Continuation of previous article: "One day ministering to some hero from the north, the next kneeling at the couch and aiding some noble lad from the land of the magnolia, Who of you, as you think of her there, can fail to couple her name with that of Grace Darling? The virtues that grace gently womanhood shone respondent throughout her life. Modest, gentle, tender and loving she was ever ready to minister to the extend of her ability with heart, hands and means to the poor and distressed, always ready to drop words of truth and cheer into every heart, always found counselling patience and peace to the end of her life. She was a member of a large famly, all of whom preceded her to the Golden shores; the death of her youngest sister, to whom she was deeply attached, occurring just one month before her own death, and of which in life she never knew. "During her long illness of 104 days with fever and other complications, she was the recipient of many tokens of love, and she often wondered why she should be thus so tenderly remembered in a land of comparative strangers, but into her heart came the comfort that the Father was returning to her "the bread she had cast upon the waters" of the long ago. Gratitude and patience, the queenliest of all virtues, were in her character beautifully exemplified. Every favor elicited grateful acknowledgement, and even when unable to speak her peaceful, soul-lit face and the faint clasp of her hand sacredly told of her peace, her gratitude and her blessing. During her more than one hundred days of suffering, ending in death, not one note or reproachful impatience, was extracted from her suffering soul; quietly, calmly and without a murmur she waited the end, her faith clinging all the closer to the great White Throne. "In her earlier womanhood her heart sought the "pearl of great price," and since coming to Texas she united with the Commerce street Christian church of this city in December, 1885, of which she remained a faithful member, and as the cold waves of death were beating about her, her soul gave christian evidence of her supreme trust in her blessed Master, and her last sacred words to her loved ones will be source that will comfort them forever and aye. And thus, after a long life of noble purposes rcrystalized into noble deeds, "the angels have borne her spirit away upon their snowy winds," within the pearly gates of the bright Beyond, and fittingly chosen at her funeral services were the words of the text, Revelations xiv, 13: "Blessed be the dead who died in the Lord from henceforth; yea, saith the spirit: tht they may rest from their labors and their works do follow them." "Touchingly sweet has been the esteem in which the life of this noble woman has been held as has been tenderly evidenced by the tears of friends and the wealth of beautiful floral offerings, covering her casket and filling the rooms of mourning: silently they have told of Kentucky friendships begun fifty years ago, as well as the esteem of later years born in the hearts of Texas womanhood. All that is mortal of her has been tenderly laid to rest in Trinity cemetery: down into the grave awith her have gone sweet flowers, typical of her life; there rest upon her bosom till the Judgment day while rosebuds offered by childhood's hands, and her grave has been covered by sweet tokens placed and strewn in love by gentle hands and thus we leave her to peaceful sleep, and God help us to emulate her christian example left as priceless heritage to all who loved her; and now the following beautiful lines offered by a friend are a fitting close to this tribute to the memory of her life: "Folded Hands. Pale, withered hands, that nearly four-score years. Have wrought for others, soothed the burst of tears. Rocked children's cradles, eased the fever's smart, Dropped the balm of love in many an aching heart: Now stirless, folded, like wan rose leaves pressed, Above the snow and silence of her breast, In mute appeal they tell of labor done, And well-earned rest that came near the rise of sun. From her worn brown the lines of care have swept, as if an angel's kiss, the while she slept. Has smoothed the cobweb wrinkles quite away, And given back the peace of childhood's day. And on her lips the faint smiles almost said, "None know life's secret but the happy dead.. So Gazing where she lies we know that pain And parting cannot cleave her soul again. And we are sure that they who saw her last, In that dim vista which we call the past, When never knew her old and at the River's side, Remembering best the maiden and the bride, Have sprung to greet her with the olden speech, The dear sweet names no later more can teach. And, 'Welcome home they've cried and grasped her hands: So dwells the mother in the Paradise of lands." End Of course, many of you will recognize her friends and family's name from Barren Co and area. Sandi Sandi's Puzzlers: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~gensoup/gorin/puz.html SCKY Links: http://www.public.asu.edu/~moore/Gorin.html GGP: http://ggpublishing.tripod.com/