I’m Home

Christmas 2020 was a little melancholy, at best. We had received notification that Aunt Sally (Sarah Taylor Jones) was not expected to make it through Christmas night. Earlier in the season, she was admitted to the Hospital with Covid, where she eventually recovered and was released to go home.

She was home for only a few days, before returning to the hospital with intestinal complications. Ultimately, she would have surgery to remove some blockage. She made it through the surgery fine but then quickly declined due to her recent battle with Covid. She was simply too weak to combat the post surgery recovery. The Medical Staff brought Aunt Sally down to the first floor Christmas Day so that her two daughters could stay with her.

Aunt Sally’s family was one of the original settling families on St. Simons Island. Included in this heritage (but not limited to) was Uncle Doc’s (Aunt Sally’s husband) family and my Dad’s family…both residing and growing up next to one another in Black Blanks Plantation, before each of them married and had families. There are many memories of time spent with the Jones family…from Thanksgiving at Captain Doug Taylor’s house in Oatlands, to outings at Taylor’s Fish Camp, to other Holiday celebrations/events, weddings, children, grandchildren, funerals, etc. Additionally, there were many weekend outings from boating, to waterboarding, water skiing, crabbing, clamming, gardening, cleaning fresh grown vegetables, snapping peas, shucking corn…and then feasting on Aunt Sally’s amazing meals. There was always work to be done but the rewards far exceeded the few chores that were doled out. If anyone stepped out of line, Father Costello (one of the most frequent guests to the Jones cottage), was always ready to lend a helping hand.

If Aunt Sally was not cooking the next meal, she could be found baking some of the most exquisite cakes you would ever feast your eyes on (or taste), whether it was for a neighbor down the street or the most elite wedding to take place on the island in decades.

My all time favorite recipe of Aunt Sally’s was her shrimp salad. To this day, I have never had another shrimp salad recipe that could hold a candle to hers. If you were assigned the duty of providing her with fresh shrimp to make the salad (as Ross recalls), her one request would be “and don’t bring me any of those damn small shrimp, either”! Anyone who has peeled and deveined enough shrimp to feed an army can appreciate this request.

Trace ( my brother) says he hit the lottery when he and Andy (Aunt Sally’s son) were roommates during college, since Aunt Sally would keep their cupboards, pantry, refrigerator and bellies full during her visits. However, you never entered Aunt Sally’s home without eating, as she would take offense! Trace would learn this lesson the hard way…lol!

Aunt Sally had such an endearing ability to make anyone feel welcome to their home, to their dinner table, or simply to sit around the kitchen bar visiting and talking, to sleepovers…that it became natural for one to announce “I’m home” when walking thru the carport door.

Outside of taking care of her loved ones, Aunt Sally devoted her time to her church (Christ Church), volunteering with local charities and non-profit organizations. It would be thru one of these beloved organizations that “Firetruck Santa” on Christmas Eve was resurrected…and has since become a magical historical event each Christmas Eve. When I received word that Aunt Sally was not expected to make it through Christmas Day, the first thought that entered into my mind would be that her angels granted her with (what I know in my heart) was her one last wish… and that was to make certain that Firetruck Santa and his loyal convoy of elves made it around to all the island children before she left this realm. This would be a good time to point out that in prior years, Aunt Sally would always have a bountiful feast waiting for all of the Firetruck Santa volunteers and participants, after providing another year of Christmas magic to the Island children…and adults, alike.

There were the family summer vacations complete with the Jones family, extended family and our family. There were the infamous Jones canine companions through the years: Albert (named after Brother Albert from Church), Buck (a Bulldog), Jackson (Yellow Lab) and present day, Jeb…to name a few. Whenever you would spot the Jones’ family wagon on the road, you could expect to see Aunt Sally driving with the family dog applicable to that time period. You would always know she was out delivering a wedding cake, going to the grocery store, going to church or performing one of her many charitable acts, whether the receiver(s) would ever know who their Guardian Angel was…or not.

As Father so accurately stated at her funeral, Aunt Sally knew everyone from the garbage collector to people at the State Capitol. Regardless of age, creed or color, she would always greet and welcome you with open arms. She had such an impact on everyone…whether you had frequent visit miles or were a beneficiary of some discreet random act of her kindness. Honorable Bart Altman would also testify at Aunt Sally’s celebration of life, that you could count on her being (at least) one hour in the grocery store. By the time she filled 2 buggy loads of groceries and greeted every fellow shopper, you were doing well to leave in time for the next meal that day.

Aunt Sally will never be forgotten…but… instead, she will remain near and dear to our hearts with a lifetime of cherished memories. She is probably communing with our dearly departed right now, catching them up on St. Simons Island current events…lol!

There will come a day when we will cross the eternal threshold…and can once again, exclaim “I’m Home”! Rest assured Aunt Sally will be the first in line to greet us with her warm hug, kiss on the cheek, and recite (the all too familiar words), “hey sugar…go get yourself something to eat” 🙂 🙂 🙂

Dedicated to Uncle Doc, Johnny, Sarah Anne, Stephanie and Andy