(This sad anniversary has come up three years later. I’m running it again as a tribute to her and for everyone who loved her.)
June Key is in heaven now, and I feel like I’ve lost my grandmother. And with as many friends as she had here I’ll bet I’m not the only one who feels that way.
Luckily last Wednesday I got to see and talk to her one last time.
Remember when the virus first started up and it seemed like it was affecting older people more than others? She was very worried about it so I starting taking her a paper each week so she didn’t have to get out. She loved her Rockdale Reporter.
Sometimes I’d get to see her and we’d have a nice chat. Other times I’d leave the paper in her mailbox where she always had a dollar bill inside an envelope attached to the mailbox with a clothespin. On the envelope she wrote, “Kyle Thanks” every time.
She had fallen inside her house recently and she was very bruised, but still her usual cheerful self last Wednesday even though she was having a little trouble getting around.
Since June lived by herself, she purchased a computer to communicate and keep up with friends and family. She was my friend in real life and on social media. And I’m a better person for her friendship.
She was devilishly witty on one hand and one of the most god-fearing women I’ve ever met on the other.
On social media she talked about her life. What was going on and who visited her and what she made for lunch or dinner. Such mundane things but I’d find myself looking to see what was happening in her life every day.
Another thing she did was pray. She called her social media posts her “nightly closeout” and after talking about her day she would start the prayers. She prayed for everyone. Even if you didn’t know her she prayed for you.
Sometimes I think I might not be here on this earth if it weren’t for Miss June praying for me every single day.
She prayed every day for this virus to go away. Every single day. And I’m sorry she won’t be around to see it gone when it’s done running its course. If it ever is done. Maybe it could have been a whole lot worse but Miss June kept us all a little safer with her prayers.
Several of us noticed that there was no “nightly closeout” on Friday night and feared the worst only to wake up Saturday morning to learn our worst fears had come to pass. It was highly unusual for her to miss a nightly closeout.
She loved her family and was so proud of them.
She loved anything purple. Deep, deep purple.
She loved Kenny Schneebli and was a huge fan of her Big Boy’s BBQ and their desserts.
She loved collecting things. If you’ve ever seen her house her collections are almost overwhelming. Plates, dolls, pictures. So many things beautifully displayed.
We asked her several times if we could write a story about her collections and take some pictures but she never let us do it. I think she was afraid somebody might try to break in and steal her things. Or maybe they were just so special to her that she wanted to keep them all to herself.
I’m just going to have to feel melancholy for a while. I am really going to miss her. I’m not much of a crier, but I have shed more than a few tears these past several days.
One thing I’m sure of is that she is in heaven watching over all of us because that’s the kind of angel she is.
Rest in peace my very special friend until we meet again.
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