Mom would freak out about this, but some of my children and grandchildren have taken the liberty of wandering around our house and placing their names on stickers in inconspicuous places on pictures and pieces of furniture—claiming them when I die.

They’d better hope I don’t do like my Grandma in Kansas did. An unscrupulous antique dealer came by one day (I imagine she just drove through little towns all across America doing this) and for a few dollars, conned Grandma out of anything antique or “collectible” (I really hate that word!). I can just see Grandma saying in amazement, “Oh, Mon Dieu, you will pay me money for this old stuff?”

This picture on the wall above our 1956 family lineup is the one thing I coveted from my Grandma Kunnari's house. I thought about it for years, wondering where it was; and though I've looked for copies of it in antique stores, I’ve never found one.

One day I was visiting Auntie Mert (Mercedies); and there it was, hanging on her wall. It was much smaller than I remembered, and for some reason that disappointed me. We had a nice chat about it, and I left that day so glad it was hanging where it was.

With Auntie Mert I could get down to brass tacks. We both told it like it was. We talked reality about the past, and much of that I will never write about. Hers was not the seemingly carefree youth that most of her siblings enjoyed. But she had peace.

The last time we talked, that’s what we talked about. I told her she was beautiful and that peace was written all over her. She blushed a little and bowed her head over the "beautiful" part; but then she paused a moment, nodded and sincerely affirmed, “Oh, yes, I have peace.”

More than she probably knew, she was an example to me.

Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7