Victor and Benola Edge were special people, loved by many.  He was a long time Baptist pastor in this and other areas.  Their faithfulness to their work was an inspiration.  Pat and I admired them, and were pleased to call them our friends.

    I always looked forward to seeing them at our Baptist meetings because they brought a ray of sunshine wherever they came.  They were not in the best of health, especially Victor, but they didn’t complain.  They just scattered good cheer.

    When Victor died in April, 1996, I felt a real void in my life.  Although I seldom saw him, I missed him greatly.  I knew he was much better off in the presence of Jesus than he had been in the months before he died.  But I missed him just the same.

    Several weeks after his funeral, Pat and I went to visit Benola.  She was the same upbeat lady she had always been, full of sunshine and cheer.  We listened as she reminisced, and learned things about their early years that we had not known.

    When we were ready to go, she showed us some Zinnia plants by the back door, insisting that we take some for our yard.  We are not too good with plants, but we took some to please her.  Pat set them out, but had little hope for their survival.

    They not only survived, but thrived.  All summer long when I looked out the window I was blessed with the sight of Benola’s flowers.  I was sorry when the cold weather came and the plants died. 

    Then Benola died.  And a ray of sunshine seemed to leave the world.  I was saddened by the loss of such a happy lady.  Until the following summer when the Zinnias reseeded themselves.  There they stood, tall and bright and cheerful, reminding me of Benola.

    This summer has been very hot and dry so far, and I have  not seen Benola’s flowers.  Perhaps they won’t come up.  But it doesn’t really matter, because Benola’s flowers are in my heart, a lovely gift from a lovely lady I look forward to seeing again.

    A simple gift, shared in love, lives on and on.