For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Chris Braiden, aka Chrissy, and I am Carol and

Jim’s daughter. My
husband Russ and I moved to Colorado about four years ago for our jobs and to be closer to Mom and Dad. I would
like to begin Garrett and I’s Life Sketch of Mom with a poem titled Life by Charlotte Bronte.

Life
Charlotte Brontë - 1816-1855

Life, believe, is not a dream

So dark as sages say;
Oft a little morning rain
Foretells a pleasant day.
Sometimes there are clouds of gloom,
But these are transient all;
If the shower will make the roses bloom,
O why lament its fall?
Rapidly, merrily,
Life's sunny hours flit by,
Gratefully, cheerily
Enjoy them as they fly!
What though Death at times steps in,
And calls our Best away?
What though sorrow seems to win,
O'er hope, a heavy sway?
Yet Hope again elastic springs,
Unconquered, though she fell;
Still buoyant are her golden wings,
Still strong to bear us well.
Manfully, fearlessly,
The day of trial bear,
For gloriously, victoriously,
Can courage quell despair!

Mom: Faithful Wife and truly a loving mother to us both:

Mom met our father in 1966 while Daddy was dragging the Fe. If you don’t know
what this means, it means starting at one end of Sante Fe and turning around in
Sandy’s parking lot at that time. Mom had just gotten back from Pennsylvania
with a bunch of her girlfriends and Dad and Friends saw them and motioned for
these cute girls to pull over into Sandy’s parking lot. Dad then asked Mom to go
to the Drag races at Great Bend, Kansas that following Sunday and that was the
beginning of their 56 years of marriage. During these years, Mom and Dad lived
in Salina and then when the military closed Salina’s base for the last time, they
were transferred to St. Louis, Mo where Daddy worked and they lived in St.
Charles for roughly three years. During this time, we all had a lot of fun. Mom and
Dad developed a lasting friendship with neighbors Rich and Sue Graham in
which they spent many a weekend playing cards and seeing local sites with their
children. The two families would get together every Fourth of July and Dad and
Rich would take all us kids shopping for fireworks and we were always allowed to
pick out whatever we wanted. Because of this, Mom spent many occasions
apologizing to a neighbor because her cute and perfect son, Garrett, would plant
fireworks in their plants and attempt to blow up the Polkinghorn’s flower pots.
Let’s just say, Garrett and I thought this was the funniest thing he could ever plot.
However, Mother, not so much.

We have many memories of yearly trips: From the 4 corners, pikes peak, our
petrified wood experience in South Dakota with Daddy almost sending us all to
jail, to our Hawaii trip with my boys, we always had stories to tell that we wish
today we could relive with our mother.

She loved playing cards with Fred and Carla Gustin while listening to Oldies
music and KOMA and WLS in Chicago while eating yummy snacks she and
Carla would put together for that fun night. In addition, we always said mom had
No filter. If you wanna know how something is/was, she would let you know.
Especially when it came to watching her favorite TV station FOX News and her
not so favorite current president. She loved mathematics and doing homework
with Garrett and spent many nights working on his math without Mom wanting to
just throw in the towel or well, just kill him. Mom was the fixer of things around
the house….okay she would complain after doing them that dad should have
known how to do these things, but she did do them and we truly believe she
enjoyed it.

Garrett and I were laughing about when the three of us brought home our first
puppy without discussing this event with our mother because she was at work.
We named him Andrew Blackwell the 3rd. There were no 1st-2nd Andrews, this
is what we just weirdly called him. Dad decided we should get him in the car and
drive him over to Alco where mom worked in customer service there at the front
of the store. It was late and near closing and dark outside. There were no cell
phones, so we had to run in really quick and tell her to come out to the car
because we had something exciting to show her. Well, mom did just this and
about flipped her you know what when she looked out and we had this puppy
with rather large feet hanging out the window to happily greet his new mommy he
had not yet met. I’m sure after much tongue lashing to us, or to my dad, she
came to love Andrew and it was a very very sad day when I got the call in St.
Louis where I lived as an adult and Garrett was stationed in Germany when they
told us Andrew died at the vet. After 17 years, he had become a loving part of the
family for the rest of his life.

Our mom loved sewing and eventually purchased a very nice embroidery
machine in which she would embroider my many college logos on sweatshirts for
me. Mom even made our Salina South Peppers dance squad designs on our
cute sweatshirts. Last Christmas, she embroidered Christmas designs on towels
that Russ and I gave out for Christmas presents to our friends and Russ’s office
staff. She enjoyed adding more designs onto her machine. It makes me greatly
sad that we will no longer be able to enjoy the items she so loved creating with
her machines.

Christmas was Mom’s favorite holiday. Growing up, we would go over to our
grandparents house and eat dinner, watch Christmas movies, and wait until
almost midnight where we would attend the midnight service that included
holding candles and singing Christmas songs.

My mother enjoyed going to my father’s shrine functions where she absolutely

developed a love for playing dominoes with Nancy Slavik and the other wives.
She would always talk about it and I would roll my eyes and say no, mother, I am
not playing dominoes. Well, after many tries I gave in and ever since then Russ,
myself, our three boys, and her grandson Tim have enjoyed playing Mexican
Dominoes on each of the visits. In addition to Dominoes, Mom and I loved taking
Russ and Dad on in a sometimes overly competitive card game of Neelo. Mom
and I became great partners in this game. In addition to this, she loved sitting
down with us and grandchildren to play a fun game of marbles.

Mom always talked about their Masonic friends such as Barb and Steve
Schomig, Donny Deathridge, Tom Krause, John and Linda Reynolds, in which
Linda and I were holding mom when she took her last breath, Kenny and Linda
Leander’s trips with them to Yoder Kansas to eat bison, and Roger and Jean
Walls as being close and true friends of both her and my father. I cannot tell you
how much love my brother and I have felt as Masons, Scottish Rite, York Rite
and Shriners have shown our family these past few months. Garrett and I have
found numerous cards around the house from them all. Donny’s plant and Linda
and John’s flowers have engulfed our house and the beauty and love you have
all had for my Mom and Dad, Garrett and I see in their home and have touched
the hearts of all of us.

Some words from Linda and John Reynolds, very good Shrine friends of my
parents: Linda said there are very few couples that have true love. Linda said our
folks were one of those. She said Jimmy would drive my mother nuts (under her
breath of course) but the love she had in her when saying it was priceless. She
continued by saying Mom was always happy and laughing and never complained
unless of course they were gossiping! Mother didn’t like to cook, which LInda
said she admired greatly because she didn’t either. LInda agreed that Mama
loved Joey to the moon!! You see, Mom and Dad picked out Joey after we lost
my Connor almost six years ago to the unfathomable suicide. Along with this
event, Mom was diagnosed with cancer the day after his death while boarding an
airplane to get to me in Idaho as quickly as possible. Mom and Dad rescuing
Joey helped their grieving and her love of him was one I don’t think anyone else
could emulate. Last, our mother was very proud of her children and was so
happy when Russell and I moved closer to her, Dad, and Garrett. She loved
sharing stories about their visits to Idaho and Colorado and just talking in general
about both of us.

Mom loves her grandchildren and when we all could be together, you could see
the happiness in her eyes. Daniel leaving Idaho and attending Kansas State
University and being able to come and visit was the event of the moment for her
and Dad. Seeing Tim at Dillons when she would shop was the highlight of the
day. Her love for her family will never ever be forgotten.

To sum up, our mother was a fighter. And by that I mean, she fought for
everything. Marriage, her children, life in general. The loss of her brother Gary
when she was 8 years old, both her parents and in-laws, her beautiful grandson
Connor at the age of 17, she never let us see the fear she had not only for
herself, but for everyone around her. Almost six years of cancer and never
complained one day. Mom never once showed a single second of fear, especially
during her last moments.

In closing, I found a poem by Maya Angelou that Garrett and I know she would
truly love because it represents how Mom developed her life with us all:

Shadows on the wall All alone at night

Noises down the hall Life doesn't frighten me at all.
Life doesn't frighten me at all
Panthers in the park
Bad dogs barking loud Strangers in the dark
Big ghosts in a cloud No, they don't frighten me at all.
Life doesn't frighten me at all
That new classroom where
Mean old Mother Goose Boys all pull my hair
Lions on the loose (Kissy little girls
They don't frighten me at all With their hair in curls)
They don't frighten me at all.
Dragons breathing flame
On my counterpane Don't show me frogs and snakes
That doesn't frighten me at all. And listen for my scream,
If I'm afraid at all
I go boo It's only in my dreams.
Make them shoo
I make fun I've got a magic charm
Way they run That I keep up my sleeve
I won't cry I can walk the ocean floor
So they fly And never have to breathe.
I just smile
They go wild Life doesn't frighten me at all
Not at all
Life doesn't frighten me at all. Not at all.

Tough guys fight Life doesn't frighten me at all.