My mother was raised in the little coal mining town of
Welch, West Virginia. Born in 1926, she
was the last of six children born to Guy and Lillian Hollandsworth. Grandpa was the principal of the school in
Welch. He and Grandma worked hard to
raise their six children deep in those West Virginia mountains. They instilled in them a love for God; a love
for family; a love of culture; and a love of good music.
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| Mom, fourth from the right on the front row |
I loved hearing our mother talk about how she met my
dad. They met when Mom’s brother,
Luther, married Dad’s sister, Mary. Beth
saw in Jack the sort of man she had never come across. He was kind and thoughtful, a man of quality
to whom she was drawn. And as they
became acquainted, they each learned something that helped seal their interest
even further……they both loved classical music.
Dad was just a farm boy from Oakvale, West Virginia, who worked for the
Norfolk and Western Railroad………and Mom, from a coal town deep in the mountains,
was teaching Home Economics. But quality
music was important to them, so their mutual love for the same music was important
as well.
Our home was full of music as we were being raised in
Princeton, West Virginia. It seemed that
music was always playing on the old record player, and later the newer huge
stereo cabinet in the living room. Most
of what we heard was classical, but Mom and Dad also loved the hit
musicals. I bet all five of us kids
still know the words to the songs from Sound of Music, Carousel, South Pacific,
and Oklahoma. Christmas was full of
beautiful and fun Christmas music. I
remember children’s records full of fun songs, too.
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| Mom, on the far right, as part of the Laidley Hall Trio, 1946-47 |
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| Mom, fourth from the right on the front row |
Mom didn’t just love to listen to music. She also had a beautiful voice, and sang in
choirs and madrigal groups during her high school and college years. She was an accomplished soloist and sang in
many area churches for revival services and other occasions. A favorite song of hers…….her signature song,
really……was “I’d Rather Have Jesus.” This
is the song she was singing in a little church during a revival service one
night in the early 1950’s. Jimmie Jones
was preaching that night. Mom stood up
to sing, and God used the words of that song to pierce her heart.
I’d
rather have Jesus than silver or gold;
I’d
rather be His than have riches untold;
I’d
rather have Jesus than houses or lands;
I’d
rather be led by His nail-pierced hand
Refrain:
Than
to be the king of a vast domain,
Or
be held in sin’s dread sway;
I’d
rather have Jesus than anything
This
world affords today.
As Mom sang those words, she knew in her heart that she
had never asked this Jesus into her heart to be her Savior. She knew that she was standing before those
people singing a lie with her beautiful voice.
She walked down the aisle that night during the invitation, and Preacher
Jimmie led her to the Lord. Dad had
accepted Christ months earlier but hadn’t said much to Mom about it for fear of
angering her. Now they were united not
only in marriage, and children, and their love of music…….but they were
spiritually united in their love for the Lord that grew and grew over the
following years.
Now our family had the completed element of being raised
around God’s Word, and being active at Johnston Chapel Baptist Church where
Preacher Jimmie was our pastor for all of our growing up years. Now, too, were added beautiful hymns to the
music that graced our home every day.
All of us sang and soon we children were singing together
for church. I remember one Saturday that
we even sang…..live!.......on our small town radio station. We sang and Preacher Jimmie preached, and I
have no idea how we sounded way back then.
We continued to sing as we got older, and were known as the King Sisters
when John left. And during all this
time, Mom was still singing solos and blessing many with her pretty voice.
Many years have gone by since those days of early
marriage and raising five children. Dad
went to heaven in December of 2008, during the season of Christmas carols and
Christmas joy that Mom and Dad loved the most.
And now our mother has Alzheimer’s, lives in assisted living, and doesn’t
know any of us five children or our spouses……or her grandchildren or
great-grandchildren……or even her Jack, her husband…..Dad. We can’t ask her for advice or ask her to
tell us a familiar family story or ask her for a favorite family recipe. All of that is gone.
Gary and I went home a few months ago. Everyone was there except for Jimmy and
Kathryn. As we gathered at Jan’s house,
near the end of our day with everyone, I suggested that we sing to Mom. A friend of mine, Bev, had told me about
singing to her mother who had Alzheimer’s and how her mother remembered the
words……and it was their last real connection.
So we stood around Mom that evening at Jan’s and we sang “Great
Is Thy Faithfulness.” To our surprise
and delight, Mom joined in. She knew
most of the words, and then to our complete surprise, she sang the descant at
the end…….her voice still beautiful and sweet.
You can click on the link below to see the video of her singing that
song.
We sang a few other hymns as well, and then we decided to
see if we could make it through our family song…….Dad’s favorite song……”Tis So
Sweet To Trust in Jesus.” Again, Mom
sang most of the words in her sweet voice.
And at the end, as you can hear in the below link, she tried to describe
how special that song was. She couldn’t
put her finger on why it was special……she couldn’t remember exactly……and she
couldn’t find the words……but she knew.
Deep inside she knew that this song was a very dear part of our family,
and a dear part of her Jack……of Dad.
I’m so thankful that we sang with Mom that evening. We were all blessed beyond measure for that
time with her. Her heart was happy as
she sang. What memories those songs
stirred in all of us, including Mom.
Memories of wonderful parents who taught us about the
Lord…..who filled our hearts and our home with music……but more importantly,
filled us all with love. And over the
years, as we’ve all experienced both joys and sorrows, we can fall back on the
love they gave us and the Lord they made sure that we knew personally. Many parts of our early life are gone…..and
now the Mom we’ve always known is gone……but the hope we have in Christ will
never be gone. The certainty of heaven
will never be gone, where we can sing together forever!
Tomorrow is my mother’s birthday. She will be 88 years old……and she won’t know
that it’s her birthday…..or how old she is.
But as friends and family gather around her, I hope that she knows how
much she is loved. And I hope that she
joins in as everyone sings “Happy Birthday!”
I bet she will, with a smile on her happy face and a
twinkle in those beautiful eyes.
We love you, Mom!
Happy Birthday!
And thanks for showing us over the years that you really
meant it when you sang, “I’d Rather Have Jesus.” And that we needed to mean it, too.
