in Heaven
Momma let me know the 17th that she had heard from one of Nancy’s twins that she was not doing well at all. She had been sick with Covid, double pneumonia and a blood infection. The extra prayers started, as Nancy Fant is one of my favorite people who is included in prayers anyway. On the 18th, hospice was called in for her. She was surrounded by her family on the 20th when she slipped from this life.
To know Nancy Fant was to undeniably love her. She would light up a room with her laugh and her amazing wit. She was quick as a jackrabbit in any conversation. The last time she was here with her traveling buddy, Helen Doxey Tyson, she had the room mesmerized telling tales of days long gone.
I think about all the stories (some so outlandish you would think they did not happen but yet they were verified) she told of her growing up in Holly Springs. To hear her tell them in her deep Southern drawl was truly an experience. As the children these days would say, Nancy Fant was a whole vibe. It is one of those “if I knew then” type of moments. I wish I had recorded every story she ever told. She had a life well lived with no apologies (none needed) and no regrets. Cheers to Nancy and the phenomenal legacy she leaves behind in her children, grandchildren and great grandchild. May they all know how loved she was by everyone who knew her.