A Tribute To My Aunt Pam

 My mom's sister, Aunt Pam, went to be with Jesus on September 17th. It was unexpected, sad and a shock. Her memorial service was last Friday, October 29th. What an amazing service it was! She leaves behind a legacy of strength, joy, faith, generosity, love, friendship and music. My aunt, uncle, and cousins shared beautifully about her life and the impact she had on their lives and on the lives of the many people she counted as family and friends. And all 17 of her grandchildren sang a song or two from Wee Sing. Memorial services are hard. But beautiful. And they cause me to reflect on who I am, and what kind of legacy I hope to leave, who I hope to be in this lifetime that will have a lasting impact on my family and friends.

It was fun and interesting to me to hear little things like how she used to wake her kids up by singing "Rise and shine and give God the glory, glory!" I used to wake my kids up the same way when they were young. And how she played her little games.... 10 minutes of tidying up and then a little ipad game or read a page/chapter in a book. Pick up 10 things and then do something for you. My mom played those games too, and I forget to play them sometimes. Those little games make life so much more manageable! 

My Aunt Cindy and Uncle Larry, Pam's siblings, shared stories from when they were growing up, and gave us all some good laughs. :) Something about pushing buttons, and being irritating ;), but how as they went through adulthood, they became best friends. What a treasure.

Aunt Pam had a signature laugh. And she laughed a lot. She had a positive outlook on life, despite living through many challenges and hard things. She found joy and light in the midst of pain, both physical and emotional. I used to clean house for Aunt Pam, and every time, my first hour or so of "work" was a cup of coffee and talking about my family and hers and what we were learning in our relationship with the Lord. Whenever I was worried or sad about something going on in my life, she had a way of reminding me that God is at work, and helped me find the silver linings, the bright spots in the hard times, and encouraged me to find joy in the midst of the trials. 

Aunt Pam was always growing in her faith. She would tell me of the things she was learning, share Bible verses, snippets of books, prayers, sayings and songs that she found profound and encouraging. She would share answers to prayers she had been praying and often we would pray together over our families and the hard things they might be going through. 

Aunt Pam co-authored Wee Sing, a series of children's music books, tapes/CDs and videos along with her friend and colleague Susan Nipp. My kids grew up listening to and watching Wee Sing. At night they would fall asleep to the Wee Sing Bible stories and music. In the car we would sing along to various tapes - Wee Sing in the car was a favorite for road trips. Each day, the kids would watch one 1 hour Wee Sing video for their media time for many years. We had a daily "rest time" when my youngsters no longer napped, and they would listen to a Wee Sing CD (one hour long) and could come out of their rooms when the CD ended. (That allowed mommy a break to either nap or get some stuff done!) And to this day, at least monthly it seems, our family inevitably references a song, or a line from a video from Wee Sing. :)

Aunt Pam was independent and strong. Sometimes to a fault. :) I'll never forget the day I was cleaning and she called to me from her bedroom asking if I could come help her. I stepped into her room to find her on the floor moaning, but laughing. She had tried to flip her mattress by herself (don't know why she didn't just ask me to help her! :)) and had fallen in the process. We had to use her rolling office chair to get her moved to a couch in the family room. I stayed with her until she was settled and my cousin Lindsay was on the way to help out. She just kept laughing and rolling her eyes (with a moan here and there) at her predicament. When I checked on her later that day, she let me know she had broken her foot! Lol! That would not have been my guess based on her reaction! Maybe a sprain or something.... anyway, that was a prime example of her independence, strength and joy in the midst of a painful situation. 

Aunt Pam had been through breast cancer, the same leukemia my mom died from, and a challenging marriage. I know these were extremely difficult things in her life, and at the times she went through these things, I was mostly away in Texas. So I didn't necessarily see how she walked these roads, but I know she was faithful, never walked away from God, and was drawn close to Him in all these situations. And that those walks required great strength of character, depth of faith, and a deep abiding Joy that did not depend on circumstances. Her four kids, their spouses, and her grandchildren are a testimony of her faith, strength and joy. 

As I looked around at all the people attending her service, it struck me what a friend she was to so many. There were people I knew (which just shows how much these people were around and part of her life if I recognized them!) from her high school days, her college days, women from her prayer group of 35 years, her "girls night out" ladies, her business colleagues, who all considered her a dear friend, and friends of her kids, who considered her a mom-like friend. 

Stories of the Beall family's generosity were shared, and over and over I was reminded of Pam's generosity in the lives of people I love and know, myself included. 

So as I reflect on the life of my Aunt Pam, which also causes me to reflect on the life of my mom, I feel incredibly blessed to be part of such a rare and amazing family. My grandparents and their parents before them have passed down a legacy that is worthy of living up to. I hope to carry on the legacy. A legacy of faith, joy, strength, love, friendship, generosity, music, and family.