Mary "Sister" McNeill was born Mary Rebecca Rusk.
Married to James Cam McNeill for over 50 years.
Mary & Cam were Mamaw & Papaw to me.
At the age of 8 years old, Shirley Ann Miles, my mother, became the McNeill's daughter. Cam McNeill & my mom's biological father, Layton Mural Miles were hunting buddies. During their friendship they discussed many issues including Mary's inability to have children. The Miles' were very destitute while having 6 children at the time. The McNeill's were middle class, blue collar, and financially comfortable. The McNeill's offered to have one of the Miles' children come live with them which would give the child opportunities that they would not otherwise have. My mom was chosen by her mother to be the one to go. The McNeill's loved and raised my mom as their own. She loved them as her parents.
Grown and married, my mom had me. To the McNeill's I was their only grandchild and to me they were Mamaw & Papaw. My father was stationed at Balboa Naval Base in San Diego when I was born. When I was 6 months old we moved to Caddo Mills, Texas directly across the street from Mamaw & Papaw.
Due to my extreme allergies, when I was 3 years old we were forced to move to Albuquerque, New Mexico to be in a dry climate. But every year we came back to Texas to spend Christmas with Mamaw & Papaw. When I was 6 years old, I began flying to Texas each summer to visit them. They wanted me to stay as long as I wanted, which usually was about 2 weeks before I became home sick for my mom.
Mamaw & Papaw spoiled me absolutely rotten. Mamaw told me that once when we still lived across the street from them, I was about 2 1/2 years old, I was spinning the channel dial on the TV flying through the channels. She told me to stop, but I continued on. She told me to stop twice more. I didn't. She then picked me up and sternly said "No!". She said when my lip start to quiver as I started to cry, it broke her heart and she swore to herself that she would never say "No" to me again. She never did.
She never missed Sunday morning service at the small country Colfax Methodist Church. I loved going with her. The church was across the road from her house. When I was young I thought it was so funny that we always got in her car and drove to the parking area in front of the church. When it was time to sing, Mamaw sang the hymns with gusto. I could hear her above everyone else and she was always off key, but she was singing in praise so it didn't matter to her or anyone else.
Mamaw got up early every morning. By the time Papaw got up, she had his breakfast ready...always buttered flaky biscuits, her homemade muscadine jelly, coffee with Half & Half and sugar, and a small glass of prune juice. She had his clothes laid out for him. She did everything for Papaw. When she got sick, he had to hire someone to take care of him because he didn't even know where his clothes were.
When I came to visit, she always made chicken & dumplings for me. It was my favorite. She always made my breakfast just like I wanted...identical to Papaw's.
She made sure she had the little 6 oz. glass bottles of Coke for me.
Mamaw didn't have a washing machine & dryer until I was in my early teens. She didn't even want one. She was happy washing clothes by hand and a washboard. She did use an old type of washer that had the rollers to wring out the clothes and she hung the clothes out on a clothes line. Papaw decided Mamaw didn't need to work that hard, so he had a laundry room built onto the carport and bought her a washer & dryer.
They had moved from Caddo Mills to Colfax shortly after we moved to Albuquerque. They built a home next door to Mamaw's mother, who I called Granny Maude, so Mamaw could care for her. She lived to be 97 years old.
I was 16 years old when I was told Mamaw had been diagnosed with cancer. She passed away 5 months later.
I'm 44 now and I still miss her so very much.
Mamaw was one of the most gentle souls to ever grace this earth.