Strauss, Ruth Margaret (Tiessen)

Holly and Amy, I am so sorry to be “late to the party,” but I just learned that your mom went home to join Lydia, Elmer, and a host of saints in September. I loved her; and I loved talking with her on the phone. Her letters always brought a smile to my face. I met her when I worked in development at North American (now Sioux Falls) Seminary. When I spoke at her church in Texas, she laughed as I referred to the seminary’s logo as something that resembled a coat hanger. What a party she must be having!! I know it’s hard to release loved ones back to their Creator. I have done so too often. But we WILL see them again; and that’s beautiful Here’s an excerpt from a narrative that comforted me after my mom went home, “In the redwood ecosystem, all seeds are contained in pods called burls, tough clumps that grow where the mother tree’s truck and root system meet. When the mother tree is logged, blown over, or destroyed by fire the trauma stimulates the burls’ growth hormones. The seeds release, and trees sprout around her, creating a circle of daughters. The daughter trees grow by absorbing the sunlight their mother cedes to them when she dies, and they get moisture and nutrients they need from their mother’s root system, which remain intact even after her leaves die. Although the daughters exist independently of their mother above ground, they continue to draw sustenance from her underneath. I am fooling myself when I say my mother exists now only in the photograph on my bulletin board or in the outline of my hand or in the handful of memories I hold tight. She lives on beneath everything I do. Her presence influenced who I was, and her absence who I am. Our lives are shaped as much by those who leave as they are by those who stay. Loss is our legacy; insight our gift; memory our guide. Praying for your peace in difficult days ahead. Carol Woltjer, Ruth’s seminary correspondent 🙂