Things Change

Well, last night Jerri & I had planned on leaving Mobile at noon enroute for St Louis...we programmed the GPS & chose our overnite stop, asked Chuck to confirm hotel reservations in St Louis, etc.....she left a 6:30 wakeup call that would give us time to pack, etc before her morning seminar....
....well, the phone rang early this am & I picked it up & promptly hung it back up (I mean, who listens to those computerized wakeup calls anyway?)...it rang again & I answered it...&, I knew when I heard Jerri's younger sister's voice that it was the call we had been subconsciously waiting on for some time, the call that was a reason why we decided to postpone out trip....yep, Jerri's 92 year old mom had passed....so, tonight after 561 miles I'm sitting in a hotel room in Cookeville, Tennessee....
...all my married life (33 years) every time I went to visit Mrs. Owens she always had several jobs for me around her farm...her husband died in 1957 leaving her 4 kids to raise & a farm rto run....Saturday afternoon I'll perform the last chore she ever gave me, her job jar is empty...I'm to choose her pallbears...&, I have: me & her other 2 sons-in-law, her 2 grandsons (1 is Scott, the Green Beret) & her only great grandson.....
....sorry, guys...maybe next year....hope you all have a great time...take lots of photos...
...&, Steven: Gary doesn't owe you anything...that bet is cancelled by a higher power than any of us!
Bernice Holbert Owens
Dec 6, 1910 - 19 June 2003
"its not the beginning or end of your life that matters, its the 'dash' in the middle that counts!

Tony,

Please accept our condolences to Jerri & the rest of your family.

Regards, Lynne & Graham

Tony, I'm sorry to hear of your loss. I'm sure you know many here will chime in, and you have our support.

Tony,
Very sorry about you and your family's loss.

Sincerely,
John

I'm sure you take that last chore as being bestowed an honor by her and I'm sure it was an honor knowing her. Jerri and your daughter are proof of her quality of life and her living mementos to you. All three of you are luckier for her gift of that lineage.

You know, JDW...we were talking with her nurse a bit ago...said Mrs. O spent y'day praying & talking about her children..said she'd always taught them to hold their heads high & be somebody...& that they were ready to fend for themselves so she could "cross the lake"....her son was there this morning when she passed though nobody fully expected it....he said she just closed her eyes, smiled & went to sleep....couldn't aslk for anything better, IMHO!

Sorry to hear the bad news, especially with the timing.
It sounds like she liked you though, so you are blessed.

You've got that right, Tony. She had a marvelous life, and left it on her terms.

My condolences to you and Jerri and her family.

To be that prepared, that able to control my destiny, or to be snuffed like a blown out candle is my wish for the end. Nobody could ask for more.

My prayers are with you and yours. And it's even that much more special as through you she's, in a very human sense, touched all of us. A very special lady indeed.

Tony,

Sorry for you and your wife's loss.

Warm Regards,
-John

Jerri & Tony: I am sorry for you both for the loss of such a remarkable woman. AL Bradley

Jerri and Tony,
So sorry for the loss of your mother. It seems as though she will leave a very large open space in your lives. Remember the good times and the peaceful final sleep, and be thankful that you had her sharing your lives- that way she'll never really be gone.
With prayers for you...............Dick and Peggy

Tony, our sincerest condolences.

Regards,

Tony,

I'm so sorry for your loss. It must be wonderful, though, to remember the time you had with a truly remarkable woman. My condolences to you and your wife.

Craig Kubiak
'79B

Tony:

As a "newcomer" here I don't know you very well. But I do know that it always hurts when you loose someone that you love and respect. Please add my condolences to the others given here. It sounds like she was a wonderful lady, had a wonderful long life, and died peacfully. I hope I do half as well!

My condolences to the family

Tony & Jerry
You both have my wife's and my heartfelt sympathies. Our thought are with you as are our prayers - (if it helps Jo is Southern Baptist and Im Jewish so we have you covered).

I know it sounds trite but take consolation in that she is no longer in pain and defnitely in a better place.

"Ode to my Mother, but in your case Mother-inlaw"
I remember your old face, mother so sweet and precious,
Luminous lines and wrinkles, mother so sweet and precious.
There you have sat by the house and the greened tree of berry
Has cast shadow on your face, mother so sweet and precious.

You've sat down sad and silent, remembering those old days,
Which have come and then have passed, mother so sweet and precious.

You remember now your son, who has left so long ago, -
You wonder where he has gone, mother so sweet and precious.

You wonder where is he now, is he alive, is he dead?
And what doors has he beaten, mother so sweet and precious?

And when he was so weary, when of love he was deceived -
On whose lap was he sobbing, mother so sweet and precious?

You're pondering so sadly, the berry tree is rocking
Your sorrow so limitless, mother so sweet and precious.

And tears bitter and salty are now falling one by one
All over your olden hands, mother so sweet and precious...!

1920, by Y. Charents

* translated from Armenian*

_________

Ode To Blessed Mother
---------------- by Rosemarie E. Bishop

Who but you could love so true,
or shed a tear for all those who
could break a heart or plan to do
the worst that they could ever do?

Who but you could feel the pain
the victims feel; the stress, the strain,
yet love the ones who cause the rain
that burns, that hurts, that tears, and drains?

Who but you forgive with such
a heart so full of love, and much
more than any one could touch,
or see, or feel, or know as just.

Who but you would never cease
to share, to love, to guide, to teach,
to show us how to always reach
for God, your son, and you. Beseech!

Who but you can see it all
with eyes of love that see no wall
to separate, or build a hall
that leads both good and bad to fall.

Who but you would comfort those
who cannot tell their friends from foes;
who'll walk a path no clue where it goes.
Are we the thorns and you the rose?

Who but you would stay with us,
persistent that we need to trust:
that unconditional love's a must
to bring the peace the world dreams of.

ODE TO A MOTHER-IN-LAW

A face with a thousand wrinkles - she'd come to do her hair, In the kitchen near the pickles she was sitting there, Wearing an old red towel, her tresses not so fine, The wife stuck all the rollers in, resembling porcupine.

She added then the chemicals, the smell was quite atrocious, Sending out an awful stink - a bit like halitosis, Next she put the dryer on - won't hear what I say, I cannot make the coffee, guess who's in the way?

Checking in the mirror looking for the roots, All her bracelets jangling - the ones she bought in Boots, Gossiping with slander and slurping mugs of tea, Wolfing down the biscuits like a refugee.

Spouting off on politics and stinking of Old Spice Her diet's shot out the window but she's giving me advice Then came the tearful bit, amongst the diatribe, The picture of adversity because her cat had died.

Continuing the treatment and all that it entails, Gets the scarlet varnish out to paint her fingernails, Soon she's gazing happy with the powder and the paint, Gathering up her normal face - of a persecuted saint.

She ups and lights a ciggy - doesn¹t really care, Leaving piles of fag-ash underneath the chair, Thinks she's looking sexy, gives me a dirty leer, Then she goes and helps herself - to my favourite beer.

She tells me that the daughters turn out just like mothers Reminding me quite starkly while hitching up her udders Now she feels quite beautiful, she smiles and looks at me, I have a sudden feeling I should be miles away at sea.

J.Earl. Feb. 2001

Sorry to hear that, Tony.
It's clear she left her mark on you, and through you to your family, students, and others.
What better memorial is there than that?

Sorry to hear about your loss Tony. Sounds like she was at peace at the end, and that in and of itself says a lot about her life.

Jerri and Tony,

Like a few of us, I am new here, But may I share a few words that helped me a lot when my parents passed on years ago.

"It is not the end, rather it is a beginning of a wonderful eternity.
(I just make sure I'll be there too)

It is not a door closed, but the door opened to a better life
(no tear, no pain, and definitely, NO RUSK !!!)

Charles

I mean, NO RUST
Sorry for the typo

My condolences to you and Jerri. Sounds like Mrs. Owens had a great life.

Don't know what I can add that has not already been said, Tony, but I agree with all of the above and wish ya'll the best

Well, tiny town in nowhere Tennessee had 300 people at viewing today....room with casket was full of flowers...family & friends are traveling from Texas, Mchigan, Indiana (her minister got on road from Terre Haute where he was visiting family!), etc.... a real tribute to Mrs. Owens: there are 5 florists & when I went by one this afternoon to check on an order, they were out of flowers as were the other 4 & were having flowers brought in from Nashville!!!

Thanks, guys for everything...please remember Jerri & her siblings & the grandchildren in your prayers tomorrow!