“And now these three remain; faith, hope, and love.  And the greatest of these is love.”  1 Corinthians 13

“Oh you’ll find out someday.”  Aunt Lucille

A week ago Aunt Lucille turned 104 years old. That’s right, ONE HUNDRED AND FOUR!

For all but three of those years Aunt Lucille has lived in Exeland, Wisconsin, or quite near there. Located in the north woods of Wisconsin, Exeland is primarily comprised of a post office, a bar, a convenience store, a couple of churches, and a cafe.  Aunt Lucille owned and operated, served as chief cook and yes, even bottle-washer, for seventeen years. When her husband got sick she turned it over to her daughters Laura and Peg. But of course Aunt Lucille continued to bake the pies and help out in other ways.  

The Exeland Café was her pride and joy.  It was like a child to her, and her customers like members of her extended family.  The café specialized in hearty home-cooked meals, the kind that your mother used to make!  REALLY! And that’s because Aunt Lucille was also a mom, and two of her daughters worked with her in the café.  The menu was simple, and the meals were served with a lot of love and genuine love and care for her customers.  Generous servings of roast beef, meat loaf, or roast chicken were accompanied by a vegetable and mountain of mashed potatoes.  For dessert there were amazing pieces of almost any type of pie your heart could desire, the favorite being peanut butter.  Of course, Aunt Lucille made all of this—including the pies—by hand. She’d wake up at 3 a.m. every day to start preparing.  Except Sundays.  Sundays were the Lord’s Day and Aunt Lucille observed it religiously.

She was raised in a devoutly faithful family and became a Methodist at an early age.  As she tells the story there was a time when her Sunday school teacher insisted that she stop playing music with her dad on Saturday nights at dances.  She ignored her Sunday school teacher and kept playing with her dad.  God was and is at the center of Aunt Lucille’s life.  She attributes part of her longevity to that fervent faith, and not smoking or drinking of course. 

Think of the changes Aunt Lucille has seen in her 104 years.  She was born in 1919, the year “The War to End all Wars” was ending.  She was a small girl during the roaring 20’s, though they roared in a different way for her, as her dad, Joseph Jeremy, ran a sawmill at Nail Creek (yes, that’s the actual name of it) about five miles outside of Exeland, where the family lived. She lived through the Great Depression.  They were as “poor as church mice”.  She experienced life during World War II, during which she and her husband Alan moved to Elkhorn, Wisconsin where they farmed.  Aunt Lucille saw the rise and fall of Communism, the Vietnam War, and The Cold War.  She has seen the advent of air traveler and watched as planes went from propellers to jet-engines, and witnessed the Apollo space missions and Man walking on the Moon.  Aunt Lucille has experienced the full spectrum of technology including the birth of radio, television, telephones, cell phones and computers.  She has lived through 19 U.S. Presidents.  She has seen first-hand the effects of The Spanish Flu, Polio, Measles, and many other diseases.  Maybe that’s why Covid didn’t phase her, not one little bit!  She mourned as she grieved the loss of her parents, her six siblings, nephews, nieces, and other relatives too numerous to recount.  And through all of this she has remained a rock of resiliency and a premier example of what it means to live filled with faith, hope, and love.

Her faith is not the kind one sees on display on television unless it’s the Hallmark channel.  Hers is a simple and humble faith.  She wakes up early every day for bible reading, devotion, and prayer.  She goes to church on Sunday.  It was a highlight of mine last year to go to her small Methodist church with her.  I don’t remember what the sermon was about or what hymns we sang, but I do remember how warm it felt sitting by her.  There’s a lesson in there somewhere about what it means to be in the presence of God.

Her hope is grounded not in promises of politicians (though I think she’s a Republican), or economic stability, retirement funds, savings accounts, or any such temporary and transient thing.  This world, she would tell you, is passing away.  So her hope is based on nothing less, than Jesus’ blood and righteousness (those are lyrics from a hymn that I’m pretty sure Aunt Lucille knows).  That hope is what has allowed her to have such an optimistic outlook on life.  She is certain that nothing in all creation—not even Covid—can separate her from the love of God in Christ Jesus.

Ahh, the love of God in Christ.  That’s at the center of it all for Aunt Lucille.  She knows that love, though I doubt if she talks about it much—at least not in the sense of trying to proselytize people.  She lives it.  She loves her family.  She loved her customers.  She told me she couldn’t believe how many birthday cards she got from them.  She loves others, whomever they might be.  Hers is a warm and welcoming love.  To be with Aunt Lucille is to be touched by God.  No, not just touched, but embraced. 

I’m looking forward to that embrace.  Hopefully in May when I’m planning on seeing her.  And of course eternally when I’ll see her again.  What will that be like? I can only imagine. But by the Grace of God I’ll find out for sure someday.