Elizabeth Joe Mansfield Johnson died on August 17th, 2021. She was 87 years old, and suffered from Alzheimer’s. Betty was my Mom. She was the last of her family, an only child born to parents late in their life. Her Father was over 50 when she was born. Her Mother passed when my Mom was a young girl, and she lived with her Grandmother (Granny) and her Father. My Mom was born in Bessemer Alabama, then moved to the Birmingham West End area.
Her Father was a Presbyterian minister who had started a Birmingham inner city mission for homeless and drunk men. Her paternal Grandfather was also a minister, and I still have his Bible, desk and chair. His name was Caldwell. I have traced his family line back through the 13th century. My Mom was also eligible to be a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution on her mothers side. When she finished High School, she started working at the local phone exchange. A friend introduced her to my Father, who also lived in that area about 3-4 blocks away. As a child, I would visit both sets of Grandparents at these two houses. My earliest memories are of both homes. My parents were married in my Dad’s house.
My Dad was commissioned in the US Air Force after graduation from the University of Alabama, and my parents left for Seattle Washington for an advanced school that was my Dad’s first assignment. I was conceived there…. They then moved to Moultrie Georgia where I was born. After finishing his flight school, he was transferred to Alamogordo New Mexico where my sister was born. A stop in Oklahoma for additional training, and they finally settled in Dayton Ohio at Wright Patterson AFB.
In the early 60’s, my Dad developed epilepsy and my Mom had to take over a huge amount of extra responsibilities. My Dad was not allowed to drive. He was released from the Air Force. He was able to return to work at Wright Patt as a civil servant employee, but Mom had to handle just about all responsibilities of the marriage and parenthood. This lasted for almost two decades before Dad was able to resume driving. It has been shared with me that my Dad was never the same after the onset of his illness. That I never really knew how gregarious and fun he used to be. I know the struggles my parents had because of his limitations as a result of the illness, and the subsequent stroke which followed and which caused his premature passing in 2008. My Mom mourned my Dad greatly. She lamented the loss of not only him, but the dreams and lifestyle that she would never get to experience due to his loss.
Alzheimer’s is a horrible disease. It robs not only your memories, and ultimately your life, but it robs you from your family and your family from you. You lose the connections with people that establish who you are, and who they are. Losing yourself is maddening. There is no returning and there is no future. My Mom lost connections with her Grandsons, and never knew her Great-Grandchildren. Even short distances make it harder or impossible to be a caregiver or visitor. Ultimately passing is a very solitary event. Life can be very cruel that way.
Thankfully, your faith in your Deity provides answers to the unknown. My Mom’s faith told her that she has a future past this life. That she would be whole again. That everyone she knew and loved would be there to greet her, if they themselves had the same faith. My Dad is there as he was before all of his medical issues. She is visiting with her Father and Mother. She is reconnected with my Dad’s parents. She is rejoicing with a whole host of family and friends. She is worshiping her Lord. She is free and she is whole again.
My faith tells me that I will one day be doing the very same.
Posts: 3028 | Location: Hit the ground running in Moultrie, GA | Registered: July 06, 2009
You write a beautiful eulogy. Thank you for telling us her story.
I pray that she is at peace, and reunited with her beloved husband in heaven's perfection.
I hope that you remember her with affection, and that you find your peace as well.
God bless.
"I vowed to myself to fight against evil more completely and more wholeheartedly than I ever did before. . . . That’s the only way to pay back part of that vast debt, to live up to and try to fulfill that tremendous obligation."
Alfred Hornik, Sunday, December 2, 1945 to his family, on his continuing duty to others for surviving WW II.
Posts: 13127 | Location: Central Florida | Registered: November 02, 2008
I too wish to share my sincerest condolences and join with others who expressed their admiration and appreciation for your touching post SuhlShooter. Prayers and be well!
Certifiable member of the gun toting, septuagenarian, bucket list workin', crazed retiree, bald is beautiful club! USN (RET), COTEP #192
Posts: 16652 | Location: Black Hills of South Dakota | Registered: June 20, 2010
Condolences on the loss of your mother. That is a great story. She IS in a better place, much better.
I'm sorry if I hurt you feelings when I called you stupid - I thought you already knew - Unknown ................................... When you have no future, you live in the past. " Sycamore Row" by John Grisham
Your Mother sounds like an incredible woman with a life well lived.
"I, however, place economy among the first and most important republican virtues, and public debt as the greatest of the dangers to be feared." Thomas Jefferson
Posts: 1568 | Location: Hartford, AL | Registered: April 05, 2007
