Her Light

Some people we meet in our lifetimes have personalities that are just larger than life. Our friend Pat was one of them.  We moved to the small town of Picayune, Mississippi in 1975 when we were expecting Jamie, our sixth child.  Right away I noticed this friendly lady at the small church we began attending.  She seemed to be always laughing and giving folks little gifts, often surrounded by young people.  Our oldest boy and her sons were young teens and they became fast friends.

Jamie arrived prematurely, and whether the ladies were planning a shower or not, I don't remember, but I do remember "Miss Pat," as she was known in the proper way of addressing adults in the south, arriving at my door when he was a few days old with a carload of gifts.  Cartons of diapers, little outfits, and miscellaneous baby products weren't the only things she brought in that "one woman shower."  Like a ray of sunshine bursting in, her sparkle and smile brightened the whole room for a new "old" mom that day.

With their love for young people, Pat and her husband, Ron, were my older kids' beloved  youth leaders. They got to go to Disney World for the first time on a trip she organized.  With six-month old Jamie in tow, we took our station wagon and went along, too.  We laughed later at  the memory of her kids and mine holding their ears as Jamie screamed the last 100 miles of the trip. If I remember right, Jamie accompanied them with his older brother on a Disney trip years later.  How apropos that Pat loved  "The happiest place on earth."

Miss Pat was our four-year-old daughter Amy's first Sunday School teacher.  Amy loved her class, and one day she proudly brought home a Bible that her teacher had given her for Bible verse memory work. Amy still remembers that and talks about it.  She also remembers  Miss Pat's signature blueberry and cherry cream pies that she would bring to our fellowship meetings. We learned to make them, and they are still among our favorite desserts.

The passage of time would find our families in different parts of the country, but with the marvels of internet, we have reconnected to several old friends of our Picayune days, including Pat and Ron's oldest son Ronnie and his wife, Dawn, with whom we went to church for years before moving away.  I was surprised to see a family picture Dawn posted on Facebook recently with Pat in a wheel chair.  I asked about her, and was told that although she was in poor health, Pat was "still the life of the party!"  I've no doubt that's how heaven would describe her today: The life of the party!