Bee-ing loved

Bernice McClester — my Great Aunt Bee — was a heck of a woman. I don’t know what having her as a grandma must have been like, but I know being her great niece was a privilege.

Aunt Bee was one of four daughters. My Grandma Sara and great aunts Bee, Martha and Elnora made childhood a magical place that my siblings, cousins and I will never forget. The “four sisters” are legends. They provide fodder for stories already being passed on to the next generation. And though I can’t describe it all, here are a few highlights.

Aunt Bee hosted pond parties and cookouts, skating parties and pony rides. She wore Band-aids instead of bras when it was hot outside. She traveled around the world on mission trips. She was a home economist and the most loyal Buckeyes fan Ohio State has ever had.

Aunt Bee and Grandma Sara taught my brother, sisters and I to ski — they were in their 70s and early 80s! Aunt Bee made several rafting treks down the Grand Canyon. She usually drove a station wagon and had room for everyone. She had the biggest Christmas tree every year. She made banana punch on special occasions and sometimes for every day. She documented our entire family’s history from its beginning, or almost. She hosted foreign exchange students and invited us to go along on trips to Cedar Point and Washington, D.C.

She donated her body to science. She attended church every Sunday. She had a grandfather clock that kept track of time and a big, luxurious bathroom with carpet the color of green grass. She walked and jogged every day. She kept binoculars in the kitchen. She had a map in her living room with pins marking every place she’d traveled. She and great uncle Bob were the first in Ohio to donate land for an agricultural easement to the Ohio Department of Agriculture. She was a daughter, sister, farm wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and friend to all.

 I was lucky enough to have Aunt Bee in my life. Today, I am lucky enough to share her view.

I posted the above photo last week. This is Aunt Bee’s barn, taken from my yard.

On June 28, she found her place in Glory.

Sing the wondrous love of Jesus,
Sing His mercy and His grace.
In the mansions bright and blessed
He’ll prepare for us a place.

When we all get to Heaven,
What a day of rejoicing that will be!
When we all see Jesus,
We’ll sing and shout the victory!

While we walk the pilgrim pathway,
Clouds will overspread the sky;
But when traveling days are over,
Not a shadow, not a sigh.

When we all get to Heaven,
What a day of rejoicing that will be!
When we all see Jesus,
We’ll sing and shout the victory!

Let us then be true and faithful,
Trusting, serving every day;
Just one glimpse of Him in glory
Will the toils of life repay.

When we all get to Heaven,
What a day of rejoicing that will be!
When we all see Jesus,
We’ll sing and shout the victory!

Onward to the prize before us!
Soon His beauty we’ll behold;
Soon the pearly gates will open;
We shall tread the streets of gold.

When we all get to Heaven,
What a day of rejoicing that will be!
When we all see Jesus,
We’ll sing and shout the victory!