My brother and I were born in Atlanta, and we lived there until I was about 10. We lived off Roswell road near the Chattahoochee River in a subdivision called Huntcliff. It was a nice middle to upper class neighborhood - quiet, safe. There was a little pond in front of the neighborhood where Jay and I would go fishing. The pond is now gone - replaced with an Applebee's, Office Depot, Hair Cuttery, etc. So much has changed since then......
My Dad was a workaholic attorney and my mother had taken time away from teaching to raise her children. We had a housekeeper/nanny/babysitter named Mattie. She was a mid-forties year old Black woman who came over 3 times a week to help with house cleaning or to serve as zookeeper for Jay (my older brother) and I. She was a great woman who was a very important part of my upbringing. She had an infectious smile and a calm demeanor. She always showed up to the house with 2 packs of PallMall filterless and a 6 pack of Old English. My parents never had any concerns about leaving us with her, because she always kept us under control. Sometimes her daughter Angela would come over with her and help out. Jay and I spent a large portion of our childhood with Mattie and her family.
When my parents went out of town on vacation, Mattie would stay at the house and take care of us. It was AWESOME! She always had parties at our house when the parents were gone, and she invited her family and friends. Jay and I would stay up late and play pool with Mattie's kids and friends. It was quite a scene. The basement was filled with smoke and 70's music. Everybody was sipping on some beer. Jay and I dressed in our finest nighttime union suit playing pool and cutting up. I could barely lean over the table for a shot, but they always let me play. We were allowed to have a beer with the grown-ups as long as we didn't tell and get Mattie in trouble. The day before my parents would return, we would all spend the day cleaning up the house. The place was always immaculate before my parents arrived from the airport. We never said a word about any of this. In fact, Jay and I first brought it up at Thanksgiving 3 years ago for the first time. My parents were a bit shocked.
When we moved to Sharon, the ties with Mattie began to break. My father wanted her to move to Sharon with us and he bought her a little house on some land. She stayed there for a couple of years, and Jay and I would go over to her house and hang out and chat. She still invited us to some of the parties she had at her new house in Sharon. Eventually, she got pulled back to Atlanta by her family. A couple of Mattie's kids had gotten into drugs and trouble, and Mattie always gave everything she had to support them and try to help them out. Eventually, she stopped coming to Sharon all together and we lost touch. We were growing up and she was trying to help her family. I went to see her when I went back to Atlanta for college. She had aged much more than I had remembered. We sat on her porch and had an Old English and talked about the past. I smoke a couple of PallMalls and smiled a lot. She was supposed to come to Michael's Bar Mitzvah, but she never made it. My dad was upset because he had given her money to buy a new dress. I was upset because I always enjoyed seeing her and I had a feeling we would never see each other again.
That night on her porch was the last time we have spoken. I don't know what ever happened to her or even if she is still alive. She was a wonderful person with a caring heart who took on the responsibility of people around her. These people ultimately took advantage of her which she knew and overlooked. She was just so generous and optomistic that she never gave up hope on them. She was a wonderful person with a beautiful spirit. There are always people in your life that get lost in the shuffle of the every day. Some of them you really loved, enjoyed, and with whom you shared a special bond. Mattie was one of those people, and I hope our paths will again cross.