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Momma / Angela Janet Caldwell
Miss Thomas is the singer in Herman E. Calloway’s band, though she prefers to be called a vocal stylist. She is kind, beautiful, and one of Bud’s fiercest advocates. Bud adores her in return and thinks she has one of the most beautiful voices he has ever heard. Miss Thomas almost immediately shows concern for Bud when she meets him for the first time at Sweet Pea. Though at first, like the others, she doesn’t believe that Herman is Bud’s father, she still believes Bud is a blessing in their lives. She carves out space for Bud in their lives and is one of the reasons he is invited to stay with them at the Grand Calloway Station and enjoy a room to himself. While Miss Thomas and Herman don’t always see eye to eye, she never backs down during their arguments about Bud. Moreover, she always compensates for Herman’s poor behavior by making Bud feel especially welcome and happy with the band. While Miss Thomas does not replace Momma for Bud, she certainly becomes a maternal figure for him, tucking him in at night and making sure all of his needs are met. Miss Thomas is also pivotal in the story because it is through her (and Jimmy) that Bud learns more about his mother and discovers that Herman E. Calloway is his grandfather, not his father.
Miss Thomas Quotes in Bud, Not Buddy
The Bud, Not Buddy quotes below are all either spoken by Miss Thomas or refer to Miss Thomas. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 14
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I wasn’t sure if it was her lips or her hand, but something whispered to me in a language that I didn’t have any trouble understanding, it said, “Go ahead and cry, Bud, you’re home.”
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Chapter 16
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I said, “Yes, ma’am, my spirit’s a lot stronger than it looks too, most folks are really surprised by that.”
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“That’s great, Bud. Something tells me you were a godsend to us, you keep that in mind all of the time, OK?”
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Chapter 19
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“We’ve been hoping for eleven years that she’d send word or come home, and she finally has. Looks to me like she sent us the best word we’ve had in years.”
Miss Thomas smiled at me and I knew she was trying to say I was the word that my momma had sent to them.
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Miss Thomas Quotes in Bud, Not Buddy
The Bud, Not Buddy quotes below are all either spoken by Miss Thomas or refer to Miss Thomas. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 14
Quotes
I wasn’t sure if it was her lips or her hand, but something whispered to me in a language that I didn’t have any trouble understanding, it said, “Go ahead and cry, Bud, you’re home.”
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Chapter 16
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I said, “Yes, ma’am, my spirit’s a lot stronger than it looks too, most folks are really surprised by that.”
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“That’s great, Bud. Something tells me you were a godsend to us, you keep that in mind all of the time, OK?”
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Chapter 19
Quotes
“We’ve been hoping for eleven years that she’d send word or come home, and she finally has. Looks to me like she sent us the best word we’ve had in years.”
Miss Thomas smiled at me and I knew she was trying to say I was the word that my momma had sent to them.
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