| 03/29/10 07:38 PM |
#2417
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40th Reunion -Photos
Congratulations to Chris Shapley with remembrances:
A Reflection: Riding Shot Gun with Sitti Shapley
In a small gold pendant I have a note that says “God reunites those who have loved before.” If I have any say about it, one day I hope to be reunited with Jamiele Shapley. I always knew her as “Sitti,” which in Lebanese means “my grandmother.”
Sitti Shapley stood 4’ 5” tall if she was lucky. She probably weighed 90 pounds. She was not pretty in a traditional sense, but in every way that counts in this life, Sitti Shapley was the most beautiful person I have ever known.
Though she was the smallest grown up I ever knew when I was a kid, I have since found out that there has never been anyone nor will there ever be another person so filled with transparent, unconditional love than Sitti Shapley. So very much love in that small body.
Every time Sitti met you, she’d cup your face in her hands. “Hello, beautiful friend,” she’d say (and mean it!) She found something beautiful, something joyful in everyone she met.
Sitti brewed an illicit wine on the steps of her basement. It was made of sugar, vodka and plums. And she always kept a sip of it for company.
She also simmered a fragrant soup on her stove in a white porcelain pot which she claimed was 20 years old. Each morning she added bits and pieces of meat and vegetables and a little more broth into her pot and kept it going. Again, just for company. The best soup you ever tasted.
Sitti was a pincher. She’d pinch your cheek when she was happy and she’d pinch your cheek when she was mad. Trouble was you couldn’t tell one from the other!
She was also competitive. She’d fight over the shot gun seat of the car on Sunday drives and fight over the first (and last) piece of birthday cake. She was a little scrapper! She had gigantic sons who were absolutely afraid of her! I’m positive that none of them ever got to ride shot gun.
In the deep south where I grew up in the turbulent 60’s, little Sitti Shapley wasn’t afraid of anyone. When she met my husband for the first time with his long hair and beard, she cupped his face in her hands. She studied it for the longest time. “Hello, beautiful friend,” she smiled and pinched his cheek.
We never saw Sitti again after that day. Nearly 40 years later, I still remember her standing by the curb and waving and blowing kisses and swirling them around in the air with both hands. She never really said goodbye. She always hated goodbyes.
I never had to say goodbye to Sitti Shapley. Through these long years she has been with me on my journey every bit of the way ~ riding shot gun, of course.
If it’s true that God reunites those who have loved before I’ll see Sitti Shapley again. “Hello beautiful friend,” she’ll say. (And I won’t even mind the pinch.)
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