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Call Me Crazy

4/5/2017

22 Comments

 
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(Unless otherwise noted, the Kathryn Tucker Windham blogs are written by her children, Ben Windham and Dilcy Windham Hilley.)

​Like all good Southerners, I have this story to tell you, and all you have to do is listen.  You don’t need to judge me, and you don’t need to figure out an explanation for it.


Last Sunday, I left my house to drive to the grocery store.  I got in the car and pressed the radio button to listen to NPR.  But instead of “This American Life,” which I expected to catch, I heard the sound effects of bats.  Yes, bat wings beating.  So I assumed I was listening to “Science Friday” instead, only it wasn’t Friday, and the bat wing sounds stopped and my mother’s voice came on the radio.  


Mother was talking about fall nights and Southern ghost stories, and I was a little rattled.  I looked at the audio monitor, and it was blank.  No station was registering.  I decided my son Ben must have put a CD of his grandmother telling stories in the car player, so I hit eject.  It was not my mother’s CD.  It was Leonard Cohen.  The earth stopped revolving, and I couldn’t breathe.


Deeply puzzled by this time, I hit the audio control, and up came an ad on WJOX (which, I should add, I hurriedly switched to NPR).  Some syndicated show was on my local station, and the earth began to revolve again. 


As I shopped for groceries, I was haunted---some would say literally---by what had happened. 


When I got home, I told my son about the experience.  He tried to explain it away in technical terms, but nothing fit.  Then he dared to ask me if I had been getting enough sleep!  His car was in the shop, so he asked to use mine to run some errands.  


Within 20 seconds, he called me.  “Mom!” He said. “Are you playing a trick on me?” Yes, the bat wings, his grandmother’s voice, the blank audio monitor….

22 Comments
Yvonne link
4/5/2017 08:05:54 pm

I wish I could hear your mom's voice telling stories again! She was the best!

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Dilcy
4/5/2017 08:12:23 pm

Thank you, Yvonne!

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L. Annette Short
4/7/2017 04:35:39 pm

I wish that too. I used to listen to Miss Kathryn all the time on NPR...... and listening to her in person was even better. What a great woman!

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carole
4/5/2017 08:18:49 pm

I'm sure it was a Jeffrey trick

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Dilcy
4/5/2017 08:23:36 pm

He's a trickster for sure, Carole.

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Norton Dill
4/5/2017 09:18:06 pm

Can I please come for a ride in your car? I long to hear Miss Kathryn! She had a huge impact on my life! Lucky me.

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Dilcy
4/5/2017 09:36:58 pm

She loved you like family, Norton.

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Mary Claire
4/5/2017 10:10:17 pm

Ms. Windham and Ms. Kitty will always be favorites of mine!! I could listen to Ms. Windham tell stories for hours and still want to hear more!! She always gave me goosebumps!! Hek she still does! (I watch her videos all the time!!)

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Dilcy
4/6/2017 06:53:35 pm

I'm so glad you still listen, Mary Claire. I miss them both....

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Bishop
4/5/2017 11:40:00 pm

Quite the story. To still hear your mother's voice...

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Dilcy
4/6/2017 09:12:28 pm

A blessing, Bishop

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Deborah Rankins
4/6/2017 01:03:48 am

All is know is when and if you figure out how that happened, please let me know. I want to share that experience, too. A little haunting every now and then is good for the soul.

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Dilcy
4/6/2017 06:54:59 pm

Yes it is, Deborah!

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Donna Farmet
4/6/2017 03:40:35 am

Even after death, our conversations carry on. Mine with my father are the same as ever - I yammer on and he rolls his eyes and turns down his hearing aids.
The bat wings is an odd element, but having connections to those most attached to us, through senses, signs, or just little thought occurrences, it's perfectly normal. Many people find it odd and so their minds will choose to not to acknowledge it.
Some connections run too deep to be disrupted by something so temporary as that small period of time between when one person is alive and the other isn't.

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Dilcy
4/6/2017 06:57:03 pm

Well said, Donna.

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Gordon
4/6/2017 06:32:53 am

WOW, Dilcy! That is crazy, crazy. I bet it was an interesting experience. Thanks for sharing it and thanks for continuing to preserve the wonderful life of your dear Mother through this blog. She was a special part of my life.

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Dilcy
4/6/2017 06:58:01 pm

Gordon, you were a special part of her life too.

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Kelly Kazek link
4/6/2017 06:40:24 am

Love this!

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Dilcy
4/6/2017 06:59:21 pm

Thank you, Kelly. It was strange and wonderful---both of which you know about!

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Jimmy Neil Smith
4/6/2017 06:41:28 am

Dilly, it's encouraging to know that Kathryn remains among us. What a precious (but scary) experience.

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Dilcy
4/6/2017 07:00:21 pm

Mostly precious, Jimmy Neil....

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Nan Slaven
4/17/2017 09:41:37 am

I could listen to your Mom talk all day long. Anytime I could go see her, I always tried to go. All of my girls loved her too.

Reply



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"Some people are important to intellectuals, journalists, or politicians, but Kathryn Tucker Windham is probably the only person I know in Alabama who is important to everybody."      

​–
Wayne Flynt, Professor Emeritus in the Department of History at Auburn University. 
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  • Home
  • KATHRYN'S WORK
    • PHOTOGRAPHY
    • BOOKS
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  • Biography
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  • OUR STORIES (Blog)
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  • NEW 8 x 10 Prints