Happy 61st Birthday in Heaven! I miss you just as much today as I did the day you passed. Not a day goes by that I don't wish you were here to bounce ideas off of and help me make the major decisions of life. Saturday Billy, Amber, Laura, Izzy and I came to bring you flowers for your Birthday. They were perfect for you. Laura picked out the ones she wanted to use and she helped Billy arrange them in your vase.  The pink, purple and blue flowers said your name to me. Living in Jackson has not been what I had hoped when I wanted to return here to live. I am sure it would be better if you were here. I miss our family and I wish you were here to help me fix that, but at this point I guess we will be estranged until I die. You cannot fix something unless you try and I am the only one who wants to try. No one knows me or understands the depth of my love the way you did. Despite what I believed all those years my sister has no idea what you and I did for her over the years. She does not know me or understand how much I love her nor does she know how much you loved her. 

If you were still here I would probably have already retired and we would probably be living in East Tennessee or traveling most of the time. Then again I am not sure either of us could leave those adorable grandchildren for long at a time. Yesterday as we celebrated Memorial Day I thought of you many times and knew you were there with us as we celebrated. I know you would have been in the wadding pool with the girls and right in the middle of the water balloon fight when they got out to eat burgers and corn on the cob. 

I will not pass away from this world without telling them as much as I can about the amazing person you were. 

IN MEMORY OF YOU.
If we could visit heaven,
Even for a day,
Maybe for a moment.
The pain would go away.
I would put my arms around you,
And whisper words so true,
That living life without you,
Is the hardest thing to do.
No matter how we spend our days,
No mater what we do,
No morning dawns or evening falls
When we don't think of you.

Fifty-nine years ago today a baby was born in a small hospital on Main Street in Columbus, MS. The pre-mature baby was named Patsy Kay Wooten and was immediately put up for adoption. Her uncle Jack Atkins helped to facilitate her adoption by J.T. And Esther Mae Atkins and one month later she became Laura Mae Atkins and moved to Illinois with her new parents. She moved all over the country because J.T. worked for the railroad and finally they settled in Jackson, TN. Who would have guessed, as that baby struggled to obtain her healthy weight her first year, that she would some day accomplish so much in her short 47 year life. That someday she would be the most amazing Momma to her children Billy Atkins and Amber Atkins Vigil, the best daughter to her parents Esther and J. T., a beloved special daughter to Bobby and Huie Stone, an awesome, supportive and encouraging sister/friend to me(Jeannette Stone) and all of our siblings and a joy to everyone she met because she never met a stranger. Amidst all of that she found time to be an amazing Girl Scout, an Explorer Boy Scout, complete a Bachelor’s degree in English, tutor English as a second language to fellow college students, be a Girl Scout Leader to her little sister Christie Stone Smythe and her daughter Amber Atkins Vigil, a Cub Scout Leader to her son Billy Atkins and his friends, to be a PTA member and President at her children’s schools, assist in classes with students struggling with reading and Math, get winter coats donated for all of the children needing them in the local school system, be a CPR instructor for the Red Cross, a police dispatcher for three police departments and to be an all around loving and kind person. To her, strangers were just friends she had not met yet. Thank you Laura for loving me! Wish you were here to enjoy your amazing grandchildren with me. Happy Heavenly Birthday, Laura Atkins!

As my life progresses without you I am finally learning to live again. Your children and grandchildren make my heart swell with love and joy. I am so proud of the way Amber is taking charge of her life. And how Billy is getting his together.  One of many things I wish were different is that our grandchildren would have gotten to meet you and experience your amazing
unconditional love. I have never known another soul (with the exception of Mama) who could truly ovelook all of my flaws and see who I really am, throughly understand
what a tender heart I have and how deep my love runs. You were the only person who understood my love for my sister and how close I thought we were. Another thing I really wish you were here for is to help me figure that out. You could always make everything okay again with me. Thank-you, for loving every one you knew and making the life of your children and I amazing. I am finally at a point where I can truly celebrate that you are in heaven with God and i know one day we will see you again. Fly high my angel. 

You always were, you are and you always will be “The Wind Beneath My Wings”.  I love you, my sister, my friend!  Today my pain is as fresh as it was eight years ago.