The Red Flannel Rag

Mom sweeping the front porch of the house where she and Dad raised our family

Mom sat in her chair a short time before her death and speculated on whether

she would go to heaven or hell when she died. She thought back over her life stating

that she had never slept with any man other than my daddy. She had cursed some, but

only when she was mad. She said she had asked forgiveness for those times. She never

mentioned hacking Rob Craig’s knuckles. I guess she felt totally justified in that act.

After a long time of reflecting on her life, she concluded that she had committed

only one sin and that she wasn’t sure she had been forgiven for that one. I asked her to

tell me what she had done. I was expecting to hear that she had murdered someone

si nce she was so serious. She sat there staring off into space. I said, “Tell me, Mom.

Maybe it wasn’t so bad.”

Finally, she started to speak. “I went to Mary Kirkpatrick’s store and post office

with Bonnie Crawford many times. Bonnie was a thief and was always asking me to

cover for her while she stole things from the store. I wouldn’t help her for a long time.

Then one day she hit on one of my favorite things — Vienna sausages. Bonnie asked me

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