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Our sister
JoAnn died September18, 1996, after writing these words of love for her family.
She was right, our little Mother continued on living until September 11, 2000.
To this day, and always, they will both hold a very special place in our
hearts. They both endured great amounts of pain and disappointment in their
lives. My prayer is that God is taking care of them now. God bless you Mother
and Jody-Blonde. Julia Partain Davis
My Sisters as I Knew Them
Seen Through My Eyes
Audrey- Ovella
A
Princess, like I had never seen before, she was to me! She stood straight,
strong, and proud never bending to the wind. Eyes so big and brown, long brown
hair that shined like glass, lips so perfect that when she smiled her beautiful
smile just filled your heart with joy and gleam. My Princess she was to me, my
big sister.
Ellen
Maria
A genuine
none-fake, China Doll, very delicate, perfect little doll, skin so clear and
pale it seemed to hurt your eyes to look at. She was a very quite reserved
little person. Ellen never seemed like a little girl, but more like a little
grown-up. She never liked dirt or dirty anything. She was timid as a lamb,
always watching quietly and learning all the way, reading and keeping herself
very close to her.
Evelyn
A Great
little warrior, standing strong looking you straight in the eyes she is. Never,
not once looking away, she's very quiet as long as you don't cross her. If you
ever did, it most likely was something you'd never forget. She'd knock your
ears down; do it too. Evelyn mostly was so quiet; you'd often wander what was
going through her mind. She had a strong inner-self you could tell there was a
world of thoughts going through her mind. She usually kept so quiet and to
herself.
Julia
The most
darling angel, she had a way of talking even before she could talk, just by the
way she'd look up toward you with her darling extra large brown eyes, you could
never say “no” to her without it breaking your own heart. She never asked for
much, but when she did you knew to listen because it was important to her. She
was so quiet. If you couldn't see her
you would never ever know she was there. She would give you anything she had
and never once complain. If she had candy, everyone had candy. I used to think
she would never talk; she was so quit and polite and pretty shy. She always
struck me as being a proud little girl with the biggest warm heart. She seemed
to make you feel peaceful just by being good and playing quietly, never being
loud or trying to call attention too herself or anyone else.
My Brothers As I Knew Them
Seen Through My Eyes
John
A mountain
of a man to me he was. A brother I simply adored, when I was so young and one I
still adore now that I'm so old. When there was trouble, hard times and you were
scared, one day soon you would look up and there would be John standing there
to let you know it would be okay now. Whatever, John would be there for you. He
always made me feel safe.
Bob
I use to think
Bob wasn't really my brother, but a very important movie star. It seemed like
every time he came home he got more handsome and for some reason I chose to
believe he was a very wealthy brother who only came home once a year, around
Christmas time. All I knew he was so handsome and smart and I always felt that
Bob would someday be a very important man, doctor, pilot maybe even President
of the United States of America. Even to this day I feel like he has what it
takes to do or be that very thing.
Pat
A better
friend and buddy I'll never have again in anyone else. I guess he was my hero,
and still is. I always loved his personality, so out going and meaningful. So
funny, witty and proud, you talk about proud, I was proud to say “I'm Pat
Partain's little sister.” I never loved anything more, than to go to the
.20-cent movies with him and watch him kiss on Helen Stevens so I could run
home and tell on him. Then I'd always feel so bad for doing things like that,
when I'd get him in trouble. I could always go back to Pat and talk to him
about what was bothering me, he was definitely the shoulder I depended on.
Tommy
Now you
see him now you don't. When he was two years olds he was that way. That’s how I
remember Dad, “now you see him, now you don't.” That doesn't make them bad,
that’s just who they are and were, their own personality. Don't stay too long,
we might get bored, so why take the chance. Hey, what can I say we're born to
be free! My baby brother Tommy has the want-to-move-mountains and dreams that
never end. One just always continued right into a bigger and better one. He'd
literally give you the shirt off his back or the pair of shoes on his feet, if
you needed them or asked him for it. But he knows as well as I do if he needed
any of these things, if you weren't looking he'd take them without a blink of
an eye. Tommy is a lot like me, what you see is what you get, nothing more
nothing less. He has a take it or leave it attitude always. I’m not saying it's
good or bad, just how it is! Tommy is a man on the move, never letting grass
grow beneath his feet. Only chains will hold him, and even that’s a maybe. He
can talk his way into your heart over and over again and again. I'm a lot like
that myself. Love me. Care about me, but don't fence me in or tie me down.
Myself-
last but not least
I'm a
strange person. I think mostly to myself. I'm a lot like Elvis Presley and my
brother John; I have to do things my way, even if sometimes I'm wrong. There is
always a right way and a wrong way and then there's always my way. You figure
that one out I can't! But I will--my way!!
My Dad
Most
memories I have of him are a lot of all my family combined. We lost him but he
lives on in so many ways through all his children. We all have some of our dad,
Robert Dow Partain, in us. He, the best I can recall, lived fast and loved
quietly to himself, but did love just the same. He sang his dreams out and
loved through the songs he sang. I don't think Dad would have ever been happy
tied down to anyone thing. When he was anywhere, it seemed as though he felt he
needed to be somewhere else. Who knows, maybe he did. One thing I feel strongly
about him is that he was his on person and he held on to that all his life. No
one ever told him to jump and have him say “how far!”
Our Mother
Esther
Ellen Partain (Wear) There is probably not a book with enough pages to write of
this woman. I can say with all my heart that she is a LADY and a scholar. There will never be another woman who will
ever fill this Lady’s shoes. NO, He broke the mold. I've never met a person who
could take so little of anything, whether it was food, money, or a piece of
material, and make it go so far. I’ve never met another woman who has ever
gotten up before the school bus ran and made her daughter a nice dress to wear
that very day and had it on my back before the bus ran, nobody except my
mother.
One of my
dreams was to be just 1/2 the woman my mother is, and let me say, at the age of
47, I've got a long way to go. Yes indeed she is loved be me. A greater love I
will never know-except for my daughter Michelle, whom I love dearly. As for my
mother Esther Ellen Partain, there is no ending to me writing of her. Stories
of her will remain and go on forever in this world and the world to come. You
will merely only need to turn the other page. I have only turned the light on
in writing of my mother. As long as I live and am able I will write of her and
find strength to continue my journey through life, I will draw enduring
strength from this lady and her love for me.
She has
always given willing to me, my eight brothers and sisters, and numbers of grand
and great-grandchildren. She has given her household of furniture to those in
need. She has given money and time to her children and neighbors when she could
have used it for herself. She has listened for hours to our problems and pain.
She even told her own children she wasn't hungry so they would go ahead and eat
plenty.
No way can
the story ever be finished of this Lady. Most people could only dream to be half
the person this Lady has been and like the rabbit with the battery, Esther
Ellen Partain is still “going, going, going.”
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