Her Star Shines Brightest on the Holiest Night
by Phyllis Zeck
Corinne and Phyllis. Sisters and best friends. My mother passed away in 2004. It was especially hard on my Aunt Phyllis as Corinne was her baby sister. When Auntie passed away in 2013 she left instructions that she wanted to be buried at Mount Carmel in Illinois near her mother and father (Bertha and Gilbert). She is buried directly behind Elvira.
When my sister Holly and I were planning our trip to Chicago last October our cousin Rick said he would like to meet us and visit his mother’s grave. We spent a wonderful week together being tourists and reminiscing. One morning I pulled up an audio recording my brother Rob and I had made of an interview with Auntie Phyllis in 2011. In part of this interview Rob asked Auntie Phyl about Christmas Eve in 1939, the evening that Elvira passed away. Our mother would have been 8 and Auntie Phyllis just turned 12. Below is an audio of Auntie’s memory of that night. She recalls it as if it happened yesterday.
Wishing everyone a joyous and peaceful Christmas!
8 hours ago by Toni Johnson
So wonderful to hear my mother’s voice. Sad it had to be such a painful memory to recall her grammas. death, but the interview had a sweet ending too. And I felt the same about my mom’s spaghetti. The best in the world !!
4 hours ago by Holly Winike Hicks
Hearing Aunties voice brought tears to my eyes, I miss her and mom so much. We learned a new aspect of the story of how our great grandmother passed away on Christmas Eve. I had never heard about the “bright light in the sky” before. Like long ago, she followed the light right into the arms of Jesus.