I dug into
my memory drawer today when I had a few free minutes. There was one thing I was looking for, and
soon I found it. Or found them, I should
say. I need to organize that drawer that
is stuffed full of random cards and letters and other mementos. The unmistakable hand writing on the
particular envelopes I pulled out, though, easily identified the sender of
these treasures and made them easy to find.
I’m sure there are others still there in my drawer that I will find
later, but for now I was happy to find the ones that I did. I was actually surprised at the many cards
and letters that I found in that quick search.
It’s a testament to the gracious caring of the amazing person whose
heart touched so many of us by the cards and letters and copies of poems and
articles that she spent countless hours mailing to hundreds of people, I’m
sure.
Alice Zwemke……..Mrs.
Alice, as she often signed her name. I’m
so grateful that Gary and I had the wonderful privilege of knowing her here in
Wichita. She was the embodiment of
kindness and gentleness, her voice soft and her smile so full of
sweetness. She most definitely possessed
the gift of encouragement, and she exercised that gift to the fullest of the
abilities God gave her until her age and poor health made it more and more
difficult to do so. She would encourage
by her kind words and her soft touch, but the way that stood out to so many of
us was in her mailings. If I sang a song
at church, I would almost always get a card from Alice thanking me and giving
me encouraging words. She would thank
Gary for teaching or for praying, or thank us for various other ways that we
served. Always lifting us up…………always
showing us love.
However,
even more touching than the many cards and articles and letters that she sent
us….and the many hugs and sweet words that she spoke to us……..was the complete
love and acceptance that she showed to our Aaron. She never looked at him like he was odd. She never seemed put off by his
brusqueness. I never saw her cringe when
he was loud or angry.
After Aaron
was in the hospital for five days for a video EEG in 2003, there in our mail
came a letter from Mrs. Alice. As she so
often did, she referred to Aaron as “A very special Aaron.” She quoted a verse that she put in other
cards to him: “His eye seeth every precious thing.” I remember reading these cards to Aaron, the
cards from Mrs. Alice, and having a hard time being able to finish them because
of the lump in my throat and the tears burning my eyes.
Here’s a
card from Mrs. Alice for Aaron’s birthday in 2004. Again, she told him how precious and how
special he was. She said that she hoped
at the Thanksgiving meal that she and Aaron could share a bit.
Fast forward
to 2009. Mrs. Alice sent Aaron another
birthday card. You can see from her
handwriting that age was taking its toll on Alice. Her writing was shakier, but her sentiments of
love were as strong as ever. Once again
she reminded Aaron that he was special.
Mrs. Alice loved that word. She
used it often with Aaron……and then on this card, she used that word as she
signed her own name – your special admirer.
Yes, Alice
was indeed special. Aaron didn’t realize
just how special Alice was as I would read him what she wrote. He enjoyed getting the cards and he knew who
she was, but he didn’t fully realize just how much she cared for him or what
she was trying to convey to him. But
Gary and I knew, and we were and always will be so very grateful for her sweet
love for our special Aaron.
Tomorrow,
November 8, is our special Aaron’s birthday.
And tomorrow is the day that many of us will attend the funeral service
for our very special Alice. I think it’s
pretty special that we get to attend Alice’s graduation service, as she would
want it called, on Aaron’s birthday. She
would smile at that thought and think of just how special it all really is,
too.
We love you,
Alice, for all that you were and all that you meant to us…..but especially for
the love that you generously poured out to Aaron.
What a special lady you were! 
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