"Dora" Leverton's story (at least to me) is really the story of two sisters. Malta Lee and Dora. Born on a dirt farm in Central Oklahoma during the depression. Times were very hard for these girls. They were tough and learned to survive. Always counting on each other. Always looking out for each other. Enjoying that special kind of bond that only sisters understand.
Eventually, both ladies married and ended up in Las Vegas, Nevada. Their houses were close near each other in the John S Park neighborhood. Their mother, "Mommer" came to Las Vegas too. I knew Mommer, but not that well.
Dora had a son, Terry. Around the same time, Malta Lee (I always called her Momma Lee) had a daughter, Connie and later, another daughter, Jaylene was born. A few years after Jaylene was born, Terry had a son and that's me. I can remember things from when I was 3 years old. Terry had already left my mother, who worked two jobs allot and I spent a lot of time in the care of Momma Lee and Uncle Jay and cousin Jaylene. Those were such great times in my life. So much love for me in Momma Lee's house.
During these times, Dora had already dedicated years of her life to the Alpine Village Inn with my grandfather. I'm not going to make this all about AVI, but anyone who has ever eaten there, or worked there can not deny that my grandparents put their entire soul into the Alpine and it showed. Devoting ones soul to something and seeing it become successful like Alpine comes with a heavy price. 94 years my granny lived and she gathered plenty of scars along the way. Granny could be hard sometimes, many people can tell you that.
Granny and Grandpa got divorced when I was about 7 years old. Granny sold all of her stake in the Alpine to Grandpa in the settlement and well let's just say that by then, Alpine was VERY successful and granny did quite well in the divorce. Without having to work, and having plenty of money, I really don't know that much about my Granny's life at that time. I was busy growing up and my mom remarried which caused me to drift away from my granny and Momma Lee a bit.
Granny then had to deal with the untimely death of her only son, Terry. I was 13 at that time and having never known my father, I didn't consider how deeply painful this was to her.
Flash forward a bit and now I'm 20 years old and I'm attending a dealer's school within walking distance of Granny's house. I would walk there everyday and she would make me lunch. I was too stupid to realize how important these times were to granny and I deeply regret not paying better attention to that. Shortly after, I began my career in casino and drifted away from granny again.
At 28, my first daughter, Jana was born and granny was in the room when it happened. I'm very happy about that.
I didn't know how lonely my granny was at this time. Momma Lee had recently died and that was a long, painful road. O I only know that this was a very painful time for her.
Then granny met a man named Cope. I could go on and on about how wonderful this man was to her. I came to learn that Cope already had a beautiful family and this family has taken granny in as a Copeland. I loved Cope in the same way. He was there for granny and provided a much needed shoulder as my Momma Lee's health failed her. I can not express my gratitude to Cope and the Copeland family fondly enough. Her years with Cope, I believe, we're the happiest times in her life.
As I reflect on the story of my granny, I keep coming back to my Momma Lee. I want so badly to know my granny and great aunt's story as children in rural Oklahoma. In my Granny's 94 years of life, it was her beloved sister Malta that was there from the very beginning.
I'm not smart enough to know for sure what lies ahead for us in death. I can only hope that somehow, someway, these two beautiful sisters are together again sharing some laughs and maybe some tears.
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