Marge Matthews

Yesterday was Mrs. Matthews' birthday.  I'm not sure how old she is but somewhere in her 80's.  She was my neighbor lady growing up and still lives in the same house with her cat, Inky for a companion and still grows flowers and a few vegetables.  She is legally blind due to macular degeneration but other than that seems to be in pretty good shape.  I have so many memories of her, she was like a second mother to me growing up.  She is a devoted Christian woman, a quiet witness and a wonderful testament to faith in God.  I had her for a Sunday school teacher when I was young and I still remember her teaching us Psalms 100....

Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. 
Worship the Lord with gladness,
come before him with joyful songs,
Know that the Lord is God.

Okay, I confess, that's all I remember. She was a school teacher by profession but she was the librarian at the public library for many years. 

She had 3 kids that we grew up with too.  She has been a widow since 1975.  Our houses were very close as the crow flies but you had to walk down our lane and then down Comstock Road if you didn't take a shortcut.  I remember all us kids walking that walk in the dark, having a "flashlight party"....and Mr.  Matthews sneaking in the woods to scare us.  We thought that was great fun.  Mrs. Matthews was a bit of a prankster as well.  She made the greatest cream puffs and one year on April 1st she came driving up in  her little white Volvo just as we were finishing dinner to deliver cream puffs to Tom & me.  We were, of course, delighted, until we sank our teeth into their oatmeal middle and bitter chocolate tops.  My parents howled in laughter at the April Fool's joke while Tom and I are still plotting our revenge.

So Happy Birthday Mrs. Matthews, and may you have many more before God calls you home.