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| Barbara and Guinn with their kids and grandkids |
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| Barbara and Guinn with their children, Patti and Adam. |
Barbara was one of a kind, that's for sure. After reading all the wonderful things that people said about her on Facebook, I thought to myself.....if people say half the good things that they said about her, about me, I would consider it a life well lived. Barbara's certainly was. Barbara loved everyone and everyone loved her. We should all aspire to be the kind of person that she was.
I have lots of special memories from my childhood and adulthood that involve Barbara. She was a special part of our family and will be greatly missed. Here are a few things that I will remember.
I'll remember how fiercely she loved her family. They were her everything. She was so incredibly proud of her kids and grandkids. She took great pride in all of their accomplishments. Everything they did made her so very happy. She also didn't want to them to have their hearts broken or for them to be mistreated. She would have jumped through fire for every single one of them, no questions asked.
I'll especially remember how much she loved Guinn, her husband, without end. She was a loving, dedicated wife. Always making his favorite coconut cake or making sure he had the meal that he wanted on any given night. She was once away from him when he broke his hip and vowed to never be away from him again and she wasn't. If you ever saw Guinn, you saw Barbara. They were very rarely separate from each other. She worried that she might not be with him if something were to happen to him and she couldn't bear it.
I'll remember how very much she loved music. She probably knew the lyrics to every song that came out before 2000. She loved to sing and would occasionally do a little dancing.
I'll remember how well she was at completing a crossword puzzle. I was pretty jealous of her knowledge of all things.
I'll remember all the wonderful get togethers at her house, be it Christmas or Thanksgiving or just a party for no reason. Barbara and Guinn were and are people who other people want to be around.
I'll remember spending a good bit of my summers, along with brother, riding our bikes over to Barbara and Guinn's house because we wanted to hangout with them. We'd call and ask if we could come over and the answer was always "come on!"
I'll remember all the fun times had with her at her and Guinn's lake house during the summer. I'll remember people piled up all over the place because everyone was welcome.
I'll remember how much of a worrier she was. I'll remember her hiding in the lake house when her grandkids were on the intertube. I find myself being a little bit like Barbara in this respect.
I'll remember how selfless she was. I'll remember how no matter what was going on with her, she would respond with "I'm good, Brookie, how are you?"
I'll remember how she told you that she loved you every chance she got.
I'll remember her infectious personality, the animated way she would respond....."shet up", "shuh uh".
I'll remember how she never really called anyone in my family by the name they went by. Gary Reed for my dad, which are his first and middle names. Lurlene instead of Arlene for my mom. Brookie for me and Marcus for my brother.
There is no doubt that I am forgetting many more wonderful things about Barbara. I just wanted to make sure I got a few things down to remember a lady we all loved very much and will certainly miss all the days of our lives. We are all better because we knew her and I certainly hope to honor her memory by living my life more like she lived hers, giving and showing love to all. We love you, Barbara! We'll see you again soon.
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| Barbara with just a few of the many other people who loved her very much. |
