Tribute from a friend

Our dear family friend Gwen Whiteman wrote a devotional for her church for Lent, and it's about Mom. It is so precious, I asked her if I could share it here.

Thank you for writing this, Gwen. It is such a tribute to Mom, and it makes me so proud to be her daughter.

Devotional for Friday, April 11, 2014 by Gwen Whiteman

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself." Luke 10:27

Anne was the first person to greet our family when we moved to our neighborhood 25 years ago. She quickly organized a coffee for me so that I could meet others. Then she invited me to an in-home Bible study where half a dozen women studied the letters of Paul under her guidance. When a neighbor was involved in an automobile accident that left her comatose, it was Anne who organized the provision of a year's worth of meals to sustain a grieving husband and two daughters. And it was Anne who comforted all of us when another neighbor family lost a precious child.

She never asked for a lot of credit. She just cared for others in simple ways. She listened. She made people laugh. She was there every Christmas Eve with a plate of cookies and there to water plants, pick up the paper, and feed a cat when families went on vacation.

My dear friend died on the winter solstice in 2012, after a courageous, fifteen-year battle with cancer. But Anne was always about new beginnings, for she was one of the Easter people. My memories of Anne instruct me that when we live our lives after the manner of Christ, we can bless the world in ways that are eternal.

Prayer: Dear God, thank you for friends who give us a vision of you through their generosity and loving kindness. Amen.

   

Gwen and Mom, 2007