a tribute to Willa

Willa is a wonderful woman whom I have had the great blessing and priviledge to know. Willa lost her husband in an unfortunate accident years ago and has an adult son with a mental handicap. As hap would have it, in our small town, my dear husband works in the home that her son lives in. He's crazy fun and full of life! Willa and her son attended the same church as Jeremy and I, so we were aquainted on a weekly basis. Willa always showed her appreciation to Jeremy for his work with her son. When Jeremy and I got married Willa and her son attended the wedding and she gave us a nice gift. She was always so kind. As we announced my pregnancy, she was thrilled to hear I was due in November and thought it would be perfect if I had Macy Grace on her birthday - the 11th. I wasn't quite as inclined as I was due on the 1st! Well, as things would go, I didn't quite make it to the 11th, but she was fine with that. She gave Macy Grace a gift card and just loved and loved on her.
That first Sunday we brought Macy Grace to church, she was waiting for us to get a sneek peek at lil love. Everytime she had the opportunity to see Macy Grace she would just smile and make a point to tell Macy Grace how blessed she was to have us as parents. She told Macy Grace over and over how nice her daddy was and how pretty she was. Willa was a very very sweet woman. I mentioned, she was.
Willa passed on Sunday morning extremely unexpectedly in her home. Someone went by to pick her up for church and when she didn't come out, the church was called and my dad with his friend went by to check on her. They found her sitting on the couch, but her spirit was not inside. For whatever reasons, we will never understand, but Willa was ushered into Heaven's gates early Sunday morning, I can only imagine what kind of celebration, praise, and worship service she participated in on that holy morning. Willa was extremely loved and a very happy person. As a matter of fact, Jeremy just commented to me last week on how when I was holding Macy Grace she stared and smiled at her almost the entire service, what love!
I have not spent itty bitty's gift card from Willa yet, but I plan to buy something special. Something that Macy Grace can learn was from Willa and I can tell her the story of faith and love that resided in Willa's life. The coroner reported that although the entire investigation on the cause of death was not complete, he did know this, that Willa died with a smile on her face. What a story! What a challenge - die with a smile on your face. Willa loved life and she loved her Lord.
Please be in prayer for her son, all he is really capable of understanding is that she is now in Heaven with his daddy and she is now his angel. As a matter of fact, I think she is also Macy Grace's new angel too!