I'll Fly Away

Dedicated to the memory of my beloved Aunt Ella Mae Varner.
February 12, 1923 to July 16, 2021.

On Friday night, the phone rang. It was my little sister calling to inform us that my dad's oldest sister, my Aunt Ella Mae, had gone to be with Jesus. She was 98 years old. She was a fine Christian woman; the kind of woman who did good works with a good heart, for all the right reasons. When her feet hit the floor in the morning, the Devil hollered, "Oh crap! She's up!"

She had taken a fall a month or so ago going down the outside stairs, broke her arm, and ended up in a local nursing home. Her recovery seemed slow; we were all worried that she wasn't going to make it home. It turns out she went Home Home, instead of returning to the house she lived in on Shade Mountain with her daughter, my cousin Lana, right next door to where my Mom and Dad live.

Aunt Ella Mae, the eldest sister, was the Barb of her family. She looked out for all of them, and she thought when my father was born that he was the best thing invented since sliced bread. (Here is a photo of my father and his two sisters, laughing, at a reunion a few years back.)

She lost a finger early in life, but that didn't stop her from being a seamstress by trade for many years, and an avid accordion player. (Here's an accordion blip that Aunt Mae made it into; no, hers was not red.) Her baked goods were legendary.

I also wrote about my Aunt Mae in one of my older blips, back when her husband, my Uncle Ibe, died. I remember the day of the funeral like it was yesterday. My Aunt Mae, a powerhouse of a woman, at all 90 pounds or so, gave hugs that were so strong, they could break you in half! You may read that story here. Dyin' was all part of livin', she told me that day.

Now, we will miss my dear aunt because we loved her so; I know it will be especially hard for her two siblings who remain (my Dad and my Aunt Dorothy), for her children Lana and Dean and his family, and for her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. So please keep us all in your prayers, as we walk through these next few difficult days. Even when you hand somebody over to Jesus, the "goodbye for now" can be so, so hard.

But we have no qualms about where Aunt Mae will end up for eternity. For she was a fine Christian woman who lived the things she said she believed in. Praise Jesus, she went to Heaven a-shoutin'! And there was a fine reunion, I know, when she got there!

For myself, I have been taking turns hanging out by the milkweed patch out in front of our house, and by the monarda on the side. The monarch butterflies (at least two of them) were putting on quite a show. This male flittered to a green branch above me, posed, then turned around and gave me one long, last wistful look, before flying away into the heavens, like some kind of orange angel.

We are grateful for all of the years we got to spend with my Aunt Ella Mae Varner, and we celebrate her life!

Of course, I have to use this song as my tune for the day: I'll Fly Away. This is the version from the movie O Brother Where Art Thou, featuring the Kossoy Sisters. (The actual film soundtrack, for whatever reason, features an also lovely version by Alison Krauss and Gillian Welch.)

The reference to "gone to Heaven a-shoutin'" is a line from a song written by Vince Gill, and I want to include that one too. It makes me cry every time I hear it, and maybe it will do that to you, too. But they are good tears. Here are Vince Gill, Alison Krauss, and Ricky Skaggs, with Go Rest High on That Mountain.

Go rest high on that mountain
Now your work on Earth is done
Go to Heaven a-shoutin'
Love for the Father and the Son