February 23
The house feels strange and too
quiet this morning without my mom. She was strong and confident enough to send
me off to Ministers Week last Sunday while she stayed home alone. Then the end
came quickly after I got back. I'm glad we celebrated her 89th last July; a
good reminder not to wait to celebrate one another.
We called her Tutu; she died on
2/22.
Marguerite
Barker Vaughan
July 14, 1924 – February 22, 2014
July 14, 1924 – February 22, 2014
For a girl who was born in a
farmhouse in Kansas and grew up on the wrong side of the tracks in Bartlesville
OK, Margie lived life large. She was the seventh of eight children and the only
one to go to college. Margie married the love of her life at Harding College in
Arkansas on his graduation day; Tolbert Fanning Vaughan liked to say he
"got his Bachelors in the morning and lost it that afternoon."
Together they served Churches of Christ from Florida to Texas and together they
raised four children: David Vaughan of Houston TX, Charlotte Vaughan Coyle and
Jerry of Paris TX, Frances Vaughan of Oklahoma City OK, Jonathan Vaughan and
Julie of Kingwood TX. Tolbert died much too early; Margie lived without him as
many years as she had lived with him and she never stopped missing him. But she
had many good friends at the Juliette Fowler Christian Homes in Dallas and she
had a family that loved her dearly. She was a proud, grateful "Tutu"
to five grandchildren and their spouses: Benjamin Coyle and Hillary, Rachel
Coyle and Carl, Jacob Coyle, Kayla Vaughan and Taylor, Zachary Vaughan. Three
extra grandchildren: Stephanie, Elizabeth and Jonathan Brewer; three
great-grandchildren: Benjamin Thomas Coyle, Andrew Bryant Coyle and Avery
Daniel Vaughan Channing; and many precious nieces and nephews.
Even when her
ability to get out and about was severely limited these past two years, Margie
would whip out her iPad-mini and Google names and places and events she heard
about on the news. Every month, Margie would send her
little widow's offering to Week of Compassion for benevolence and disaster
relief around the world.
If you would like to honor her life, you are invited
to join her in supporting Week of Compassion. www.weekofcompassion.org
Or help support the wonderful ministry for seniors at Juliette Fowler Homes.
www.juliettefowler.org
Family and friends will gather
Thursday afternoon at 2 p.m. in the Bright Holland Chapel to celebrate Margie
and thank God for her life. Rev. Lory Hunt will be there for us like she has
always been. There will be time for visiting after the service.
February 24
It was 1944, the year after
Margie's freshman year at Harding College. She had met the man she wanted to
marry, a bright funny passionate preacher student.
But her father had only
promised to pay for one year of college (she was, after all, only a girl.) So
Margie came home to Bartlesville, plucked up her courage and made an
appointment to go over to Phillips Petroleum Company to meet Mr. Phillips
himself. Since she and her little quartet had sung at his recent birthday
party, she figured he just might give her a loan. I loved hearing her describe
walking the very long distance from the door of his office to his massive desk;
how her feet sank deep into the carpet; how Mr. Phillips' accountant was there,
scowling. She got her loan; she married my dad; and they paid it off $10 and
$20 at a time. They whittled their debt down to a $100 or so and Margie moved
home in the summer of 1946 to work and finally pay it off. She hated being
separated from her beloved, but she loved being able to deliver that last
payment to the cynical accountant - her triumph over his disbelief. She was 22
years old; now she's timeless. All debts are paid. And she will never be
separated from love and life again.
February 25
I still don't know how she did it. Margie raised four
children on a small town preacher's salary, moved our home every three years at
the whim of church folks, and endured the loss of my dad when she was only 56.
She made me crazy sometimes. (I'm sure it is much more correct to say we made
each other crazy!) But the strength of stubbornness and perseverance and hope
is incalculable. "One day at a time," she always said.
February 26
I stopped by to see Mom this morning. She looks nice
but she doesn't look like herself; she's not supposed to. When the life force
leaves, there is an instant and remarkable change. And Margie had a remarkable,
tenacious life force.
Mom got sick Thursday morning but
she rallied when cousin Mike came for a visit Friday afternoon. She sat in her
recliner and told stories, identified people in photographs, shared memories,
laughed. This is the last picture we have; she was gone 26 hours later.
Margie loved to send greeting cards to her loved ones; she even mastered e-cards on her little iPad. The box of cards still sitting on her desk this morning says: "Dance as if no one were watching. Sing as if no one were listening. Live every day as if it were your last."
Margie loved to send greeting cards to her loved ones; she even mastered e-cards on her little iPad. The box of cards still sitting on her desk this morning says: "Dance as if no one were watching. Sing as if no one were listening. Live every day as if it were your last."
February 27
My Momma taught me how to cut up a chicken, fold socks
just so, stack the towels all the same way, write thank you notes on time, and
iron like a pro.
I still stack my towels all the same way, write thank you
notes kinda sorta on time and could cut up a chicken if push came to shove.
These last two years my Momma taught me more about myself than I ever knew. I
am humbled and grateful.
February 28, 2014
A Tribute to Margie
Created
by Jonathan Vaughan
Even if you don't know my family or if you are getting tired of hearing
me talk about Mom, you will do yourself a favor if you take a few
minutes to watch this beautiful video created by my brother Jon. He and
my other amazing brother, David, took all the photos at the opening. I
am so blessed to be a part of this family.
"One of the greatest gifts that Mom
gave me (Jonathan) was the gift of music. She not only taught me to sing harmony as a
young child, but taught me to appreciate classical music as well. One piece in
particular was Edvard Grieg's Peer Gynt Suite. The music in this video is from
the first movement, Morning Mood (Suite No. 1, Op. 46)"
March 1
Margie/Mom/Tutu died one week ago today. It was a long, hard Saturday
but like every other day the Lord has made, it was a day shot through
with grace. Two years ago, mom went in for a simple, day surgery and
ended up in ICU on life support. It was another long, hard time as she
fought her way back: not to what had been (nothing would ever be the
same) but still courageous to do the best she could
with what life had dealt her.
It was like that again and again for
Margie. Life is seldom what it "should be" or what we wish it were, but
faith and hope and love allow us to see the grace that is.
This morning I
found her Bible study notes on her neatly ordered desk and found this
from her reading in the Gospel of John, the story of water to wine: "You
have saved the best til now," she wrote. So "now" that great
eschatological banquet to which John's Jesus pointed is hers. (She
Googled "eschatological" then but now Margie really knows.)
March 2
People and relationships are always
complex, complicated. I'm guessing that's especially true of many mothers and
daughters. I used to believe my mom and I were nothing alike but the past two
years showed me how very much alike we are - the strength and the stubbornness,
the wisdom and the foolishness.
Mom shopped at Gene the Jewelers going
out of business sale and bought me a lovely Jim Shore angel on the 75% off
table; an angel with one wing missing. It's the perfect metaphor: I have
been her angel but always an imperfect and broken one.
We clashed a couple
weeks ago, both of us so sure we were right. That evening, I was in my den
watching TV and she was in her den 50 feet away. She emailed me and we made up.
A couple days later we went out for lunch and that evening she emailed me
again. "I saw as we sat at Denny's how beautiful you still are. I feel old
as dirt. That's pretty dog-gone old, ain't it?! Love, Me." We laughed and
hugged. I wish we had done that more. Grateful to be surrounded by grace.
March 5
Gifts
of Grace from our Amazing Second Graders. Fancy
Nancy and the Mermaid Ballet is donated to the Aikin Elementary School Library
by Mrs. Henderson's class in honor of Margie Vaughan. The personal heartfelt messages are priceless
Smiles and
tears here.
March 6
Margie loved her two years at Harding College; the
stories she told were filled with funny antics that elicited stern words of
wisdom from Miss Cathcart, the dorm mother, and starry eyed tales of being in
love with a handsome preacher student.
But from then on, it seems, life tried
to cram her into numerous boxes: submissive preacher's wife, textbook mother, perfect hostess,
ideal role model.
Where do these boxes come from? Why do we let them define us
and bind us? Margie resisted; not always well or wisely but I think she always
wanted the freedom to be who she was. That is our journey: to become who we are
created to be. That is our hope: to see face to face and to know as we are
known.
March 8
Mom was very weak when she moved to Paris in June 2012
but as she regained strength, I piled the dining table high with old albums,
photographs and pens. She took her time shuffling through memories and sorting
them out. She wrote notes on the backs of pictures and divided them into piles
in various Ziploc pouches marked: Charlotte, David, Fran, Jon and others for
all the grandchildren. We each received our bag full of memories and we
had time to hear the stories once again.
Sometimes remembering the past can
give us strength and wisdom to live into our future. Recalling the stories of
who we have been helps us make better sense of who we are.
March 9
I started first grade in Jacksonville Florida where a
large Navy base is located.
We moved there from Pensacola, another Navy town
and our home developed a reputation among the young flight officers as a safe
haven. In both places on frequent Saturday nights, cadets would party in town
then come find the door unlocked at the Vaughan house; they would sleep
wherever they found space. Mom would get up early on Sundays to walk through
the house and discover how many people were sleeping on sofas, chairs and
floors. She would pour enough orange juice for everyone and serve them "in
bed." The catch was - they knew they had to get up on Sunday morning in
time to make it to church. I had such a crush on some of those beautiful young
men.
Now I have Mother's mahogany salad bowls our friend Jack brought her from
Haiti.
March 11
My Dad died 34 years ago today; he took Mom out to
lunch then went back to his little pastor’s office in Florida, laid his head on
his desk and died. Mom knew something was wrong when he wasn’t there to pick
her up from work. He was 54; she was 56.
I have railed against Tolbert’s death:
too young, too abrupt, too painful. Losing him changed all of us in deep ways
and certainly Margie bore the brunt. Picking up the pieces and starting over …
how did she do it? I don’t know.
Now all these years later, it is her chair
that’s empty. But in these last two years, she had time to laugh with three
beautiful great-grands, to follow the phases of the moon, to ponder the
difference between daffodils and jonquils, to say good-bye. I don’t understand
the mysteries of life and death. But today I am grateful.
March 12
Today is Jerry's birthday. I found
his birthday card ready to go in the March pocket of Mom’s birthday book.
“Happy Birthday Son-in-law! Thinking of you on your birthday and wishing you
many joys to discover, special memories to treasure, and new dreams to look
forward to – because you deserve it all.”
Margie was the greeting card queen;
she never missed a birthday.
I’m still amazed at Jerry’s gracious hospitality
inviting my mother into our home. It wasn’t easy but it was right and good.
Today I’m remembering when she spent time with us in Hawaii. I was pregnant
with my second baby and Jerry was about to leave on his Navy deployment for
several weeks. There’s this vivid memory of Jerry and Margie and little
Benjamin line dancing in our living room to the music of Bob Wills and the
Texas Playboys. She wore his cowboy hat and taught them the steps. Jerry found
a friendly little gecko and placed it on her shoulder but then the terrified
gecko promptly scurried down into Tutu’s muu muu. Probably not his best move
but we all laughed about it for many a year.
Happy Birthday Jerry. Thank you
for loving my mom. Thank you for loving me.
March 17
I came home from work one afternoon
to find little heart-shaped sticky notes posted all over the kitchen counters:
thank you for the orange juice, thank you for the coffee, thank you for the
blueberries…
Sometimes mom and I had a hard time saying “thank you” to each
other. I wonder why. Two strong willed women who didn’t want to admit we needed
any help? Letting old baggage get in the way of common courtesy? But we each
yearned for the reassurance of simple gratitude from one another, so we would
too often revert to the little girl in us to say: “Look at me. Notice me. I
need your attention.” How childish of us.
Demanding gratitude is just one more
way we try to control others. But living in the joyful innocence of gratitude
without expecting any thanks in return frees us to lavish sticky notes of grace
all over our world.
March 18
I found a
notebook on Mom’s desk, a scrapbook she had been working on. I had no idea.
MOTHER.
2 Her Daughter.
M.
Preview.
Pages from the Past
MOTHER.
2 Her Daughter.
M.
Preview.
Pages from the Past
Inside there are yellowed clips
from the Bartlesville News. “Marguerite Barker, who is attending Harding
college, Searcy Arkansas, has been selected a member of the girls intramural
all star softball team. In announcing the selection, the college newspaper
said: Barker was an active player, good sport, good hitter and played heads up.
Barker was known to all the players as Butch.” Another clip says: “Tolbert
Vaughan Jr. will deliver the sermon at the Church of Christ in Bartlesville. He
is visiting this week in the home of Mr. and Mrs. A.C. Barker and daughter,
Marguerite. “Buddy” as he is known to his friends, is a ministerial student at
Harding.”
Even though I’ve heard lots of stories about "Butch and Buddy," there is still so much I don’t know; and now I never will. Stories are so very important. Telling our stories as honestly as we are able. Hearing others’ stories with compassion and curiosity. And remembering we all are a small but still significant part of THE one overarching Story of Love and Grace. Thanks Mom.
Even though I’ve heard lots of stories about "Butch and Buddy," there is still so much I don’t know; and now I never will. Stories are so very important. Telling our stories as honestly as we are able. Hearing others’ stories with compassion and curiosity. And remembering we all are a small but still significant part of THE one overarching Story of Love and Grace. Thanks Mom.
March 20
1 wheelchair, 2 walkers, 1 bedside
commode, 1 shower chair – all this equipment is now passed on to help someone
else live life a little more comfortably. Mom said her little rollator walker
felt like an extension of her own body; it allowed her so much more freedom
then she could ever have had on her own.
And oh how she loved her scooter! She
was all over Oak Creek every chance she got: visiting with the neighbors and
bringing home the latest news, stealing magnolia blossoms and checking out the
progress on the new house. Jerry would put the scooter in the back of the van
and we would tool around the Plaza looking at classic cars or wander around the
shores of the lake. I am so grateful she had these things to help her live as
well as possible in these last years. I am so very grateful she doesn’t need
them anymore.
May 22
Margie/Mom/Tutu has been gone three months today.
My
brother David snapped this iconic image just a few months after our dad died.
Margie and Tolbert would have been married 69 years this week.
Ash Wednesday 2014
Ashes to Ashes. Dust to Dust.
More real to me than it has ever been before.
But not the end of The Story.
July 14, 2014
On her 90th birthday, we said our final
good-byes to Margie/Mom/Tutu.
We have tears in our eyes, dirt on our hands and
peace in our hearts.
Me: "Mom, you are a piece of
work!"
Margie/Mom/Tutu: "You mean - a Masterpiece of work!"
Yep.
Margie/Mom/Tutu: "You mean - a Masterpiece of work!"
Yep.
Charlotte, thank you for so openly and lovingly chronicling your story here. Having just gone through my own mother's death, I even better understand now the power of the story. Last week was my first deeply-understood Ash Wednesday. There's such a bittersweet peace to seeing the circle of life make its complete journey...though I often find myself viewing that circle through tears of both sadness and joy. Thank you for giving voice to this through your stories told here. --Laureen :)
ReplyDeleteDear Laureen, Yes! Tears of sadness and of joy! May that never end!
DeleteOur journeys through grief are all completely different but isn't helpful to know we don't make that journey alone? That we do have companions on the way? Thank you for writing. May we both honor our mothers' stories by living our own stories well. Grace and Peace...