Lois in the Middle
Lois at 93
Mother never intended be get to her hundredth birthday. She fell short by 2 1/2 months.
She lived a spectacular life - not that she was famous or rich or popular. She taught three, four and five-year-olds. Gave them a solid educational foundation and taught them like Robert Fulgham said, "Everything I Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten." How to share, how to love your neighbor, and especially how to love God.
After Mother retired, there were people who had been in her class that brought their children to my school. They figured she must have taught me something about being an excellent teacher. What a compliment to her skill and love for children.
After her third stroke, the doctor asked her how many children she had. Her reply was that she had a thousand children. John had to explain to the doctor that she probably did have a thousand children after teaching thirty years in elementary school and fifty years in Sunday school and VBS.
In the end, watching her fail was one of the hardest things I've ever done. I won't share the last picture I took of her because that is not a memory anyone should dwell on.
We gave her a Kindergarten funeral. We sang "Jesus Loves Me, This I Know" and "I Am Jesus' Little Lamb". It was appropriate for the life she lived.
Now, she is in heaven. She can see and hear and dance with her brothers and sisters, her mother, with her daughter that we know of and a couple of infants who passed away before birth.
I'll miss her, but I will not mourn. She's happier then she's ever been and I cannot wish that she were back in a body that had completely failed.
God bless her in heaven and bless us here on earth.
Thanks for visiting with me,
Kathi
