Ruth Elizabeth StroudThis is a celebration of a life well-lived---95 years--- The homegoing of Ruth Elizabeth Stroud. One of the tremendous blessings of my life has been to have two living grandmothers throughout my life up to this point---when I would speak to my friends about that truth they would look at me in disbelief that a grown person could be so lucky.
My grandmother was deeply devoted, loving, and committed to her church family at Union Wesley. She revealed to Rev. Durant that she had been a member of the church for 81 years…ponder that for a moment. Keep in mind this was after she reprimanded him for taking so long to pay her a visit. We had prayer and recited Psalms together on his visit. I’m most grateful to have had that experience. My grandmother was a pistol to borrow one of her phrases. “She was nothing to shake a stick at,” another of her sayings. She was a self made woman who worked 30 years or more as a nurse at St. Elizabeth’s Mental Hospital. Her work ethic was unquestioned and because of her longevity she was retired as long as she worked. I love saying that. My cousin Dana and I shared the home with our grandmother at different times in our lives. I can say that Dana got the kinder, gentler Ruth and I got the pistol. When we lived together she was handling business, working fulltime, being a homeowner, and devoted Church member. All while coping with life as a black woman in a changing society. As an adult I marvel at how she did it all. She had an iron will and sense of purpose to the end. I want to close by reading words sent to me by my poet/sister friend Nikky Finney after learning of my grandmother’s passing: From Karen Stroud’s eulogy on May 24, 2007
Honored by Karen Stroud |
