CUTAWAY - TRIBUTE TO A LIFE WELL LIVED

SISTER, DEAREST SISTER

She gave her heart away today,
She'd given all she could.
Simply slipped into eternal sleep,
And God said, "This is good."

She was beautiful to the end,
Who'd want it any other way?
Why live, when beauty would be no more,

And suffering would have its say.

Tears seem useless, with a life fulfilled;
God spoke the final word.

Let us not grieve because she's gone,

She went to heaven in God's will.

So now the sisters, minus one
Must forge ahead and find their way.
God has spoken, and death has come;
Life continues, and God holds sway.

For life, for joy, for deeds well done,
We thank you, God, all three as one;
For the loving years we had as sisters,

We grieve not now, but we'll surely miss her.

In tribute to my beloved sister, Earlene, by Estelle Jenkins, August 18, 2011

STORM CLOUDS GATHER

Where does one begin to share his or her life?  In our family, so many people had such a great impact; it is hard to know where to begin.  So, I’ll just jump ahead a bit so that you will know why we arrived at where and who we are as a family.

My father and mother were evangelists who frequently traveled between upstate South Carolina and Florida in the Lake Okeechobee area where, during the winter months, they would work for farmers in the bean fields.  It was on one of their returns to South Carolina, while traveling through the low state area, that my father contracted malaria and died, leaving my mother and four small daughters stranded on the road.  The youngest was six months old.

We were transported in the hearse, which came for my father, to my grandparents' home in Pickens where we lived for some two years in the Mount Bethel Methodist Church community.

So, my stories will share with you the hardships, as well as the joys, of growing up in a house full of girls.

ESTELLE'S BLOG RE-LAUNCH

Today I share my thoughts on what I believe to be the only salvation for the United States - a return to the sacredness of marriage and the responsible rearing and nurturing of children under a Biblical worldview!

Our family has been wonderfully blessed to have a rich heritage of Christian upbringing supported by conservative values and little gray area in our beliefs. We are independent thinkers, fun-loving individuals who make our mistakes and learn from them. In this forum I will in the days ahead introduce to you various members of our family and share some of the joys as well as a bit of humor that we had as children, in becoming parents, grandparents and great grandparents, also welcoming newly blended families into ours. Our family circle is large, multi-ethnic and we share a mutual respect for ethnic diversity and points of view.

It is our hope that you will laugh with us, cry with us and allow us to be an inspiration to your family in these, America's most difficult and demanding times. I invite you to share in our stories and offer yours as we all tread the waters of fear and cynicism for the days that lie ahead of us.

This is the first day of our journey together! Let's make it fun.