STRINGING BEANS
The soundtrack to mom ’ s life
By Sarah Plummer
“ I ’ m thinking of two hymns that she loved .”
Mom passed away on June 7 , 2024 , and my brother , William , and I were planning her funeral . I named both hymns in three guesses , but my second guess , William conceded , was also a hymn she loved .
Getting the music right was important because church music was woven into every aspect of our lives growing up . Mom played for church , for weddings and for funerals . She sang in the church choir , in her college choir , at home and in the car . She used to say that one of her claims to fame was that she had played piano or organ in every church in Giles County , Virginia . William and I were skeptical , but going through papers in our childhood home produced proof that she was already performing church music by age 8 and the funeral home estimated Mom played for 1,000 funerals in the county across 40 years .
We had not anticipated having a traditional church funeral but faced with these decisions in real time , we fell into what seemed most natural . We chose “ Great is Thy Faithfulness ” and “ Come Thou Fount ” and planned to have the funeral in Edgewood United Methodist Church , a church my grandfather helped build and where my mom and dad were married .
We attended Edgewood with Grandma when Mom had weeks off from playing at a large church in Pearisburg . Just outside the church was where Grandma spooned apple butter onto a plate to inspect for color and consistency , directing the stirring to
Courtesy photo
Edgewood United Methodist Church in Ripplemead , Giles County , Virginia – where the family attended chruch and where the funeral would be held .
continue until thick and dark . When we moved to Ripplemead , my brother would use our family ’ s key to the church to practice piano . Through the old crank stained glass windows I could hear him play as I rode my bike . Sometimes I ’ d go in while he practiced and brushed flies from the windowsills into a small trash can . Often I ’ d lie on my back in the center aisle on a bright red carpet to listen and stare up at knots in the wood of the exposed A-frame .
Mom loved flowers , but especially wildflowers and daffodils . She had hundreds of daffodils , many of which were planted by her mother . In the summer she ’ d work in the flowerbeds until dusk , and she was so transfixed by her work she ’ d forsake any biological need for rest , food , or water . I recall her threading pansy blossoms , firewitch and bleeding-heart stems into her bun until it became a crown of spring .
The day before her funeral I told my cousin Keith we were sad the chicory had not started to bloom yet . If you ’ re not familiar with it , look for it along roads or across the fields . It has strong ,
Sarah Plummer is a postdoctoral associate at Virginia Tech funded by The Mellon Foundation , teaching in Tech ’ s Appalachian Studies Program . She works with Monuments Across Appalachian Virginia , a group sharing untold histories across the region . She worked as a journalist for seven years in West Virginia at The Register-Herald and the Associated Press . As a Giles County , Va ., native , she is proudly Appalachian and acutely invested in the stories shared about the region . Courtesy photo
20 � SOUTH � SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER ’ 24