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As a girl, Marion dreamed of finding her knight in shining armor. He would take her away from demanding parents who favored her younger sister and together they would have a family of their own.

Marion was shy. She began to doubt that there really was a knight meant for her.

Then she met a young man who made her laugh, who appreciated her, who made her feel she was someone worth loving.

Her feelings about herself changed. He gave her confidence in herself. He asked her to marry him, then braved her strict father and asked for his permission.

Before long they had children. But he wanted more for his family and himself.

With her family’s encouragement, they decided he would go back to school to realize a long-held dream of becoming a professional man. She would stay behind, work for her father and care for their children.

She was resourceful, raising children with her mother’s help. She made decisions with her husband’s long-distance blessing.

When her husband had earned his degree and entered practice, she turned the decisions over to him.

It was what ladies did in those days.

After their children were grown and gone with families of their own, her husband unexpectedly died. Her children lived in distant states. Except for close friends, she was alone. She had survived all of her family.

Her children were concerned. She had always seemed dependent on their father. He had been a gentle and loving husband but she had always deferred to him.

Could she cope without him?

Then a miraculous thing happened.

She took charge of her life. She became even more active in her church. When an African American minister was brought in for a largely white congregation, she adopted him and his family. She made sure they felt loved as fellow Christians.

With a missionary pilot, she flew to Latin America with Bibles and personal hygiene items for political prisoners. She assured her children she would be fine. But when she failed to return as planned, they called Congressmen, Senators and anyone else who would listen. Could they find her?

They did. She was enjoying a few days on an island off the South American coast.

After surviving a run-in with an armored car that would have killed most of us, she could no longer live alone. Her children arranged for her care at Lexington Medical Center’s Extended Care.

She lived out her last years here with people who cared for her, 10 minutes from her son and his family in Lexington.

At her memorial service, the chapel was crowded with young and old. People stood and talked about the kindnesses she had shown them. The wife of the African American minister said she had been an inspiration to her family of Christian love.

As her son, I think of my mother’s resourcefulness each Mother’s Day – and every other day of the year.

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