KEEP YOUR FORK
I am so happy to say that after I posted
this
beautiful
writing on my site
I was contacted by a member
of this
wonderful woman's family.
The lady's name was
DORETTA
JAKOBY.
I was told that this woman was
in every true sense of
the
word,
a wonderful Mother, wife, and most
certainly,
a
truely elegant lady.
They also told me there more to the story
and now I
would like to
pass them to to you.
This is from Mrs. Jakoby's granddaughter,
Ruth
Trimpe.
Mike and Doretta Jakoby were married in Saint
Bonafice Church
in Peoria, Illinois. in 1927.
They had
4 children,
and raised them all in the church,
now
called Saint Anne's.
In 1987, they celebrated their
60th wedding
anniversary
at the same church, and later, a very
elegant dinner at the Elks Club,
(where, by the
way, family
was told to keep their fork..:)
Grandpa died shortly
after
their 62nd anniversary and Grandma's
health
went
downhill, as she did not know how to cope
without
him,
but did alone in their home
for the next couple
years.
She then moved in with her daughter
Nancy
Grueber, and her husband Stan
in Astoria,
Illinois.
She
was unable to attend mass any longer,
and the
priest
would come
to Stan and Nancy's house to see
Grandma Jakoby
So he was not surprised to get a
call
from her asking him to stop by.
"Doretta phoned and asked me to come by,
when I did
she told me
her latest doctors appointment had
brought her the news
that she had only a few months
to
live,
and for that she was prepared,
(and being
the
person she was,
the funeral arrangements were of
course,
already taken care of so as not to burden
the
family)
she then proceeded to tell him what she
wanted
when she finally got to go
and be with
Mike again at her funeral.
Thank you Ruth and all the rest of the Jakoby family
for allowing me to share this wonderful story.
~KEEP YOUR FORK~
IN MEMORY OF
DORETTA JAKOBY
There was a woman who had been diagnosed
with a
terminal illness
and had been given three months to live.
So as she was getting her things "in order,"
she contacted her pastor
and had him come to her home
to discuss certain
aspects of her final wishes.
She told him which
songs
she wanted sung,
what scriptures she
would like read,
and what outfit she wanted to be
buried in.
The woman also requested to be buried
with her favorite Bible.
Everything was in order and the pastor was preparing
to leave
when the woman suddenly remembered
something
very important to her.
"There's one more
thing,"
she said excitedly.
"What's that?" came the pastor's reply.
"This is very important," the woman
continued...
"I
want to be buried with a fork in my right hand."
The pastor stood looking at the woman,
not knowing
quite what to say...
"That surprises you, doesn't it?" the woman asked.
"Well, to be honest,
I'm puzzled by the request," said the pastor.
The woman explained. "In all my years
of attending church socials and potluck dinners,
I always remember that when the dishes
of the main course were being cleared,
someone would inevitably lean over and say,
"Keep your
fork."
It was my favorite part because I knew
that something better was coming.....
and not jell-o or pudding,
but a fabulous German Chocolate cake,
or a fabulous strawberry shortcake,
but always delicious and wonderful,
and with substance!
So, I just want people to see me there
in that casket with a fork in my hand
and I want them to wonder
'What's with the
fork?'
Then I want you to tell them:
"Keep Your Fork - The best is yet to come"
The pastor's eyes welled up with tears of joy
as he hugged the woman good-bye.
He knew this would be one of the last times
he would see her before her death.
At the funeral
people were walking by the woman's casket
and they saw
the beautiful bridal gown
she was wearing
and her favorite Bible in her right hand
and the fork placed in her left.
Over and over the pastor heard the question
"What's with the fork?"
And over and over he
smiled.
During his message,
the pastor told the people of the conversation
he had with the woman shortly before she died,
about the fork and what it
symbolized to her.
The pastor told the people how
he could
not stop thinking about the fork
and told them that they probably would
not be able to stop thinking about it either.
He was right.
So the next time you reach down
for your fork,
let it remind you, oh so gently,
that the best is yet to come...
May God Bless you and keep you.
THE JAKOBY FAMILY-authors
