I
How I wish I could remember her words at that moment.
Even so, this picture means the world to me. She brought
those little narcissus blossoms from her garden for me to
wear on my wedding day.



Mother and her girls at the cemetery.

Lois with Shakespeare.
Lois knitting.


Little Mother greeting Deborah Russell Bunch who has come to visit from Tennessee.
Wish Nan had been more included. Her clasped hands carry so much emotion.



Douglas Allen Bunch hugging his little grandmother.
Nancy talking, probably to Debbie.



Lois, Nina, Jakie and Bud Siratt.

Lois and her Little Fairy Girl. How she loved her little gold-headed girls. Her words and thoughts about them revealed her mother's heart.






















Here she is saying grace at a family gathering. I'm not sure of the occasions, but probably a funeral--maybe Johnnie Margaret's.










And here she and I comfort our little Yang who is suffering with widespread cancer and is on heavy medication for pain. We're saying goodbye to him and he will go to sleep at the vet's tomorrow. Her sweet little hand . . .











And here is the mother whose heart has stopped beating because her little son has died in Vietnam.

THE LIFE OF LOIS ELLEN GRISHAM SIRATT

I would love to see photos posted by a viewer who has one.

MEMORIAL TO LOIS ELLEN GRISHAM SIRATT

She sometimes said, "I'm not so little!" At her tallest, she measured 5'2", though at the time she said that, she stood 4' 10 or 11". Maybe that's why she loved those spike heels. She did have glamor girl legs, though it wasn't something she'd have wanted discussed. (smile) She was a beautiful woman, young and old.

The most striking thing about her, though, was her, for want of another word, spirit. She had a sparkle of goodness that came through in her joy of life, the tenderness she showed toward people and all creatures (except snakes and toads, of course), her sweet appreciation for anything done for her, her kindness toward children. She had a delicacy of speech and manner and action that was extraordinary. And, one thing that shone through everything she did and said was her love for God. It was who she was. I should add that she was nobody's pushover! She had strong principles, and she would not compromise those principles. I don't believe that anyone who knew our Little Mother would disagree with what I've said about her here, so this isn't just an adoring daughter speaking--although it is an adoring daughter speaking. (smile)

I hope this memorial to Little Mother shows her truly to anyone who never met her, as well as to all who knew and loved her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Turns out I'm not adept at adding photos to a post and keeping them in order. So, I'm just going to add all the ones I've found and let you sort out when they happened. (smile) The ones I see came through okay are of 16-year old Lois with Bud on their wedding day; about the same time with her mother, Nancy Elizabeth Holland Grisham and her mother-in-law, Sarah Arlena Stembridge Siratt; with her new sister-in-law, Lorene Lena Siratt, posing for an unknown camera person. I hope to post more of her later in life.

Well, I thought I would. I'm exhausted, and I haven't typed much on my book. So, for now I say, Little Mother we were a wonder and you will forever sit on my shoulder and speak into my heart. (Wish you had known more about computer, though. Ha!)
























































Lois Ellen Grisham, at 16, posing for a photo taken by Lorene Lena Siratt.






Tiny photos of Lois Grisham and Jacob “Bud” Siratt.
(too tiny to be enlarged)
On their wedding day in Hot Springs in a place called the White House.
In Santa Maria, California, their new home.
Both in 1932.







































Lois Grisham Siratt, age 16,
with mother Nancy Elizabeth Holland Grisham
and mother-in-law Arlena Stembridge Siratt

LOIS ELLEN GRISHAM SIRATT CROWLEY SIRATT