The Salt Of Heaven

Salt Of Heaven

Some have said she had a hard edge

That she was intolerant

But I knew her to her core

She was neither of those things

No, she didn’t mince words 

That is for certain

Yes, if she thought you’d done wrong

You’d be the first to hear it

Mary Cole was a person of conviction

Black and white

Never any hesitation 

She’d speak her mind

She’d set you straight 

But her true heart was kind

She loved in a “real” way

A way that is forgotten today

An Old Fashioned type of love

A Love of God

A Love of Family

A Love of Country 

(And of course if you ever saw her Social Media Page)

A Love of little Animals

She was a sweet soul 

With a tender alto voice 

She told stories of the “sangings”

Of the central role of the Church

She told of the little house 

Where she grew up in. 

Of a house that was full

Of a life that wasn’t always easy

But of a house and life filled with love

The 4th of 7 children 

She honored her Mother and Father

She never stole

She didn’t lie

She didn’t covet or steal 

She treated others the way she thought 

She should be treated 

There was no middle ground 

With Ms. Mary Anne

You were either right or wrong

For or against 

I used to laugh and say

That I wouldn’t want her 

To be my Judge 

In Mary Anne’s Court

There’d be no hesitation

No lenient sentence 

Her justice would be swift

Her justice might seem harsh 

But viewed in the greater good 

Her justice would be fair

Her justice would be evenhanded

Mary Anne was definitely 

Old Testament

It was eye for an eye 

Tooth for a tooth 

That’s how Mary Anne saw the world

Do the Right Thing

If you didn’t then 

Be prepared for the consequences 

Her Salt of the Earth upbringing 

Instilled in her the “fundamentals”

To be a “good” person

The fundamentals based on the Bible

The holy Bible 

And those words in Red. 

Her fundamental principles

Were related in “real” stories

Stories of a close knit family

A family without a lot of means

But a family that was bonded together 

Bonded by the  “Old and New” Testament Teachings

This was the core

Of Mary Anne’s “raising” 

Her late older brother had the “calling” 

He went on to preach the Gospel. 

I’d could say he was her favorite 

No one’s feelings would be hurt 

Because D.A. was..... 

“Everyone’s” favorite. 

Her family was her rock

You can’t find better. 

Maybe fancier

Maybe with more money

A family cut from sturdy fabric

Cut from Calico

Not fancy silk 

The truth is

That you won’t find a better family

A rock solid kin that she was born of

Kinfolk built over the generations 

Born of the very mountain soil and rock 

They put their plows in 

They hunted on 

They raised their youngin’s on 

They worshiped the Lord on. 

David and Alma had 7 kids 

5 boys and 2 girls

Leroy, Glen, D. A., Wilma, 

Mary Anne, Micheal, and Gary

They had a truck garden 

A cash crop of tobacco

They had chickens and 

A smoke house 

They slaughtered a pig Thanksgiving

They canned enough beans 

To feed the County and 

Ate enough biscuits and gravy 

To choke a mule 

The boys slept “upstairs”

Except the weren’t no stairs. 

They used Nano’s quilting loom 

To climb to the acttic 

With just a window on either side 

To catch the night air 

They worked hard 

They played hard. 

On Sunday there was Church 

And sometimes 

Fishing on the Lake. 

Mary Anne was a product of this

Homespun but sophisticated

Down-home but educated

Never venerated but dedicated 

Mary Anne was seasoned from 

The salt of the earth 

And if this world had more of her

It would be a better place. 

There’d be no crime 

People would watch out for each other

There’d be more caring and concern

And the family would be 

Sound and strong

Her legacy lives on in her daughters 

Rebecca and Elizabeth

And their children

Jude, Ewin, Stella, Jordan, and Kaden,

But she goes on to a better place 

A place with all those things and more

A place where she will bring her spirit 

And her own particular seasoning

And she leaves behind 

Some of this seasoning

A little pinch of her goodness 

In each one of us

And D. A. will greet her 

With a “little coke”

And the fruit of life eternal 

Will taste even sweeter

For Mary Anne is now 

With the Lord 

Where she is truly 

The Salt Of Heaven 

So rest In Peace sweet Lady

And pull up a chair

Because you’ve earned your place 

At the Lord’s table. 

John Snelling