We're burying Momma. We've never done a harder thing.
Some women bear children, but our momma gave birth to a legacy of hope and laughter. She was a simple woman and had the gift of humor and the ability to laugh at herself. She taught us these things. Even though we didn't have much, we had laughter and an ironic, dry sense of humor.
Those who knew her were blessed. But they couldn't take themselves too seriously because Momma would take her shots when they were available. And she took as good as she gave.
She took a quart of peach ice cream and a ten-cent Pepsi and made the first ice cream floats her children had ever had. She made a purple birthday cake with darker purple coconut icing for one son before that color was on the market. She filled holidays with pies of every kind and made her own crusts. She chewed out a postal worker who badmouthed Elvis. She went to a Chippendales show in her fifties and peeked through her fingers. She told Elvis impersonators in Vegas when they'd gotten it wrong.
Momma loved unconditionally, but she still challenged her five sons to step up and be good men. Momma cradled you when you couldn't do it on your own, and she pushed you when you were slacking. And she could always tell the difference.
On the day that Elvis died, Momma cried. She loved his music and she filled her sons' lives with his songs. Momma knew what TCB was, and she lived that way in her life.
When her children were in trouble, she was a lioness and a momma bear. She fought schools, courts, and relatives over her sons, and on occasion she packed a shotgun to defend her boys. And she fought her son without surrender and without fail during the rebellious years.
Momma gave her boys singular gifts. To Melvin, she gave stories, reading aloud to him when he was young, that he might be a storyteller. To Johnny Lee, she gave her heart and taught him to love animals, that he might be forever wild and free. To Joe, she gave her compassion, turning him into the gentlest and most steadfast of her sons that could walk through fire. To Daryl, she gave her warrior spirit, that part of her that would fight no matter what the odds were till things were made right. To Scott, she gave the balance and peace she came to know in her later years, that he might be solid and strong and endure.
Now it is our duty to pass on these gifts and her legacy of hope and laughter, to our children, our friends, and those strangers we meet even for the briefest of moments.
Momma would want that.
Imoneta Lavonia Birchfield Odom was born to Mary Ola Northcutt and Robert Lee Birchfield on January 11, 1939 in Francis Township. She died peacefully at home while in the care of her family, as she wished, and in the arms of her son Joe in Francis on September 30, 2010.
She was preceded in death by both her parents and her three sisters: Mary Martha Barnes, Melba Joy King, and Bobbie Lee Isom, her granddaughter Danielle Lynn Odom and her grandson Kenneth Eugene Colvin.
She is survived by her son Melvin L. Odom III and his wife Sherry, their children, Matthew Lane, Matthew Dain, Montana, Shiloh, and Chandler, and their grandchildren, Lucky, Kashton, Adam, and Elliot, and grandson-in-law Brad.
By her son Johnny Lee Odom and his wife Judy and their children John Ross Ogg and Justin.
By her son Joe Odom.
By her son Daryl Odom and his wife Rhonda and their daughter Imoneta Ann Odom and their daughter Heather Colvin and their granddaughter Hailey Destiny Colvin.
By her son Scott Odom and his wife Jennifer Ashley.
Services for Imoneta Lavonia Birchfield Odom are 10:00 a.m., Monday at Criswell Funeral Home. Burial will follow at Cedar Grove Cemetery in Francis.
We love you, Momma.