Sometimes When It Rains, It Pours

There's no easy way to say this. My Aunt Ellie died last night. The first of my "blood" aunts/uncles to pass away, and the second overall (the first was her husband, Uncle Ben). Most likely, it was a stroke as she had already survived two strokes. She wasn't supposed to be climbing her fairly sizable driveway, but footsteps were found there, so there is some supposition that she did just that.

Aunt Ellie was an amazing woman. She was a strong Christian who prayed for my immediate family constantly, as well as her family, church and church staff, her nation, missionaries, my church and church staff, etc., etc., etc. I remember calling her a couple of years ago because I could not seem to find enough time to pray every day for all the people I was praying for, and she gave me an organizational tip for prayer -- Mondays -- family, Tuesdays - pastors & church staff, Wednesdays -- for the sick......something like that. I'll have to look up the particulars because frankly, I have not yet mastered the art of this particular organization.

She was married to a man who came to Christ in his late twenties or early thirties, I believe. Before that, he was a hooligan to be sure. After he came to Christ, he still was not the easiest of men, but his purpose was definitely for Christ.

As children, we loved to visit Aunt Ellie & Uncle Ben, and their children, on their farm in upstate New York. Of course, it was great to be around the barn animals -- cows, chickens, horses, even the barn kittens (my personal favorites). But it was doubly awesome to be around Aunt Ellie. She was inevitably in the kitchen, canning, jarring, cooking -- but even with all that activity, she was peaceful to be around. You know what I mean, don't you? In her house, you escaped from the rat race of city life, into the arms of a country housewife. I'm sure it was difficult -- busy from sun-up to sun-down on the farm.

Their house was a typical farmhouse -- I don't remember all the rooms -- most of our time was spent sitting at the table in the kitchen. I know they had a dining room and a living room on the main floor -- on chicken-killing day, I would pound on the piano in the living room so as not to hear the cries of the chickens. There was a bathroom as well. Upstairs was really neat, I believe, with two large rooms -- one for their son Eric, and the other for their daughters Dawn, Mary and Melissa. Her house was clean and smelled good, her laundry always smelled fresh from being hung out on the line. I remember pitting cherries and husking corn on their porch steps in the summer evenings when we visited. I remember walking through some fields to see ducks on a pond (I think). I remember playing with a brand new kitten in their living room. But most of all I remember the gentleness that was Ellie - you just wanted to be around the positive, gentle, easy person that Ellie was.

Despite being busy taking care of her own family, when her mother (my grandmother) was ill and lived with my Aunt Carol for a time, Ellie would go to her sister Carol's house and clean each week. Aunt Ellie understood family.

Not that she was boring -- her brothers, especially Larry, loved to tease her, and she always took it in good stride. She was the 6th (I think) of 8 children, and it is a surprise that she is the first of those children to go.

I'm sure I'll think of more to write about Aunt Ellie, but it is late, and my bed is calling out to me. Tonight, I'll hope to dream of being at Aunt Ellie's house again. For me, it was a little slice of heaven here on earth. She, however, is now in a place that is exponentially more beautiful than that -- I can hardly wait to see her again.