Christina Mary Higby

I’m trying my best to write mom’s obituary. She said, "You know the facts, just fluff it up a bit!"

I thought a lot about what a blessing, a busy little blessing, she must have been as a child. I know what a blessing she was as an adult, she had to be as sweet as jam as a child. On July 12, 1946, did her parents have any idea what kind of woman and servant of the Lord she would grow up to be? Do I include how she helped in her dad’s hardware store as a school girl? How she and her dad would sneak out of church on Sunday mornings while her mom sang in the choir and return before she was done? I wondered, should I include the details, the where she lived and where she worked kind of details?

Do I tell how she was introduced to some skinny young man from Missouri with skinned up knees, how she married him after only 4 dates, and remained married to and loved him faithfully for over 50 years? Maybe I should include her love of animals, how when she "hit the lottery" (I don’t know that she ever played the lottery) she was going to open the country’s largest no kill shelter.

Maybe I should include how she loved the mountain air, and sunsets from her front porch. Oh I know, I could include stories about her annual shopping trips to Branson, where most of our time was spent deciding where to eat, smelling lotion at Bath and Body Works and trying on silly hats, scarves and sunglasses everywhere we went.

I could include how she said to pray instead of worry, yet she worried about Dad, well all of us, with every waking moment, up to her last breath. I could include how she rarely said no to attending any event that involved her kids or grandkids. I thought maybe, I should tell of her love of concerts from Christian to rock right up to her grandbabies band concerts. She loved them all.

Who can think of mom and not think of Wal-Mart? I think sometimes she went just so she could run into people she knew and strike up conversation, and give a hug; she gave the best hugs. Mom's gentle blue eyes and sweet dimples, is that really something one includes in an obituary? How she was fueled on serving others, but seldom did she ask for anything. How vacation Bible school and helping in the church blessed her. Does one tell that every week when she handed the preacher his check she would tell him, "Here's your beer and cigarette money", and give that sheepish little grin? Does one sew into the seams of the obituary how she walked slower than most, but led so many? How, for 28 years, she sat by the bedsides of cancer patients as they took their last breath, and how she comforted their families afterward. How she ironed everything, and got frustrated when dad would pull the only unironed shirt out of the closet. Should people know that she collected cookie jars and chickens?

What all should I narrow it down to? She loved to hear the rain falling, disliked the ice, and loved the color pink. She loved her country; she stood for the national anthem. Perhaps I should mention how she loved our veterans, especially her veteran, her honey. How she moved to Missouri and bought a farm, for no other reason than, to get dad to slow down and enjoy life. Do I include how she cared and loved unconditionally? How she loved to buy flowers for her porch. How every picture her grandbabies painted for her was better than a Picasso. How she answered to many names: Chrissy, Honey, Mom, Aunt, Cousin, Grandma, Granny Grunt, G'ma, Gammy, Gimme, Gams, friend, sister in Christ. Should I include every time dad did something silly she would call and say, "Your dad is up for adoption again". How she wanted nothing more than to be part of something.

Then it dawned on me, mom lived, she really, really lived, and she loved and she had no regrets. She loved the Lord; she loved people, animals, sunrises, flowers, sunsets, rainstorms, the wind rustling the leaves and every bit of what our mighty God created. She lived with passion, she fought hard, and on December 9, 2018, she died with dignity and she left a legacy. Mom was a good and faithful servant. Well done Chris Higby, well done. Sing and dance Mom, sing and dance.

Chris left behind many loved ones to keep her memory alive, her husband Edd Higby of Hartville, Missouri, her son Mike Higby and his wife, Jeannette, of Mountain Grove, Missouri, her daughter Laurie Fletcher and her husband, Jerry, of Hollister, Missouri, her grandchildren, Jessica Rogers and her husband, Travis, of Stoutland, Missouri, Jeremy Fletcher and his wife, Crystal, of Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, Shelby Greer and her husband, Eric, Brett Calhoun, Dustin Higby, Brandon Calhoun, and Harlee Higby, all of Mountain Grove, Missouri, Joshua Fletcher of Nixa, Missouri, Kaitlyn Fletcher of Branson, Missouri, and Lillie and Jacob Fletcher of Hollister, Missouri, her great-grandbabies, Logan, Emma, Liam, Ellie, Journie, Cooper, Jayce, Brooklyn, Channing, Kamryn, Zadeigh, Christine, and Everleigh, and her dear friend and sister in Christ, Stacy Jones and her husband, Donny, of Lebanon, Missouri.

Chris requested that everyone wear pink (her favorite color) or a cheerful color to her funeral service.