Seeing Dilly

Yesterday I took Will to visit my great aunt Dilly at the Springmoor retirement center. It had been several years since I'd seen Dilly.

When we walked into the lobby, I recognized her, of course, but she didn't recognize me. When I looked at her, I saw the face my mom had loved, the face I remembered from my childhood, the face that used to look back at me with recognition. But not this time. 

Dilly was my mom's aunt, Mama Bette's sister-in-law. After Mama Bette died, Dilly became mom's surrogate mother.

It's a weird feeling, seeing someone you haven't seen in a while, someone who represents so much to you, but when you walk through the door, her brain doesn't register you any different from the stranger who walked in before you. Weird and sad--another one of those earthly moments that makes you long for Heaven, where there is no old age, no dementia, and no forgetfulness.

On a different note, I am always and forever thankful for my boy, and yesterday especially. Will made Dilly happy. She may not have recognized me when we walked in, but she sure lit up with a smile when she saw Will. Not a smile of recognition of course, but a smile of happiness. Will even sat on her lap for about six seconds, which is a record. He entertained her with his curiosity and his quickness on all fours for about an hour.

I'm not quite sure how long Dilly has been at Springmoor. I remember her house in Rocky Mount. Talk about belonging in a Southern Living magazine. Dilly used to hook rugs, and her creations are out of this world. Yesterday, as Nancy (Dilly's helper), Dilly, David (Dilly's son), Will, and I rounded the corner from the lobby into Dilly's room, Nancy said, "You're about to see the most beautiful room in all of Springmoor." She wasn't kidding. Dilly's kids have taken the typical stark room of a facility and turned it into a warm haven of Dilly's beautiful antiques, with many of her masterpieces hanging on the walls. It truly felt like a home, which made me happy. It was like a little corner of Dilly's Rocky Mount house had been picked up and moved to the retirement center. It was as it should be.

We had a good time yesterday. Whether Dilly recognized me doesn't matter. It was good for my soul to see her, and it was good for her to smile at my Will.

We will definitely be going back.

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Love her creations hanging on the walls