My coat of many colors my Mama made for me

Today I read some of this week's lectionary material (if you're not familiar with that term, click on that link and you'll see what this is), and I thought of Joseph and his coat of many colors. Some would call this his technicolor dreamcoat, but to each his/her own. I immediately went back to my childhood to Saturday afternoons at Granny Ione's house. I could smell her perfume and the frying of chicken. I was blessed to have her until I was 40 years old. We watched a lot of Porter and Dolly, and all those other country music TV shows. I made her DVDs and VHS tapes of some of the ones I saw on RFD-TV. Yes, I know that's taboo, but I never had any intention to sell any of them, just to share them with my Granny who didn't have RFD and couldn't get it on her cable system. I guarantee she would have, if she'd thought they would carry it. When she died, I went to her house to get them. I said, "I always knew I would have to take them back. I just didn't think it would be this soon."

I miss her, and I'm thankful I had her. (I called her Granny "On," pronounced "Own", the way we Native Nashvillians and Robertson Countians did!) She was a big country music fan who loved to sing and dance (when she was younger). She could appreciate other genres as well, but country and bluegrass were her heart. I chose bluegrass music for her funeral, as well as Alan Jackson's version of "Leaning on the Everlasting Arms." We did NOT have "Go Rest High on that Mountain," because it reminded her of her son's funeral. I think we played "Life's Railway to Heaven" and maybe "Will the Circle Be Unbroken." I can't remember about that last one but I do seem to remember it. I have so many other songs I like for my funeral... so I don't know if that one will make it. But this one was also played at my Papa Callis's funeral so it's special to me.  Porter followed Granny into Heaven just a few weeks later. I'm sure the choir is unbelievable now... especially since Aretha's arrival.

I digress, as I often do.  Dolly, Coat of Many Colors. This clip does not look like it's from the set of "The Porter Wagoner Show." I think maybe it was on "That Nashville Music," which was called "That Good Old Nashville Music," if I remember correctly. This show featured performances on the Ryman stage. It didn't look like a real Opry performance, it looked far more staged and TV-oriented. It was syndicated, as were "Hee Haw" and Porter's show, and at our house as well as Granny "Own"'s, it came on Channel 4 on Saturday afternoons. After watching Porter and Dolly and "That Nashville Music," and probably a few other shows I'll mention some other time, we'd turn to Channel 5 at 6 pm to see "Hee Haw."

Dolly is a real treasure and I'm so glad we still have her with us! What an amazing person. She isn't perfect, not everybody can agree with her every decision or political view (I don't know of any that I disagree with, though at the time I hated the name of that movie she did with Sylvester Stallone set in Texas.) My mom was a gifted seamstress too. Her name was Susan, and when Izod was the hot brand everybody had to have, I called the tops she made "Suzods."  That's not to say she never bought me an Izod... she may have, I do remember having one as well as some of the other animals that rode on my left upper breast/chest... the little horse from JCPenney, a tiger from somewhere. Money just didn't grow on trees at our house. She could make a dollar go a long way. I miss my mom too. I don't remember her giving me a coat made of rags, but she did make some cool clothes for me. I like to sing this song in church. Maybe I'll sing it for Mother's Day.