1955
Teresa
2022
Teresa Elizabeth Dodd
June 6, 1955 — August 15, 2022
Our hearts are broken but her soul is free, she has Liberty. At 12:38am on Monday morning, August 15th, 2022, Teresa Elizabeth Dodd (67 years old), lept into God's arms and had Him carry her Home. Usually, people say "God wraps people in his loving arms and He carries them home" but if you know our Momma, you know she calls the shots. He tried to take her home about 25 times in the last 3 months. What a roller coaster. Ups and downs. A few turnarounds, Lots of ice cream, and sweet smiles through the pain. Visits from all her family and friends from all over the Country. The silver lining: that's exactly how she'd see it fit to bid farewell to her favorite blue marble. She'd endure to feel just one more kiss. She's always been the type of human being to squeeze every last drop life has to offer, good or bad or somewhere in between. She defied science, history, odds, and statistics. She got the death rattle 2 times and beat it. She didn't really need food like regular folk. We were really quite convinced she was invincible. She pushed past every limit doctors and caregivers gave her. She gripped tightly to her independence until it broke and then gripped some more. I'm honestly still looking over my shoulder for a possible Jesus, tomb, resurrection scenario. A true bucking wild spirit who couldn't be harnessed. A regular Calamity Jane or Joan of Arc. My Hero, in all aspects of the definition.
Teresa Elizabeth Dodd was born on June 6th, 1955 in Franklin Tennessee to Janet Elizabeth Dodd and William Harold Dodd. Momma was a Daddy's Girl, tried and true. He hung the moon and she was his persistent shadow. His masonry trowel and work boots were a fixture in our home. Her Mother was from West Virginia and her Daddy carried that love down to Tennessee just like the George Straight song that always made Momma cry. Momma craved West Virginia. The wildflowers, the train coming up the Gorge, the giant mysterious mountains, the wild rivers, wild honey suckle, lilacs, that mountain air, blackberries, and her Grandma's front porch. It was her peace. I'm confident her whole Heaven is a little piece of West Virginia.
Momma prayed for 8 whole years for a baby...sister. There's a pause there for a reason. Once Mom finally got Susan Dodd, her Pooky. They were each other's Pooky actually. Seems confusing...the name Pooky getting thrown all over the place. Nope. We have big brains. Anyway...Momma knew Pooky was HER baby. After all, she'd done all that praying. Momma would pick Pooky up out of her crib and make her come to bed with her. Her very own bite sized cute cussin' teddy bear. This went on for years. I'm not sure it actually stopped because Pooky was with Momma when she took her last breath. It makes a whole lot of sense why Mom just wanted her Pooky at the end. She wanted to let go of what she prayed for the hardest last.
Momma graduated a Bethesda Dragon. She had many gifts but theater made it's debut in highschool. She was the leading lady, Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady. She could still recite her lines perfectly nearly 5 decades later. Writing was another talent that won her an essay contest landing her in Washington exactly when Watergate was happening by chance.
Momma met a fellow Bethesda Dragon, our Father, Ricky Neal, in highschool. She loved feeling the wind in her hair when she'd ride on the back of his motorcycle. He thought she was the prettiest girl he'd ever seen. They were married for close to 20 years and had one angel (Mitch) and two gremlins (Charity-Me and Jesse) together. Momma claimed Mitch was the perfect child. "He'd check on himself." He'd be outside and every few minutes he'd peek inside and tell Momma he was okay. Jesse and I on the other hand....drove her crazy. We kind of outnumbered her. Being 16 months apart left Mom breastfeeding Jesse while pulling me off the tops of bookcases. She survived. We survived. One thing Momma and Daddy have in common is that they always put us kids first.
Momma's best friend's name was Judy Farmer. They were two peas in a pod. They racked up so many miles on both their cars going to see each other with us kids piled in the back. Some of our best memories include Mom and Jude laughing until they couldn't breathe and were crying. They truly were soulmates. It fills my heart to know my Momma and Jude are laughing and crying together again.
Momma would take us camping at PawPaw's creek often and for long periods of time. So long that when we'd go back to normal life, the outside world felt so loud compared to nature. She would pack all her hours at work in at once so she'd have most of the week with us. Most of her work involved helping people. She was a home health aid for a good while. She worked with the mentally ill and mentally disabled too. She was so good at what she did. She would go above and beyond for her patients. We didn't have 2 nickels to rub together but Mom would find a way to get her patients what they needed. She'd bring us with her. Load us down with groceries and cleaning supplies and we'd get to work. She shifted gears into entrepreneurship creating her own house cleaning business she coined "American Maid." Most of her clients contacted her through word of mouth because people loved her work so much. Her true passion was to be a teacher. Luckily as her daughter, I had exclusive access to the best untapped teacher potential that ever existed. I took full advantage, still do, and will continue to do beyond the grave.
Mom found her second family in Alcoholics Anonymous. She met some of the best people to walk this Earth there. So much wisdom and strength is shared in those 4 walls with unlimited pots of hot coffee to share. Mom was proud of her A.A. Family and her sobriety. She held onto it through the end.
Every single person who ever met Momma immediately loved her. You couldn't help it. She is a rare gem of a person and my favorite "Human Bean." (What Mom called a human being as a kid.) Momma raised a lot of hell but more than balanced that scale with all the "love light" she'd endlessly give. She REALLY Lived. She REALLY Loved. Her Faith always came first. She stayed an open vessel for God to work through. She never stopped growing. She never stopped learning. Sometimes the hard ways because hardheadedness is genetic in our "famdamnly." She was voted Most Likely to Succeed in high school. In her 67 years on this rock floating through space, I really think she did. She jam packed as much life into those years as possible. She has so many loved ones on the other side who are welcoming her: PawPaw, MawMaw, Jude, Rick, Helen, Johnny, Barry, Rhine, and Tim. These are a few I know she'd specifically want mentioned in her story.
Despite being so sick for so long, she stayed and stayed for us...her children, her grandchildren, her sister, her Cleveland bunch, her family, her friends. She is not gone though. Don't think that for a second. She'd honestly be upset if you underestimated her love for you like that. Think about the lengths she went to stay. Now think about the lengths she'll go to as a celestial being to stay connected. A family bond as strong as ours is a powerful thing. Keep your heart and mind open and you'll hear her. You'll feel her. Look for her and you'll find her.
Teresa's Celebration of Life will be held on Saturday, August 20, 2022, at 3:00 PM at Heritage Funeral Home with Deacon Howard Atkinson officiating. Burial will follow at the Neal Hurt Cemetery in Maury County off Flat Creek Road. A visitation will also be held on Saturday from 1:00 – 3:00 PM at the funeral home.
Teresa is survived by her Daughter, Charity Faith Neal of Spring Hill, TN, Sons, Mitchell Robert Neal of Raleigh, NC, William Jesse Neal of College Grove, TN, Sister, Susan Alene Dodd-Collins of College Grove, TN, and Grandchildren, Anna Eileen Neal, Tape Neal, Savannah Mai Neal, Iris Marie Neal, and Robin Joseph Neal.
Pallbearers will be Mitch Neal, Charity Neal, Jesse Neal, Charlie Beers, Holly Just, Daniel Dean, and Justin Dodd.
To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Teresa Elizabeth Dodd, please visit our flower store.
Service Schedule
Past Services
Visitation
Saturday, August 20, 2022
1:00 - 3:00 pm (Central time)
Heritage Funeral Home
Funeral Service
Saturday, August 20, 2022
Starts at 3:00 pm (Central time)
Heritage Funeral Home
Guestbook
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