Originally posted on Facebook on Wednesday, December 22, 2021.
In Week 52 of 52 Weeks of Gratefulness, I give thanks for my mother-in-love, Mary Jean Harris.
"I love you…" I fondly remember the way she would say that, especially when she was on the phone.
She sang it as much as she said it. The vowels would hang for a bit, almost as though they carried a deeper message about her love for you: the authenticity of her love (I-I-I), the intensity of her love (looove) and the certainty of her love (yoouu).
The sound of it was melodious, like a joyous line from an upbeat blues tune. Blues –the music of pain, perseverance and pursuit of brighter days. A fitting soundtrack to a beautiful life. If there was anyone to whom "Life For Me Ain't Been No Crystal Stair" could be applied, it was Mary Jean Harris -she had joy and found ways to share it, even through pain.
The life Mrs. Harris and her husband Willie Lee Harris built in the face of adversity places them among my heroes. In their day it was more important for a child to work than to go to school. But they dared to hope for and pursue a better life. With less than a high school education, they ventured out, overcoming the poverty they were born in to and eventually becoming home owners, all while providing for a large family of six children.
Mrs. Harris meticulously managed their modest earnings with the skill of a banker so that their children and even their grandchildren had not only what they needed but even some of what they wanted. But most impressively she built a house with "good bones". It was a home that kept a family together because, no matter how imperfect (as all families are), it was a home founded on love and built with intentionality. Even until the end, Mr. and Mrs. Harris had the advancement of their children in view and, seemingly against all odds, managed to leave property and money for them -money Melissa and I used to buy our first home.
This is a wonderful, hard-fought legacy and one that we cannot throw away. We owe them our best effort to advance and put the next generation in an even better position.
Thank you Mrs. Harris, for all the beautiful ways you said, "I love you."
We miss you, we love you and are determined to build on your memory. I'm grateful. #52WoG