T. Leigh Hearn-Rushton
At the funeral, the pastor asked me to share a memory of my mother, Carol Grogan Hearn. I found it hard to think at the time. I shared with him how my mom used to travel with me to various law schools, attended classes I taught, and how she collected law students as her bar exam babies. She prayed with them, loved them, and encouraged them as she did me when I took the bar exam.
What I thought of later....when I could think more clearly, was how she used to outrun Alabama State Troopers driving her Thunderbird when I was a little girl. Oh how she FLOOR IT and would LAUGH because they had no hope of catching her - and they didn't.
I remembered her sang to herself as she worked in her flower beds or was shopping.
I remembered the blonde streak she put in her hair to mimic the grey streak in mine.
I remembered her hush puppies, veggie and potato soup.
I remembered how, even as an adult, sitting on the floor at her knee next to her chair made any bad day better.
I remember her calling me and saying, "Hey girlfriend!" and calling me "Little Carol" as early as 1997 when I lived in North Carolina.
I remembered her calling me first thing in the morning, often times while I was driving, loudly slurping her coffee and saying "Ahhh!" just to tease me when my cup was empty.
I remember sharing the same bed at hotels and waking up with her putting her toes on me just to make sure I was there.
I remember doing her makeup when we were in Memphis, TN the day after my 30th birthday, the chocolate piano the staff sent up to us in Williamsburg, VA, the historic walk together in Charleston, SC, the terrible fish pancakes in Helen, GA, sitting on the bench next to the stream in Gatlinburg, TN, going to Costco in Auburn, AL with she and dad, listening to a Beth Moore podcast together while she was in the hospital in Alex City, AL, her pruning my plants on my porch in Nashville, TN and so much more.
I remember waking up at night as a little girl with her standing in the door watching me as a slept (I thought she didn't sleep and at times, she may not have).
I remember, when I was about 5, her being so brave striking out on her own to give all four of us a better life.
I remember the panty hose dance and how I loved to watch her get ready: hair, heels, hose and how pretty she looked.
I remember watching her give a kind word to a stranger and how their eyes followed her as if a beautiful butterfly had chosen to land on them for just a minute.... and then gracefully fly away.
I remember being unconditionally loved, wanted, safe, encouraged and believed in without question or hesitation.
I remember watching my mom fade away and someone else taking up residence in her skin; a woman I didn't know who was alternatively fearful, mad and confused. Still, I remember the woman she was and I miss her. I love her. I honor her. She is and will always be, my Proverbs 31 woman.
