Ginny Bierman-courage, joy and service

My grandmother and grandfather on my mom's side were Swedish.  They seemed like very simple people and they were, but to me they had fascinating stories.  They had seven children, only one of them was a boy.  So they had a houseful of beautful girls.  These girls grew to be beautiful women.  They all had many accomplishments, each unique, yet what a tight knit group they were. 

 In conversation with them as they grew older, they remembered how much they loved and supported one another.  How they shared clothes (and boyfriends.) 

How they grew up during the depression and lived through a world war. 

 

In the middle of all these women there was my Aunt Ginny. 

One of the most loving women I've ever known. 

 Service was her name. 

She past away this past week after a long and eventful life.

 She was kind, loving, thoughtful. 

She was a friend to me, especially after my mom died. 

 Always calling and checking up on me and my children. 

That was just her nature..making sure we were ok, because her little sister, Junie was not around to do the checking. 

 

I will miss her..I will miss her sweet face..her voice at the other end of the phone,

 her laugh, her thoughfulness. 

 She will always be an example to me when I get down,

for she lived a life of courage. 

She lived through sad times and kept going..

She smiled and chose to have joy in her life..

she chose to serve others instead of think of herself.

She was truly a virtuous woman.
 

(photo by a Bierman family member)

For Aunt Ginny
who truly lived these words
 

How can one measure friendship- The firm, warm clasp of a hand,

The comfort found in the welcome sound of the words, "I understand"?

 

How can one measure courage- The strength we find to fight,

To suffer life's anxieties, To stand up for the right?

 

How can one measure beauty, hope, Or happiness, or love?

What man-made measure can encompass faith in God above?

 

So much of life- the best of life- the things we truly treasure,

Are these, the gifts of boundless depth- beyond all earthly measure.

 

~Helen Lowrie Marshall