Noreen Grimes

The swing stays.

About a month after it went on the market, a realtor in the area put down an acceptable bid.

She was married with a four-year-old and had just found out that she was pregnant.

Yay!

The house was filling up again.

I inherited way too many other notable items to mention, but I did get five of her multitudinous display of houseplants.

Mama has been gone almost 11 years, and her Christmas cactus never fails to bloom for me on time.

The actual physical act of laughing.

My mom had the prettiest smile, but the greatest laugh.

My dad could really get her doubled over sitting at the kitchen table during family tea time, and we kids just adored hearing her bust up.

We Grimes kids always look for the funny side of a situation, and we never hesitate to giggle, chortle, guffaw.

We never hold anything back when it comes to laughing because, well, because mama made it sound so good.