I have a small table with one drawer where I keep all the funeral programs we attend. They seem too important to put in the trash. Each person represented by those programs has a special place of memory in my heart.
The memories I like best are the ones that keep on giving long after we pass, such as what the garden club folks call “pass-along plants.”
Aunt Jo Walters was in my Sunday school class, or I was in hers rather. Her niece, Pam Fortner, taught the class and always called her Aunt Jo, so I did also.
Jo was married to Whit Walters, a tall, strong, handsome man who fought at the Battle of the Bulge in World War II. They made a striking pair, presidential worthy in my eyes.
Jo was an artist and had painted with house paint, landscapes, cabins and rustic scenes with a true talent I admired.
What I didn’t know is that Jo was a lover of hybrid day lilies, every color imaginable.
After her passing, the nieces and grand niece started passing along these jewels.
In gardens all around Sumner, you may find Sunday school ladies sitting quietly in their gardens overlooking the blaze of color as their thoughts drift to Aunt Jo Walters.
