Evelyn Belle (Fox) Clark

A week ago my grandmother left us to be with our heavenly father. She was 87 years old but still had so much spunk left in her. I always loved talking to her on the phone about the kids, life and more importantly God. Our conversations always went that direction no matter what we were talking about. You could hear in her voice how happy she was when we talked about scripture and how it was woven into our lives. My oldest started out calling her "Big Momma". I'm not sure where this came from since she was far from BIG. It might be because I initially tried to get him to call her "Obaasan" which is Grandmother in Japanese. Regardless how it happened, it stuck and our boys always prayed for "Big Momma" at night time. I absolutely love family history and am always so intrigued to hear about how my family grew up and where they came from. I'm always interested in the family tree. So, being home this past week to celebrate Grandmother's life gave me another opportunity to hear stories that I had never heard before. My grandmother was actually born in Japan and grew up as a missionary's daughter. She met my grandfather and left for Texas to marry him at the young age of 17. They were married for 69 years! My dad is the first of 4 children and was born in Waco, Texas. My mom actually had a relationship with my grandmother before she married my dad. So, the tie between the two families was close from the beginning. There were so many new pictures I was able to see and other tidbits of stories that were mentioned that they are just swarming in my head. It was not shocking to find out that over 200 (and quite possibly 300) people attended the funeral and viewing. We only counted the single entries. It was amazing to see them all. I was so glad to have been able to travel to be there and to see family that I hadn't seen in over a year, plus they all were able to see Kendall who had not traveled yet. I do wish I could have been around my grandmother more growing up and to have been closer to hear the stories of her childhood and how life was in Japan. Family means so much to me and visits were never often enough, but we always had a good time when they happened. AND SINGING, there was ALWAYS singing! A get together was never complete until we had "pulled out" some good tunes and typically hymms. The Clark family loves music and there is definitely talent in the genes. It is certain that Grandmother is in pure bliss singing with the angels. One day it will be another Clark reunion singing in heaven....I just wonder if God will let us sing "A Turkey sat on a Backyard Fence" for old times sake! HA! Miss you and Love you much!