The Snow Queen

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The Snow Queen                                                                                                                 

Chicago. 1967. It was cold, but not too bad. The low temperature had been twenty-seven degrees but hit fifty during the day. Not bad at all for Chicago. The Cook County Hospital welcomed Laura Gail Wesson into a world full of change. The Vietnam War was in full swing, and protests were growing. The “long hot summer of 1967” had seen riots in Newark and Detroit. President Johnson nominated, and the Senate confirmed, Thurgood Marshall as the first African American to sit on the Supreme Court. History ushered in hopes of a different world for Baby Laura Gail to grow up in. Fifty-Eight years later, it’s still changing. So has Laura Gail.  

I didn’t know her way back then. As a matter of fact, I’ve been with her for only a tiny fraction of her life. My time with her is still just a cup of cool water compared to the whole bucket of life she’s lived. I can tell you a few things I’ve learned about this woman from being here for even such a short time, however. First of all, she’s usually right. About just about everything. I’m not kidding, either. I’ve learned that when she says she doesn’t know, she don’t know. Sure, she’ll occasionally try to bluff to save face (who doesn’t) but ninety-nine percent of the time she’ll admit it. When she says she knows, though, she knows. Disagree with her if you must but bring evidence. Because she’ll call you out on it every time. 

Secondly, she will work you to death if you let her. I mean this in the nicest way. She’s independent and self-sufficient and she didn’t get that way by being lazy and complacent. She outworked every husband until me, or so I thought. She retired from a regular job four years ago, and I figured she’d relax. Turns out that being a Gigi is about as hard a job as they come. She works hard to keep these grandkids healthy and happy. Plus, she’s still taking care of me. When it doesn’t interfere with the grandkids. I appreciate that. My own cooking sucks. 

Third, but certainly not lastly, she is fiercely protective and loyal to those she loves. It’s beautiful and scary at the same time. I’ve seen her in “attack mode” only a few times in the past decade and I can assure you that you don’t want to be on the wrong end of that one. Yes, I have been. And she was right about that, too. Thankfully, she still loves me. Even when I don’t deserve it.  

There’s not enough space here to say all I want to say about Laura Gail. My heart is too full, and she is too complex to explain in a lifetime, much less a newspaper column. The best way I can express my feelings are in the lyrics of the John Legend song “All of Me”. These selected verses sum it up: 

“What would I do without your smart mouth” 

“Drawing me in, and kicking me out” 

“Love your curves and all your edges, All your perfect imperfections”  

“You’re my end and my beginning, even when I lose, I’m winning” 

“Even when you’re crying, you’re beautiful too” 

“I give you all of me, and you give me all of you” 

You get the picture.  

Footnote: Although the day she was born wasn’t too bad, weather-wise, she was barely two months old when Chicago was hit with its worst blizzard in history. In the early morning of January 26th snow began to fall and wouldn’t stop until it deposited over twenty-three inches by the next morning. Nearly two feet of snow in barely over a day. It paralyzed the city. Laura’s mom and dad decided they’d head back home to Tennessee just as soon as they could after that winter. God was on my side there. I may have never met her if it hadn’t been for that blizzard. Chicago lost out, and I gained a “Snow Queen”. That cold woman warms my heart.  

Happy Birthday, Laura Gail! 

God Bless Y’all!