God has called another one of our family’s angels home. However, this one was unexpected. My cousin, Patty, was a special, special cousin! As a very young girl, my brother, Jimmy, and I would spend a lot of time at our Aunt Ruby and Big Jimmy’s home. There, we became huge admirers of our cousins, Patty and J. R. Patty was very pretty as you can tell from this tribute page. I would watch her dress for dates. My memory is she had beautiful dark, thick, flawlessly styled hair, pretty face, and outfits that were perfectly matched . She loved short sleeve sweaters with a Peter Pan collared blouse and pearl necklace. I remember wanting to be like her. Even though, I was about ten years younger than her, she would take me places. We had so much fun.
Patty was a fantastic mother and grandmother. She emulated her mother, Aunt Ruby. Gentle, caring, patient, and loving! I have no memory of her angry. During the summer, Aunt Ruby and I would babysit Russ and Terri. She would leave lists of “To Dos” for each of them and would make a call or two during the day to ensure everything was okay. Every conversation as recent as Valentine’s Day was about Russ and Terri, and updates about the grand kids. Her sense of humor was amazing. We called it Burrus humor. She had the best laugh. In the last 5 or 6 years, when I returned to Blue Springs from Texas, we would drive around for hours, re-examining old “haunts” remembering what would happen at that location. During a recent trip, we decided to take our Uncle Nick along. We were interested in how many houses he built in Blue Springs. Uncle Nick in the front, Patty in the backseat, as we drove around north Blue Springs, she would document each house Uncle Nick remembered and added memory notes about the location. Our goal was to create a complete document to share with the family about the man who built Blue Springs. We promised to complete our research my next visit as she told me she was feeling better.
Yes, God has brought another angel home from our family! I am so saddened by losing my cousin, and I will miss her terribly. Yesterday, I was scrolling my contact list on my cellphone to call my brother. I saw her name and thought I could never delete this number because I want to stay “connected.” I take comfort in knowing I had the honor of sharing her with others for many years, and she is at home with God and the other people I love and miss.