…I don’t know, maybe about 7 years ago, I was pregnant with my second daughter Ember, while taking care of my 2.5 year old, Jaz. Most moms would agree that this 2nd pregnancy can be challenging due to the fatigue, compared with a first pregnancy, where you could just rest as desired. I had what most pleasantly refer to as first trimester “morning sickness”, only day and night for the duration of both of my pregnancies. Enter, Ruthie Blair, good friend and mom extraordinaire of Rebekah.
I remember one particular day waking and feeling very sick fatigued and at the end of my rope. I needed to rest and my 2.5 year old was not going to let that happen. I got in my car and drive over to Ruthies(the kids fondly refer to her as Miss Ruthie). I pulled up in her driveway and was in tears and told her that I needed her help. I just needed someone to watch Jaz for a few hours while I “regrouped”. She smiled at me compassionately and said, “of course”. Ruthie took Jaz for the afternoon and probably even brought over something for dinner that night. This is just how she was. I sit here in tears as I am writing this. I was so touched by this act of kindness and will always remember it.
This story is just one little moment into the kindness that Miss Ruthie spread around our community in Pollock Pines before her family moved back to Tennessee. This was a way of life for her. Ruthie walked the walk. She was all action. I miss her dynamic and kind personality. We all do in our community. As my friend Dawn just said today, “It’s been a little darker in Pollock since she left”.
Rebekah is Ruthie’s daughter. She has many of the same great qualities of her mom. She babysat our kids for years. She always brought over playdough, art supplies, etc. It was important to her to engage with our daughters and not just simply perform the “service of babysitting”. They loved her and we loved her too!
Rebekah was in town recently visiting her friends and asked me to photograph her senior pictures. I had taken photographs of her and her brothers Jon and Paul many years back and was honored to get to visit with her while doing this. She’s getting ready to start her senior year in high school next year at the same high school both her parents graduated from.
