102

On this day 102 years ago, Bob and Tisha Chapman opened their last little bundle of joy. The 10th of 10 children, with the family perhaps running low on names, she obtained only one given name -- and that allegedly attached to her by her oldest sibling. Playing with a ball on a porch listening to someone sing "Saviour, visit thy plantation" and picking cotton in the hot fields while singing "How tedious and tasteless the hours" must have been good times -- somewhere in there -- but time marched on. After ten years of education from the rural Oak Flat School and one at Nacogdoches High School, the party in question graduated in 1934. Then 1937 marked a major milestone, when she married her husband of 70 years to be. The next 20 years brought 5 children, a World War and the loss of a father and a child. Time moved swiftly on with marriages, in-laws, grandchildren and finally great-grandchildren -- and more deaths along the way. Mother. Brothers. Sisters, Friends. Daughter. And finally the husband of 70 years. That was nearly ten years ago, and time has relentlessly continued its forward march. "Don't know why God has left me here, but I'm still here," you can still say. You devoted your "career" to faith and family; you may not be rich in this world's goods, but we know "she with a heart full of love is richer than she with a hand full of gold."

Happy Birthday, Mother.