Thursday, September 27, 2007
Agnes Velores Barber, 1920-2007
My father's mother has joined her husband, her siblings, and two of her children in the presence of Christ. Born in the Ozarks, she journeyed seasonally every year into the cotton fields of Northeast Arkansas to pick cotton. While there one year, she met my grandfather, James Clifton Barber. They lived just a few miles from one another in the hills, but had never met one another until they were away from home working. They settled down in the flat lands, raised three children, and built a better life that did not include picking cotton!
Yesterday we stood in her hometown of Salado, Arkansas, and placed her body beside Grandpa's.
The last of my grandparents is now gone. I wonder how things are going to change now? I shook cousins' hands, receiving and giving updates on our lives, all the while wondering in the back of my mind, "Will I ever see you again in this world?"
We started Tuesday morning at 3:30 EDT just across the Grand Central Expressway from LaGuardia in Queens, NYC. We caught a 6:00 flight to Chicago Midway, followed by a 9:00 CDT flight to Houston Hobby, arriving at 11:35 am. After wolfing down lunch, we started our drive from Houston back to Jonesboro, AR. We arrived at 11:08 pm CDT. That, my friends, is a full day!
I've got lots of material to post—I'm really behind. I hope to get things up and going next week.
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10 comments:
Brother Bart,
Blessings to you my Brother. I am sorry to hear of your loss, but know that my prayers are with you and your family. Always speak about your grandmother to your children that will be the only memory they will have of her.
Blessings,
Tim
bart,
God bless you, my bro. may the Lord bring much comfort into your heart, and into the hearts of your grandmother's family. i, too, said goodbye to my grandmother(my last living grandparent) a couple of years ago. i miss her still.
also, again our pathes run eerily similar, my bro. my grandmother on my dad's side would go to the bootheel of mo...very near your ne arkansas...from the hills of middle tn every year to pick cotton. finally, she stayed there. my dad then met my mother that way. thus, my mom was a flatlander from the bootheel, and my dad was a hillbilly from middle tn.
bart, if we keep looking back into our pasts, and keep seeing all of these similarities between you and me, we're gonna find out that we're kissin' cousins. not that i want to kiss you, mind you. and, i'm sure that it would thrill you to find out that you're kin to me? :)
david
Bart:
God bless you. Regardless of how close a person is (particularly a man) to grandparents, their passing drives home the point that you're becoming one generation closer to the oldest. The senior. The "no place to hide" ... "no one "senior" to go to" bunch. That becomes even more difficult in the mid-40's, by the way.
On a sort of related note, I wrote down every memory I could think of a few years ago, and bound them into a book of sorts. It's about 450 pages of my memories that won't die when I do. Reflecting on the death of my brother motivated me. He didn't leave much his kids could look at.
Bart,
May the Lord be with you and your family in this time of personal sorrow.
Les
Bart,
Reading your itinerary made me tired!
Hope you and your family are getting needed rest.
TG
Bart,
I met you once, at a funeral in Mena. Our Youth Minister, Warren, took your class in Little Rock. Only my grandmother is living and she is pretty frail. Your story just kind of touched me in a kindred way and I want you to know of my prayers.
I also want to say to you "keep on blogging." I read several and your is always the balanced one. I apprecuate your spirit and your intellect.
Prayers,
Steve
Bart...such a sweet endearing post that grabs the heart of our soul and inspires me to write all the more. I do hope you are making hard copies of all your posts for your grandchildren to have some day. selahV
Bart,
So sorry to read of the loss of your grandmother. Yet I rejoice with you in the life of a dear saint. I wish your busy trip had ended better.
It was a pleasure to meet you and Tracy.
Brad
Bart-
Sorry to hear about your grandmother. It was hard to lose mine - also my last grandparent, August of '06. It was good to talk the other day. Give my love to Tracy, Jim and Sarah. Know you four are loved and prayed for.
Peace,
Michael
God bless you, brother, in your time of loss. I am feeling some of what you feel, as my father of 94 yrs. passed from this world last Wednesday.
Mom and Dad were "cotton pickers" from way back. They found something else to do, but taught us to love the farm. My mother told us they (children) something sang the old hymn "How tedious and tasteless the hours" while picking cotton -- with something of a different slant on it!
May God bless you with warm comfort, sweet memories and familial love. Take care.
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