Commemorating a sad occasion
It is hard to believe that it has been nine years since my mother died. My mother, Josephine Lowery, died Sept. 7, 2010. She is buried in the cemetery at Unity AME Zion Church in Kings Mountain, N.C. I have never visited her grave. It is a combination of reasons. The distance is more than three hours from where I live. I just can't make myself go because I miss her so much. When I want to be near her, I visit Glencairn Garden in Rock Hill. When she was alive and undergoing chemotherapy and radiation, she lived down the street from the park. And on good days, she would walk up the hill to sit in the park and as she put it — “wallow in God’s splendor.” The park was her happy place and shelter from the storm of breast cancer. I loved walking with her. We would sit and talk. Or I would read quietly while she sat there. Before her death, the city of Rock Hill was buying most of the homes on the street to expand the park. The expansion has been beautiful. Glencairn Garden started...