A TRIBUTE TO MY MOTHER

SUDA ELLEN ROGERS FAULKNER
December 2000

MY MOTHER, MY FRIEND
Mom, you were always a little embarrassed that you had me so late in life. You always thought I was ashamed to have such an old mother. Believe me that was never the case. You started your family when you were very young. You were just 17 when my oldest brother Buddy was born. You went on to have 6 more children. I was the seventh born when you were almost 40. You always let me know that I was not an accident of your old age but a wanted child. You and daddy always made me feel that I was very special. My other siblings called it being spoiled. But I called it being blessed.

We always spent a lot of time together. You were a preacher. I was the one who always got to travel with you to revivals. We had a great time and great services in Oklahoma, Arizona, Colorado, and Oregon. You helped baptize me when I was just seven years old. You took your preaching very seriously. I remember you going into a bedroom every afternoon, not to take a nap like I do, but to get on your knees before the Lord and plead with the Lord to give you the sermon that the was needed for that night's service. I will forever treasure the prayers that came out of those afternoon prayer sessions.

You were a fun mom. You drove those California freeways like a madwoman at times. My best friend, Pam, and I would tease you that we could never flirt with guys in other cars because we were always going to fast to see them. Mom, I know who I take after. Most of the time you were driving, you either had a glass of iced tea or pop in your hand and sometimes a burrito from Taco Lita in the other hand. Luckily we never had an accident. You were also a garage sale queen. You loved to drive me to school on trash days and actually made me get out of the car and dig in peoples trash to get items you thought you could later sell at a garage sale or rummage sale of your own. You recruited all my friends to help at these sales, boys and girls alike. At the end of the day you would make us load up our old gray 55 pickup truck with left over junk and all of us kids would pile on top and you would take us to IN and OUT Burgers Drive IN. As a teenager at times this seemed rather humiliating. None of the money made at these sales went to us, but all of it went to my brother who was a missionary in the Philippines, at the time. You were so proud of all the money you were able to send him for the Lord's work.

One of my fondest memories of you happened when I was 16 years old at a California campmeeting in the desert near Elsinore, California. The two sons of the campmeeting speaker, Rev. Clifford Sampier, had never seen the ocean. San Juan Capistrano was only 35 miles away. So you piled 8 teenagers in our car and proceeded to drive us to the ocean. That is a trip none of us will ever forget. Richard Goad and I still talk about that drive. You see between the desert and the ocean is a range of mountains with the longest, curviest 35 miles that you can imagine. But you were determined and we did see the ocean that day, even though we were all a little sick. The other parents were very worried and I believe the evening service had started by the time we returned to camp.

We made a very smooth transition from me being a bratty teenager and you being the mean mom to being great friends as I got older and married Laban. We loved coming home to California to visit daddy and you. We loved you visiting us and all the traveling we did together at times. It was so hard on you when daddy died. You wanted to die too. I am so glad the Lord gave you more years. You were such a blessing to your two grandsons and taught them so much about love and caring for others. I am so sorry that you had to get senile. That was one of your biggest fears in life. I do not understand why this happened. But I do except that God has taught us all something from this experience.

You have left us and gone to a better place. You are whole again. In heaven you are with Jesus, the one for whom you dedicated your life. You are reunited with daddy, the love of your life, my oldest brother Buddy, who died when he was only seven, my brother, Ronnie, and sister, Pat, and numerous other family members and friends who have already crossed over.

I love you, mother! You were always there for me. I know without a doubt that you would have given your life for me if it would have been necessary. I only hope that I can give my children the same love and devotion that you have given me.

Your baby, Susie