Mama, by Mary Neal

She's just one of those women
who took care of other people’s houses and children
Except during cotton-picking season, because the fields paid per pound
Increasing her daily take-home from $3 to $10

She’s someone who’d climb into the back of people’s cars
<?xml:namespace prefix = o />To go off and do her daily work
Love and care for other people's children and things
Leaving me wishing she could stay home with us

She’s just a lady
Who was often disrespected, even at home
When Daddy drank too much
But she never said a negative word 

She’s a woman who gave birth to ten
Like they did way back in the day
Loving and caring for each one of us
Always making sure, somehow, that our needs were met

She’s one of those customers who
Bought encyclopedias on time from the door-to-door salesmen
And big Webster Dictionaries
And magazine subscriptions – to surround her kids with opportunities to learn 

Meek, gentle, unassuming, trusting
but Oh, So Strong
Determined, unwavering, and absolute
In her self-sacrificing, all-consuming love for her kids 

She watched proudly as each one grew up
Marched down their perspective graduation aisles and into life
Except one, who would never quite grow up - Larry, the mentally ill one
He would never accomplish, excel, or thrive; his only talents were to love and enjoy

So she loved him even harder and protected him even more fiercely
Prayed for him even more often and shed more tears for his pain
Until one day it was decided by people who feel equal to making such decisions
That Larry wasn’t worth all that

Now she’s an old lady, mother to 130, spanning five generations
Sits in a rocker, looking back over a life of sunshine and rain, toil and care
Filled with memories that make her smile -- of other people’s children and her own fine brood
Quietly awaiting justice for her Larry                        

by Mary Neal
http://wrongfuldeathoflarryneal.com
Assistance to the Incarcerated Mentally Ill
<?xml:namespace prefix = st1 />P.O. Box 7222
Atlanta, GA  30357

_____________

Re:  Hattie Neal and Mary Neal v. The (Johnny) Cochran Firm
United States District Court, Northern District of Georgia, Atlanta Div; Civil Action No. 1:07-cv-1935-TCB; Legal Malpractice, Fraud, Contract Fraud, Breach of Fiduciary Duty; Jury Trial Demanded - $30 million demand - 1/3 per defendant below; Filed: 8/15/07 (pro se -- to protect the 4-year statute on contract fraud); Hattie Neal and Mary Neal - 20-year residents of Atlanta, GA metro area; Defendants Served: Cochran Cherry Givens & Smith home office- Dothan AL; Cochran Firm Memphis Office (contract was signed); David McLaughlin, Esq. (Neal's atty., as an individual); Diversity Action - different state residence among defendants and plaintiffs

Our judge had dismissed our case on 1/17/08, due to a mistake the Clerk of United States District Court made in counting the days allowed by law for our response to Defendants' Motions to Dismiss --- but the cases were all reopened on 2/12/08.  The truth goes marching on!
 

Happy is she that hath the God of Jacob for her help, whose hope is in the LORD her God.  Psalms 146:5

For the LORD will plead their cause, and spoil the soul of those that spoiled them.  Proverbs 22:23