I Remember When...
Recounting the memories of Louise Ritchie.
Angela Sanders Hall
I can remember when my girls were in school and I was working out of the home 45 minutes away. I would spend my days cleaning 2 houses top to bottom, and rush to get done so that I could make the drive home in time to beat the school bus. I always wanted to be home when my children got off the bus.
I would work all day, rush, rush, rush, get home just minutes before the kids, and then begin scouring the pantry and fridge for creative solutions to dinner. Sometimes the budget was tight and there just wasn’t much to choose from and other times I was just bone tired. Countless occasions I can remember opening that refrigerator door and there would just magically be a five-course meal, including dessert.
Aunt Lou somehow just knew when my day was going to especially stressful, or when the purse strings were drawn especially taunt. We lived in the country and the doors were just always open—everyone knew everyone and you had no need to lock your doors. Aunt Lou would cook for me and my family all day, and manage to deliver it to my fridge, unbeknownst to me, all before I got home from working.
She was an amazing and loving woman who we all miss dearly. We also miss her rum cake—but that is another story altogether.
I would work all day, rush, rush, rush, get home just minutes before the kids, and then begin scouring the pantry and fridge for creative solutions to dinner. Sometimes the budget was tight and there just wasn’t much to choose from and other times I was just bone tired. Countless occasions I can remember opening that refrigerator door and there would just magically be a five-course meal, including dessert.
Aunt Lou somehow just knew when my day was going to especially stressful, or when the purse strings were drawn especially taunt. We lived in the country and the doors were just always open—everyone knew everyone and you had no need to lock your doors. Aunt Lou would cook for me and my family all day, and manage to deliver it to my fridge, unbeknownst to me, all before I got home from working.
She was an amazing and loving woman who we all miss dearly. We also miss her rum cake—but that is another story altogether.
Jennifer French
My fondest memory of Ms. Ritchie was when I was growing up, after school and on the weekends I would walk across the street to her house and she'd give me a glass of milk and some cookies and we'd watch the news or we'd play gin rummy (I th...ink it was gin rummy) while she told me stories from the Bible. As I got older, I would simply go over there to talk about things that bothered me and asked her advice. I never had a grandma to spend time with so she was probably the closest thing I had to one. She always had a hug and a kiss on the cheek for me and I miss that a lot.
Jason Stolle
I had the pleasure of knowing Ms Ritchie for a couple of years. I always remember her smile, and heart of gold. She never treated me or my family like a stranger from the first time I met her. There are many wonderful stories to be told about Ms Ritchie, but I will tell the one that meant a lot to me. Before Rachel and I were even married, my parents were going to travel to Jefferson for the first time to have a look around the town. Well Ms Ritchie got wind of it and would have nothing of them staying in a hotel. She insisted they stay at Ms Ritchie’s Bed and Breakfast!! She treated them first class all the way. Gourmet breakfast every morning and a warm bed every night, and lots of good Ms Ritchie stories told!! It just warmed my heart that she would take them in like that and treats them like family. That was Ms Ritchie, treating everyone like family no matter how much she knew you--such an awesome christianly lady, whom I will never forget.
-Jason Robert Stolle
Waco, Texas
-Jason Robert Stolle
Waco, Texas
I remember Mrs. Ritchie reading bible stories in Sunday school when I was a little girl. She would always fiddle with the corner of the page as she was telling the story. At the end, she would stop to explain it in her terms while wiping ...the corner of her mouth with a kleenex that she had had a death grip on the entire time. Everytime she went to open her mouth, I'd get a glimpse of the bright pink lipstick that always seemed to be on her front tooth. All those years that we went to church together, I never once told her she had lipstick on her teeth!
-Sumer McDonald Cooner
-Sumer McDonald Cooner
Aunt Lou's Bible
I remember my first trip back home to Gray, Texas after my carjacking in 2001. Jason and I came in for the weekend to see my family. We stopped by Aunt Lou’s house for hugs and well-wishes. She had heard about what happened to me and one small detail she decided to do something about. If you knew her you know she was a doer!
When I was attacked and nearly kidnapped, the perpetrator managed to get away with my car and all my belongings I was toting to school at Baylor that day. I had packed my shoulder-bag with the college basics; ID, cell phone, some cash, notebook and MY BIBLE! Although I was hopeful that someday my attacker could get some use out of my Bible, I was still sad to have mine taken.
Aunt Lou lovingly reached to her side table in her cozy little living room, and pulled out her very own well-used and beloved Bible. She gifted that book to me that day. I cherish it to this day. When I feel sad, downtrodden, or miss her especially badly I reach for that precious maroon bound Bible engraved in Gold with her name, Louise Ritchie. It always brings a smile to my face. Such a special gift that I will always hold dearly.
~Rachel Stolle
Author
When I was attacked and nearly kidnapped, the perpetrator managed to get away with my car and all my belongings I was toting to school at Baylor that day. I had packed my shoulder-bag with the college basics; ID, cell phone, some cash, notebook and MY BIBLE! Although I was hopeful that someday my attacker could get some use out of my Bible, I was still sad to have mine taken.
Aunt Lou lovingly reached to her side table in her cozy little living room, and pulled out her very own well-used and beloved Bible. She gifted that book to me that day. I cherish it to this day. When I feel sad, downtrodden, or miss her especially badly I reach for that precious maroon bound Bible engraved in Gold with her name, Louise Ritchie. It always brings a smile to my face. Such a special gift that I will always hold dearly.
~Rachel Stolle
Author
I remember how she worried about Bubba Jetton, when he was sick or she didn't see him in the yard for a few days she would walk over to check on him,and bring him what he needed....and of course, i kept an eye on both of them...two sweet souls living alone.
-Gloria Cantrell French
-Gloria Cantrell French
I remember the last time I saw Mrs. Ritchie. She was lying in bed at her assisted living facility in Shreveport, La. I was visting my parents with my two girls, and we all decided to go visit her.
Aunt Lou was in late stage alzheimers, and did well to remember any names or even carry a long conversation. As we came into the room, she smiled from ear to ear and said she knew we were someone very special to her. My mom and I sat on the bed with her and she talked with us a while then shocked us by saying, "All we need now is little Megan". Megan is my younger sister.
She knew who we were!!!!
She had a few very lucid moments, and told us how precious we were and how much she loved us. She got to meet both of my girls and then God moved me.
I felt that all familiar tug, and God told me to pray with her.
I took her hand and asked her if I could pray with her. She answered, "of course". I let God lead my words as I prayed over Aunt Lou. As I finished I felt a great deal of peace and Louise said to me, "That was worth more than a million dollars to me".
As I left that day, I had a sinking feeling that it would be the last time I would see the woman I know as Aunt Lou here in this world--and it was. But God had given me peace, and we will be reunited in heaven.
-Rachel Stolle
Aunt Lou was in late stage alzheimers, and did well to remember any names or even carry a long conversation. As we came into the room, she smiled from ear to ear and said she knew we were someone very special to her. My mom and I sat on the bed with her and she talked with us a while then shocked us by saying, "All we need now is little Megan". Megan is my younger sister.
She knew who we were!!!!
She had a few very lucid moments, and told us how precious we were and how much she loved us. She got to meet both of my girls and then God moved me.
I felt that all familiar tug, and God told me to pray with her.
I took her hand and asked her if I could pray with her. She answered, "of course". I let God lead my words as I prayed over Aunt Lou. As I finished I felt a great deal of peace and Louise said to me, "That was worth more than a million dollars to me".
As I left that day, I had a sinking feeling that it would be the last time I would see the woman I know as Aunt Lou here in this world--and it was. But God had given me peace, and we will be reunited in heaven.
-Rachel Stolle
