Some people have a gift to light up the lives of others and Aunt Janet was one of those people. Last Saturday, at her memorial service held in the church where her son had been the pastor (he is retired now), we listened to the family pay tribute to this amazing lady and the legacy she left.

Aunt Janet was my husband's great aunt. She was only a few years older than my father-in-law and Aunt Janet's sister was Mart, his mother (clear as mud?!). My husband and I, as newly weds, lived in the house once owned by Aunt Janet and Uncle Eddie. I never knew Uncle Eddie, he died before I became a member of the family. Yet, Aunt Janet fondly remembered him and the great times they had in that little house every time she visited.

Memorial services can be very sad, and this one was no exception. She was a remarkable lady loved by her two children Tom and Dianne, her grandchildren, great grandchldren and their spouses. She wasn't a woman of means but she meant so much to so many people. She was a beautiful, classy lady. I remember her smile, her laugh, and her kindness. The way she would play with my children while sittng on the ground ("Well, how else do you build puzzles, Felice?" she'd ask. She didn't want the chair I tried to give her to sit upon.)

She would send me thank-you notes for my Christmas letters, and I found out at the service she photocopied it to send to family members. The most touching words came from Aunt Janet herself in a letter she had penned to daughter Dianne some years ago. It was a letter she had written to her "dear children" telling them not to morn her death when it came. They read this letter in which Aunt Janet once again shared how blessed she was to live a life, knowing Christ, being surrounded by loving family of whom she was very proud, listing them by name and sharing her happiness with the life she had lived.

Pastor Tom said of heaven, "It is a prepared place for prepared people." And, his mother, our beloved Aunt Janet was obviously very prepared. I am hopeful in the promises of Christ, and rejoice with heaven that a saint has gone home.