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Alice Mae, the
surviving half of a
set of twins, our
babies of the
family. Lovely,
talented,
compassionate and so
eager to please that
she disregarded her
wishes to fulfill
those of everyone
else.
But life took an
abrupt turn for her
near the beginning
of her sophomore
year at Lee College; her world came
apart and was
fragmented. She was
stricken with a
disease that totally
changed her life ;
Bipolar does that to
people. It uproots
their lives and
disrupts the lives
of their family.
Only God can know
what she has gone
through while
battling Bipolar,
but she is a
survivor. Alice
produced some
beautiful paintings
where she was
enrolled at Cass
Tech High School in
Detroit while
keeping up her
academic schedule as
well. She was
proficient
in different media:
pen, pencil,
charcoal, oil,
acrylic, etc. She
played the piano and
sang, was wonderful
with children and
taught Sunday school
classes.
But after the onset
of her illness, she
was unable to
continue many of the
activities that she
loved. The amazing
thing about her is
that in spite of her
many difficulties
she has never lost
her compassion and
sensitivity toward
others. She has
great love and
respect for her
family. She never
has anything bad to
say about them even
though some have not
taken time to visit
her or keep in
touch. She just
displays
unconditional love
toward them.
Love isn’t enough to
cure Bipolar, but it
helps get you
through it. The
amazing thing about
Alice--through all
the trauma, multiple
treatments,
institutions,
nursing homes,
hospitals and
various places that
she lived during
those years of
battling the
disease, she never
lost the sweet,
loving personality
she had; Compassion
was her middle name.
I would like to
share an example of
her acts of
compassion which
happened during this
past Christmas
season. One of the
ladies at the home
where she lives spent the day on
Christmas Eve going
from person to
person with great
excitement saying.
“Santa Claus is
coming. Did you know
Santa Claus is
coming?”
Alice, not wanting
her to be
disappointed, took
her new pink blouse, wrapped it
and put the lady’s
name on it. She took
a sock and put fruit
and candy in it, put
one of her own
little teddy bears,
perfume and lotion
in a tote she had
received as a gift
and placed it all under the
home Christmas tree.
Then she asked the
lady if she had
looked under the
Christmas tree to
see if Santa had
left her anything.
No, she hadn’t, but
she went to the tree
to see if there was
anything for her.
Finding the presents
from 'Santa’ was
very exciting to
her, and she wore
the blouse all day
and showed off what
Santa had brought
her.
The next day, Alice
noticed the rescue
squad at the home,
but sometimes they
had to make runs
there for people who
were ill and needed
transportation, so
she didn’t consider
it unusual. Later
she realized that
she had not seen the
'Santa-lady' that
day. When she
inquired about her,
she learned that the
lady had died.
It was a sad
Christmas for Alice;
she had lost one of
her friends but was
glad she was able to
make her friend's
last day on earth a
happy one.
Alice
had performed such a
simple
act of kindness but
one that would make
the lady’s last day
special. This
is a perfect
portrait of Alice,
the compassionate
one!
A friend of our
sister, Lorinda,
suggested that
something be written
about the 'real
Alice,' the one that
has been overlooked
sometimes due to the
nature of her
illness, and call it
'Alice’s Alabaster
Box.' So, Alice,
here is your
Alabaster Box.
You have broken it
many times to spread
its lovely aroma to
those around you. We
know that it will
continue to be
broken with an
endless flow of the
Love of God that you
so freely spread to those who
are blessed enough
to know you!
These excerpts are
taken from pages
published on one of
my websites,
Heart 2 Heart,
early in 2004; Alice
left us July 16,
2004.
I can’t help but
wonder if she and
the ‘Santa Lady’
have had a reunion!
Wonder if this
Christmas Santa Lady
is joining Alice,
Mother, Daddy and
her twin brother,
Kelsey?
Alice will be missed
again this
Christmas, but the
aroma of her broken
Alabaster Box
lingers still.
At her December 6,
2008, update,
Kathleen published a
'short story' about
Alice's experience
at Christmas 2004.
You can see it here:
Herald A New Day.
Other
Pages
for
Alice
Alice
(at
Heart
2
Heart)
Alice's
Legacy
(at
Heart
2
Heart)
Remembering
Alice
(at
Heart
2
Heart)
Alice
and
Kelsey
(twin
brother
at
Family
Site)
Kathleen
at
"Herald
A
New
Day"
did
this
page
for
Alice
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