Grateful For A Strong Texas Lady

Don't let Dorothy Anderson's grizzled age and lingering gait fool you.  The 91-year-old is stronger than she appears  This spunky lady has survived a near fatal car crash, cancer, a heart attack, two knee surgeries and three floods.  The mother of five has even endured an irksome son-in-law.  Me.

Dorothy announced her arrival in the world on April 29, 1927, in Belmont, Texas, a tiny community about 20 miles east of Seguin.  Like many in that era, her schooling was in a cramped one-room wooden building.  She married John W. Anderson on November 26, 1944.  She was 17 years old.

The couple settled in Seguin and moved in with John's mother for a brief spell.  Both would end up working at Southwestern Bell and Hexcel manufacturing.  Children followed in rapid succession. Even with a job, she cooked meals, washed clothes and cared for her kids with passionate energy.

She protected her children with the heart of a lioness. Once her daughter Dianna injured her finger in PE volleyball.  The school nurse ignored Dianna's complaints of piercing pain.  When Dianna arrived home, Dorothy whisked her to the doctor.  The diagnosis: Dianna's finger was broken.

The next day the school principal and nurse got an earful from Dorothy.  Every child yearns for a stand-up Mom.  One who will back her kids no matter the consequences. That describes my mother-in-law.

Eventually, Dorothy and John settled on the family farm outside Seguin. They built a home on land dotted with pecan trees.  Growing, harvesting, shelling and selling pecans became their passion after the children were grown.  Most folks thought it was man's work, but Dorothy ignored convention.

She worked along side her husband in the pecan groves. She hefted irrigation pipe to water the trees, shelled pecans by hand, drove a tractor and sold pecans to locals and folks just passing through.  She built an successful retailing operation, selling from a store on a local highway.

Three devastating floods interrupted their tranquil lives.  In 1972, 1978 and 1998 torrential rains triggered rising waters that spilled over the banks of Mill Creek near their country home.  The last flood swamped their two-story house, sweeping away treasured photos and mementos.

Their house in ruins, they built a raised home on higher ground nearby. During that time, they bunked in a small room in the pecan store.  Dorothy managed to make it a home in the midst of a retail building crammed with sales displays and shelling equipment.  She was resilient and unbending.

After they moved into their new home on the farm, another tragedy struck far greater than any she had faced.  Her husband John was diagnosed with crippling Alzheimer disease.  Despite being in her late 70's, Dorothy became a full time caregiver for John.  It sapped every ounce of her strength.

She endured until her husband's disease worsened, reluctantly agreeing to place him in a nursing home. Every day without fail, she drove to the facility each morning and evening to sit patiently and hold John's hand.  She shed many tears as her world shrunk to the size of a nursing home room.

When John passed away in 2012 at age 85, the family naturally worried about how she would hold up. She had been married 68 years and no one could imagine her life without John.  Somehow, this strong Texas lady carried on after her loss.  She found a church home and renewed faith.

Always an independent woman, Dorothy drove herself to shopping, her weekly hair appointment and the local book store even into her 90's. She became a voracious reader, tended her flower garden and fussed over her pecan trees.  Her life finally had a serenity she had not experienced in years.

Then one day recently she fell and suffered cracked ribs and bruised vertebrae.  After so many setbacks, this one seemed particularly cruel.  But she went through rehabilitation determined to resume her life on the farm. However, doctors decreed she needed round-the-clock care.

That meant living in a nursing home, raising the ugly memories of John's days in a similar facility located nearby.  Yet she refused to mope and hold a pity party.  Dorothy rose again to the challenge and has adapted to her new season in life. She finds joy where some see only the infirm and weak. 

I have many fond memories of her.  Each summer my two sons Dean and Derek would spend a week or more with John and her.  They learned about raising cattle, chickens and pecans.  They fed bales of hay to the cows and feasted on their favorite meals lovingly prepared by their grandmother.

For me, this final thought sums up Dorothy Anderson.  I was fishing once in the creek when I hooked a catfish.  (I refer to my fishing skills as gentlemanly.  Translation: I don't bait my hook, take the fish off the line or eat aquatic animals.)  I was desperate for help.  Then I spotted Dorothy.

She came to my rescue, fetching the hook out of the catfish's mouth while holding the monster in one hand.  I watched squeamishly. When she was done, I shook my head in amazement.  There is nothing this woman can not do.  I am thankful for that moment and many others shared with her.

Dorothy will blush reading this.  She's not the boastful type. She doesn't view herself as a victim or courageous, despite the hardships she has overcome.  She is a survivor who relishes seeing her grown children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.  Even today, she considers herself blessed.

Her life lesson is simple: be grateful for the goodness in life but do not retreat from the bad times, no matter the duration or the pain.  That is wisdom we could all live by.  Thank you Dorothy not only for being the best mother-in-law, but teaching us grit and tenacity by your life's example.