Billie Breland loved to write notes.
"She wrote down funny things that happened or quotes she wanted to remember, all in the perfect cursive handwriting that could only belong to a school teacher," her grandson Cliff Sims remembered, in a piece he wrote last week about his late "Mimi" in Alabama's Yellowhammer News.
But one of her last notes took her family by surprise. Found shortly after her death at age 83 in early January, the message was left for Jimmy, her husband of over 60 years, in a very mundane place.
"We don't know exactly when she did it, but she left one final note tucked inside her checkbook — but this one wasn’t for her, it was for my Grandaddy, and it perfectly sums up the hope and comfort that comes with knowing you’ll meet again in eternity," Sims wrote on Facebook, where he shared the photo.
"Please don't cry because I died!" the note reads, punctuated with hopeful exclamation marks. "Smile because I lived! Know that I'm in a happy place! Know that we will meet again! I'll see you there!"
The way a simple voicemail message can bring comfort years after the loss of a loved one, a simple note left behind by a partner in life and love can contain multitudes of meaning. Mimi sounds like she was one very special gal.
Rest in peace, Mrs. Breland.