Angels Among Us

As many of you know the woman God sent to ‘grandmother me’ for more than 30 years became a real angel on December 20th. Sue Rudolph was one of the most gracious and loving people I have ever known. In her son’s Pat’s words, “She lived a good life, died surrounded by her family, and touched many people's lives along the way.” For those of you who knew Sue you likely would add your name to the list of people she touched along the way. Sue comforted me when I was sick, reassured me when I was scared, celebrated my life achievements and loved me unconditionally. We were all blessed to have her in our lives. I could spend days listing all the ways she and Pete touched my life. I hesitated adding this post to my blog, but after prayerful consideration decided it was something I wanted Drew to have as part of the his life story.

Some of my first memories of life are of the Rudolph’s. Sue and Pete had a home that was full of love and happiness and in the eyes of a child full of excitement. There isn’t much to do in Gurdon, Arkansas, but my memories are grand. Sue taught me how to love your husband, children and life unconditionally. She worked hard to find ways to help others help themselves. She made sure dreams were opportunities waiting to happen. She never let you shoot for anything less than the best. She and Pete were a true model of living life to the fullest.

My mom used to recall the time I announced at 5 years old that I intended to go to Harvard. When Pete asked what I wanted to study at Harvard, I proudly announced “I am going to be a teacher.” Pete and mom laughed and Sue told me I would be a wonderful Harvard educated teacher. As I grew older the challenges in life grew larger, but she never let me lose sight of my abilities to be greater than myself. When I was at Hendrix I would regularly receive cards and baked cookies in the mail telling me to work harder and dream big. I still have many of those cards and when things in life are hard I read them. The art of note writing was one of her many gifts in life. When I left for a year in Washington DC she told me to stay away from politics, but learn everything I could. (She was never a fan of politics after Pete’s time as mayor.) They visited while I was there and took me to the Smithsonian. On December 23rd, two days after her death, my annual subscription gift to Smithsonian Magazine, from Sue and Pete Rudolph, arrived in the mail.

When it came to boys in my life Sue never took much interest in who was coming with me for a visit. Until I introduced her to Kevin. She had heard about him for months before we finally took a trip to visit Northwest Arkansas. On day two of our trip Sue decided she and Pete had somewhere to take us. After a full day of touring wedding chapels of Northwest Arkansas Kevin was really trying to figure out what he had gotten into. At this point we were JUST dating with no talk of marriage. She knew though. She told me as I left that night he was the one. I remember clearly her words, “the Lord only brings the right person into our lives when you are both ready, you are ready to love.” She was right. A year and a half later, fresh out of knee surgery Sue and Pete attended our wedding.

Just a short time after our wedding Sue and Pete moved from Northwest Arkansas to Atlanta. I was beyond excited. They would be closer to Jackson and they were now “on the way” to our visits with Kevin’s family. About that same time I found out I was pregnant. We made our first trip to visit in August of 2009 with an 8 week old baby. Other than my wedding and the birth of my child it was one of the most memorable moments of my life. As she held Drew and kissed his head she told me she always knew I would be a good mom. Just a few months ago we made the trip again with a rambunctious 15 month old. Sue and Drew played on the floor together. I am so glad I remembered the camera that day. It was the way I want to remember her. Just a few short months later I sat in a hospital holding her hand. Trying to tell her all the things she meant in my life. There wasn’t enough time or energy, so I prayed and just tried to make her comfortable. She would have been so pleased to see all her boys together again celebrating life. I think she waited for them all to be together before she let go.

Although we will miss her deeply, I am reminded she is now serving in the role which she had prepared and trained for her whole life. She is no longer an angel in training, but an angel who is with me every minute of every day. So even though I broke down at Target when the Hi-Ho-Cherrio display greeted me in the toy section and wiped away the tears as I used her recipes and the apron she made for me, I remember life on earth is only preparation for greater things.