Aunt Jeanie

At about five feet she loved sports, and was involved in both track and basketball. From all I've read and been told about her, she was an incredibly sweet and giving person. Always a kind word. I was looking through the pictures of her last birthday today. She had a lot of friends so she must have really been all I've heard. Never in trouble. A girl scout and an excellent student. Committed to her youth group; she was there to help out when they needed her. She also volunteered at the hospital visiting people in an attempt to make their stay a little brighter. As the one who has inherited several of her books, I know what she was interested in. God's Smuggler, The Hiding Place, In My Father's House, and Know Your Bible Better are just some of the books she read. My Grandma says she was very missions-minded although at thirteen she hadn't yet decided what she wanted to do with her life. As far as I can tell at the time she had the highest interest in God of all her brothers and sisters.

I'm tempted to say that's where it ended. She died when she was thirteen. One day she was crossing the street on her way home from school, and a man strung out on drugs swerved his van and hit her on purpose. This happened in 1982, about a year before I was born. There yet remains a scar in my family. As with any relative who seemed to die before their time there is a sadness when those who knew her talk about it.

What brought this subject up today? My grandparents had a trunkfull of her things today and were dividing them up between her siblings and the nieces and nephews she never knew. I now have her diary which has all of five entries in it. When I was little she seemed so old, now reading those five entries penned by her between the ages of 11 and 13 she seems so young.

Even though I never knew her and thus only indirectly feel the pain of her death, I still have found myself asking God why. She loved Him and wrote that she wanted Him to have more of her, she was searching for Him in her Bible, and was interested in missions. What could she have become had she had the chance to grow up and become it? Whatever the answer to that gnawing "why" it wouldn't change a thing if any of us knew. Besides it would be selfish to wish her back. She's with the Jesus she loved and wanted to give more of herself to. Really if I were to wish her all the best there's no more I could wish for her than everything she now has.

Sorry about this long rambling post. ; )