Transcript for the Piece Audio version of StoryCorps: Mike Kilgore

MK: Her full name was Sarah Louisa Matilda Elizabeth Nowles. I think she was named after all her grandmothers and probably a few other people. She was a small woman, had long hair, and, uh, she was very protective of me. I remember one night, I went to my grandmother's, and cousin Jimmy was staying with me. And, uh, we were doing the things that boys would do. And we decide we were going to smoke rabbit tobacco. And we rolled it up in newspaper, and we sat right there. And we were, you know, not inhaling it, but we thought we were big shots. But anyway, I saw the pickup lights coming up the hill, and I knew it was daddy coming to check on us. And, my granny, she had an old potbelly heater. And we grabbed up that big old pile of rabbit tobacco, and instead of shoving it under the bed, we put it in that old potbelly stove. And, of course, smoke just went everywhere. We were opening up windows, trying to get the smoke out. And daddy started beating on the door and wanted to know if everybody's alright. And daddy came in there, and he smelled it and he said, 'You boys, y'all been smoking.' And he pulled off his belt; he could pull it out in one flash like that. And she said, 'Cecil Kilgore, you're not going to lay a hand on those boys. This is my house, and as long as they're here, you're not going to lay a hand on them.' And she was his mother. He respected his mother, and he left.

From that night on, off and on, basically, I'd spend the night with her. And, uh, we would talk, you know, bad things would happen in school, little things would happen. I remember, she'd say, 'Mikey, if you look at the bad, the good's going to always pass you by... And, the bird's always sing after the storm.' She'd just say things like that all the time. And, uh, one night, I was fifteen years of age, my aunt called daddy up and said, 'Cecil, we need to take momma to the hospital, to the doctor. She's having trouble breathing.' I heard the call; the phone was on the wall in the hallway, where my bedroom door was at. And I said, 'Well let me go with you.' And, so I was with her, when she passed away. And she had a smile on her face. And, uh, she said, she could hear the angels; she said she could hear them singing. And, uh, I never will forget that.