Nelda’s daughter Angela recognizes how blessed she was by her mother, “a patchwork of all the best qualities a child could wish for in a mother”...
Proverbs 31:28 “Her children rise up and call her blessed.”
Nelda’s daughter Angela recognizes how blessed she was by her mother, “a patchwork of all the best qualities a child could wish for in a mother.” Well loved by her own parents, Nelda modeled how to care for others in her parenting. Angela said, “We could always depend on her to be caring and loving and supportive and encouraging. All of her beauty and goodness, patched together to make a woman, our mother, who we see as a uniquely made, priceless gift from God.”
Nelda enjoyed so many things! Dancing, knitting, Scrabble, reading, travel, antiquing, Turner Classic Movies, Andrea Bocelli, George Strait, Aretha Franklin, and Sam Cooke, Dunkin Donuts Hazelnut Coffee - black, the Boston Red Sox, dogs and cats. Nelda knew how to make special occasions feel SPECIAL! If it was your birthday, you got to miss school and the day was all about you! No matter what their circumstances were from year to year, if it was a special day, she did everything she could to make it memorable, never ordinary. Angela remembers, “When I think back now, I can’t imagine what it took, but, as a child, it seemed effortless for her, never a chore, never a burden. I know now she was sowing her seeds, her loving dedication to her children, her legacy.” After her retirement, she loved to spend time spoiling her grandchildren. When you spent time with Nelda, you walked away knowing you were her favorite. Always focused on the joy of others, Nelda drew her strength and love from her lifelong, intimate relationship with Jesus Christ. As Angela described her, “She was made of flesh, but she looked like Him in our eyes.”
Natural beauty always made Nelda happy. Angela remembers, “when we lived in apartments, we’d always have a second story apartment with mature trees in perfect view from our windows. Even in that detail, she was always ‘making a house a home’ for us, wherever we were living, it always felt good to be home.” One particular place that she fell in love with is New England. She lived in a small coastal town just outside of Boston for several years in the early 2000s. Nelda would sit in her bed, every single morning, with her Bible and her coffee (and usually a pet) having her quiet time with Jesus. Her bedroom window faced a breathtaking, unobstructed view of the Atlantic Ocean. She was such a vision of peace.
After a fall while dancing, Nelda, who required full time care due to advanced dementia, could not be left alone. Angela had to leave her teaching job, and she got behind on her mortgage and was in danger of foreclosure. It was then that her hospice social worker shared their situation with Project 4031. Angela said, “This beautiful organization generously offered to help me get caught up. I was so overcome with gratitude. What did Project 4031’s gift do for my mother? They gave her caregiver a chance to breathe and focus on her mother’s care. They gave her caregiver peace of mind. Priceless gifts. I didn’t even know help like this existed. We are so thankful to your organization and all your donors. I hope to be able to give back in the future and pay it forward. God Bless You All and the valuable work you do.”
Angela is grateful to her mother for her hard work, dedication and sacrifices that made a real difference to those who love her. She said of her mother, “What a legacy she set in motion; we are forever grateful and forever blessed.” At Project 4031, we too are blessed by the legacy of this beautiful woman and mother.