Eulogy for My Mama

     In Loving Memory 

of 

Shirley Gayle Booth Nash

Nov. 12, 1933-July 2, 2018

For those of you who don't know me, I am the youngest daughter and the fourth child of six.  I am named for mama, sharing the middle name, Gayle.

      Job 8:21 says "He will yet fill your mouth with laughter and joy." Mama had a loud, joyful laugh and she was well-known for that laugh!  Her laughter could be heard from far away and she made those around her laugh along with her.  That was one of the saddest things after her stroke in Feburay of 2017....she was unable to laugh like that.  My sister told her caregivers that she hoped mama would improve enough so that they could hear her laugh. Sadly, she did not, but we will always remember her laughter and joy.

        She was easy-going and rarely got mad, but when she did.....whew!  you had better look out.  One days, she appeared in the yard where we were playing and started tearing up on my youngest brother's legs.  Michael and I looked at each other and said, "She might think of something we did.  We better run." and run we did!  We hid in the treehouse for hours to give her plenty of time to cool off.

      Speaking of funny stories she shared that made us all laugh....one night, around 2:00 a.m., she heard a commotion in the kitchen and got up to inspect it.  She found a squirrel jumping frantically around the kitchen and started screaming.  What did she do?  Well, naturally, she called 911.  The Appomattox police sent two young deputies and I'm sure that was the only call they got to rescue an elderly lady from a rodent.   They tried to catch the squirrel without success and it kept jumping and she kept screaming.  The squirrel crawled up the arm of one of the deputies.  He started tearing at his shirt and pulling it half off, knocking magnets off the refrigerator in his frantic efforts to get the squirrel off of him.  He and mama were screaming all the while.  Finally the men took the trash can and flipped it upside and captured the wayward rodent.  The accomplis was arrested. He was released without bail to the yard.  This story had us all laughing.

       Proverbs 31:10-31 describes my mother perfectly.

10 [a]A wife of noble character who can find?
    She is worth far more than rubies.
11 Her husband has full confidence in her
    and lacks nothing of value.
12 She brings him good, not harm,
    all the days of her life.
13 She selects wool and flax
    and works with eager hands.
14 She is like the merchant ships,
    bringing her food from afar.
15 She gets up while it is still night;
    she provides food for her family
    and portions for her female servants.
16 She considers a field and buys it;
    out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.
17 She sets about her work vigorously;
    her arms are strong for her tasks.
18 She sees that her trading is profitable,
    and her lamp does not go out at night.
19 In her hand she holds the distaff
    and grasps the spindle with her fingers.
20 She opens her arms to the poor
    and extends her hands to the needy.
21 When it snows, she has no fear for her household;
    for all of them are clothed in scarlet.
22 She makes coverings for her bed;
    she is clothed in fine linen and purple.
23 Her husband is respected at the city gate,
    where he takes his seat among the elders of the land.
24 She makes linen garments and sells them,
    and supplies the merchants with sashes.
25 She is clothed with strength and dignity;
    she can laugh at the days to come.
26 She speaks with wisdom,
    and faithful instruction is on her tongue.
27 She watches over the affairs of her household
    and does not eat the bread of idleness.
28 Her children arise and call her blessed;
    her husband also, and he praises her:
29 “Many women do noble things,
    but you surpass them all.”
30 Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
    but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
31 Honor her for all that her hands have done,
    and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.

         

My daddy had great love and respect for mama.  He forbid us to complain about any meal she prepared and we didn't.   She sewed, cooked, cleaned, planted a garden, canned and froze food, washed and ironed what must have seemed like a mountain of dirty laundry, using a wringer washer for many of those years.  She mended the knees of many pants.  She wiped thousands of tears, applied umpteen bandades.

         She told me that she had always wanted to be a teacher and regretted never achieving that goal.  I told her that she was a teacher.  She taught the six of us with patience and love. One day, while teaching me to sew, she made me rip out the waistband of a skirt at least 10 times but she never yelled or fussed.  She had the patience of Job.  

       She loved her family more than anything.  She was still calling for her "boys" as she called my brothers to come and help her until she passed away.  She adored my brothers and was so proud of them.  She was sure there was nothing they couldn't fix or build.   I know that six of us gave her a run for her money a million times, but she swore we were just mischievous and never bad.   Obviously her memory was affected.

          Mama shed many tears for us, and lay awake praying for us many many nights.

          She waited at the hospital for many grandbabies to make their entrance into the world.  

          When preparing for holidays, she would say "I've gotta make butterbeans and mashed potatoes because "the boys" like those,

"Gotta make the cherry jello salad since Harry loves that,"  Fried chicken and macaroni and cheese would be on the table when my niece, Susan, was with us.  

        We always had a homemade birthday cake for our birthdays, even for my brother and I who were born on Christmas week, such a busy time for her, but that didn't matter.

        When my daughters, Erica, Alison, and Amanda were growing up, she would take them and their cousins, Jessica, Julie, Jonathan, Chris, Christy and Jason to movies at the Dollar Theatre or Holiday Lake with a picnic.   She rocked many children and grandchildren to sleep, sterilized hundreds of bottles, washed even more diapers.  She told me that she still loved to see diapers hanging on the clothesline.

         She loved her parents and in-laws.  She told me that once, daddy got mad at Granny Booth for some reason and told her that her mama was never setting foot in our house again.  Mama told him, "Oh yes, she is.   You need to get over it, Kenneth, you are not keeping me from my mama."

       I always thought of her as the glue that held our family together.

         Mama and I spent lot of time talking "Oh, she loved to talk too, did I mention that?   I might have inherited that trait from her."  She would share how Ronnie & Lucky had come to visit and she had enjoyed the time they spent with her.  She bragged on Ronnie and Doris' long and happy marriage.

  ....how Michael kept her laughing cause he was so funny....how he and Christy came over to bring her lunch....She made Jason's hummingbird cake every time he came home from deployment or leave.  He hid it in the bedroom cause he wasn't about to share it.

      ......how proud she was that Stevie had built his beautiful home and restored daddy's tractor to perfection.....how Allen kept her grass mowed...how he loved his children and let them pile into bed with him...how he hung out diapers for Brandy Lynn, using a wringer washer.

.......She depended on my sister, Cynthia, the eldest of our clan, to always be there for us. Cynthia went every week to fill her medicine box, take her to the store or doctor's, often running by Wendy's to bring her chili and junior bacon-cheeseburger & she would enjoy eating with Samya and Jayce.  But she worried that Cynthia would have another heart attack because she came almost every single day, while keeping her great-grandchildren.  

          One year when Todd was little, he said that all he wanted for his birthday was some of those little angelflake biscuits Granny made, and she made a huge Tuppeware bowl full of them.                                                She watched movies with Christy Leigh and laughed and told me that Christy always had to get an Oatmeal Cream Cake when she came over, so she always kept some in the house.

         She was indeed loved and respected and it was obvious when I watched my sweet niece, Christy Leigh, and my brothers, feeding her the pureed food she needed after her stroke.   She couldn't lift her hands to do it or even see except with one eye.   Allen said to me, "It's not easy feeding your own mama, but I do it."  It was hard on all of us to see the one who had cared for us, now needing us to return the favor, but we all did it because we love her.

            When I went to Longwood College, she drove down every Friday after work to bring me home.  She never complained about it either.

             I know we had to drive her crazy over the years, but when daddy passed away in 1996, she told us "Your daddy left me with the greatest treasure.....the six of you."

          She had a bit of a love affair with Dr.  Phil and quoted him to us often.  She loved to read Danielle Steele, and "Shhh don't tell, but she even read the Fifty Shades books, much to the shock of some  of her family.  She loved doing the crossword puzzle in the Sunday paper.

            She watched Jerry and Jonathan Falwell many times every week.  She rarely missed watching on of Billy Graham's crusades and she loved watching the services in the Crystal Cathedral.  She and I had many discussions about things she learned about from one of these ministers or a lesson from Elmer Townes.

              

Program from Memorial Service 7/6/18

Robinson's Funeral Home

Dr. Rev. Rusty Small, officiating, 

Liberty Baptist Church, Appomattox, VA pastor

Granny Nash w/Jenn & Kaydence Nash

Ronnie Nash w/mama Gayle Nash at Stevie's wedding

Austin Short, Christy Leigh Nash w/Granny Nash, Easter 2016

Mama w/Nancy & Stevie Nash, Mama's 84th birthday 11/12/2017

Five Generations:  Gayle Nash, Allen Nash, Brandy N. Kinne, Chelsey Kinne, & Alaynia Kinne 

@Appomattox Health & Rehab, summer 2017

        Proverbs 31: 10-31 describes my mother perfectly.

Epilogue: The Wife of Noble Character

10 

[a]A wife of noble character who can find?

    She is worth far more than rubies.

11 

Her husband has full confidence in her

    and lacks nothing of value.

12 

She brings him good, not harm,

    all the days of her life.

13 

She selects wool and flax

    and works with eager hands.

14 

She is like the merchant ships,

    bringing her food from afar.

15 

She gets up while it is still night;

    she provides food for her family

    and portions for her female servants.

16 

She considers a field and buys it;

    out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.

17 

She sets about her work vigorously;

    her arms are strong for her tasks.

18 

She sees that her trading is profitable,

    and her lamp does not go out at night.

19 

In her hand she holds the distaff

    and grasps the spindle with her fingers.

20 

She opens her arms to the poor

    and extends her hands to the needy.

21 

When it snows, she has no fear for her household;

    for all of them are clothed in scarlet.

22 

She makes coverings for her bed;

    she is clothed in fine linen and purple.

23 

Her husband is respected at the city gate,

    where he takes his seat among the elders of the land.

24 

She makes linen garments and sells them,

    and supplies the merchants with sashes.

25 

She is clothed with strength and dignity;

    she can laugh at the days to come.

26 

She speaks with wisdom,

    and faithful instruction is on her tongue.

27 

She watches over the affairs of her household

    and does not eat the bread of idleness.

28 

Her children arise and call her blessed;

    her husband also, and he praises her:

29 

“Many women do noble things,

    but you surpass them all.”

30 

Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;

    but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.

31 

Honor her for all that her hands have done,

    and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.

Stevie's wedding:  Michael {best man), Stevie (groom), Gayle Nash (mom of groom), Ronnie & Allen Nash...Mama and her 4 "boys"

Jason, Jenn, Ryan & Kaydence with Granny Nash; 

her home, 4023 Promise Land Road, Appomattox, VA

Alison & Natalie Dosher & Jake w/Granny Nash

Appomattox Health & Rehab, May 2017

       

Amanda & Erica Stratton w/Granny Nash

Appomattox Health & Rehab, June 2017

         

Back row, l-r:  Gayle Nash, Paxine Fleming (cousin), Cynthia & Ronnie Nash

Second row: Allen Nash

Front row, l-r:  Michael, Stevie & Rhonda Gayle Nash

1965 at Granny & Papa Booth's  home

  

Dinner at Golden Corral after my Aunt Cat's funeral (Mama's oldest sister):  Harry & Rhonda Hall, Mama, Joel & Paxine Eggleston (Cat's only child/daughter), Deborah Sanford, Cynthia Robertson, Michael Nash, Christy Leigh Nash, Austin Short, Liz Nash, Tee Eagle (Aunt Cat's only grandchild) & his fiance, Tina

        

Sisters at Granny's Memorial Service:  Alison Dosher, Erica Stratton, & Amanda Stratton

Robinson's Funeral Home

 my husband, Harry Hall & I before going to mama's memorial service

 My middle daughter, Alison Cara, & I 

 Our very handsome "Men in Black"....Hayden Robertson, Erica's boyfriend, & my hubby, Harry Hall

 I love men wearing all black...it's so "Johnny Cash" 

Hayden, Erica, Me & my honey

Special plaque my dear friend, Rita Mitchell, gave to me as a remembrance of Mama

"Those we love 

can never be more

than a

thought away,

for as long as there's

a memory, 

they live 

in our

hearts 

to stay

I want to say a huge thank you to all of our friends and family who attended our memorial service for my mother. It meant the world to have you there to share in our sorrow and celebrate Mama's life and rejoice that she is no longer in pain.

We love you!

 A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for a time of adversity.  Proverbs 17:7

‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” Revelation 21: 4

Thank you to Dr. Rusty Small

 and Robinson Funeral Home for helping 

to make the memorial service special

and to run smoothly