Friday, July 11, 2008

Farewell, Sarah

TWIT is sad to report that my dear friend Sarah Jones has died.  She was 92 years old.  We met Sarah when we first came to Fourth Avenue Baptist Church almost fifteen years ago, and she was one of the first friends that we made there.  She lived in one of the high rise apartment buildings across the street from the church, and hardly ever missed a Sunday.  Even when she had to go to a nursing home, she travelled every Sunday morning by bus just to attend church.

Sarah had some very interesting stories to tell about growing up during the depression and about dealing with the Civil Rights Movement.  She said that no matter how tough or bad times were, she and her family always dressed up for church; she said that back then, church was just about the only public place that African Americans were welcomed, so they were going to dress up for it. 

I owe a debt of thanks to Sarah - she was the person that gave me the knickname of "Puddin."  Whenever I would give her a hug, she would always make a comment about "Puddin's rosey cheeks" and before I knew it the knickname stuck, and church members and family members were calling me Puddin.  Sarah was also the first person to give me a special request to sing at church.  She asked me to sing one of her favorite songs, "His Eye Is On The Sparrow" and I was more than happy to sing it for her.

You will be missed, Sarah.  You showed and gave us unconditional love.  And I know that when you reached the pearly gates of heaven this week, you were dressed to the nines. 

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

His eye was on the sparrow was also my grandma's favorite church song-- happy trails and keep pedaling!