In Memoriam - Frieda Eversole

Frieda Eversole - November 6, 1910 - April 25, 2009

My mother, Frieda Eversole, born November 6, 1910, passed away on Saturday, April 25, 2009 at the age of 98-and-a-half. One of six children, mother was also a fourth cousin to Abraham Lincoln, of which she was justly proud. She spent the first fourteen years of her life on a farm in southern Alabama, and then moved to Birmingham, AL, eventually attended and graduated from college during the Great Depression. She married my father, Finley Pratt Eversole, a year later. I was born a year-and-a-half into their marriage and am their only child.

Throughout her life, mother was an astonishingly hard worker, compassionate and generous to all around her, always thinking of others first. After World War II she spent at least a year gathering clothing and bedding and shipping it to victims in war torn countries in Europe. She loved to entertain and was an exceptional cook. She had an infectious smile to the very end. Only after my father’s passing in May 1999 did I discover her quick wit and amazing sense of humor. Just one example: a couple months before her death, as I often did, I said to her, “I love you.” A few seconds later I asked, “Do you love me?” Her reply: “Yes. Aren’t you lucky!” Sometimes she would simply smile and say, “I love me too.”

My parents and I were close despite spending many years of our adult lives spent far apart.

Taking care of my mother the final eleven years of her life has been the greatest privilege of my life. The love she shared taught me more about love than I could have imagined possible. Letting her go is difficult on some levels, but we are spiritual beings in physical bodies, and her body had been too confining for her bright soul for some time. Now she is free. I believe the bonds of love are never broken and that the life and love we shared for this all-too-brief time will continue on. As I had hoped, I got to be alone with her in her final hours, holding her and talking to her, telling her what a good mother she had been and that our love would continue on. Part of loving is letting those we love move on when the soul decides its earthly work for this lifetime is done. I was blessed with wonderful parents.

~ Finley Eversole
Bogus Conservatorship

Women: The Movement and Elder Abuse

May 2009 ~ Guardianship abuse victims recognized during Elder Abuse Prevention Month