Grandma Arline

Ten years have passed and...

Obituary:

Arline D. Leyde, 78, of La Crosse, died Sunday, June 10, 2001, at St. Marys Hospital in Rochester, Minn. She was born July 21, 1922, in Milwaukee. She was the daughter of the late Casper and Theresa Habisch. She married Warren Leyde 59 years ago in San Francisco. They spent many happy years together in their home along the river in Lansing, Iowa.

Arline was a wonderful woman, with a generous heart and loving spirit who never ceased giving. Her love of little children, be it her own or others, was unsurpassed. She was especially proud of her daughters and their families. She instilled in all valuable life lessons that will never be forgotten.

Dear Family,

The day will come when my body will lie upon a white sheet neatly tucked under four corners of a mattress located in a hospital busily occupied with the living and the dying. At a certain moment a doctor will determine that my brain has ceased to function and that, for all intents and purposes, my life has stopped.

When that happens, do not attempt to instill artificial life into my body. And don't call this my deathbed. Let it be a Bed of Life. Let my body be taken from it to help others lead fuller lives. Give my sight to the man who has never seen a sunrise, a baby's face or love in the eyes of a woman. Give my heart to a person whose own heart has caused nothing but endless days of pain. Give my blood to the teenager who was pulled from the wreckage of his car, so that he might live to see his grandchildren play. Give my kidney to one who depends on a machine to exist from week to week. Take my bones, every muscle, every fiber and nerve in my body and find a way to make a crippled child walk. Explore every corner of my brain. Take my cells, if necessary, and let them grow so that, someday, a speechless boy will shout at the crack of a bat and a deaf girl will hear the sound of rain against her window. Burn what is left of me and scatter the ashes to the winds to help the flowers grow.

If you must bury something, let it be my faults, my weaknesses and all prejudices against my fellow man. Give my sins to the devil. Give my soul to God. If you wish to remember me, do it with a kind deed or word to someone who needs you. If you do all I have asked, I will live forever.

Until we meet again, love, Mom

Though Arline will be sadly missed, memories of her will remain in hearts forever.

Isn't she the epitome of selfless and amazing?!
I miss you so much, Grandma 'Line!
One of the most remarkable, beautiful, hard-working, spirited women
I've ever had the pleasure of knowing. 
If I aspire to be even half the grandmother she was,
I know I will do my future kiddies well!