This site would not be complete without telling you a little about Lillie B. Thornton.
Justin's grandparents hired Lillie in 1944 as a nanny/housekeeper. She came to the family just days before my grandparents were to leave town for a vacation. Something had happened with the lady that was to stay with their children - my Mom (6 years old) and her 2 brothers - and my grandparents had to find someone else on very short notice. I'm not sure how they found Lillie, or how Lillie found us, but something about her put my grandparents at ease practically upon meeting her. Lillie became a part of our family that year, helping raise my Mom and her brothers, Years later, she would help raise my brother and me and our cousins, while caring for a family of her own. And her family has become ours as well. She loves to tell stories about the years with our family (and she has a few to tell!)
This June, Lillie celebrated 103 years of life. Although physically frail, she's still as sharp as can be. Her deep spirituality and unwaivering faith in God has guided her life all those years and is as strong today as ever. She LOVES children and children are magically drawn to her. Her sense of truth and goodness is a beacon for those who know her - and those who know her, love her dearly. I am grateful and thankful that Dilla cares for her, too, enough to honor Lillie by sharing her name with our daughter. We hope our daughter Lily will be blessed with the strength, courage, wisdom, faith and spirit of our dear Lillie B. Thornton.
Footnote:
On June 2, 2008, just hours after I visited her, and just 18 days short of her 106th birthday, our beloved Lillie Beatrice Thornton passed on into life, everlasting. I was blessed with the opportunity to thank Lillie, once more, for teaching and instilling in me so many of life's important lessons - things we all know, but sometimes need to be reminded of.
We miss her dearly, but know she's free from the bonds of her feeble body that kept her from doing the things she loved to do and being the person she loved to be these last months. And in that, we can find comfort for ourselves. For her, surely she is comfortably situated close to her Lord, whom she so faithfully worshiped and served on this earth.
Lillie's name lives on with our daughter, and her memory lives on in the hearts and minds of every person who ever knew her - every person who's life she graced with her goodness. May she forever rest in blissful peace. Amen.