Friday, August 31, 2018

Aunt Edna

In my growing-up years, we lived in Virginia. Both my parents’ families were in Ohio and we would usually see the Moores and the Millers when we made our annual summer trip to Columbus and points beyond. Some of my memories include spending time with Grandma and Grandpa Miller in their home out in the country in Morrow County. Grandpa was a carpenter. Grandma sold greeting cards. My sister and I would sit for a long time during each visit and look through her big books filled with sample cards. Another thing we did (every single time we were there) was look through the photo albums they had from Japan. My daddy’s baby sister, Edna, and her husband Harold, were missionaries with the Wesleyan denomination and raised their family on the mission field in Japan. Uncle Harold was a superb photographer, so the many photos we saw looked professional to us. Grandma had many of those albums! We watched our cousins grow up through those pictures because we only saw them in person every few years when their family would be in the United States on furlough. Those photos were the way I knew my cousins from Japan! Thankfully, I know them better now that we're all grown! So thankful for all my wonderful cousins!

The thing I remember the most about those photos was my Aunt Edna. She always seemed to look so content and serene. Dignified. And she was so very beautiful! She played the piano and some of the photos would show her playing in what I assumed was their home, or in a church service. Other pictures would show them singing together. When they were in the States and the Miller family would make music…singing, playing the piano…just like we always did when we were together, I remember Aunt Edna’s voice. It was sweet, just like I knew it would be!

That voice fell silent on this earth, August 29, 2018 at 11:11 p.m. when she moved into the presence of her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. She was 94. She’s with her husband again. Her four children were with her when she passed…one of them on FaceTime, as she lives in Japan where she and her husband serve as missionaries.

But her sweet voice is not really silent at all, because she is busy praising the God that she served for so many years. And you can bet she and Uncle Harold are singing harmony with all those saints!

Edna Marie Miller Johnson leaves behind her four children and their families – Lorelei, Flossie, Tim, and Nathaniel, her baby brother, 90-year-old Jack – along with many nieces and nephews who loved and admired her.








To quote my sweet brother Joe, “God bless her forever.”













As always, I close my blog with this quote: "If you have a pulse, you have a purpose. Make your life count!"