Tribute to Aunt Carlene, August 1940 - February 2010

I plan to read the following at my aunt's funeral, which is scheduled for Saturday, February 27.

Hello, for those of you who do not know me, I am Carlene’s niece, Stephanie. My mother Judy is Carlene’s sister.

Carlene has always been a special person in my life. Since I was a little girl she has encouraged and loved me. She has always been so happy to see me and my husband Brandon, and my children, Beatrice and Elijah. She has also given us a lot of good food.

**I want to share a few stories with you about Carlene from her childhood, but first here is something that will make you laugh. Last year she told my mamma about a dream she had. Carlene dreamed she died and was laying in her casket in the funeral home. In the dream she looked around that funeral home and thought to herself: I’ve got to get up out of here and clean this place up!

We have tried to make everything nice for her today, so she won’t have to worry about that.**

Carlene was the third child out of the ten children born to Beulah and Carl Perry. I love hearing stories from their childhood. Carlene was born early and had pneumonia, and her mother cried and cried because she thought her first little girl would never make it. They had to buy goat milk for her because she was allergic to cow’s milk. Carlene was so small that her mother made her a little bed in a shoe box. She also sometimes would pin her diaper to a pillow so that she could sleep safely on the pillow. Carlene got better though, and grew up helping her mother care for the family. She learned to cook by standing on a wooden box helping her mother. Mamma told me that Carlene used to clean and wax the floors in their old house when they were young and then shine them by pulling the smaller children over the floors on a blanket. She ironed the boys clothes and sometimes would do twenty pair of jeans at a time. One of her brothers was very particular that his jeans should stand up on their own when she was done, and if they didn't he would bring them back to her to do over. Carlene was like a second mother to her younger brothers and sisters, and because she was the first girl born in the family they always called her “sister.”

Maybe that is why Carlene loved cooking and entertaining. She grew up doing for people and she never stopped. Even when her health got bad she was still cooking for people, or sending food. She always made sure that people kept in touch. She loved children, and even though she never had children of her own, she was like a second mother to more people than just her brothers and sisters.

This is why I love thinking of Carlene in heaven. Heaven is a place that is all about relationships. When we go there to be with our Father, we will be one family. Heaven is described as having a city with many dwelling places. We also know that heaven is a place where there is feasting and banquets, and Jesus will sit down at the table with His brothers and sisters.

I have come to think that everyone will have their own special service in Heaven. It will not be work like what we know here, where we get worn out. It will be joyful activity that leaves you feeling refreshed. I strongly suspect Carlene’s work will be helping to prepare the heavenly banquets. She will still be serving her brothers and sisters, this time with no pain or sorrow.

Last year, Carlene organized a reunion for the Perry family. I think almost 100 people showed up, and it was a lot of fun, we had good food and some really nice music. But think of the reunion Carlene is having now. She is seeing her savior face to face. Carlene loved our Lord, and as much as she will love being together with the people she loved who went before her, being with her Lord is now the greatest joy she has ever known. It is hard for us to get past how we miss her, but she would want us all to know that she has never been so happy and well, and that God is loving each and every one of us more than we can imagine.

** This paragraphe will not be in the version I read at the funeral, but I left it in here because I think it is a cute story.