Living in the Missouri hills meant family did everything together, it was a way of life. They traveled together, ate together, attended church services together and had fun together. In 1952, Mama traveled on a Greyhound bus from her home in Missouri to Oklahoma to attend nurse training. Mama fondly remembers a day during her nurse training: “I was doing my clinical at the Veteran’s Hospital and I met a handsome World War II soldier named Dewitt Trissell”.

Christmas time has always been a special time of year for Mama. It was common to have thirty or more people for that holiday meal. If family members had friends who did not have a place to go, Mama welcomed them to have a meal with us. Exercise was important to Mama, so she would try to walk every day. On the days she was walking, she would walk through the hospital and see if there were any patients that she knew to see if they needed anything. BJ, my first son was born two months premature. After taking him home, Mama helped me with him. Her nurse training and experience with babies helped. He was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy when he was six months old. Since BJ grew up being around Mama those first few years of his life, her positive influence affected him and he developed a positive attitude too. To a parent, to see your disabled son happy is everything. I will forever be grateful to Mama for that kind gift. Mama was taught by her family to be kind, it was a way of life. Although Mama had many challenges in her life, she continued to be kind. She shared her gift of kindness to everyone she knew.