Listen to advice and accept instruction, that you may gain wisdom in the future.
Proverbs 19:20 (English Standard Version)
Who is like the wise? And who knows the interpretation of a thing? A man's wisdom makes his face shine, and the hardness of his face is changed.
Ecclesiastes 8:1 (English Standard Version)
Wisdom and Inspiration from an Old Friend
I have known Mary Lewis since I was three years old---well over half a century! My parents met Mary when they moved into a rental house in Detroit while my Dad did his residency at Henry Ford Hospital. Mary worked for their landlord. Whenever Mr. D. visited Detroit to check on his various properties, he stayed at the house on Narden Park...and my mother and Mary worked side by side to prepare the house for his arrival. I can still hear my mother complain about venetian blinds, the bane of their existence--such a chore to clean off the city soot in those pre-AC days!
My parents eventually moved to a tiny house of their own and when Baby Number 3 arrived, my grandparents arranged for Mary to come a couple of times a month to help out. So began a decades-long friendship and close bond between Mary and my family. When my father started his own practice, Mary became a more frequent fixture in our busy household. She had charge of us four kids and was given full rein to direct and admonish us. And we loved her dearly.
Mary was born in Arkansas, the fifth of six children. Like many others, she only attended school until about eighth grade. When a first unfortunate marriage ended, she met and married a fine Christian man, Robert, and helped raise and support his son. Though Mary never had children of her own, she counted us as hers...and continues to do so to this day!
Mary continued to work for my parents, loving and helping with my elderly grandparents too, until a move north of Pontiac put them too far from her home. And then a few years later I called to see if she knew any friends who might be interested in helping me with my two young babies. She insisted she would come out of retirement..and she was my right arm for the next dozen years.
Over the course of our long friendship, Mary has been a constant support, a confidant, and a real blessing. While she watched her "families" prosper and grow, she never expressed resentment, only pride and satisfaction. While Civil Rights protests and riots crashed through our society, we learned about Justice and Respect and Equality and Love from Mary. My siblings and my own children experienced her strong faith in God, her fierce love for us. Never could we harbor feelings of superiority or prejudice: we knew Mary Lewis and we loved and respected her. Now my children return to visit her, presenting their fiancés for her approval, placing their babies in her loving arms. She possesses a wisdom and a peace we can only hope to achieve. No matter the state of our world, our city, our family, her life or health, her blessing and conviction never wavers: "God is Good."
Mary will be 95 years old this March 16. We will rejoice and celebrate her wonderful life, a life full of hard work, love, and praise for her God. Thank you, Mary!
Prayer: Thank you, God, for Mary Lewis and for all who help guide us and shape us, your lights in this world. Amen
Diane Falconer (2014)
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