Linda Lee Atkins
Sept. 29, 1939 - Oct. 20, 2005
My Mom passed away Thursday at 6:00pm at home
in Litchfield, ME . Her death was painless
and she died with a smile on her face.
Linda grew up in Hopkinsville, Ky and met my
father in nursery school. After they
graduated high school she followed him to the
University of Kentucky where she was a sorority
queen and "The Sweetheart of Sigma Nu."
Mom was a raven-haired beauty and very popular
on campus. When my father married her
he was still a virgin. Mom definitely
was not. But she wanted to get-the-hell
out of the "The South" and Dad was
on his way to Boston to become a minister;
she married him. I was born nine months
later. So, despite the majority opinion,
i am, technically, not a bastard.
For almost two decades through the 60s and
70s my mother played the role of dutiful minister's
wife while growing increasingly frustrated
with the soulless vapidity of suburban life. Finally,
she ran off with a baritone from my father's
choir and married him. They were together
until the day she died. At the age of
40 my mother started her life over, moved out
on her own, earned her Master's Degree
and began a successful therapy practice
which thrived until her cancer forced to her
to stop working. She was a Reiki healer
and specialized in past-life regression therapy.
She was always unconditionally supportive of
my work. If I wanted to put
on a dress and sing in a rock band, she'd say, "I'm
so proud of you for having the courage to follow
your dreams." If I wanted to throw
an orgy at The Park for two thousand horny
guys, she'd say, "I'm so proud that people
appreciate your work." The only
critical thing she ever said about my music
was, "You're very talented, dear, but
I think you could be more successful if you
would just keep your pants on."
During my mother's three-year battle with ovarian
cancer i received hundreds of letters of support
from people I barely know and hundreds
more from people i've never met. I will
try to answer each one of them personally,
but i want to express my gratitude to everyone
who has reached out to me during this difficult
time. The blessings here were twofold: my
mother suffered relatively little pain and
we had a long, long time to say good-bye. My
mother and I became very close toward the end
of her life and it was a real gift to know
her.
--Dean Johnson
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