Tributes

I have compiled all of the e-mails regarding Aunt Tisha that I have received. I'm not sure why, but it brings me comfort to read them and so I wanted to share them here. I have posted them in their original form, only making changes to remove names.

These are the e-mails that we got from Uncle Larry about Aunt Tisha during her final days.

4/6/06 9:46 p.m. “Letitia”
This note will be God's call to her heavenly home and leave this earthly home in the very near future. She and I have shared our last special moments together and then prayed to God together for our boundless gifts of more than 45 years of bliss in love and of love. We spoke of our special requests for each other and what she would like for me to do in God's will until we rejoin our hands in heavenly bliss in His time. She expressed to me that she was tired and ready to have God open his arms to her as soon as possible.

We thank you for your boundless kindness and prayers. God will soon call her home.
You will receive notice of final arrangements in due time according to God's plan of intercession.

At this time, PLEASE DO NOT TELEPHONE OR ATTEMPT TO COME TO OUR HOME BECAUSE THE TIME IS NOT AT HAND FOR THIS.

God's blessings to you all and may His peace be upon you today.

4/7/06 9:18 p.m. “Letitia is lifted up to Heaven”
Dear Friends: Letitia went to be with the Lord in a very peaceful way at 8:30 p.m. God was merciful to her and to us by bringing a timely end to her suffering. We know that God has opened His arms to receive her into his rapture. The family has prayed together with praise to God for his loving kindness. She will be transported to Wharton Funeral Home later this evening, and we will very likely make specific arrangements for the earliest possible time, hopefully as early as Sunday morning, pending complications.

We pray for you as you consider these words. Glory be to God. Amen

4/7/06 9:20 p.m.
Arrangements for Letitia are set for 10:00 a.m. on Sunday morning with graveside services only at Evergreen Memorial Cemetery at Wharton, Texas. The service will last approximately 20 minutes. Seating is extremely limited--family only. There will be no reception following per Letitia's request. All arrangements are the express instructions given to me by Letitia. The family will be departing quickly following the service--no visitation is scheduled. Thank you for your consideration; I will make every attempt to visit with many of you in a few days.
Map directions are sent for you by attachment.

4/8/06 4:19 p.m. “Follow-up”
I hope you have now received your special invitation to come and to join friends and family to celebrate the life of Letitia along with driving instructions to the site of the celebration.

See you there.

4/10/06 9:49 a.m. “Follow-up”
Thank all of you for your kind and prayerful praise of the last few days as well as for many months of support. Thank also those of you who were able to attend the services. I know some of you were somewhat puzzled by my hasty exit. I never wish to offend and I do hope to see many of you personally in the coming weeks. The service was the brainchild of your departed dear friend as I honor her wishes completely and totally in the coming days, weeks, and years. She did leave me specific requests for today and the future and I intend to honor those to the greatest of my ability.

Thankfully and prayerfully in honor of God,
Larry

This is an e-mail that I got from one of their longtime friends:

4/10/06 12:56 p.m. “Letitia”
Hopefully, you are the niece of Letitia. I took your e-mail address from Larry's message. I asked for a copy of your tribute to Letitia. It was so wonderful and I just wanted to read it again. Of course, your expression with it won't be there, but I'll remember that.

We know how much you meant to her. They were visiting us in Aug., just before coming to your house. She was so excited about your baby and was so looking forward to holding him. She was a special person, and we will miss her so much. I am thankful for the time we spent with them. We lived on the same street for about 30 yrs. We vacationed in Alaska together as a highlight of our days together.

We are so concerned about Larry as they were probably the closest couple we've ever known. I just hope he can find his way in this new life. We'll be praying that he does.


This is the e-mail that I sent to everyone in AT's address book. I attached the corrected copy of the obituary. I have removed names in order to allow for some sort of anonymity. Any corrections that I have made will be in brackets.


4/11/06 12:21 a.m. "Aunt Tisha"
Hello everyone. My name is Kelly and I am Letitia's niece. For what it's worth, I wanted to send everyone an attachment of the "real" obituary that should have appeared in the Houston Chronicle on Sunday. Thanks to modern technology they did not receive the e-mail attachment that I corrected and proof-read prior to their deadline on Saturday. I didn't know this had occurred until it was too late to make any corrections. I was very frustrated that it printed with such blatant errors and this was the only way that I could think of to make it right somehow. Some mistakes may remain, but I tried my best to make it as accurate as possible.

Take care,
Kelly

4/11/06 6:34 a.m. “RE: Aunt Tisha”
Kelly -
Hi, I worked with Letitia at Dulles High School. Actually, she is the one who inspired me to become a librarian. :) I strive to be like her everyday. I loved her dearly.
I really am writing to say that I know Letitia would have been so proud of you and her heart would have been overflowing with love at what you said at the service on Sunday. You so eloquently put into words what so many of us feel about your Aunt Tisha. She was a very special woman and God is so lucky to have her with him now.

Hugs to you and your family!

4/11/06 7:07 a.m. “RE: Aunt Tisha”
Kelly:

You are indeed Letitia's niece. She would have sent a corrected notice also.

Thanks for a beautiful talk on Sunday. She loved you, and your talk illustrated that.

I personally will miss her dearly.

4/11/06 7:32 a.m. “RE: Aunt Tisha”
thanks for the corrections. We loved Letitia so much. Last evening our Moneymakers group met at my home and wwe reminised about our dear friend. We made our contribution to FB Friends and neighbors and hope to make it a annual one. We are comforted by God's grace and will think about her often especially when my Plumeria(her gift to me) is in full bloom. thaks again former dhs teacher


4/11/06 7:32 a.m. “RE: Aunt Tisha”
Thank you so much. I met your Aunt Tisha years ago when our travel agency booked trips for them. We certainly didn't "plan" the trips for she had done all the research. You are correct in that she loved to travel.

I don't believe she ever met a stranger and considered everyone her friend. Our friendship grew over the years I knew her.

4/11/06 7:55 a.m. “RE: Aunt Tisha”
Kelly,

Thank you for sending this to all of us, but don't worry about "mistakes", as most of us didn't really notice those; we were far more interested in what had happened to Letitia. We loved her so very much, as she was a wonderful friend and a genuine lady whom we will miss far more than words can express!!! As I said to you at the gravesite, you did a magnificent job with your part of her eulogy, as did Dr. [James]!!! You both reminded all of us of so many delightful memories we all have of her-especially her kindness, her wit, her innumerable talents, and her intellect! God created a very special person when He made Letitia!!! I guess that is the reason He called her home so early; she obviously has some "jobs" to do in heaven, as she had boundless energy and far more talents than most of us will ever develop!!! Everything she and Larry ever did for [my husband] and me, as well as for my brother and my sister-in-law, was done perfectly, which is the only way they ever did anything!!! Each day, I get up and see in almost every room in either home something to remind me of her and of Larry, as they were constantly helping us with some project! I shall NEVER forget Letitia and her wonderful Christian spirit! She was cherished by everyone who ever knew her, just as she was cherished by you and other members of her extended family! It is our loss and heaven's gain that she is gone from us, but her spirit will be with us always, to comfort us and to watch over us! Just know that YOU were so very special to her, as she talked of you to me so often with such a radiant face that anyone could see how much you and Shawn meant to her, so take comfort in the fact that you brought her so much joy over the years! Take care and know that Letitia is looking down on you, wanting you to have all of the best that life has to offer-especially peace for your soul!


4/11/06 7:56 a.m. "RE: Aunt Tisha"
Now I have a mistake to correct! It was Sawyer, not Shawn!


4/11/06 8:40 a.m. “RE: Aunt Tisha”
Dear Kelly,

Thank you so much for sending this; I had gathered from friends who had read it that there were errors in the Sunday edition of The Chronicle.
Your eulogy on Sunday for your Aunt Tisha was delightful and beautifully delivered, she would have been very proud of you. I was so happy to be able to hug you afterwards as I had not seen Letitia for a while due to her illness and my being in the UK with my father, who had to undergo surgery recently. I would like you to know that your dear aunt was always the first person to ask how my father was doing after his illness last summer; she was such a special person. My father is recovering slowly and sends his sincere condolences to all your family.

Thank you again Kelly, I appreciated being able to say one last goodbye.

4/11/06 9:36 a.m. “RE: Aunt Tisha”
Thank you so much, Kelly, and for your wonderful sharing of memories of Letitia. It was wonderful to get to chuckle and remember Letitia in all her sweetness and goodness. You made that happen for all of us, and made it a celebration of life well lived.
Blessings,


4/11/06 11:04 a.m. “From Paula”
I can't tell you how proud I was of you at the service. You were a rock! We just can't understand how you were able to hold it together. We have Larry with us and plan to do so as long as he feels the need. Please feel free to write me and stay in touch with any info I can give to you. Please think of me as your Aunt Paula.
Paula

4/11/06 12:03 p.m. “RE: Aunt Tisha”
Dear Kelly,

Thank you so much for the obituary, it was lovely. Please accept my sympathies and prayers for God's comfort for you and your family. We will very much miss sweet Letitia.

4/11/06 3:53 p.m. “Re: Aunt Tisha”
Thank you so much for your correction to the obituary on Sunday. I loved your aunt very much. I had not known her for very long, but since our retirement from FBISD we became close Christian friends in our class at Joy of Living and in Retired Teachers and Ft. Bend Friends and Neighbors. She is sorely missed. A blessed soul has gone to be with the Lord. My deepest sympathy for your loss.

4/11/064:58 p.m. “RE: Follow-up”
Larry …it was a beautiful service and you made your wife proud and it could not have been more appropriate and meaningful…There are no other rules for this sort of thing other than what you and she wanted. Thank you for all of it and thank you for loving Letitia.

4/12/06 7:11 a.m. “RE: Letitia”
Thank you so much. I will share these attachments with others who wanted to be at the service but couldn't. Larry and Letitia taught my son. He went on to Houston Baptist for his degree in Business. He is a bank president. He has always said that they were the best teachers he ever had. I'm glad that Letitia knew that. One Christmas, she wrapped all our Christmas presents as I had broken my little finger. There are so many memories.

4/12/06 9:21 a.m. “RE: Aunt Tisha”
Hello everyone. My name is Kelly and I am Letitia's niece. Yes, Kelly, I've known about you for years because I have a sister named Kelly, and sometimes Letitia and I would have to clarify in a conversation: your Kelly or my Kelly??? For what it's worth, I wanted to send everyone an attachment of the "real" obituary that should have appeared in the Houston Chronicle on Sunday. Thanks to modern technology they did not receive the e-mail attachment that I corrected and proofread prior to their deadline on Saturday. I didn't know this had occurred until it was too late to make any corrections. I'm glad you did! I knew there had to be some explanation! Something just didn't add up!?? :-)
Although I am a librarian now, I still consider myself an English teacher, and I always will. I met Letitia in 1984 when I came to Dulles; she served as an excellent mentor in helping me set up the American literature course that I taught (I used many, many of her examples/ideas); she was of even more help with teaching/evaluating compositions; I then followed her example and - yes - I followed her to the library, where we worked as a team for two years before she retired. After that, I didn't see her as often as I'd like, but frequent emails had to suffice. She was a dear, dear friend who has influenced me more than I know. (I commented yesterday that the three people I quote most often are my mother, Letitia, and Phil McGraw. Good company, indeed!) I will miss her, miss her, miss her, and I know you will, too.

4/12/06 2:30 p.m. “My Sympathy”
Kelly,
I heard you came by today and I'm so sorry to hear that your aunt passed away. I hope you're doing okay. We miss you at the meeting but look forward to seeing you back next week. The meeting was a little lighter today because of the holiday week. My sympathy to you and your family.
Lori (Weight Watchers Leader)

These are some tributes that I got from the Dulles High School Yahoo! Group. I joined it temporarily after Mom was e-mailed one of the messages. I had a feeling that there may be more and I was right! I once again used brackets to remove names.

4/12/06 7:43 a.m.
I just got an e-mail from fellow Class of 80 grad who told me she had read that [Letitia], the Junior English teacher had passed away.

Any of you all still nearby hear anything more?

4/12/06 9:51 a.m.
Unfortunately, it's true. She was a GREAT teacher of English. I had
her in English 1976.

4/12/06 2:55 p.m.
What a shame. I think the true measure of a teacher on one's life is
in what they have tried to get us to learn staying with us, and we
remember who it was that put it there. Not a day goes by where [her] trademark phrase "A LOT is NOT one word" pops into my head. I
can hear her saying that every time you go to use it, red lights and
sirens should go off in your head and you'll make it TWO WORDS!

I remember sitting in Sophomore English class and
talking to my friend about who we would get for English,
the next year. [He] said something like "You do not want to be in
[her] class, she's tough" So, of course, when I get my schedule
for Junior year, and I see her name, I get pretty down. My parents
were going thru a nasty divorce, which I pretty much internalized,
and had a hell of a time concentrating in class. I never really
shared how I felt about it with anyone, and just did my best to stay
sane. Somehow, [she] found out about what was going on, and one
day asked me to stop by her class, after school. I assume I'm really
in for it, and she tries to get me to open up about what is making
me have so much trouble with her class. Finally I spill the beans,
and she spends a good amount of time trying to get me to express
what is wrong. I felt about a thousand percent better, and went on
to do really well, for the rest of the year. I would see her on and
off in the halls, my senior year, and take time to chat with her.

One fine teacher, and one of only a small handfull that I think
about, over a quarter of a century after being in their classes....

Job well done, [Letitia].

4/18/06 7:36 p.m.
I am devastated to hear about [her]. She was such an exceptional
teacher and human being. She will definitely be missed.

I also had the priviledge of having her husband as a junior high school
social studies teacher. My deepest sympathies to you, [Larry].


4/22/06 1:30 p.m.
Hello everyone,
Hey Class of '85! What is this I hear about [Letitia] passing away? I caught the tail end of some of these previous message boards? I am so sad to hear this...she was an amazing teacher and I learned so much from her. She was a great person too. Please fill me in on how and when she passed away?

4/28/06 2:07 p.m.
Hi Julie. My name is Kelly and I was [her] niece. She passed
away April 7 after a three-year battle with cancer. I joined this
group so that I could read some of the tributes that have/may have
been posted to her. I wanted to add them to my blog. I have read
some of them and they are quite touching. Let me know if you have
any other questions and I will try and address them for you!

Thanks,
Kelly

4/28/06 5:07 p.m.
Hi Kelly,

My sincere condolences go out to your entire family. [She] was my English teacher in the 1982-83 school year at Dulles. She was my all-time favorite and best teacher, as well as an amazing person. When I got to A&M a few years later, I was a business major. After a couple of LONG years of that, I switched to secondary education with English as my main teaching field. I knew that because of your aunt, I had the best background in English, and I figured I should use it! So I graduated from A&M and taught at Clements High School in the late '80s. My teaching career was short-lived, and I ended up in the business world after all, and then I eventually became a stay-at-home, and that's where I am today. But even through all the changes in my path, your aunt was a great influence on me. I often visited her classroom when I was student-teaching, and it was as like I had never left. She was always the same sweet person whenever I saw her, no matter when or where.

I know your loss is great, and many others share in your grief as well.

Quick questions, when did she quit teaching? And was she at Dulles the entire time?

4/30/06 10:52 p.m.
Hello Kelly,

I received your message, via the Dulles Message Board and wanted to reply. I was quite saddened to hear of the passing of your Aunt. She was one of the best teachers I have ever had, in my life, and withtout a doubt, in my opinion, the best teacher at Dulles High. She was a tough teacher, but she truly had a passion for what she taught and really helped me to become a good writer. She really expected her students to strive for more than they were accustomed to and really had a gift for making literature, history, and writing come to life. Because of her, I went on to successfully graduate from A&M and she was one of the main people that inspired me to pursue teaching. I received a BA, in Psychology, from Texas A&M...Gig 'em! Then, I also have gone on to teach for four years, from everything from Kinder to high school and am now finishing my Masters in Bilingual Education, from Univ. of St. Thomas and am working as a Child Development Specialist for Head Start. She inspired me and helped me to be a strong writer and go on to publish several poems....in the Aggie Batallion as well as an Anthology of Poems. She was an incredible teacher and person and really inspired me to be a better person, to teach and touch lives as she did and I will never forget her! I also have a funny memory of her from my Junior English Class in '83 or '84. We had read and were discussing 'The Great Gatsby' in class...I think that is the book...or was it 'Of Mice and Men'....hmmm...could have been?! Anyway, I made the mistake of raising my hand and asking a really STUPID question, but one that sprung to my mind...so, I asked her 'Who won the Civil War?' And she stopped in her tracks....stared at me incredulously...as if in disbelief I did not know that...and I think I must...but, asked anyway...and she responds with....'Well, Julie, what do you think?....Do we have slavery anymore?' And I said, 'Well, no....so, I guess the North won, huh?' And she just rolled her eyes and I felt like a fool...and I think I learned more history in her class...and the importance of thinking before asking, then I ever did anywhere else....but, I really love how she challenged us with essy tests that really taught us to think and prepared us for college...she was an incredible teacher and person and I will never forget her! She was tough, but she never tolerated mediocrity and really pushed you beyond your limits....she taught me a great quote, that I still use often today...."A man's (or woman's) reach must exceed his (or her) grasp, or what's a heaven for....". That quote...and her, especially, has always motivated me to reach for more and try to accomplish more than I think I can....and now she is in heaven...and a guardian angel to all...to help everyone below reach their dreams. I don't know if she ever knew how much she moved, touched, and inspired me...but, she did...and still does!

I just lost my Mother, as well, this past December 12, 2006 and that has been a monumental loss and pivotal point in my life. I know how painful and difficult it must be...my Mom was my best friend and number one inspiration! My thoughts and prayers go out to you and your family.

Feel free to keep in touch with me...I would love to be your friend and find out more about you and Leticia.

My deepest regards,
Dulles Class of '85
Aggie Class of '90