While hugging me tightly Nevaeh says, "I miss Maw Maw." I just had to add this so that everyone knows just how much MawMaw was loved, is missed, and still means to all of us. Nevaeh told Steve & I this,  the afternoon of June 7th. Then she took her chalk and drew on the slab. She had us come to see what see drew. Before I could ask what she drew Nevaeh tells us "I drew Maw Maw." While holding back the tears, Nevaeh says "wait DeeDee I forgot something." She added to the drawing and says "Now it's finished. That's me holding Maw Maw's hand. Now Maw Maw can hold my hand and she can hold Jesus' hand  too." It's so hard for us to heel our own broken hearts; so lets not forget that even Mom's great-grandchildren need help to mend their little hearts too. Daddy once said that "From the mouth of the little ones comes words that will bring us to our knees." Isn't this one of those times!! 
By Dorothy Hebert

Mom, 
   It doesn't seem like it's been nearly twenty years since you moved in with us. Time has gone by so fast, it seems like it was only been a few years since Daddy passed. You traveled between our homes, going where ever you wanted to visit. Whenever one of us would call and ask for your help and the answer was always the same, "I will be there just as soon as I can. Have bag will travel is packed and ready." Now it didn't matter if you where needed for just a few days, a couple of weeks, or even a few months, you would stay as long as you were needed. Sometimes you would stay longer, even if we said that we were good and back on our feet. That's just the kind of person you were. And you taught all of us that and so much more. The most important thing that you insteel in all of your children, grandchildren and even your great-grand children is "that no matter what may happen in live family is always first and most important. If you don't have your family you're lost and sad".
   I had the pleasure of watching your eyes fill with pride and joy whenever you got an invitation from your grandchildren. First it was their high school graduations, then some sent college graduation invitations, then it was their wedding invitations, and then it was their baby shower invitations. You when to all of them as long as you were able. There was only one high school graduation that you didn't make. And that was for James's(Peanut); it wasn't because you didn't love him or that you didn't want to go, it was because his and Valerie's were the same time. I watched you stuggle with that for several months before you made that tough choice. And it wasn't because you loved one more that the other either.
   Mom, you where there with me when I got married, you were there for the births of my children, and you were there for all my surgeries. I couldn't made through those very rough times without you. 
   You always had our supper cooked, clothes washed, dryed, and put away, and you kept the house clean. Then your health began to fail and it was so hard to tell you that you couldn't do any of those things any more.
   The day I had to call 911 and watch you leave in the helicopter was the roughest day of my life. That's because it was the day that God began to prepare me to tell you good-bye. I did my best to give you all the care,  respect, and  you needed and deserved.    
   Throughout the years there have been so many people that have told me that I was a good daughter for taking care of my Mom the way I did. It wasn't a chore or even a burden to care for you, it was my pleasure. I only hope that I gave you more than you thought was necessary. Being able to repay you for all the years that you cared for me and my family was my honor for me to do.
   Now my heart is broken and there's a huge hole in it. I don't know how to patch, repair, or even fix it. Just knowing that you're in a better place  helps a little. Mom, now that you're with Daddy, Murrel Ray, Alan Keith, Little PawPaw, Agnes, and Eva, I know you're no longer confused or worried and you know all the things you had forgotten. You're watching us for Heaven with our Lord Jesus Chirst and all the angels. Now whenever it rains I'll be thinking of you with every drop. Because as the words in a song says, "There's holes in the floor of Heaven and you're watching over me today".
                                     Love forever & ever,
                                        Your daughter,
                                      Dorothy


 My earliest memories of the angel I knew as Mawmaw, begin with the summer vacations I spent in Louisiana. The food she cooked was full of the love only she could put into it. The fishing trips to the tourist bureau or the game reserve, where all I always seem to remember her catching the most fish. As a teen, I remember the quiet talks we had as I struggled to adapt to a smaller area after spending my first twelve years in a large city. My thoughts shift to the Mawmaw I remember as an adult, where she always asked me If I was working. She told me “good jobs are hard to find so hang in there and take care of your Mama.” These are just a few of the memories of the angel I knew as, Mawmaw.

 As a boy of ten or eleven I remember spending months looking forward to the weeks I would spend with Mawmaw and pawpaw. I was a little lost the first time we had rice for dinner. I had spent all of my life to that point in an Asian dominated culture. When I saw rice I asked “Where's the soy sauce”? Which was meet with looks like I was from another planet by my cousins gathered around the dinner table. While everyone was enjoying a laugh at my expense, Mawmaw just smiled and said “try the gravy its better anyway”. Of course she was right, I still love my soy sauce but gravy is king. Then there's  the corned beef hash, the cooked carrots, and the best hamburgers I have ever tasted. I have tried and failed miserably to duplicate the taste of all of these dishes. All I can say is Mawmaw's is better. The only conclusion in can come up with is the amount of love she has for all of her family shines in the taste of the food she fed us until her body failed her and she couldn't do it any more. The amount of love she put in her food is an effort only an angel like my Mawmaw could put forth.
  The best memory I have of all the numerous fishing trips we went on would have to be at the tourist bureau. I remember a time when everyone was catching fish but me. She hollered at me to come to where she was at and she shared her favorite spot with me. I caught a big white perch almost instantly. She made me feel like I could out fish the top pros and never leave the bank. There was also a time when her words brought comfort to an upset little boy. We were at the game reserve and the water was very high. The spillway gates were open all the way and a torrent of water was rushing through. I was fishing on the back side, and my line kept getting hung up in a low tree. I was always good at catching trees. As I would step back to pull my line free I can her both Mawmaw and Pawpaw tell me to be careful or I would fall in the rushing water behind me. Of course I knew everything and said don't worry about me I won't fall. Not ten minutes later I was in the water, full of large gators of course, looking up as my cousin Clayton grabbed my outstretched hand. I can still here Pawpaw telling him to push me down and me saying please don't let me go. Afterwords, as I was sitting on the bank drying off, she came over and said it was going to be ok he would not stay mad at me for long. Just dry off and you will be fishing again in no time. She was right, I was fishing an hour later and Pawpaw's anger and frustration had subsided, although he did pick at me for several weeks about it. It was all out of love and I did learn my lesson. I never fell off that spillway again. She had gentle way with her grandchildren that just made us feel better all time. The way she put people at ease leaves little doubt to me that we were blessed  with an angel In our lives every day.
 In my middle school days I remember having those after school talks I still treasure to this day. Both my parents worked full time so when I got off the bus I  went to her house. She always had some of that good food to eat and an ice cold Dr. Pepper to drink. She always asked how my day was if I did my homework. When I had a bad day because the other kids were picking on me, she would tell me as long as I stood up for myself and did the right thing it would all work out, and it did. I miss those days and she will be missed by all who were blessed enough to call her family.
 In my adult years my memories drift toward the talks I had with her at Aunt Dorothy's and Uncle Steve's home in Ragley. The early talks were centered on my job. We would talk about which plant I was working at and would let me know if I might be building a scaffold on a beam Pawpaw might have put up originally. Later as her mind and body failed her, she would say hello and goodbye and thanks for coming to see her. Some days she would just sit in silence alone with her thoughts. I was fortunate to see more of her good days than bad. Her loss saddens me deeply but I am grateful that her suffering is over now.
 These are my memories of the angel of a woman I knew as Mawmaw. She brightened all of our live with her stay on this earth. Now her time here has ended and God has called his angel home to the Kingdom of Heaven. Where she will join her husband, Pawpaw and help him watch over us all. I hope I don't work her as hard as I did him. Because of his protection I have been spared the serious injuries I could have sustained in all the car wrecks and other dangerous situation I put myself in. Her help will be needed as our family grows larger each year. The angel I knew as Mawmaw will be missed by all of us but, she will also be remembered as a kind caring woman who filled our lives with love and can out fish each and everyone of us.

I will miss you Mawmaw
Love,
 Peanut

The main memory I have of Mawmaw was her quiet demeanor and her incredible cooking. I could always count on gaining several pounds every time I came to visit. She knew how to make my "half-raw pancakes with an egg on top just right without making fun of me. Part of the reason I enjoyed her and Red's many visits to Oklahoma was to eat her cooking. My children spent many summers with them, and although they were good kids when we left them, Mawmaw and Pawpaw sent us back even better kids that said "yes sir and no sir and yes ma'am and no ma'am" instead of "yea and no". My most touching memory of Mawmaw and Pawpaw was when my wife (their daughter) was so sick that I was overwhelmed and I called to them for help. We were experiencing near blizzard conditions, and I was never so glad to see them plowing up my country driveway in their old Pontiac with snow literally packed between the radiator and grill. I can honestly say Red and Yvonne are two of the most selfless people I've ever known, and the world will be a poorer place without them.

Deepest Sympathy and prayers to the Alexander family. Red and I worked together in the 50's. We lived in 
Thibodeaux and worked in Buras during that time. I also remember him running
the drivein in Sulphur and Yvonne working there. They made the best curly cue fried potatoes.

The things I remember most about mawmaw is that she would cook my favorite meal for every birthday as a kid and then everytime I would come to visit after I was older, yes you guessed it, pork roast and rice and gravy! Their was no one who could cook it like she did! I also remember her as the fisherman she was, she would catch more fish than all of us put together with nothin but a bucket of crickets and a cane pole. I also remember having to drink milk for every supper. At first I hated milk, but it didn't take long and I was begging her to bring me some of that Louisiana milk to Oklahoma because it tasted so much better than ours. She always made the best orange kool aide that tasted awesome after jumping on the trampoline in the Louisiana summer heat. She was always their looking after us grandkids no matter what we were doing, she would get on to us for getting too close to the edge of the spillway while fishing, and always made sure we were safe on the trampoline and kept a close eye to make sure we never had too many on the trampoline at one time. When I remember mawmaw, these are the things I remember most.

Clayton Wade

Memories of Maw Maw
Clayton and I spent every summer with Maw Maw and Paw Paw from age 3 to age 16! When remembering back to all those summers there are numerous amounts of memories that come to mind. Maw Maw was the best cook I've ever met so our average weight gain per summer was at least 10-20 pounds!! My favorite meals that come to mind are all of her Rice and Gravy's, Baked Beans and Spaghetti!! We always had to have milk with supper, which we didn't drink milk in Oklahoma so was difficult at first, but learned to love Louisiana Milk. Maw Maw and Paw Paw even brought me Louisiana milk to Oklahoma for my birthday! She always made us the homemade popcicles from koolaid and homemade pear pies. What am I talking about, everything she made was homemade! She would always french braid my hair since it was never long enough to put in a bun like hers. We always kept an eye out for Maw Maw's head to pop over the screen door (which she was barely tall enough to see over so made it hard to see her sometimes) while jumping on the trampoline. She said only 1 at a time, but we usually bent the rules a little (2 or 3 jump, while the other watches the door). Fishing trips were actually amazing even though we had to get up at 3:00 am and wear long sleeve shirts and jeans in 90 degree weather. She was the best Crappie (White Perch she called them) fisher I have ever seen! She would out fish all of us using a cane pole. Coming from Oklahoma, we don't see many cane poles, but I quickly learned how in Louisiana because I wanted to catch fish like Maw Maw! Cleaning 100 fish didn't seem too fun at the time, but it was the time together, gathered at the large spool talking about our fishing adventure for the day, that meant the most! Now that I am in my 30's I realize the values that Maw Maw and Paw Paw taught me all those years ago. Work hard, play hard, respect your elders and others, and most important, cherish and protect your family! I love you dearly Maw Maw and I will carry these values with me forever! 
Love Always, Valerie Kay

OBITUARY

Mrs Yvonne Maw Maw J Jardneaux Alexander

September 30, 1928 – May 19, 2013

Hixson-Sulphur Memorial Funeral Home

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