Bye, Miss Anna

Anna's husband and mine worked together for many years-more than thirty, I'd say. I first got to know her when I worked at McDonald's and she would come in and buy an ice tea on her way to work. In those days, the only drinks that had free refills were coffee and ice tea. Being the frugal soul she was, on the way home from work she would swing by and ask for her free refill. We resisted for a while, but she was persistent so after a while we just gave in and refilled her tea.

In later years, when she began to have grandchildren, she would invite Stan to play Santa for them. She was nuts about Christmas and spent days getting ready. Everything had to be as Christmasy as possible. One year she had a surprise for us. The previous year she had taken a careful snapshot of Santa and commissioned a good friend to paint a portrait of him. It still hangs in our house and always will.

We said goodbye to Anna yesterday. Her body was done fighting, but it was very obvious that she touched many people and her legacy will live on for many years. It will for us, and we have the visual to keep it going.