Miss Lillian Hugged My Neck

Monday, July 28, 2008, 07:58 AM
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Report from the B.B. King/Willie Nelson concert last night at Chastain Park: Former President Jimmy Carter was in attendance.

"The coolest moment was during Willie’s portion of the show. He’s playing “Georgia On My Mind,” and Carter takes the stage to play harmonica, and does it really well. The crowd went nuts, as you might imagine.”


It was a difficult time for our family, 1973. My husband's sister and her husband died at the hands of strangers in the next county. My mother-in-law collapsed and went to hospital and the rest of us were doing the best we could.

A well-meaning cousin, who had connections at a pharmacy, decided -- in those days of fashionable drugs not yet common on the street -- to give out Valium all around prior to the funeral. We all dutifully swallowed the little yellow pills, oblivious to the possible adverse effects.

Cousin further decided that her brother-in-law, Big Eddie, should drive my husband's father and his three sons and she should also be in the vehicle. In a sedan that's about all that will fit. Sister-in-law and I found ourselves in the funeral procession, me driving, both of us laughing hysterically over the predicament we were in, under the influence of unfamiliar medication.

We managed to behave during the service, which was held outdoors because of the magnitude of the crowd. When the service ended and people were coming by to give sympathic remarks, an older lady whom I did not recognize, with a younger woman in tow, came down the line of family and gave us big hugs and warm wishes in a familiar manner.

As she passed on by, I asked in a loud voice, 'Who WAS that old woman?" and sister-in-law, in an equally loud voice, hissed, "Shhh! Shhh! Shhh! That's the Governor's MOTHER!"