Aunt Mary Ellen

My Aunt, Mary Ellen Brady, went home to be with Jesus and the other saints last Friday. She was having a hard time with a very severe form of leukemia as well as Alzheimer's disease. My Uncle did his very best helping her through those times. She is gone now, but her life here had more than just a significant impact in the communities she lived in and worked in. She was one to put her faith into action and so she had an effect on the lives of many.

My earliest memory of her goes back to about 1960. I suppose I would have been about three years old. I can remember going to Cedar Rapids with my parents and (I think) my grandparents. My Uncle worked for Collins Radio (now Rockwell Collins) in Cedar Rapids, and they lived in a trailer park in a northern suburb. It seems like it was Christmas time. Aunt Mel had made Christmas cookies and decorated them all differently. I am told that she presented me with a plate full of them and I told her that I couldn't possibly eat them all.

It wasn't long after that when she gave birth to my cousin Scott. This was a traumatic time for me. It meant that I was no longer the only grandchild. The adjustment was difficult.  I did finally forgive her for that, but not until I realized this meant I would have someone to play games with and torment. So it worked out in the end. Scott grew into a fine husband, father and pastor and he continues in these roles today with his wife Kim. Lets just say that the quiver is full.

Aunt Mel also brought Kim into the world a year or two later. Yet another mouth to feed and one that ran constantly.  :^) I am so funny!
Kim added a female flavor to the growing group of grandchildren and a more emotional temperament. I can recall one time when we were all at Grandpa and Grandmas. We were playing this game we had invented called 'kidnapper'. If I remember correctly, it involved kidnapping Kim. I'm not sure how it all turned out, but I do remember that, at some point, Kim told me in no uncertain, terms, that I was not the boss of her. She was right. I'm not sure anyone besides Jesus ever claimed that title. She too has since raised a small nation of her own with her husband Neil down in Joplin, Mo.

At this writing, I can't seem to remember if Uncle Dick and Aunt Mel moved to Berwick and then Des Moines before or after Kim was born. I suppose it doesn't matter, but I believe Kim was born in Des Moines. Later they moved to Pleasant Hill and on to Runnells.

I think it was when they were in Pleasant Hill that they got Alison. She was a late arrival, but sometimes the biggest challenges come later in life. I remember her as a baby. I wondered if maybe she was going to be a comedienne. She could make people laugh easily. It was like she got a whole extra cup of personality (mostly Brady to my mind, but some would disagree). I also remember getting the chicken pox from her and I was in high school at the time. It's kind of embarrassing, getting a childhood disease in high school. I think she was Grandpa's favorite. I had finally been dethroned.  Alison is now the mother of three young men and aging quite well

There was no throne. I kid.

At some point, and I believe it was when they lived in Pleasant Hill, Aunt Mel took over the family Christmas celebration. I'm sure that Grandma was relieved to have that off her plate and Aunt Mel took it and made it her own.

She was Italian. She made spaghetti sauce that was of the finest kind. She would add meatballs and Italian sausage served on pasta and topped with Romano. It became an annual tradition. The Jews had Passover, but we had Christmas at Aunt Mel's. Bring it on. It's making me hungry even now. Never mind the bread that got left in the kitchen. Didn't need it. Mmmmmm.       

Two other things that I remember clearly about Aunt Mel was her laugh and her singing voice. She was a joyful person. She had a hearty laugh. And she could sing like an angel. Her voice was beautiful. Heaven is a more joyful place because she is there and probably the envy of the Choir Invisible.

She used to sing with my Uncle Dick and I'm sure he will miss that, but the day will come when we will get to hear them together again, so all is not lost.

That's the thing about being a Christian. It's the hope. It's all about hope and purpose and doing and being as obedient as possible to our Savior. This is what she had and what we shared with her that was the single most important thing. The faith and the peace that passes all understanding. One day we will all be together again. The trumpet will sound. The eastern sky will split open in a blinding light. The dead in Christ will rise and then we will all meet Him in the air in glorious victory over sin and death.

See you then Aunt Mel. Thanks for being my Aunt. It was a good time.