Quite a woman! She brought 13 healthy, productive people into the world. In America today, that is a very large family. You might think that if one woman actually accomplished that, she would be pretty crushed as a result. Don't, though, because you would be quite wrong.
She had more pep than people can find these days. When she invited Lynn and I over take some of her raspberry bushes, we were quite happy. We went to her house. She offered me a shovel and indicated which plants I should dig up. I guess I was a little slow for her because she soon came out of her house with another shovel. Before I could get a plant out of the ground, this grandmother, a couple of decades older than me, had two dozen plants out of the earth. I could only stammer an embarrassed thank-you.
As a child, she lived in a very small community. There was no chance that she could attend high school there so she moved in with relatives to get some more schooling.
It is clear that she was a loving person because the whole resulting group, now including all 13 and their mates and their children and their grandchildren are still in touch with each other, still get together for holidays and birthdays and weddings and funerals. With so many members, it is only to be expected that some of its members live far away and can't always manage to be there for the holidays. But they clearly enjoy each other. They spend many days together at all sorts of events.
And get this: all 13 busy, energetic, engaged adult kids were with her at her death.
Ok, you try it. Get pregnant and bear a child 13 times. Raise them on limited funds and give them good feelings about themselves and the world while keeping your own. Live your whole life, about 9 decades, with zest and commitment to the whole family and the church. If you manage to pull that off, you will be quite a woman.
