Sarah Geer McIntyre: The Courage to Carry On, Part 2

Continued from previous post. . .

Little is known of Sarah Geer’s life between the end of the Civil War and her marriage to Martin McIntyre in 1897; no censuses recorded where she lived or with whom. She likely lived with her mother's sister Hannah Allison and her large family, although the 1870 and 1880 censuses of Smyth County, Virginia do not include her in the Allison household. Family tradition says that her dark complexion earned her the nickname “little black Sally,” and she was said to be “black Dutch,” a term commonly applied to Melungeons, a group of people of mixed ethnic ancestry first noted living in northeastern Tennessee and southwestern Virginia.1 At this writing, however, there is no proof of Melungeon ancestry.

There is no uncertainty, however, that Sarah’s lifelong best friend was Sarah Alice (“Allie”) Rumbley. Allie’s pale blue eyes, blonde hair, fair skin, and round face contrasted sharply with Sarah’s brown eyes, black hair, dark skin, and bird-like features. Family tradition says that Sarah and Allie met while they worked at the Palmer Inn in Saltville, where Sarah was the cook and Allie was the housekeeper.2 Earliest written evidence suggests that their friendship began possibly before 1888. A note in a small account book written by Allie in her even and carefully slanted script describes important events in their lives:

Sarah Alice Rumbley was borned June 6, 1858  was convicted of sin Feb 14 1877. Sunday the 18, candidate for membership. May Thursday 2^nd 1878 professed faith in Christ. First prayer in public July Thursday 25 1878 amersed september Thirsay 6 1883.

Sarah A. Geer convicted November 21 1888 converted the 22^nd and received in the church.3

Another page identifies the church as Methodist.

 

Between the time Allie says she felt “convicted of sin” and the time she “professed faith in Christ,” she wrote the following letter to an “Absent Friend” entreating that person’s prayers for her:

By the request of a friend

Woodland, Virginia

July 7^th, 1877

My Absent Friend

I hardly know how to address you, as I have never bin blessed with anoppertunity of forming your acquaintance, but by the halls of God’s Spirit, and the influence of your earnest prayer I will endever to address you in the best way and manner that I know how. In the first place I must confess how greatly your request surprised me; and at the same time I thank God for ever giving me such a friend here in this selfish world to take such a deep interest in my soul’s eternal welfare. O, that true Christians would a wake to the deathless interest of poor perishing sinners; ever remembering that he that converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins. My friend don’t think me presumptuous or unkind when I endever to impress upon your mind the request of an increased interest in your prayers, for freely you have received and freely give.

Oh, pray earnestly till I have received that good potion which can never be

taken from me. I do thank God for the impression that secret prayer has made on my heart, for often I feel happiness unspeakable.

Excuse me if I have bin two plain, for thoughts welcome to my bosome, may

make yours bleed. My friend you will do me a great favor by keeping those few illcomposed lines in secret—let them be as though they had never bin written, and as if the occasion for them had never arisen.

To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power,

both now and ever. Amen.

                        I remain most affectionately and respectfully yours,

                                                                                                Sarah A.

 

Both Allie and Sarah could have signed a letter Sarah A., but the handwriting is Allie’s uniformly slanted script. By contrast, Sarah’s handwriting looks haphazard, angling this way and that, like a river meandering through the countryside.

 

Allie’s letter reveals the religious language commonly used during that day, phrases such as “my soul’s eternal welfare” and “wake to the deathless interest of poor perishing sinners.” Her words are elegant and passionate: “I do thank God for the impression that secret prayer has made on my heart, for often I feel happiness unspeakable.” The “ill-composed lines” she references, we shall never know. This letter reveals a passion for God that continued with Allie and Sarah throughout their lives, a passion they passed on to Sarah’s son, stepchildren, nieces, and grandchildren.

 

Other than her conversion at age 28, no other record exists of Sarah’s activities for another nine years. In 1897, at age 37, Sarah would have been labeled a spinster or an “old maid” when she was married on June 16, 18974 to Martin McIntyre, a laborer and widower with four children. Allie Rumbley and Sarah’s cousin Rachel Allison, daughter of Hannah and John Allison, witnessed the marriage.5 Martin’s first wife, Susan (neé Chapman) McIntyre, had died the previous summer (July 13, 1896).6

 

Whether Sarah was acquainted with the McIntyre family before Susan’s death is unknown. The marriage may have been one of convenience for Martin who surely needed a cook and housekeeper and caretaker for his children: Katie (16), Stephen (14), Gould (12), and Elizabeth, or Lizzie, (7).7 On the other hand, Katie was old enough to step in as cook and housekeeper, so his marriage to Sarah may have been a love match. Existing evidence does not answer this question.

 

Whatever the case, tragedy struck less than eight weeks later when Martin suffered a sudden heart attack and died on August 7, 1897, as he was splitting wood.8 Suddenly, Sarah was left a widow with four stepchildren in her care—and she was pregnant. At Martin’s death, Sarah’s friend Allie immediately came to her aid. Eight and a half months after Martin died, Sarah gave birth to a son on April 30, 1898. She named the child John Martin and called him Martie. By the time the 1900 census was taken, Allie Rumbley was living with Sarah,9 and Martin’s children were scattered, as often happened with the death of parents. Gould lived in Kentucky,10 Lizzie lived with Sarah and Allie,11 and the whereabouts of Kate and Stephen is unknown.12 Allie and Sarah supported their family by their work as cook and housekeeper at the Palmer Inn.

 

About 1905, a Church of God preacher from Norton, Virginia, named M.P. Rimmer traveled  to Allison Gap and held a revival. Influenced by Rimmer’s sermons and those of other evangelists, such as A. G. Riddle of Atkins, Virginia, and W. P. Long and W. A. Sutherland, both of Greenville, Tennessee,13 Sarah and Allie left the Methodist Church and became followers of the Church of God movement.14 Through this association, they would later play a part in establishing a Church of God congregation in Allison Gap. 

 More later. . . .

---

1 For more on the Melungeons, see The Melungeon Heritage Association web site at http://www.melungeon.org/.

2 This version is according to Lois McIntyre Troutman. Other family members assert that Sarah and Allie started working at the hotel after Sarah’s husband, Martin McIntyre, died.

3 Booklet is in the author’s possession in Anderson, Indiana.

4 McIntyre Bible. This Bible was in the possession of Mayo Moses McIntyre in about 1985 when family historian, Carol Noonkester, visited with Mrs. McIntyre. Carol transcribed the information from the Bible, but the whereabouts of the McIntyre Bible is unknown today.

5 Ibid.

6 Arnold Family Bible. Cordelia McIntyre Arnold was a sister to Martin McIntyre. This Bible is in the possession of Sarah’s granddaughter NH of Saltville.

7 Ibid.

8 This story has been passed down through the family. The piece of wood Martin was said to be splitting is in the possession of a great-granddaughter of Sarah’s, St. Charles, MO.

9 1900 Census; Rich Valley, Smyth, Virginia; Roll T623 1728; Page 13A; Enumeration District 83.

10 1900 Census; Black Oak, Whitley, Kentucky; Roll T623 555; Page 10B; Enumeration District 142.

11 1900 Census; Rich Valley, Smyth, Virginia; Roll T623 1728; Page 13A; Enumeration District 83.

12 According to Arnold Bible records, Stephen died Feb. 18, 1901.

13 The Tie That Binds. Compiled by the Women’s Missionary Society, Allison Gap Church of God, Dec. 1970. p. 4. Republished and updated in July 2005 as A History of the First Church of God, Allison Gap, Saltville, Va, by Jack Barbrow, Geneva Louthen, Thelma Swartz, and Saundra Wassum.

14 According to The Tie that Binds (compiled by the Allison Gap Church of God Women’s Missionary Society, 1970), a history of the First Church of God of Saltville, VA, the Church of God movement dates to 1825-30 when the Rev. John Winebrenner of Harrisonburg, Pennsylvania, began preaching the following points as the basis of the organization:

            1) Under the Divine order, believers in any given place are to constitute one body.

            2) Division into sects and parties under human names and creeds is contrary to the spirit of the New

    Testament.

3) Believers in any community organized into one body constitute God’s household, and should be known

    as the Church of God.

4) The scriptures, without rote or comment, constitute a sufficient rule of faith and practice, while creeds

    and confessions tend to division and sects.

5) Binding upon all believers are the ordinances of baptism by immersion in water, in the name of the

    Trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; the washing of the saints’ feet; partaking of breads and wine in

    commemoration of the suffering and death of Christ. (p. 3)

Daniel S. Warner, from Ohio, influenced by these tenets and by the holiness movement spreading across the country, began preaching the importance of the work of the Holy Spirit in people’s lives. This eventually created a split between Warner the leaders of the Winebrennarian Church of God. Warner began publishing his convictions in a periodical called The Gospel Trumpet. At the time that Church of God preachers began spreading their teachings in Southwest Virginia, The Gospel Trumpet was being published in Moundsville, West Virginia. However, in 1906, the entire publishing company moved to Anderson, Indiana. In 1917, the company started a Bible school, which developed into what is now Anderson University. The headquarters of the Church of God remains in Madison County, Indiana, today.

This shows Allie, Sarah, and Martie at the grave of Martin McIntyre, Elizabeth Cemetery, Saltville, VA, c. 1905. The man is Tom Geer, Sarah's uncle. On the back of the photo, Sarah wrote, "This is the graveyarde[.] here is Mr. Mctyre grave [.] Uncle Tom is at the foot[,] me and martie at the head and a lady that is living with us by the name of Allie Rumbley[.] 

This the old Elizabeth grave yard [.] 

Sarah Mctyre

Aunt Nonay is burried here too[.]"

Allie Rumbley, about age 16.

Sarah Ann Geer McIntyre: The Courage to Carry On

Only child, orphan, traitor’s daughter, bride, step-mother, widow, single mom, bff, cook, housekeeper, caretaker, Christ follower—all these names fit my maternal great-grandmother, Sarah A. Geer McIntyre. My mother called her Mammy McIntyre. She died many years before I was born, but I heard stories.

 

Sarah A. Geer1 was born on January 4, 18602 in Smyth County, Virginia, to Margaret Ann Moore Geer (1838-1860), daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth Moore3, and William E. Geer (1830-1913).4 Though the couple had been married five years, Sarah was their first known child.5 The couple’s joy at Sarah’s birth turned much too soon to sorrow, for Margaret died just eight days later of “child bed fever.”6 The early loss of her mother was the first in a number of tragedies Sarah would face throughout her life. 

 

By April 1860, Sarah, age 4 months, lived at Seven Mile Ford with her father, William E. Geer, age 29, a wagoner, and with her grandmother, Celia Geer, age 57. They lived in the home of Henry L. McLure, his wife Lear, and their two children.7 The relationship between the McLures and the Geers is unknown.8

 

Sarah’s grandmother Celia was herself a single mother. Whether she was widowed or not is a mystery, as is the identity of her children’s father. In 1850 Celia and her two sons, William, age 19 and Thomas, age 12, lived in Washington County, Virginia. Celia was farming.9 Perhaps some of Celia’s resourcefulness in the face of difficult circumstances was passed on to her granddaughter, Sarah.

 

On June 20, 1861,10 when Sarah was eighteen months old, her father left her with his mother and traveled to Abingdon, Virginia, with his brother-in-law, Theophilus Moore,11 and signed with the 48^th Virginia Infantry, Confederate States of America. In 1863 he was captured on the retreat from Gettysburg and imprisoned at Fort Delaware on Pea Patch Island, Delaware. After ten weeks, William signed the “yellow dog contract,” as the Rebels called the oath of allegiance, and he was assigned to the United States Army’s 1^st Regiment Connecticut Cavalry,12 Company G.13 When the war ended, William’s mother wrote to him that it was unsafe for him to return home.14 Consequently, when he was mustered out of the service in Minnesota where he was stationed in October 1865, William stayed there, eventually making his home in Maiden Rock, Wisconsin.15 

 

Back home in Smyth County during the war, Celia took care of little Sarah. Family tradition suggests that Sarah’s maternal aunt, Hannah Moore Allison, wife of John P. Allison, Civil War veteran and farmer, probably kept Sarah after Celia’s death, prior to 1870. During the war, Smyth County endured two battles, one at Saltville (1864), resulting in the destruction of the salt works, and another battle at Marion. How these events affected Sarah and her family can only be imagined. Although specific events of Sarah’s childhood are unknown, it is easy to surmise that a little girl whose father was considered a traitor faced scorn.16

 

More to come. . .

Sarah A. Geer, c. 1900

---

1 Sarah’s birth certificate states her name as Sarah A. Gear. In the 1860 census, her name is listed as Sarah Ann, and it is recorded as Sarah Ann in the McIntyre Family Bible, but the name on her tombstone, chiseled by her son, John Martin McIntyre, is Sarah Alice. As for the spelling of her last name, in documents prior to and during the Civil War, the name is spelled G-e-a-r. After the war, it is spelled G-e-e-r. So too, the spelling of McIntyre varies in records: McIntire, McEntire, MacEntire, and McIntyre.

2 Smyth County (Virginia) Register of Births Book 1, p. 15. The spelling of the name in the record is Gear.

3 For Margaret death date: U. S. Federal Census Mortality Schedule, 1850-1880, Smyth Co, Virginia, p. 571, l. 22, citing Margaret A. Geer, 12 Jan 1860; Ancestry (NARA, T1132 Roll 5).

4 The year of William’s birth is unconfirmed. The 1850 census records his age as 19, and the 1860 census records his age as 29, which would indicate that he was born in 1831. However, his enlistment in the U.S. army on October 1, 1863, records his age as 33, and the newspaper in Maiden Rock, Wisconsin, reports that his wife, Julia, threw him a 75^th birthday party on January 31, 1905, his birthday, both of which would indicate that he was born in 1830.

5 The marriage date of Margaret Moore and William E. Geer is unconfirmed. The only record of their marriage I have found to date is actually a record of their application for a marriage license dated Jan. 4, 1855, located at the Washington County Historical Society, Abingdon, Virginia, STA VA WA 3.1, p. 22.

6 Smyth County Register of Deaths, Book 1, 1857-1896.

7 1860 U. S. census, Smyth Co, VA, p. 888, dwelling 165, family 165, Henry S. McLure, see Sarah Ann Gear; Ancestry (NARA, M653, Roll 1377).

8 Some family researchers have assumed that Lear McLure was William’s sister, but further research of the McLure family revealed no relationship. Henry and Lear were both born in North Carolina, and Lear’s maiden name was most likely

9 1850 U. S. census Washington Co, VA, p. 70B, family 35, Celia Geer; Ancestry (NARA, M432 Roll 980)

10 John D. Chapla, 48^th Virginia Infantry (Lynchburg, VA: H. E. Howard, Inc., 1989), p. 124.

11 Ibid., p. 142.

12 Ibid.

13 Veterans Records, Union, Ist Connecticut Cavalry, Company G, Muster Roll, 1 Oct. 1863.

14 “An Old Soldier’s Romance,” Maiden Rock Press, Dec. 1905, n. pag.

15 Ibid.

16 Several years ago, I met a descendant of Thomas Geer, William’s brother. When I told her I was descended from William, she said, “Oh! He was the traitor.” That remark made 120 years after the fact opened my eyes to how difficult it must have been for Sarah to have grown up in a community where people viewed her father to be a traitor.

Answering Liberty's Call: A Colonial Woman's Perspective on War

Historical fiction has captured my imagination since childhood--especially if based in early American history. As we dive into Women's History Month, I'm delighted to introduce guest writer, Tracy Lawson, author of Answering Liberty's Call: Anna Stone's Daring Ride to Valley Forge.

From Tracy Lawson:

Women played no formal role in the American Revolution, yet they were hardly passive observers in the conflict. They took part in public demonstrations against British policies alongside their husbands and brothers and were elemental in the most important protest of all—boycotting British manufactured goods.

The American Revolution changed these women’s lives irrevocably. With their men off to battle, many shouldered the responsibility of running family farms and businesses. They managed their homes, raised children, and mobilized on the home front.

 

Eschewing manufactured cloth from England, women brought their spinning wheels out of storage, and spinning bees became so popular that they drew spectators. The Boston Evening Post reported on one such event, saying, “the ladies…may vie with the men in contributing to the preservation and prosperity of their country and equally share in the honor of it.”

If honor and glory drove men to the battlefield, the fight for independence must also have ignited women’s pride, tempered thought it was by the pain of loneliness and loss. 

 

Anna Stone, the protagonist of Answering Liberty’s Call, dislikes the long separation from her soldier husband, Benjamin, even as she shares his desire for independence. It is her faith in him, in the cause of liberty, and in the military’s leadership that bolster her sense of duty and patriotism:

 

I didn’t protest when Benjamin joined the Culpeper Minutemen in the fall of 1775, for it was every able-bodied man’s duty to serve in the militia. He was delighted—far more than I, to be honest—when the Virginia Assembly called the Minutemen to defend the arsenal at Williamsburg just before Christmastide. When he returned three months later, he was restless. Even though Governor Dunmore’s expulsion from the colony restored peace to Virginia, Benjamin would not be content until the unrest in all the colonies was resolved. 

 

Though he spent long days in the fields or the orchards, he often rode off after supper to spend a few hours at Edwards’ Ordinary in nearby Fauquier Court House. There, he and his fellows followed the news of the continuing rebellion in the north and rejoiced in the daring exploits of the Sons of Liberty. 

 

Unsure how to make him understand my worry, I settled for pointing out it did not look well when a preacher spent more time in the ordinary than in church. 

 

Between Benjamin’s return from the Culpeper Minutemen’s triumph at the Battle of Great Bridge in December 1775 and his departure with the Third Virginia in October 1776, the focus of the conflict shifted. Once the Continental Congress declared the colonies’ independence from Great Britain, a return to the status quo was no longer an option. The prospect of fighting to establish an independent new nation must have been both exhilarating and terrifying. Anna recalls her range of emotions on the Sunday Benjamin read the Declaration of Independence aloud to his congregation: 

 

“Brothers and sisters, surely there is more that binds us as Americans than drives us apart. I ask you, what would you be willing to sacrifice to secure a future free from Crown rule for yourselves and your children?

 

“It is written, in Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, ‘For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.’

 

“In Thomas Paine’s Epistle to the Quakers, he asserts that all men dislike violence and want peace, but there comes a time when violence is inevitable.”

 

He unrolled the parchment. “This is a copy of our Continental Congress’s Declaration of Independence. The original is on its way to England and King George. I am privileged to be the one to share this message with you. 

 

“‘In Congress, July 4, 1776. The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen United States of America: When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bonds which have connected them with another …’” 

 

As he read, I scanned the faces of the people in the congregation and saw the dawning excitement I experienced a few months before. But now, fear overshadowed my excitement. What would independence from England and Crown rule mean? What would it cost to gain it?

 

As I watched my husband stand before his congregation, I could almost see the fresh flames burst forth from the smoldering coals of his ideals.

 

Now, as then, a military spouse clings to a sense of patriotism to make a loved one’s service and sacrifice more tolerable. As Anna journeys from her home in Virginia to Valley Forge, she sees firsthand disorganization and corruption within Congress and the army, forcing her to confront complex issues that threaten her sense of patriotism and her support for the cause. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If you wish to purchase Tracy's book Answering Liberty’s Call: Anna Stone’s Daring Ride to Valley Forge,  here are a few links:

 

Unison Books online: https://www.unisonbooks.com/answering-libertys-call-anna-stones-daring-ride-to-valley-forge/

 

Barnes & Noble online store: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/answering-libertys-call-tracy-lawson/1138253125?ean=9781735428512

 

Books A Million! online store: https://www.booksamillion.com/p/Answering-Libertys-Call/Tracy-Lawson/9781735428512?id=8066809411021#overview

 

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1735428515

 

For more information about Tracy’s research: https://tracylawsonbooks.com/answering-libertys-call-the-research-and-genealogy/

 

Also a bonus! Tracy has created a series of six short videos about colonial cooking, music, and fashion. Four of them are demonstrations you'll love of Tracy creating Anna's 1767 wedding ensemble. Here's the link to the playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvLGHmUltuuihwLFo4OcI333d35Y7VGcq

Appalachian Speech

With a nod to a fellow blogger, Troy D. Smith, Tennessee Wordsmith, I am posting a link to a thorough explanation of southern Appalachian speech patterns. This is the best! Even the comments add to the fun. Love, love, love this!

 http://tnwordsmith.blogspot.com/2015/12/how-to-speak-southern-appalachian.html?m=1

1920 Vintage Christmas Cards: So Fun!

Enjoy a few vintage Christmas post cards, mostly from my maternal step-grandmother's collection. They were addressed to Mayo Moses, some sent to Battle Creek, Michigan where she worked for a time. One was sent to her in 1923 at Elliston,VA, c/o Mr. E. J. Grice, and one was sent to her in Tennessee. One card comes from the collection of my father-in-law, Ethod Noble. Merry Christmas, 1920s style!

 

Lessons from My Dad: Hand Washing

My father taught me to wash my hands. I spent my formative years living on a farm in northeast Nebraska in the late 1940s and 1950s. If you’ve never seen or smelled farmers in from cultivating or planting or feeding cattle or harvesting, then you need to know, they are often covered in dust and grime of all sorts and they smell like sweat and hay and maybe grease or manure, and there's also an aroma, or aura, of the outdoors.

Dad’s washing routine sticks in my mind. At the Stanton farm, we had a basement with an outdoor entrance and a mud sink. Dad would trot down the steps, doff his coveralls and boots, and roll up his sleeves. Then he would bend over the sink, turn on the water and grab a bar of soap. He would lather his hands until soap bubbles dripped from them, then he would hold them under the running water and rub them together, fronts and backs in a swiping, rotating motion, and scrub his arms up to his elbows. Next he would cup his hands under the flowing water and splash it on his face, washing off the dust from his face and ears and neck. Then he would straightened up, grab a towel and dry his face and neck, swipe the towel through his hair, and dry his hands and arms. Now he was presentable for the table. I learned my hand washing techniques from him.

He also taught me to wash my hands and face first thing in the morning. He would say, “Wash the sandman out of your eyes.” The Sandman came to visit us in the night, you see. We knew because he left sand deposits in the corners of our eyes. So my morning bathroom routine, after relieving myself, has forever been to wash my hands and splash water on my face, Dad's method.

For many years, I thought everyone did that. Children often think what happens in their own homes is the way everyone does it. We learn later from visiting friends that not everyone does the same as we do.

Imagine my surprise a few years ago, while traveling, when I began seeing signs in restaurant and gas station restrooms with instructions on how to wash hands. Don’t people know that? I wondered. I guess not.

Now in this COVID19 crisis, we are given detailed instructions on how to wash our hands. I look at those instructions and think, thank you, Dad.

Dad with three of us children on the farm, Winside, NE, summer 1947.

Dad with pigs on the Winside farm, 1947.

Dad with his cattle on the Stanton, NE farm, about 1955.

Wisdom From My Mother

For over a year, I have neglected my blog. But life happens. For one, my husband retired and we pulled up our thirty-five-year stakes in Indiana and moved to Pennsylvania to live closer to our children and grandchildren.

Moving is an exhausting adventure. It took months to find a house to buy and settle into. Then there was adjusting to our new place: finding a new church (a happy find), new doctors (iffy on this one), new barber/hairdresser (always a problem); getting new license plates, new drivers licenses (ugh!); making new friends and finding our niche in our new community (fun times). Living near our grandchildren meant giving time to them on a weekly or bi-weekly basis, something we didn’t have to think about in Indiana because they were so far away. Then I agreed to proofread and edit a manuscript my brother was writing, which turned out to be a monumental, time-consuming project. On and on it goes. Thus, the blog went by the wayside.

For months, I have debated with myself on how to resume. Shall I take up where I left off or start a new direction? The dilemma has left me at a standstill. Yep. Writer’s block--or rather, blogger's block.

Today, I am cautiously resuming my family history blog on a different tic—for the time being. Part of a family history is the spiritual heritage. Where did my parents' strong faith originate? I've wondered. I have found hints from the far past and have reflected often on the example of faith they set for us.  Lately, I’ve been thinking about my mother, Lois McIntyre Troutman, who died August 6, 2008, ten years ago today. If she were still living, she would have celebrated her 96^th birthday last month on July 16. So she has been on my mind, especially a few days ago as I read this post on Facebook:

“Always PRAY to have

 eyes that see the

best in people,

a heart that forgives the worst,

a mind that forgets the bad,

and a soul that never loses

faith in God.

Amen”

(Womenworking.com).

Mom would have embraced this motto. Whether she ever saw the idea expressed exactly in that way, I do not know, but she lived it. She particularly applied it to family. Her fierce loyalty to all of us—her siblings, especially—no matter what we did is legendary in the family. If you said anything negative to her about a family member, she would jump to that person’s defense—even if she knew you were right.

What would happen if one of your family members slighted you and your brothers and sisters? An act that might have been lawsuit worthy, even? And you probably would have won. This happened in my mom’s family. What did my mother and her brothers and sisters do? They forgave and forgot. Never heard them mention the incident again. They went on with life as if it had never happened. Family unity and loving relationships were of utmost importance to them.

What better legacy could a mother give her children? Proverbs 19:11 asserts, “It is to one’s glory to overlook an offense.” Mom, you are glory. Thank you for seeing the best, forgiving the worst, forgetting the bad, and never losing faith in God.

My mother (standing 2nd from r.), her mother and her siblings.