Patti Black
We missed the funeral while we were in Utah December 1st of George Black, who used to be in our ward (1990's) because of boundary changes and then wasn't again because of more boundary changes. Life in the Church goes that way sometimes...we have been in five units of the Church without ever moving, during the 34 years we have lived in Tacoma.
I was just thinking about writing a note to Patti, his wife, this week because I hadn't done it yet. This morning the bishop announced that she had died last night, and while my eyes pricked with tears suddenly, my heart also was glad. The bishop said that she had had "her own health problems, which she was not able to overcome" and she is gone. That's hard for the family, but such a gift for her. We all worried about how she would manage without him, she loved him and relied on him so much.
I knew George mostly as married to Patti. When that boundary change brought them in, she was called as Relief Society president, not a spot she had ever seen herself in. She talked that first week about the love that comes from the Spirit, that she might have been called as a 'bridge' because we had various members of three different wards now lumped together, and she was a person who knew sisters in all of them. She bore a testimony that we would all become one in the love of the gospel. I didn't know her at all, but my heart filled up with her words, and I thanked her for them after Relief Society was done. I ended up saying to her that I didn't know her, but I loved her; suddenly and truly, spiritually. She would rib me gently about that from time to time. She had a heart condition way back then, and George worried about the stress of that calling. He himself had at least three car accidents in later years, which left him with problems--he was rear-ended twice within days, not months or years. That's really hard.
She didn't drive, I'm not sure if that was not anymore, or not ever. She was short and had stubby fingers, a couple of them deformed, but she was determined that nobody could tell her she was unable to do anything with them so she learned to tat, and she always had a crochet hook and a ball of white cotton with her. She would shake an emphatic finger in your face with a firm stance and a big smile, then just laugh and term herself the Crazy Lady when someone was taken a little aback. She loved people, and she worried for them, and prayed. She could cut right to the heart of a matter and see you truly. Mostly I ran into them in the grocery store, actually, in more recent years, and we would stop for a hug and a few words wherever we met up.
We had some heartfelt talks back then. We had a bond that lasted past ward changes. She came with one of the other sisters to my Institute class one week in maybe October, and said that she would love to come back if she could manage it. Apparently she thought I looked tired, and she sent me a note of encouragement in the mail because that's the kind of thing she did. That's the last time I saw her.
She met George when she was just seventeen, and thought that they would have the cutest kids and married him blithely on that thought...and fell in love with him after. She fell in love and stayed in love, and cemented that with the blessings of the temple after they found the gospel. I don't think she could bear to be left behind. Now all the injuries, burdens, and worries are vanished away, and I imagine the two of them dancing around in a circle of glee together. (Or maybe she's dancing around him.) I wonder how fast she said, "Look! I have all my fingers!" Even though they won't have physical restoration until the resurrection, the spirit body is whole and waiting. I'm so glad that they're together.
I was just thinking about writing a note to Patti, his wife, this week because I hadn't done it yet. This morning the bishop announced that she had died last night, and while my eyes pricked with tears suddenly, my heart also was glad. The bishop said that she had had "her own health problems, which she was not able to overcome" and she is gone. That's hard for the family, but such a gift for her. We all worried about how she would manage without him, she loved him and relied on him so much.
I knew George mostly as married to Patti. When that boundary change brought them in, she was called as Relief Society president, not a spot she had ever seen herself in. She talked that first week about the love that comes from the Spirit, that she might have been called as a 'bridge' because we had various members of three different wards now lumped together, and she was a person who knew sisters in all of them. She bore a testimony that we would all become one in the love of the gospel. I didn't know her at all, but my heart filled up with her words, and I thanked her for them after Relief Society was done. I ended up saying to her that I didn't know her, but I loved her; suddenly and truly, spiritually. She would rib me gently about that from time to time. She had a heart condition way back then, and George worried about the stress of that calling. He himself had at least three car accidents in later years, which left him with problems--he was rear-ended twice within days, not months or years. That's really hard.
She didn't drive, I'm not sure if that was not anymore, or not ever. She was short and had stubby fingers, a couple of them deformed, but she was determined that nobody could tell her she was unable to do anything with them so she learned to tat, and she always had a crochet hook and a ball of white cotton with her. She would shake an emphatic finger in your face with a firm stance and a big smile, then just laugh and term herself the Crazy Lady when someone was taken a little aback. She loved people, and she worried for them, and prayed. She could cut right to the heart of a matter and see you truly. Mostly I ran into them in the grocery store, actually, in more recent years, and we would stop for a hug and a few words wherever we met up.
We had some heartfelt talks back then. We had a bond that lasted past ward changes. She came with one of the other sisters to my Institute class one week in maybe October, and said that she would love to come back if she could manage it. Apparently she thought I looked tired, and she sent me a note of encouragement in the mail because that's the kind of thing she did. That's the last time I saw her.
She met George when she was just seventeen, and thought that they would have the cutest kids and married him blithely on that thought...and fell in love with him after. She fell in love and stayed in love, and cemented that with the blessings of the temple after they found the gospel. I don't think she could bear to be left behind. Now all the injuries, burdens, and worries are vanished away, and I imagine the two of them dancing around in a circle of glee together. (Or maybe she's dancing around him.) I wonder how fast she said, "Look! I have all my fingers!" Even though they won't have physical restoration until the resurrection, the spirit body is whole and waiting. I'm so glad that they're together.
I'm so sorry they're gone. I'm so glad you had them in your life.
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