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I called my mom on Wednesday October the 8th and told her I was about to take a nap, but I'd call her later. I'd been depressed lately and she gets worried if I don't answer when she calls. She said. wait. let me first tell you this... She told me that my aunt had tried to wake Marjie up that morning but that she couldn't get her to wake up. My mom said she went down there and was able to get her to open her eyes but that she wasn't very responsive. She said she was slipping into a coma. She was all of a sudden.. just the day before she went to hear her old church choir sing at this day center for senior citizens that she attends daily. My mom said she was talking and carrying on at dinner and said her prayers that night too. I asked my mom if I could come home and she said "if you want to see Momma before she dies." I rushed home and she opened her eyes for me several times so that was nice. She knew I was there and she knew I loved her. Thursday morning she was doing worse... she started running a fever and was struggling to breathe, etc. So, we got her some morphine and an oxygen tank and she was nice and comfortable. The Reverend Dr. Connie Shelton is one of my new personal heroes. She's a minister at Galloway and is AMAZING. She came and prayed and sang and talked with us. She sang my grandmas favorite hymns, and the one i remember my grandma singing to me before I went down for my naps as a kid- "Swing Low Sweet Chariot" She left and my aunt and uncle and cousins left soon after that to start cooking dinner. So I was left lying alone on the other bed in the room and my parents were sitting further down on the couch watching tv. I was lying on the bed exhausted when I realized I wasn't hearing her breathe. I jumped up and went to her and started yelling for my mom. She was in disbelief and started yelling for my dad and then called my aunt across the street. My dad checked for a pulse and couldn't find anything.... My aunt and cousins coming running and we all surround her... She starts breathing again. I'd removed the oxygen from her nose because my mom didn't believe she wasn't breathing. And we started feeling the air coming out of her nose and a pulse... My aunts husband walks in and my aunt says "another false alarm" and laughs. In true Marjie spirit, she started breathing again just as she had sixteen years ago when she coded in the ambulance. Just as she did as a premie in 1917 in rural Smith County in a "makeshift incubator" (a shoebox by the fireplace.) But about thirty seconds after everyone felt relived... she stopped breathing. For the last time.
There was no struggle. Like I said, the only reason I noticed she had stopped breathing was because I noticed it started sounding really quiet. There was no gasp for air or anything. She was surrounded by nearly everyone that loved her and she was in no pain. It was 7:30, her routine bed time for the past sixteen years... and she just went to sleep.
I'd also had a peaceful dream three weeks prior that practically matched the way it happened and had a nice happy ending.
The funeral was great. Kayla came over as soon as she could after Marj had died and was there for me every single step of the way. So... by default, I basically came out to my entire family but whatev... Marjie liked Kayla. Anyway, the funeral... just how Marj would have wanted it... a celebration. They carried her away to Connie singing a jazzed up version of Swing Low, Sweet Chariot. I could see Marjie dancing and feel her smiling down. Its hard... Its a relief. Its a relief for my family who have been carrying for her since she was hit by that car as a pedestrian sixteen years ago. It is a relief for her. She has basically lived as a prisoner in her own body for sixteen years. The person she has been wasn't who she truly was. I have great peace in knowing she's Margie again and no longer hurts from the liver cancer.
But its still hard... as prepared as we all thought we were, its still hard. Our lives and routines revolved around taking care of her everyday at specific times.
I miss her a lot. I still forget she's gone. Its just a huge change.
I still find myself at asa 5:00 approaches getting ready to go to her house.
My sweet Marjorie. I told her before she died that I loved her and that she had more than earned her rest. I told her it was okay, that she taught me what it really meant to be a fighter and that Granddaddy was expecting her. She had been fighting for so so so long. So long. She gave all the doctors a big fuck you by outliving the she'll never survive for 90 years; outliving the she'll never get out of the coma, she'll die in a few weeks by sixteen years, and the final outliving the she'll die in three days by living for two years. Whenever someone told her she had no chance, she always always fought against the odds. And kicked its ass.
I really grew to love her in the past year. I'd miss her while I was away at school and I couldn't wait to come and read her the bible lesson for the night. I began to really let my guard down and just love her for who she was after the accident, for the joy that she still brought and not just the bitchin and moanin.
Her life is my constant inspiration to wake up everyday.
I remember the night and the Tennessee Waltz.
Now I know just how much I have lost...
Yes, I lost my little darlin' the night they were playing the beautiful Tennessee Waltz.
Marjorie Waggoner Jordan
Margie was born at home August 25, 1917, in Raleigh, MS, to John and Almeda Waggoner. She thrived in the supportive community of rural Smith County, and she went on to graduate from George Washington University. She worked for the U.S. Civil Service Commission in Washington, D.C., before marrying Elmer E. Jordan in 1944. After several years of traveling with the U.S. Army, they made their home in Jackson.
Margie taught in the Jackson Public Schools, and her love of learning led her to pursue her Ph.D. from the University of Southern Mississippi after her children were grown. She joined the faculty of Jackson State University in 1966 and was a history professor there for twenty years. After retirement, she and her sister backpacked across Europe.
Margie was an active member of Galloway United Methodist Church. For many years she taught the Bessie Shands Sunday School Class, and she found joy spending hours researching and integrating historical and Biblical perspectives for each lesson.
Margie lived a rich, full life, and her primary focus was serving God by serving others. She died peacefully at home, surrounded by her family, on Thursday, October 9, 2008. She had a wry sense of humor and at times would joke that if her family didn't shape up they would have to put "old age and bad treatment" as her cause of death.
She is preceded in death by her parents; husband; and brother, John D. Waggoner.
She is survived by sister, Dorothy W. Kalehoff of Laurel; daughters, Martha Cain (Edd) and Kathy Wall (Mark) of Madison; son, John Jordan (Susan) of Charlotte, NC; grandchildren, Ashley Prulliere (Frederic) of Boston, MA, Katie Langley (Kenny) of Starkville, Melanie Wall of Oxford, Jeremy Wall of New Orleans, Adrienne Blasingane (Jack) of Huntsville, AL, Zac Jordan of Charleston, SC, and Charles Jordan (Susan) of Pittsburgh, PA; and two great grandchildren, Alanna Wall and Ford Jordan. She leaves many beloved nieces and nephews.
A special thanks goes to adopted family members Dosie Morgan (Sam) and Patsy and Pamela Smith, who loved and cared for Margie and Elmer, and who ministered in the name of Jesus Christ to the entire family.
Memorials may be made to Galloway United Methodist Church, 305 North Congress, Jackson, MS 39201, or to a charity of your choice.
There was no struggle. Like I said, the only reason I noticed she had stopped breathing was because I noticed it started sounding really quiet. There was no gasp for air or anything. She was surrounded by nearly everyone that loved her and she was in no pain. It was 7:30, her routine bed time for the past sixteen years... and she just went to sleep.
I'd also had a peaceful dream three weeks prior that practically matched the way it happened and had a nice happy ending.
The funeral was great. Kayla came over as soon as she could after Marj had died and was there for me every single step of the way. So... by default, I basically came out to my entire family but whatev... Marjie liked Kayla. Anyway, the funeral... just how Marj would have wanted it... a celebration. They carried her away to Connie singing a jazzed up version of Swing Low, Sweet Chariot. I could see Marjie dancing and feel her smiling down. Its hard... Its a relief. Its a relief for my family who have been carrying for her since she was hit by that car as a pedestrian sixteen years ago. It is a relief for her. She has basically lived as a prisoner in her own body for sixteen years. The person she has been wasn't who she truly was. I have great peace in knowing she's Margie again and no longer hurts from the liver cancer.
But its still hard... as prepared as we all thought we were, its still hard. Our lives and routines revolved around taking care of her everyday at specific times.
I miss her a lot. I still forget she's gone. Its just a huge change.
I still find myself at asa 5:00 approaches getting ready to go to her house.
My sweet Marjorie. I told her before she died that I loved her and that she had more than earned her rest. I told her it was okay, that she taught me what it really meant to be a fighter and that Granddaddy was expecting her. She had been fighting for so so so long. So long. She gave all the doctors a big fuck you by outliving the she'll never survive for 90 years; outliving the she'll never get out of the coma, she'll die in a few weeks by sixteen years, and the final outliving the she'll die in three days by living for two years. Whenever someone told her she had no chance, she always always fought against the odds. And kicked its ass.
I really grew to love her in the past year. I'd miss her while I was away at school and I couldn't wait to come and read her the bible lesson for the night. I began to really let my guard down and just love her for who she was after the accident, for the joy that she still brought and not just the bitchin and moanin.
Her life is my constant inspiration to wake up everyday.
I remember the night and the Tennessee Waltz.
Now I know just how much I have lost...
Yes, I lost my little darlin' the night they were playing the beautiful Tennessee Waltz.
Marjorie Waggoner Jordan
Margie was born at home August 25, 1917, in Raleigh, MS, to John and Almeda Waggoner. She thrived in the supportive community of rural Smith County, and she went on to graduate from George Washington University. She worked for the U.S. Civil Service Commission in Washington, D.C., before marrying Elmer E. Jordan in 1944. After several years of traveling with the U.S. Army, they made their home in Jackson.
Margie taught in the Jackson Public Schools, and her love of learning led her to pursue her Ph.D. from the University of Southern Mississippi after her children were grown. She joined the faculty of Jackson State University in 1966 and was a history professor there for twenty years. After retirement, she and her sister backpacked across Europe.
Margie was an active member of Galloway United Methodist Church. For many years she taught the Bessie Shands Sunday School Class, and she found joy spending hours researching and integrating historical and Biblical perspectives for each lesson.
Margie lived a rich, full life, and her primary focus was serving God by serving others. She died peacefully at home, surrounded by her family, on Thursday, October 9, 2008. She had a wry sense of humor and at times would joke that if her family didn't shape up they would have to put "old age and bad treatment" as her cause of death.
She is preceded in death by her parents; husband; and brother, John D. Waggoner.
She is survived by sister, Dorothy W. Kalehoff of Laurel; daughters, Martha Cain (Edd) and Kathy Wall (Mark) of Madison; son, John Jordan (Susan) of Charlotte, NC; grandchildren, Ashley Prulliere (Frederic) of Boston, MA, Katie Langley (Kenny) of Starkville, Melanie Wall of Oxford, Jeremy Wall of New Orleans, Adrienne Blasingane (Jack) of Huntsville, AL, Zac Jordan of Charleston, SC, and Charles Jordan (Susan) of Pittsburgh, PA; and two great grandchildren, Alanna Wall and Ford Jordan. She leaves many beloved nieces and nephews.
A special thanks goes to adopted family members Dosie Morgan (Sam) and Patsy and Pamela Smith, who loved and cared for Margie and Elmer, and who ministered in the name of Jesus Christ to the entire family.
Memorials may be made to Galloway United Methodist Church, 305 North Congress, Jackson, MS 39201, or to a charity of your choice.
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