{"id":272,"date":"2024-04-08T15:51:22","date_gmt":"2024-04-08T15:51:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ctlsites.uga.edu\/wcp-laurengirod\/?p=272"},"modified":"2024-04-15T23:29:00","modified_gmt":"2024-04-15T23:29:00","slug":"signs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ctlsites.uga.edu\/wcp-laurengirod\/signs\/","title":{"rendered":"Signs"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Sybil Forester was taken to Heaven on September 9th, 1979, surrounded by God and His angels. She was born on October 31st, 1962 to two loving parents in Mobile, Alabama where she was raised as a God-fearing woman. She has been preceded in death by her grandmother Florence \u201cMawmaw\u201d Ruth Forester, and has left behind beloved father William Adam Forester and mother Helen Irine Forester (nee Samson), as well as countless uncles, aunts, and cousins.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ms. Forester had a passion for singing in the choir at the Temple of Our Holy Lord, and loved going to the bay on Saturdays to catch crabs with her little cousins. Jesus has taken her to walk on the Gulf beaches forever, and her family will be reunited one day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

God rest her soul.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Monday, September 3rd, 1979<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dear Diary,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today in biology we got to talk about what\u2019s going on in the water in the bay. I\u2019ve never heard of a red algae bloom, but it\u2019s toxic and makes the water look like there\u2019s blood in the tide. News said that we can\u2019t go on and get in the water. Jacob and Myrtle are gonna be spitting mad but they\u2019re little and Momma says they\u2019re tender and don\u2019t need to be getting sick. Said that we\u2019ll be good to go on after it goes away and she\u2019ll even get Daddy to take us out on the boat to let the kids see the dolphins and the turtles. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I kept arguing with her that it\u2019s fine if we just go to the beach and pick up shells but she told me not to bring home any crabs or anything cause they\u2019ll make us sick if we eat them. I swore on Mawmaw\u2019s grave we wouldn\u2019t, then she went on and hit me for swearing on Mawmaw! I don\u2019t know why Momma is all like that. Says that she\u2019s gonna hear me and snatch me up and that I gotta pray about it tonight when I\u2019m done writing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mawmaw would tell me that sometimes the water got sick. That was before I learned in school today about the bloom, but I think that\u2019s what would make it like that. I miss her more than I miss damn near anything. I see her hair in the sea foam and I hear her laugh in the seabird caws when we go running up the beach. Jacob and Myrtle only hear stories about her cause they were in Birmingham when she went to Heaven and they never knew her like I did. I don\u2019t want to wait till I\u2019m old to see Mawmaw again – I want Jesus to bring her back down to Earth so we can go on making shell wind chimes to give out at Christmas. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m gonna pray to Jesus tonight to forgive me for swearing on Mawmaw, but I\u2019m gonna tell him that it\u2019s because I miss her so much and I just want a little more time with her. He\u2019s gotta understand and I\u2019ll pray during Church and over all my meals and snacks just so make sure that he hears me. Any time I can, he\u2019s gonna hear me and he\u2019s gonna realize that the way I miss Mawmaw is gonna break his own heart. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m gonna make good on my promise and get to bed. Momma told me to walk the kids to school in the morning and I\u2019m not about to get beat by her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sybil<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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September 4th, 1979<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dear Diary,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jacob got me beat today. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We all went down to the beach after school let out and he kept trying to take home the minnows that washed up. Said he\u2019d fix them. I kept telling him that his Momma would tell my Momma, but he\u2019s a kid and doesn\u2019t have enough sense to fill a cup. He was screaming and crying and throwing a fit but I told him he\u2019s not gonna get me in trouble for his own wants. I told him those fish went to Heaven and they\u2019re happier where they\u2019re supposed to be, and we gotta leave their bodies there so Jesus can take them home. He didn\u2019t like that one bit and then Myrtle started crying so I had to drag them both back and told them to stop their crying before I gave them something to cry about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So color me surprised when Aunt Kathy came up to the porch raising hell, screaming about me being some no good kid making her babies cry and wail and that fish don\u2019t go to Heaven and that I need to read Revelations again and that I must have some sort of boy on my mind to not know that. I told Momma that I ain\u2019t got a boy on my mind but she\u2019s not gonna believe me, she\u2019s gonna believe Aunt Kathy and all her wailing on about her babies being traumatized cause the twins saw a dead fish and that it\u2019s all my fault for being a brat and that my Momma raised me better than this. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This ain\u2019t the first time they\u2019ve seen something dead before, Uncle Paul went out and shot one of the alligators that was getting too close to the beaches in the bay and he gave a foot each to the twins for them to have. Jacob\u2019s just mad cause I told him he don\u2019t need to touch one of those blooming algae fish, and he\u2019s been Aunt Kathy\u2019s favorite so of course I\u2019m the problem. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Momma made me go out and pick a switch and beat me till I was crying and swearing and then she washed my mouth out. Told me I better pray and hope that God forgives me and that Mawmaw would be disappointed in me. Said that if Daddy hears about it then he\u2019ll tan my hide faster than I could run so I don\u2019t need to say a thing about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mawmaw would\u2019ve agreed with me – she would\u2019ve told Jacob to drop that fish and get his lily white ass home to Aunt Kathy. She would\u2019ve snapped that switch and screamed at Momma for thinking I did something wrong. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus takes all those little fish to Heaven, just like how he took Mawmaw. Those fish never did anything wrong except went swimming in the tide. They didn\u2019t sin or nothing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m gonna pray again to have Jesus bring Mawmaw back. Not gonna pray about making Aunt Kathy mad cause I didn\u2019t do a damn thing wrong. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sybil<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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September 5th, 1979<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dear Diary,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I saw Mawmaw in the seafoam today. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I almost missed it cause Jacob and Myrtle were trying to get me to pick out some reeds in the dunes. I did this double take cause I could hear her after I saw her. I could see her smile and then gulls started screaming in the way she\u2019d laugh after she blew a smoke jellyfish for me. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

All I wanted was to run out and get her out of the surf but the second I got onto the beach the twins were screaming at me not to go in the water. I told them I\u2019d do as I pleased and if I wanted to go into the bay I would. Their wailing made me lose sight of her and I was mad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mad! Screaming, hollering mad! The words I said, I pray to God and Jesus to forgive me but I know they were telling me that Mawmaw was in the water and that I had to go pull her out cause she told me the only time she would get in the water was for her baptism. Then the twins started wailing cause I was spitting mad and I know they wanted to tell Aunt Kathy I was swearing up a storm but they saw the beating I had yesterday and I guess something clicked in their little minds that I didn\u2019t need another whipping. Told them I was sorry for the swearing and that we\u2019d make kites tomorrow cause it was late.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I got home Momma could tell I was mad about something but I guess she thought it was about yesterday. I\u2019m not mad about the switch, I\u2019m not mad at her thinking that Aunt Kathy was right – I\u2019m mad that I was so close to Mawmaw and I wasn\u2019t fast enough. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sybil<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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September 6th, 1979<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dear Diary,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jacob and Myrtle had to stay home from school today cause they\u2019ve been coughing and nothing\u2019s helping them. Aunt Kathy took them to the hospital and told me I\u2019m not gonna be walking them to school anymore and that she\u2019s gonna get Uncle Paul to drop them off and pick them up cause \u201call I seem to do is cause trouble\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aunt Kathy\u2019s always been a sour puss. Been that way as long as I knew her so I try not to let it bother me, but I do one thing wrong and she comes hollering to Momma about how I\u2019m just as good as a devil child, talking about animals going to Heaven, playing in the ocean, bringing home all these shells as if I\u2019m gonna run off to join some pagan tree worshiping nonsense. That woman\u2019s an Easter Christian and Mawmaw hated her for it. She doesn\u2019t know a damn thing about the bible except to come and eat whatever Momma makes. I feel bad for the twins but it\u2019s on Aunt Kathy that I can\u2019t see them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Got to go to the bay by myself without having to wrangle the kids. The red water\u2019s going away but there are so many fish on the sand. They smell bad and none of the birds are touching them – like they\u2019re poisoned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I didn\u2019t see Mawmaw in the ocean today, but I know I\u2019ll see her soon. She loved me and called me her special girl. She wouldn\u2019t have let me go and I know Jesus would want her to be happy in Heaven but she\u2019s still my Mawmaw. I miss her and right now, I\u2019m not happy. God and Jesus wouldn\u2019t want me to suffer here when they\u2019ve got the chance to make it right by letting me pull her from the ocean. I know one of these days, I\u2019m gonna get the chance. They\u2019re gonna hear my prayers and know I\u2019m a good girl that doesn\u2019t sin like what Aunt Kathy says. She\u2019s the sinner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sybil<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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September 7th, 1979<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dear Diary,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Daddy said a hurricane that\u2019s gonna hit Mobile on Sunday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve seen a few hurricanes but we always just boarded up the house and went upstairs and Mawmaw would tell us stories about her and Pawpaw when they were young. Momma would cook us beans and cornbread cause it was easy, and Daddy would take over watching to make sure the water didn\u2019t rise too high up. Then we\u2019d clean up all the sand and seaweed from the bay off the porch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s gonna be the first hurricane without Mawmaw. Aunt Kathy and Uncle Paul are taking the twins up to Birmingham so they don\u2019t have to weather the storm. Momma didn\u2019t like that one bit but told her that she can do whatever she likes. I hope the door don\u2019t hit her on the way out. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Momma told me I don\u2019t need to be going out to the bay, but what am I gonna do since they canceled school? Everyone\u2019s preparing for the worst and I just wanna go to the beach and look for Mawmaw in the waves. But Daddy understands. He said I can go so long as I\u2019m back before dark. I know he misses Mawmaw too. I\u2019ve only seen him cry once and it was when he was carrying Mawmaw to where they buried her as one of the pallbearers.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m gonna make sure that I try to find Mawmaw before the hurricane hits. I don\u2019t want her to lose sight of the land. And I don\u2019t have Aunt Kathy to scream her head off to Momma about it. Jesus is gonna protect Mawmaw for me until I can get her back to land.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sybil<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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September 8th, 1979<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dear Diary,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Momma didn\u2019t know about me going to the bay yesterday and I went today too. It was dead quiet with lots of rain clouds – that hurricane that Daddy mentioned is supposed to come tomorrow, they\u2019re calling it hurricane Frederic. The pastor\u2019s come over and bless the house cause he\u2019s going to Birmingham with the rest of the congregation and he knows Daddy\u2019s a stubborn man and Momma\u2019s ornery. He said he\u2019s gonna keep us in his prayers and that God and Jesus and the Holy Spirit are gonna keep us safe like how they did before. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I don\u2019t think the storm\u2019s gonna be bad. Mawmaw said the worst we ever saw was hurricane Camille. I was seven and I remember how that wind was rattling the windows and I was scared but she prayed and prayed to Jesus that we\u2019d be okay and that storm turned into a rain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s how I know Jesus loves Mawmaw enough to bring her back. She\u2019s the best grandma ever, and God made her like that because God loves me too. So I\u2019m gonna look for her in the ocean tomorrow, even if they\u2019re trying to keep people away from the estuaries. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Estuaries – one of the Coast Guard put up a notice not to go to them until they made the all clear after the hurricane. The sign said that they\u2019re gonna flood and get all the way up into Mobile and cause all the animals to come out and be in the streets, like alligators and then some. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Didn\u2019t stop me from going down to the one close to where the bay opens out to the gulf. It was pretty as all get out. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I swear on Mawmaw\u2019s soul that she was there in that estuary. I could hear her better there than on the beach. All those birds were singing and her laughter was coming out of the trees, and the water was so clear and full of fish. There were sunbeams coming out of the clouds too like God was trying to point me in the right direction. Mawmaw was just out of reach and I would\u2019ve gotten to her but I didn\u2019t know where to look cause she was hiding too well. I could hear her calling for me. I damn near looked for hours until the sun started to set and I didn\u2019t want a whooping from Momma. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m gonna go tomorrow to get her before the hurricane. I know she\u2019s hiding out there because Jesus wanted her to be somewhere beautiful. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sybil<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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September 9th, 1979<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dear Diary,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today\u2019s the day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m gonna make sure I can get to the estuary before the rain starts coming down harder than it is. Momma and Daddy won\u2019t even notice me gone cause I\u2019ll be that quick. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

God sent me a dove in my dream and it showed me exactly where Mawmaw was in those trees. I\u2019ll bring her home and we\u2019ll get out of this storm together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m coming Mawmaw. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sybil Forester was taken to Heaven on September 9th, 1979, surrounded by God and His angels. She was born on October 31st, 1962 to two loving parents in Mobile, Alabama where she was raised as a God-fearing woman. She has been preceded in death by her grandmother Florence \u201cMawmaw\u201d Ruth Forester, and has left behind […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4779,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-272","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fiction-pieces"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ctlsites.uga.edu\/wcp-laurengirod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/272","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ctlsites.uga.edu\/wcp-laurengirod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ctlsites.uga.edu\/wcp-laurengirod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ctlsites.uga.edu\/wcp-laurengirod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4779"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ctlsites.uga.edu\/wcp-laurengirod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=272"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ctlsites.uga.edu\/wcp-laurengirod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/272\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ctlsites.uga.edu\/wcp-laurengirod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=272"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ctlsites.uga.edu\/wcp-laurengirod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=272"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ctlsites.uga.edu\/wcp-laurengirod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=272"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}