Thursday morning I traveled to the little white church where my mama spent her childhood & where my Stewart, Blue, Cameron, etc. ancestors are buried, Cypress. The funeral for my mama’s dear friend & cousin, Sarah Black McFadyen Barnes, was being held at 11 am. For the first time I was the only representative of my family, my mama Catherene’s family, and it was an eerie feeling…
Sarah Black was always part of my mama’s childhood life & storytelling, and I ran into her every now and then at reunions & weddings, anniversary parties & funerals. An elegant, pretty lady, never without a twinkle of ‘mischief’ in her eye, always laughing & telling some tale or adventure she & “Catherene” had or had instigated.
Bagpipes led us to the graveside. I stood apart from the group, standing on my daddy’s grave, as the pastor gave his final words to Sarah Black’s family before lowering her casket into the ground. Two uncles & a cousin of mine are buried between my daddy’s grave (& my mama’s in the future) and Sarah Black’s. Sadness overwhelmed me. It was the ending of an era when cousins were your neighbors and closest friends & your history was a powerful bond. The end of lifelong friendships for my mama’s generation. Sadness that Mama’s memory can’t fathom that Sarah Black has died. Sadness that Mama doesn’t know who my sister & brothers & I are anymore.
But, I came away with another adventure story. Sarah Black and Catherene were in the tobacco barn one Sunday afternoon rolling cigarettes for a trial run with smoking. Evidently Sarah Black went to light the cigarettes, & set her hair on fire! I bet neither of them ever tried cigarettes again!