Preface: I cried writing this last night so that means I won’t reading it right? To Elizabeth’s grandchildren her name was Mamaw, so for my speech I’ll be calling her Mamaw. I have a speech and then a poem I wrote.
I’m speaking today because I realized we’d left something very important off Mamaw’s obituary. Mamaw was a “dissectologist”. Does anyone know was a dissectologist is?……
A dissectologist is someone who enjoys putting jigsaw puzzles together. As our family and friends know Mamaw was always working a puzzle. Aside from baking, putting puzzles together was one of Mamaw’s favorite hobbies. Several of us here have been blessed with watching and helping Mamaw finish puzzles. Some of us have even received them as gifts. Right now, Mamaw’s puzzles are hanging on walls from Louisville, Kentucky, to Boston, Massachusetts.
I worked my last puzzle with Mamaw about a month ago. It wasn’t until this visit that I realized how profound her method of puzzle making was. Without hesitation, she’d search through all the pieces in the box and find the edge and corner pieces. Once all the edges and corners were found, she’d put the frame, or the outer boundary of the puzzle, together. Only when the puzzle’s frame was complete would she begin to reconcile the amorphous image in its center.
To me, Mamaw is the frame builder for our puzzling family. Mamaw built the foundation, and the stage, whereupon our living family resides. She knew patience, love, attention, and a little bit of help from her other half (Papa), would bring the unknown image of her life together. She knew if she set the frame, the puzzle would work itself out.
So, what does her puzzle look like? What is the illustration on the puzzle box Life, by Elizabeth? The masterpiece can’t fit into a box and our family’s living faces cannot be illustrated.
Gratitude for the Frame
Because of you we’re here
A gift that keeps on giving
No matter what is going on
I somehow keep on living
–
You left us with a child
though he doesn’t know it now
He’ll one day boast that his Mamaw
bakes the best cakes in the town
–
But where’d she get the recipe?
The same place as her nose
There’s a reason cousins look alike
The attitude in their pose
–
You left us in the spring
life singing its new words
I swear I heard you whistling
in cadence with the birds
–
I’m sure I felt your smile
That morning when you passed
As each member of our family
embraced like it was our last
–
And for these things I thank you
They’ll be many more to come
Because although you’ve set the frame
my puzzle isn’t done
——-
In loving memory – M.E.(B).C.
Dedicated to the living matriarchs of Cook lineage.
“You should publish this” 