In Memory of a Mother

Kathy Garner Beeler

It is hard to encompass in words, a being as full as Kathy. I've known 

and loved her since I was 11, which is just about three quarters of my 
life.

Kathy has a servant’s heart. Whatever she does, it is with the right 
intent and purpose…well, at least most of the time! She is humble 
and detailed, doing all things as if doing it for the L’rd Himself.

Every challenge that I have witnessed her take on, she has done with 
strength and resolve. Not letting things deter her from her objective. 
If there is a stumbling block she will either find another direction, or 
simply plow through and not forget to sweep up the pieces.

Selflessly, Kathy mentors, witnesses, and counsels others. She mothers, 
nurses, protects, shelters, directs, and loves. Over the past thirty years I 
have been blessed beyond measure by these attributes that dwell in the 
spirit of Kathy.

She brought me in, nurtured my spirit, confided in me and I in her.  She 
taught me how to be a better person. Though I was not knit in her womb, 
I can without hesitation call her “Momma.”

Her distinctive personality can light up a room, or clear it. She can hold 
a poker face that will make Kenny Rodgers question his royal flush.

If you are close to Kathy, you also know her as The Penguin. She was 
pegged this name by one of the quirky coincidences that you so often 
partake in, when you have a mom like her.

·         Penguins are birds, but they cannot fly. However, they are expert at 
swimming and they walk faster than human beings. Kathy also has 
stealth, and can sneak up on you before you know what you are in 
for.

·         Penguins are social birds and live in large groups called colonies. 
This is true, if you are in, you are family.

·         Penguins communicate with each other through their body language. 
She has this trait down pat and you can always tell when she is on a 
mission. Jaw jutted out, shoulders forward, and wind in her hair. You 
also know, without a doubt or word when you are in trouble.

·        Penguins cannot swim backwards, maybe that’s why she has always 
plunged forward, head first.

·       Parents and chicks use their superb hearing to easily keep track of one 
another even in a crowd. She always knew when we were in trouble, 
and we always knew where to run if we were. It is her keen knowledge 
of the bible that reminds us where to run now.

She is intelligent, quick witted, and has a giggle that to this day echoes in 
my head. 

Kathy has had an invaluable impact on me, as well as so many others. My 
children love her like a grandmother and she loves them.

I could not have hand-picked a better role model for my life. She has imparted 
many priceless values that otherwise I would not have.

She sets the bar for us kids so high, that often we never reach it. You never 
quite know if it is a setup, or if she just sees something more in us than what 
we see in ourselves. We continue to reach though, simply because we love her. 
And when we make her smile, the world lights up.

You may be a little confused as to why I have written this in present tense. Our 

hearts ache because we cannot see her with our eyes, hear her with our ears. 
We miss her greatly and we are saddened by her absence in our day to day 
life.

But our comfort is in this… that May 23^rd of this year was not the end of Kathy’s 

journey. Her love and proclamation of J’sus as a savior renders her a greater 

promise. She is alive, fully alive. What we know in part, she now knows in full.

Any earthly trial, worry, or sorrow is not even a memory. She is now complete. 

She has not only tasted His excellence, she now dwells in it. Basking in His 

goodness, His perfection. She is experiencing what unconditional love is.

We can speculate that heaven is a bit more lively and intriguing with her there, 

to say the least. We can picture in our minds the embrace she experienced 

when her father, Gigi, and Crystal welcomed her.

I know that no matter how much I have prepared to say, it could never do 

Kathy justice. My story will always fall short of all she has to offer, all that 

she has been, all that she is now.

We can’t pick up the phone and call, we cannot sit down and have dinner with 
her. We have a cohort missing in the ranks. We will have to wait to form another 
great conspiracy.It will be a little while before we can once again feel her arms 
around our neck, but we are convinced that it will indeed happen.

Think on this and be glad for her. How wonderfully flawless she became when 
she was ushered into G’d’s presence by angels and heard these words: “Well 
done, good and faithful servant. Come and share your master’s happiness!”