Willie Nelson - Me and Sister Bobbie: True Tales of the Family Band

Willie and I had always lived with Dads parents, Alfred and Nancy Nelson. I was not told why. I liked the arrangement because our grandparents were kind and caring. But I was also comforted by the knowledge that my mom and dad lived right next to us. Willie and I saw them every day. My parents rounded out my world. So to see that world fall apart scared me to death.

I was a little girl when my grandparents told me that my mother and father were leaving Abbott, the little Texas town where Willie and I were born. Not only were they leaving us, they were leaving each other. My father had another woman. None of this made sense to me. It just brought on a torrent of fear.

It happened in a flash. There was no preparation. I remember seeing two cars parked outside my grandparents house. My mother came in to kiss me goodbye. My dad did the same. All they said was that they were going away. Thats it. Then they were gone.

I was three years old.

I didnt know about going away. No one went away in our world. We all stayed in Abbott.

A woman named Lorraine was waiting in my fathers car. He was going away with her. My mother was going away in another car.

I was hysterical, screaming and crying my little eyes out. I held on to my fathers shirt, held on to my mothers blouse, held on to both of them so tightly that my grandfather had to drag me away screaming.

He took me to the bedroom I shared with Willie, closed the door, and locked it. The click of the lock was a dagger through my heart. I sobbed until I couldnt breathe. It didnt seem right. It wasnt fair. I had no say-so in the matter. How could that be?

I wept for hours. It felt like life was over.

No mother, no father. It cant happen just like that.

I cant remember the words they said. Im sure they tried to explain, but none of the words mattered. What mattered was that they were leaving, and I knew that nothing would ever be the same.

Willie, only six months old, had been crawling around the house. When he saw me crying, he stopped. He was a happy spirit, but he sensed my panic. He looked at me with worry in his eyes. Hed never seen me break down before, not like this. I picked him up and held him in my arms.

Dont worry, little brother, I said.

He knew only a few words like mama and dada.

Now he said something I hadnt heard before.

Sister, he said, though it sounded like itta. As he spoke, he smiled. His smile got to me. I was able to stop crying.