Remembering My Neighbor Esther McGraw

 

Alice C. Linsley

I lived in a small cottage by Kiser Lake in Ohio, near the "Pony Wagon" town of St. Paris. My closest neighbor, Esther McGraw, was one of the sweetest persons I have met. She was a young mother, a devoted wife, a phenomenal cook, and an aspiring writer. Once when I was very sick, she arrived at my house with a pot of delicious homemade chicken noodle soup. That soup and her prayers were restorative!

When she could, Esther would attend the Western Ohio Christian Writers monthly meetings at St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Sidney, Ohio. I helped to establish that group when I served as the Vicar of that parish. 

Esther was always cheerful though she suffered from chronic renal problems and was frequently fatigued. I was very sad when I received the news of her death about 8 years after I moved away.

This Christmas poem, written by Esther, was originally published in the 1996 issue of Selah, an annual publication of the Western Ohio Christian Writers Guild.

Every Eye Upon Him

In a wooden manger a baby meekly rests

with every eye upon Him

and history is made.

Pale starlight for a compass

brings three kings from afar

to kneel before the infant's stall.

Tender Mary gazes there

while Joseph leans upon his staff

and history is made.

A bigger plan of God is set

to save us from our sins and death.

Over Bethlehem the twinkling stars announce

His story has begun.