A Grand Lady is gone.

My mother passed away today.  She has been ill since February and also in April fell and broke a leg.  She was 95 years old going on 16.

Anna French Edwards Triplett Hollin enjoyed life.  Last Fall she was still tailgating at the University of Kentucky football games.  Mother loved to eat out.  She always had fun at  parties, and for years was the designated driver.

She always wanted people around her.  She said it was because she was a twin and was used to having someone with from the time of the womb.  Neighbors would come watch her wash the floor and talk to her.  In her later years a neighbor would come and work crossword puzzles in the morning.

Mother was widowed when she was around 35 years old.   I was 10, my sister was 13, and my brother was 7.  Not a good time.  When I was in high school she met Jack Hollin.  And they eloped when I was a freshman in college. In February they celebrated 50 years of marriage.  Oh, the kicker, Papa Jack is nearly 20 years younger than her.  Let me tell you the little mountain town we lived in was horrified.  The doctor’s widow has married a much younger man.  We didn’t care, we loved Jack, and so did my Daddy’s family.   Anna was the original Cougar.  A gorgeous redhead who could have who ever she wanted.  And she wanted Jack.

Anna is known for good works.  She helped friends of mine get into college.  Which I didn’t know until the last year or so.  She helped a pregnant classmate in 1960 who the town shunned.  Anna took classmates of mine to away ballgames.  She paid for their food, knowing some of them had no money to spare.   In her 70’s she was a Councilwoman for the little town she and Jack lived in. 

There are lots of stories to tell.  Anna wasn’t perfect.  She drove her children crazy at times.  As we did her.  Just teaching my sister to drive literally gave her ulcers.  Then my turn to learn, flared up the ulcers.  I think Jack taught Henry to drive.

Mother and Papa Jack at their 50th anniversary celebration.

Mother’s 94th birthday.

1983 Mother and Papa Jack

1985 Mother and Papa Jack

Mother, friends and family tailgating at a  U of K football game sometime in the last 5 years.

Mother and Papa Jack and his sisters sometimes in the early 1970’s.

I have so many pictures of Mother and Papa Jack.  Weddings, family reunions, with their grandchildren and great grandchildren.  What I put up is a broad picture of my Mother’s life.  She was loved, she was fun, she was strong willed, and she will be missed.

Mother, you had a hell of a life.  Sad times, good times, great times.  Rest in peace.