Saturday, December 25, 2010

Mom's obituary

Eva Eulene Robinett, only known as Sis, passed mercifully on December 24th after her long battle with Huntington’s Disease.
Born in the Texas Hill Country on November 16, 1951 to Alton and Imogene Ledbetter, Sis spent her youth learning how to cook beside her mother and delighted in taking lunch to her beloved daddy as he toiled away in their farm fields. She was a model student, became an accomplished seamstress and played basketball. As time passed, she grew into a stunningly beautiful woman.
Forever headstrong and not willing to ever settle for second best, Sis earned her Early Childhood Education degree from Texas Tech in Lubbock and married her soulmate, Randy Robinett in her hometown of Stanton. They moved to Austin shorty after bringing two daughters into the world. She loved giving her time to inspire the young minds she was charged with and devoutly turned out bright and well learned kindergartners year after year. She spent most of her career at Williams Elementary and finished out at Kocurek Elementary. On any given day you could witness her strumming her guitar, serenaded by twenty 5 year olds, or making stone soup for the children in her crockpot. Her classroom was the furthest thing from normal and was furnished with birds and a tarantula. She was a favorite among parents, peers, and most importantly students. She was, without a doubt, a gifted instructor.
But if you could ask her now, she would say that her life didn’t really begin until she became a mother. She was an encouraging and well rounded parent who taught her girls the importance of responsibility but also of living life to the fullest. She marvelled at planning and executing hundreds of camping trips and family vacations, determined to expose her family to the best things America has to offer. All the while, she sacrificed her free time to play the role of chauffeur so that her kids could participate in whatever activity they desired. She had an incredible green thumb and her heart would melt when she came upon a field full of wildflowers. She made sure that summers were never boring!
And although she felt truly blessed to be a mother, there was no comparable joy to becoming a Gram. She had the privilege of watching her daughters produce 7 grandchildren and with each new little life her heart grew that much more. Those tiny humans were her happiness and her hope as she started to decline. In the hardest hours of her terrible struggle, she could still muster up what she had left to reach out to them for some physical touch.
Sis fought her fight with the toughness of a gladiator, the tenacity of a superhuman and the grace of an angel. She always had the strength to keep living life to the best of her ability and her faith never wavered. Sis will no longer be here to give her hugs or reach out to hold our hands but her fascinating story, and her timeless legacy will forever live on in our memories and in our hearts.
A visitation will be held on Monday, December 27th at Manchaca United Methodist Church from 6:30 to 8:30 and a memorial service will be held the following day at 11 a.m. at the same location. The family requests that instead of flowers, donations be made to the Huntington’s Disease Society of America in honor of her courageous life. www.hdsa.org/donations.html