A good friend of mine and I used to exchange growing up stories. I told him how my mother would never buy me designer pants.
Whenever I would whine about not having Jordache jeans or Gloria Vanderbilt pants, she would respond by saying, “If you want name-brand jeans, give me a pen and I will write my name on the back of your jeans.”
My friend Louis Neal told me that his story was better than mine, because his mother refused to pay a lot of money for brand-name gym shoes and because of it he was teased in school.
“It left an impression in my childhood,” he often said.
He also told me that his mother left a loving and caring impression on his childhood. He spoke of her talent for cooking and how much she loved her family.
“Even though I was ridiculed because I had ‘Ikeys’ instead of Nike’s, she was always there for me,” he said.
Louis now reflects on those memories with loving thoughts and a full heart, because just as the New Year dawned on 2006 on January 3, his mother Sarah Neal passed away.
It was a shock to everyone who knew her, and a left a void to those who were closest to her.
Everyone who had anything to say about Sarah Neal said that she was deeply devoted to her family and to God. She was always there to help in her church and to guide young mothers and wives.
She was the mother in her church; Mother Neal, she was affectionately called, and everyone loved her.
Although I never got to meet her face to face, I feel like I have met her through her son Louis, whom she was so very proud of.
Mrs. Sarah Neal, we will miss you very much. As Louis said, you are in a better place. However, I know this place is lonelier without you.
Sarah Neal, thanks for sharing … your life, your love, your legacy.