Kay Warder Parsons (1947-2009)

The last time I was there, we buried my grandfather. When the ceremony was over that day, mom joked that one day she would be buried there … and would be eaten by fire ants. I didn’t get bitten by one fire ant today, but we did bury my mom.

She would have been happy with the weather. It was a beautiful day in College Station, TX … not a cloud in the sky, a cool dry breeze, and plenty of shade underneath the oak trees of the Wellborn Cemetery. Friends and family were gathered for the third time in three days to honor my mother’s memory.

She died last Thursday after battling breast cancer for more than two years. Lisa said it best … we never heard mom complain. She fought, she prayed, she lived her life … but she never complained. She never felt sorry for herself.

When she received the final report from her oncologist in late April, her prognosis was days to weeks. Lisa, Claire and I drove to Lubbock the next day and spent the rest of the week with her. I am thankful for that time that we had to spend together. Not only because we were able to be with her before she died, but because I got to see how content she was.

Her faith was so strong that she was at peace with death. In fact, she was grateful that so many of her prayers had been answered. If mom had been scared of death, her passing would have been much harder for me. Her peace with death gives me peace.

I am sad. I have cried. I even caught myself looking for mom twice this weekend, but she wasn’t there. I’ve lost a great influence in my life and I will miss her.

She is gone, but I have a lot of great memories with my mom. I wrote some down when I learned that her time was short.

Mom was a bargain shopper and she loved to find a deal. She even knew when TJMaxx received their weekly shipments. She dragged me to that store on a weekly basis, just after the new shipment arrived, so that I could have name-brand clothes. In retrospect, I loved those trips … despite the elevator music.

Mom was a huge Texas Tech fan and my family always had season tickets to men’s basketball. Dad couldn’t go to Wednesday night games, so mom would take me to the game. If you never saw my mom at a Texas Tech athletic event, you missed a whole side of her. She was an animated fan and that always cracked me up. My favorite memory was when she and I watched the Tech men beat UT 128-125 in overtime at the old coliseum.

Mom traveled to England with me when I was a kid for a soccer tournament. We had played one or two games and I was playing terribly. I had lost all confidence in myself and it showed on the field. I remember her pulling me aside and “encouraging” me to get my crap together. I’ve never told anyone about that, but it was the only time that mom got onto me for sports. To her credit, I played much better after that.

Other fond memories include: cleaning the house every Saturday while listening to Bruce Springsteen or The Beach Boys, trips to Dairy Queen after school, making me listen to Michael Bolton in her car, hundreds of soccer games, listening to her read the Reader’s Digest true life story to us on car trips, and regular conversation at the dinner table.

We had some great times together! Love you Mom!





Mom’s memorial slide show is available at the following URL: http://www.memorialdesigners.net/