Eulogy for Mary Louise Jones Nodell (1914-2008)

This is my first funeral and I discovered that a lot of ministers might begin with a Bible verse or story, but since this is for my grandmother, I decided to give you a synopsis of the entire Bible story. Do not get too excited. After the world was created a lovely young couple named Adam and Eve (you may have heard of them), lived in a utopian garden. Due to some unfortunate circumstances that I will not get into, they had their house repossessed. The rest of the book is about them and their descendants trying to get back home. I tell you this because this is my grandmother’s story too, save for that whole repossessed business.

My grandmother was born in 1914 in Newport. She had devoted parents and two older brothers, Chandler (which is a mighty good name) and John M. Her brothers were very nurturing. For instance, in the winter, they would tie a sled up to their car and pull her. They taught her to swim in a method that would make the judges at the Salem witch trials proud. They threw her into Carson Springs and in if she didn’t sink, she learned. Around these parts, there is a fine line between attempted murder (like Adam and Eve’s boys) and teaching. My grandmother always remembered these days fondly and never forgot how much she loved her brothers.

It was from her brothers that she got the name "Sis" (Short for "sister.") My grandmother was born with the name "Mary Louise" but I seldom heard her called by that name in my home. I called her "Grandma." My mom called her "Mom." My father called her "Sis" long after her brother had passed away. All these names are relational. This is fitting as relationships were my grandmother’s top priority.

My grandmother got to attend UT for two years before her family’s money ran out. They had were hit hard by the depression. Soon after, she got a job as a teacher at the Edgemont school here in Cocke County. On the day of her funeral, I regret to acknowledge that she was fired from the job. She was fired because she was a registered democrat which I suppose was a perfectly good reason at the time. Some of you still might find that suitable grounds for termination.

Then in the 1940s, her life changed. A big blessing came with an event called World War II. The war itself was not he blessing, but through it she met my grandfather. Dick Nodell was on maneuvers when Newport hosted the troops in the Memorial Building. My grandmother served him refreshments. He always said, "I was on maneuvers but I got outmaneuvered." An affinity for bad puns evidently run in the family.

My grandfather, a native New Yorker from Queens, decided he wanted to marry my grandmother and she agreed based upon one condition. He must bring her home every summer and Christmas and they would retire to Newport. My grandfather never once broke his promise. They lived in New York where he was teacher and later principal, but came home every summer. (On one of those trips my mother met my father.) My grandmother’s body left Newport, but part of her was always here wishing for the relationships that were so dear to her.

There are not many stories of my grandmother involving great hijinx. My grandfather was the prankster. Behind every great prankster is a woman embarrassed by his antics and that woman was my grandmother. It took a woman with my grandmother’s sweet disposition to compliment Dick Nodell. You see, he was an acquired taste. Let me explain. I have a two-year old goddaughter and there are some foods she eats and likes immediately. For example, the kid never complains about chocolate. My grandmother was chocolate to my grandfather’s asparagus. If I had to describe my grandmother in one word is would be "Sweet." I have always said that she and my Aunt Carwin were the sweetest people I ever met. (I can’t help it that they both happened to be related to me.)

I loved my grandfather but I can honestly say that he and his family were a cantankerous bunch. They argued about anything and everything just for the fun of it. The last time my grandfather’s sister visited I chauffeured her to see my grandmother. She said that of all the people she had met, my grandmother was the easiest to get along with. I knew she must be because the woman in my car was not the easiest person to get along with.

I recently talked about my grandmother with one of her best friends from New York (Edith). There was something I just had to know. While I am the same person in public and private, my good friends know exactly who I like and who I do not. So, I asked Edith if my grandmother ever said a bad word about anyone. She could not remember so. I can’t either.

Grandma would go to great lengths to be accommodating. Though she would have rather been home, she accompanied my grandfather to Europe every summer. One time, my grandmother did not want her mother to know she smoked. Her secret was almost leaked one day when her mother interrupted her during a smoke break. To avoid offending her, my grandmother put the cigarette out in her hand. To her the pain in her hand was nothing compared to hurting her mother. My grandmother never wanted to bother anyone or put anyone out.

In New York, my grandmother settled into being a wife and mother to my mom Dotty and her brother Rick. I would tell you what years they were born, but I do not wish to face the consequences that would follow. I recently traveled to her homes in Farmingdale and Oyster Bay and if you have seen "Leave it to Beaver" you have seen them. My grandmother was June Cleaver, give or take the cooking. She was the ideal mother that everyone would have wanted.

When it was time to retire, again my grandfather was true to his word. They moved back here to Cocke County. I know what you’re thinking. Thomas Wolfe has gotten it into out heads that you can’t go home again. Thomas Wolfe never lived in Newport. When she got back her friends - Ella (Wood), Dot (Talcott), Jo, Jackie (Mims), and Elizabeth (Stokely) were all still here. Margaret Elizabeth Sangster (1838-1912) wrote, "There's nothing half so pleasant as coming home again." My grandmother would have agreed. If the sum of a persons life is the true friends they acquired along the way my grandmother lived a rich life and made others richer for having known her.

She enjoyed life in Newport and while there gladly added Bill and Jo into her family. No distinction was ever made between child and in-law. I do not mean to brag, but she was especially proud of her five grandchildren.

Most of you know, my grandmother battled Alzheimer’s the last 16 years of her life. Even this period was not without its levity. In the disease’s infancy, my grandmother resided at Williamsburg Villas. Though she would have struggled to remember her name, she somehow managed to watch people press the four digit security code and retain it. She not only escaped from the community, but led those retirees out of there like Moses leading the Hebrews out of Egypt.

On close examination, there is more to the story. If she were trying to sneak out, she would have done so alone. One absence is far less conspicuous than many. To borrow a phrase from sports there is no I in Grandma. Even in an entirely new environment, she was still about relationships.

Someone once wrote how limited cancer is. They wrote things like "It cannot suppress memories." Alzheimer’s can. It took the Solitaire games away, which she played religiously. Eventually it even took her love of chocolate. But it did not take all of grandmother. The last words I remember her trying to convey were at Christmas 2006. By then, the disease had taken over. My mother was always faithful to visit and give her a gift. When she saw the gift, my grandmother tried very hard to say, "But I don’t have anything for you." Till the end, she was sweet and polite. Alzheimer’s never took this.

And now she is back in Newport. It is fitting she will be buried here. She traveled the globe with my grandfather but never found a place she liked more. I am convinced she is going to a better home than even Newport.

My hope comes from the Bible. There was another Bible man was named Abraham. He too was asked to leave his home. The book of Hebrews tells us why he could. Pay attention because there is a good chance each of you will die and you may want to remember this.

"By faith he lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise; for he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God. (Hebrews 11:9-10)

We are all aliens on earth as our real home awaits in heaven. Now I don’t want to spoil the Bible’s ending for you, but we, Adam and Eve’s descendants, can make it back home. There are a lot of plot twists along the way but a guy named Jesus intervenes and gives us a way back just by believing in Him. My grandmother did and I am certain she has made her way back home again. May we all be so blessed.