This has been a busy week. I am just now able to sit down and write for this weeks blog. I am at work right now and am reflecting on a funeral I attended last Saturday. My boss from high school is someone who I still keep in-touch with, and we also lived down the street from each other my Senior year. Her mother was older and quite unwell the past few years, and she passed away. She was a very special woman, and I am honored to have known her. I want to dedicate this blog to her and share with you all how amazing and strong she was.
She was born in Oklahoma in the 1930's, was the youngest of 14 children (oh my!), and she was born with her left arm only down a tad below her elbow. She excelled in school and atheletics. She played basketball and softball, and of all positions to have played in softball, she was the pitcher. In her adult years, she taught physical education at the local high school (where I grew up), and she even taught my mom. My mom loved her. All of her students called her "Teach".
I always admired her. She never let anyone tell her what she couldn't do. This woman could do anything she put her mind to, and she certainly did! She had many wonderful qualities. She was kind, loving, hard working, strong, and spoke her mind. I think what I looked up to her the most was that she spoke her mind. I appreciate the fact that she did this in a way that was tough but also loving. That truly is an art form!
I would like to share a couple of stories from her funeral service which showed her strength and love. This first took place when she was a young woman. She had moved away from Oklahoma, but went back for a short time. She went on a bus and spotted a young mother and baby sitting in the back. She loved children, so she decided to sit back there and meet the young mother. She was enjoying herself, chatting with the young woman, playing with her child, and the bus driver said, "Ma'am, you'll have to move to the front of the bus." The bus driver was talking to her. There was segregation at this time, and the black people sat in the back, and the white people were supposed to sit in the front. Needless to say, she ignored the bus driver. He said it for about the fourth time, and she said firmly, "I'm not moving to the front of the bus." He said it again, "Ma'am, you'll have to move to the front of the bus." She responded firmly, "I will get off this bus before I move seats." The bus driver stopped the bus, and she stepped off.......... with a standing ovation from the people she had joined in the back of the bus. Talk about standing up for your beliefs and sticking to your guns.
The second story was later in her life. A young man spoke briefly at her service. He was a student of hers in high school, and he was in a wheelchair. He said that on rainy days, the students would either play sports indoors or they would square dance (she loved to dance). When she was about to demonstrate how to square dance, she needed a student to help her show all the others. She chose the young man in the wheelchair. He was always so touched by her acceptance of him, and he looked up to her. This was very touching.
One more story came to me just now. I learned at her service that she would go to veterans hospitals (I'm assuming during the Vietnam War?) and visit amputee's (especially ones who lost their arm(s) ). Many times these young men would feel extremely depressed, and she would talk with them. She would encourage them with, "If I can do it, you can do it." She helped countless people througout her whole life.
I felt it important to share these stories in my blog. Sadly, it is very easy to forget the service that people do once they pass away. It is up to the people who are still here to open their mouths and continue to remember and honor them.
I am so fortunate to have known her. She set an incredible example of how to live life. I hope I can set even half of the example that she set for me.
Happy Friday to you and yours....
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