As a wife and mother, my grandmother, Winnie Crawford, had more than her share of challenges. She married my grandfather, Leon Crawford, at age 16. About a month before her 18th birthday, she watched her first born child, Betty Jean, die within a day of birth. My dad was born just a couple of years before the start of the great depression. Winnie and Leon managed to struggle thru the dust bowl and depression of the 30’s even with my grandfather being laid off of work for about a year. Before the age of 60, Winnie would bury her third child, L.R., who died suddenly while in college.

Winnie’s life of challenges actually began at the age of 10 when her mother died. Below are her words.

The poem, God Hath Not Promised, was on her funeral card and sums up her attitude toward life:

God hath not promised
skies always blue,
Flower-strewn pathways
all our lives through;
God hath not promised
sun without rain,
Joy without sorrow,
peace without pain.

But God hath promised
strength for the day,
Rest for the labor,
Light for the way,
Grace for the trials,
help from above,
Unfailing sympathy
undying love.