Clara Mae Lyda

Clara M. Lyda, 84
Published: Thursday, September 18, 2008 at 4:30 a.m. Last Modified: Wednesday, September 17, 2008 at 7:30 p.m.
Clara Mae Ruff Lyda, 84, of Hendersonville, went home to be with the Lord on Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2008, at Beystone Health and Rehabilitation Center following a period of declining health.
She was born on Christmas Day, 1923, in Polk County, a daughter of the late Sidney and Della Warren Ruff, and had been a resident of the Hendersonville area for most of her life. She was a faithful servant and lifelong member of Barnwell Baptist Church and loved growing flowers. In addition to her parents, she is preceded in death by her loving husband, Henry Clay Lyda, who died in 1998; a son, Charles David “C D” Lyda; four brothers; and five sisters.
A devoted mother and grandmother, she is survived by four sons, Dewey “Bud” Lyda, Larry Lyda and his wife, Jeanette, Terry Lyda and his wife, Jane, and Philip C. Lyda of Hendersonville; a granddaughter, Carolyn Sue Noblitt of Hendersonville and who was raised by Mrs. Lyda; eight other grandchildren, including Roslyn Lyda, who is currently serving ... in South Asia; five great-grandchildren; and several nieces and nephews.
A graveside service will be at 2 p.m. Friday at Barnwell Baptist Church Cemetery. The Revs. Harold McKinnish and Harold Connor will officiate. The family will receive friends from 7 to 8:30 p.m. this evening at Thos. Shepherd & Son Funeral Directors and at other times at the home. An online guest book is available for family and friends by visiting http://www.thosshepherd.com/.

For All the Saints

As for the saints who are in the land, they are the glorious ones in whom is all my delight. Ps 16:3

For all the saints, who from their labors rest,
who thee by faith before the world confessed,
thy name, O Jesus, be forever blest.
Alleluia, Alleluia!

Thou wast their rock, their fortress, and their might;
thou Lord, their captain in the well-fought fight;
thou in the darkness drear, their one true light.
Alleluia, Alleluia!

O may thy soldiers, faithful, true, and bold,
fight as the saints who nobly fought of old,
and win with them the victor's crown of gold.
Alleluia, Alleluia!

O blest communion, fellowship divine!
We feebly struggle, they in glory shine;
yet all are one in thee, for all are thine.
Alleluia, Alleluia!

And when the strife is fierce, the warfare long,
steals on the ear the distant triumph song,
and hearts are brave again, and arms are strong.
Alleluia, Alleluia!

From earth's wide bounds, from ocean's farthest coast,
through gates of pearl streams in the countless host,
singing to Father, Son, and Holy Ghost:
Alleluia, Alleluia!

Text: William W. How, 1823-1897 Music: Ralph Vaughan Williams, 1872-1958

rhymes

Some of my favorite memories of my mamaw were cooking with her on her wood stove (which is still in her kitchen) and learning nursery rhymes....

My favorite:

I had a little pig

I fed him in a trough

He got so fat his tail jumped off.

Give me a hammer.

Give me a nail.

I'll make my pig a homemade tail.

That one I can still do from memory....this one is too long and after the first paragraph, my memory fades, so I'm cheating and copying from the Internet...

The Little Orphan Annie
by
James Whitcomb Riley

Little Orphan Annie's come to my house to stay. To wash the cups and saucers up and brush the crumbs away. To shoo the chickens from the porch and dust the hearth and sweep, and make the fire and bake the bread to earn her board and keep. While all us other children, when the supper things is done, we sit around the kitchen fire and has the mostest fun, a listening to the witch tales that Annie tells about and the goblins will get ya if ya don't watch out!

Once there was a little boy who wouldn't say his prayers, and when he went to bed at night away up stairs, his mammy heard him holler and his daddy heard him bawl, and when they turned the covers down, he wasn't there at all! They searched him in the attic room and cubby hole and press and even up the chimney flu and every wheres, I guess,but all they ever found of him was just his pants and round-aboutsand the goblins will get ya if ya don't watch out!!

Once there was a little girl who always laughed and grinned and made fun of everyone, of all her blood and kin, and once when there was company and old folks was there, she mocked them and she shocked them and said, she didn't care. And just as she turned on her heels and to go and run and hide, there was two great big black things a standing by her side. They snatched her through the ceiling fore she knew what shes about, and the goblins will get ya if ya don't watch out!!

When the night is dark and scary, and the moon is full and creatures are a flying and the wind goes Whoooooooooo, you better mind your parents and your teachers fond and dear, and cherish them that loves ya, and dry the orphans tears and help the poor and needy ones that cluster all about, or the goblins will get ya if ya don't watch out!!!

What a Day That Will Be

There is coming a day when no heartaches shall come

No more clouds in the sky, no more tears to dim the eye.

All is peace forevermore on that happy golden shore,

What a day, glorious day that will be.

Chorus

What a day that will be when my Jesus I shall see,

And I look upon His face,

The One who saved me by His grace;

When He takes me by the hand

And leads me through the Promised Land,

What a day, glorious day that will be.

There'll be no sorrow there, no more burdens to bear,

No more sickness, no pain, no more parting over there;

And forever I will be with the One who died for me,

What a day, glorious day that will be.

Chorus

What a day that will be when my Jesus I shall see,

And I look upon His face,

The One who saved me by His grace;

When He takes me by the hand

And leads me through the Promised Land,

What a day, glorious day that will be.

What a day, glorious day that will be!

words and music by Jim Hill

Better

My mamaw (my dad's mom) is counting down 'til she sees Jesus. Better will be today than the 30 something thousand days that she spent on this terrestrial ball, for it is better to be with the Lord. Soon, she'll rest from her labours.

I've almost been to my share of weddings

A Tribute to Henny Penny

When I was a little girl, I used to chase the chickens around at my mamaw's house. Sometimes, I would catch them and hold them upside down for a few minutes. When I would release them, they couldn't walk very straight. It was very entertaining. Please don't think I'm mean. I never hurt them :) One day, I found a chicken who would let me hold her. Every time I went to my mamaw's house, I'd find her, hold her, pet her, and carry her around. I named her Henny Penny. Something happened and she died...I think some kind of disease or something. Anyways, I thought of her this past week.

I'm not a huge meat eater in this place, especially if I have to buy it and cook it for myself. On the occassion I do buy meat, I go to a place where the meat is stored in a cooler and the guy just takes what I want out and gives it to me. However, one day I went to a different meat place because it was raining and I didn't want to walk to the other place.

This meat store has a cage of live chickens outside. Hanging in the doorway are a couple of dead, skinned chickens and goats. I ducked under them, and asked the meat guy for a chicken. I was thinking he would get me one of the ones hanging in the doorway, but I was wrong. The guy went outside and chose a chicken from the cage. He brought her in and asked if she was good. I said yes and he plopped her down on the scale. She was blinking her eyes...2 kg. Ok. So the guy took her around back and she began to make an awful noise...and then, she was quiet. When he brought her back, she had no feathers, no head, no skin, no liver.....but she was warm and her heart was still beating.

What to do? I took her home, washed her, and put her in a pot of boiling water...beating heart and all.

And then, I had a barbeque chicken sandwich. Thanks to Granny for her barbeque recipe. And thanks to the bakery for the bread. A quote from my roomie, "I like that lady's buns!"

haha.

A Rickshaw Ride

Sometimes I forget that my every day life isn't so normal. I forgot to post something like this when I first came, and after a short while I didn't think about posting "normal" things. I live in a big city, and if I want to go somewhere in the city, I have to either (1) walk (2) ride the overcrowded bus that I don't know the routes because the script on the bus is not in English or in the language I'm learning (3) ride my bike or (4) take a rickshaw.

To catch an auto, first you must stand at the road and stick out your right hand. Palm facing down, bend your fingers towards towards your palm. If an auto is empty, and wants a customer, the driver will pull up beside you. You tell him where you want to go, and if you're lucky, he'll want to take you. If you're even luckier, when settling on a price, he'll be honest. If you're the luckiest, he'll just go by meter...that is if he hasn't tampered with the meter to make it go to fast, therefore, making the price too costly. Did I mention that 'meter' is the law?

Somedays, finding an auto that will go and won't cheat you is impossible. Somedays, the first one that pulls up is your man. You have to choose your limits. Will you give in and just be cheated? Will you yell? Will you just walk (even if it's 3 miles to where you want to go)? Will you tell the man you know that he's cheating you, that he's a liar? Will you cry?

I'll admit, I've responded in all of these ways. Sometimes my response isn't always the best response, but I'm learning to live here, and I'm very thankful for grace.

Sometimes, when you're riding in an auto and you pull up to a stoplight, the auto might turn off the engine (supposedly to save gas). Sometimes, drivers know how long the light is and will get out and go to the store to get some beedis (like cigarettes), or candy, or a newspaper, or whatever, or to go pee on the sidewalk.

One thing that's for sure....no two rides are the same. Sometimes you see really fun things like kids going home from school or people working or camels or people carrying strange things on their motorcycles. Guaranteed is the bumpyness (I think I made that word up) and your level of pollution intake.

Fourth National Flower Festival

So maybe it was a contest, or a show, or something, but I'm really growing fond of alliteration. And...it seemed more like a festival to me because it was way more than just flowers. I mean, there were:

Beautiful, prize winning flowers...




fruits and vegetables...

plants and trees....

pots for sale...

picnics...

ice cream...

monkeys in the trees....

I mean..people having fun

roasted corn...

coconuts(who knew there are so many kinds!)....

vegetable men...

rocks and a temple...



things to buy...


friends...

sleeping babies...

gossip....

fountains...

families...

police...

bikes...

the REALLY HUGE tree!...

and movie stars...wait, that's just me, and my roomie, and one of the many people who followed us around throughout the day trying to take our picture/be in a picture with us/generally, just stalk us.

And then, as we were leaving.....my roomie fell into the swamps of despair. Well, ok, it was a mud puddle...but it ate her shoe and she had to dig it out. Gross. and Hilarious.