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ALICE’S
LEGACY
A sophomore at Lee College (now Lee University) in Cleveland,
Tennessee,
Alice was full of plans and hopes for her future. At the end
of her freshman year
just before leaving for the summer, she spent nearly all night
painting a backdrop
mural for a play at the college.
She went home to Detroit and got a job to save money to
supplement her expenses
for the next year. She worked all summer until she returned to
Cleveland for the fall
term. Then her world came apart and was fragmented until her
death on July 16, 2004.
Bipolar does that to people. It uproots their lives and
disrupts the lives of their family.
Love isn’t enough to bring a cure, but it gets 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!
She sought to please everyone and did everything possible to
accomplish that.
Forsaken by some of her friends and family who couldn’t
understand or handle the
disease didn’t change her heart. Her unconditional love reached out to
them even if
they weren’t able to receive it. The “Santa Lady” story that
is on her webpage (http://heart2heartbeat.com/alice.htm) so
vividly portrays her inner character and
beauty. It continues to touch people’s hearts, which was
demonstrated so beautifully
at her funeral when her niece, Karen Grubbs Jacobs, shared the
story just before
singing “The Grave Can’t Hold Me” in tribute to Alice.
What a beautiful memorial service was held in her honor! Her
brother-in-law,
Rev. Jerry Grubbs, conducted the service assisted by our
pastor at New Life
Church of God in East Jenkins, Rev. David Lickliter. Our
sister, Lorinda Grubbs;
Lorinda’s daughter, Karen Jacobs, and Alice’s great niece,
Misty Grubbs, sang
and provided music. Misty did lovely collages depicting her life beginning
with infancy
of her and her twin brother, Kelsey Ray. The lovely art pieces that I had
in my
possession were displayed. She created many more but they were
scattered
throughout the family, and we didn’t have access to them.
People were
astonished at her talent. It seems bipolar victims are
regarded as not being
wholly human and have no talent or personality (except their troubling
one).
Alice was very talented in all media of art: pencil, pen and
ink, watercolor, charcoal,
acrylic, oil, etc. In addition, she played the piano and sang
in church and even in
the public places where she had lived. Her art work was so lovely that the
staff of
one hospital asked if they could keep it on their walls. She
had talents that
crossed many areas.
It was a sad day when someone decided that her medicine needed
to be reevaluated!
The day after she started on the new medicine and she returned
to the home where she
lived, the seizures began and left her on life support until she died. The
only way she
could respond was with her eyes. But we were so thankful for that
recognition.
She would follow our every move with her eyes as we talked to
her. So she knew
we didn’t abandon her and we were able to tell her just how
special she was and
how much she was loved.
Our sister, Lorinda, received a card from a friend in the
church that she and Jerry
pastor in Lincoln Park, Michigan that was so uplifting—“Alice
isn’t ‘lost’ from you.
When you lose something, you
don’t know where it is. You know where Alice is,
so she isn’t lost.” What a beautiful thought! It changed my
dialog about Alice. I had
told friends that we had “lost” Alice. But the friend is
right. She isn’t lost!
We know where she is.
Her beautiful spirit lives on in our hearts and will always be
there. Her legacy continues to minister to others, just as her
life did.
 Alice’s
Favorite Prayer
SERENITY
God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
The courage
to change the things I can,
and
The wisdom
to know the difference.
It speaks so well of her attitude about life and her natural
inner personality.
Her candle still burns brightly in our hearts and sheds a lovely light to
her friends,
family and even people who only met her through us and her webpage. No,
her life
that was such a burden to her here on earth hasn’t ended; it
has only just begun,
carefree and beloved with our Heavenly Father.
Delores Adams
July 30, 2004
Copyrighted. All rights reserved.
For more on Alice, visit the
Adams Family Website
  
Remembering Alice
The "Handkerchief" has been anointed and
prayed over by several believers
who care about you and want to help you realize your full
potential
in Christ Jesus Our Lord.
~The
Ten Commandments~
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