My Aunt Carolyn...

My dear Aunt Carolyn passed away on Nov. 3, 2012.  We traveled to Iowa to attend her visitation and funeral and to see family.  Carolyn had planned it all out and it was perfect - a celebration of love and life and family.  She leaves behind three beloved children and their spouses, 5 grandchildren and their spouses and 3 great grandchildren along with her 3 'little' brothers and their families.  She was SO proud of her family.  She loved them all with a fervent heart.

Carolyn's beloved children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren

Laura, Marvin, Jonathan, Jackson, Jennifer, Julie, Mama, Daddy, Brad

Charles III, Steve, Charles and Ilene

Carolyn's children - Paul, Charlotte and Jane

her 'little' brothers - Charles, Mitch and Jack

She had requested that the following poem be read at her funeral.  I thought it was intensely beautiful and quite fitting.  Its beauty makes me cry.

"To Those I Love"

by

Isla Paschal Richardson

If I should ever leave you whom I love

To go along the Silent Way… grieve not.

Nor speak of me with tears, but laugh and talk

Of me as if I were beside you there.

(I’d come…I’d come, could I but find a way!

But would not tears and grief be barriers?)

And when you hear a song or see a bird

I loved, please do not let the thought of me

be sad…  For I am loving you just as

I always have…

  You were so good to me!

There are so many things I wanted still

To do…so many things to say to you…

Remember that I did not fear…It was

Just leaving you that was so hard to face.

We cannot see Beyond…But this I know:

I loved you so…‘twas heaven here with you!

Joyful, elegant, talented, vibrant... these are words that come immediately to mind when I think about my Aunt Carolyn.  I can hear her tinkling laugh, a common sound if you were around her for any length of time.  Her joyful spirit bubbled out of her.  You just couldn't feel down in her presence.

One of my favorite memories of her, I think because it so personified her, happened at our family reunion in Charlotte, NC back in June of 2005.  We were taking a tour of downtown Charlotte and cousin Ernie wanted to be sure and point out the 'singing building' that played actual musical notes if you pressed on the panels.  We all got a kick out of it and tried it out, but Aunt Carolyn was so happy about that building... she actually played a song on it by walking up and down the sidewalk making the different musical notes play!  Can't you just see her joyful spirit bubbling out in this photo?  It makes me smile every time I look at it.  :)

Of course, she used music to bring joy to people all her life.  She spent her lifetime teaching music to elementary students in Iowa and was recognized as the "Iowa State Teacher of the Year, Honoree" in 1985.  She taught piano and played the organ for her church (and others) for years.  She even made a CD of her own recorded piano music - I cherish my copy.

Carolyn went into the hospital back on June 26, suffering from heart and kidney failure.  She was planning to attend our annual family reunion and Daddy's retirement from ATSU just a few days later.  It broke all of our hearts that she couldn't be with us, knowing how very, very much she wanted to be.  After she passed away, her daughter, Charlotte, sent Daddy the following picture, which meant so much.  It shows Carolyn watching the live stream of the retirement festivities on a computer in her hospital room.  She was determined to not miss it completely.  :)

A few years ago I put together a video honoring all the remarkable women in my family.  Clearly, Carolyn was one of them and she figures prominently in that video.  I have watched it several times again since she passed away.

And here is a video of Carolyn from our reunion 2 summers ago.  She is telling a story and playing the hymn 'Wonderful Words of Life'.

I'll leave you with these final things... a plaque that hung on her kitchen wall.  I took this photo when we were up there in late August because I wanted to remember it always.  It makes me smile and think of her.  (Plus, I agree with her on the sentiment!)

And photos from over the years with her siblings.  She has now gone to join Marjorie and their parents, and I can imagine that has been a lovely reunion.  You can see that there is a legacy of love and laughter in our family...   :)

And just to show how far back that legacy of laughter goes, here is a photo of some of my GREAT aunts and uncles... the generation before Daddy and his siblings.  I sure do see the similarities.   :)

"Thank you, Lord, for my family and for the memories of my dear Aunt Carolyn."