Saturday, March 31, 2012

Bluebells For Grand Dad




Spring has come again, and with it the flood of new life and promise of beginnings.  This is a favorite time for many of us.  The extended Jones family is no exception.  We had an annual family reunion that brought us together from across the country in April.  It was a celebration of Roy H. Jones’ birthday but he never wanted it to be all about him.  He hoped that we would get together to celebrate each other as well, so we called it the April Birthday.

Grand Dad Jones was a popular man.  He was beloved by his family, treasured by his community and widely recognized as a friend well met, hale and hardy.  Part of Roy Jones’ legend was that he never said a negative thing about anyone.  He denied this to me once, admitting that he had made a disparaging comment about a woman who had demonstrated poor parenting decisions.  He called her in to his office and apologized, but felt badly about it years and years later.  Roy died two months prior to his 97th birthday.  Despite his advanced age, the outpouring of sympathy was overwhelming.  We received letters from Senators.  Newspapers told his story and the funeral was well attended.  Perhaps the most beautiful tribute, however, came from his fifth child, Beulah.


Beulah Williams and her father, Roy Jones


Spring came six weeks after her father’s death.  He had lived with her for the last several years of his life.  Beulah was a good daughter who was devoted, kind, patient and loving.  Her home was empty without the presence of Roy.  One mild spring day, she drove her car out to Allerton Park in search of emerging bluebells.  The Virginia Bluebell thrives throughout Illinois.  It was Roy Jones very favorite and Allerton was a family gathering place for several April birthdays.  Beulah loved the place and was fond of spending hours soaking in the beauty of the park.  Somewhere in the shady parts of Allerton, she found some good plants to dig.  They were placed in a bucket and carried to the place where her father was buried.  That late Spring, and for many thereafter, bluebells flowered on my grandfather’s grave.  They were the best and most appropriate memorial for Roy Jones.  When all was said and done, he was a simple, beautiful man who was born, grew to adulthood, raised his family, lived and died within a few miles.  His legacy is one of compassion and grace.  He passed it on to his children.  Beulah Williams was not only a recipient of those qualities, but one who continued to model them for the rest of the family.

Thanks Aunt Beulah.  I planted bluebells for you and Grand Dad this Spring.  You both live on in our hearts and, hopefully, in the way that we treat other people every day.