BYC just became a lot smaller today. Sadly, this morning Sally Baldwin, BYC's very own Ranchhand has gone to that great chicken coop in the sky. While she had suffered for a number of years with debilitating arthritis she was still a veritable ball of fire. She had a zest for life that was enviable and those of us who came to know her affectionately as "Ranchie" will miss her greatly. I last talked with her about two weeks ago and she informed me that she had become quite ill and the prognosis wasn't good.
Inspite of that she downplayed it and was more concerned about how I was doing.
She was the first person on BYC with whom I formed a friendship and we would often call each other to share a problem or a smile. She became the sister I never had. Ranchie was never afraid to voice her opinion and she also never failed to step up to help when someone would post a problem. She was someone who I feel helped BYC become the wonderful place it is.
One memory of her that I will always cherish was the winter of 2008. She had posted a picture of an object for people to identify and if they could she would send it to them. If memory serves mine was the very first post and I identified it as a darning egg. She thought since no one darns socks anymore that it might be awhile before someone got it right. We wrote back and forth and a week later the wooden egg with a handle arrived along with an old pair of Todd's socks in need of mending. Hope darned the socks and I sent them back to her in South Carolina. A couple of days later she called, laughing, to inform me that the socks had arrived and to tell me that as funny as getting the old socks back, funnier still was that as she walked from the mailbox to her door, opening the package, it started to snow. She wanted to know what sort of strange stuff had I placed in that package to cause that to happen in the Deep South.
As I said Ranchie was always one of the first to offer advise or a kind word to those who needed it and it's ironic that her last post eight days ago was to extend condolences to a member who had lost some in their family. This was the last words she posted on BYC. "The loss of someone close leaves a hole in your life and heart. Fill the holes with treasured memories and they shall always be with you."
In the spirit of Ranchhand's last words on BYC I would consider it a great gift if you would take a few moments and share your memories of her with us.
Inspite of that she downplayed it and was more concerned about how I was doing.
She was the first person on BYC with whom I formed a friendship and we would often call each other to share a problem or a smile. She became the sister I never had. Ranchie was never afraid to voice her opinion and she also never failed to step up to help when someone would post a problem. She was someone who I feel helped BYC become the wonderful place it is.
One memory of her that I will always cherish was the winter of 2008. She had posted a picture of an object for people to identify and if they could she would send it to them. If memory serves mine was the very first post and I identified it as a darning egg. She thought since no one darns socks anymore that it might be awhile before someone got it right. We wrote back and forth and a week later the wooden egg with a handle arrived along with an old pair of Todd's socks in need of mending. Hope darned the socks and I sent them back to her in South Carolina. A couple of days later she called, laughing, to inform me that the socks had arrived and to tell me that as funny as getting the old socks back, funnier still was that as she walked from the mailbox to her door, opening the package, it started to snow. She wanted to know what sort of strange stuff had I placed in that package to cause that to happen in the Deep South.
As I said Ranchie was always one of the first to offer advise or a kind word to those who needed it and it's ironic that her last post eight days ago was to extend condolences to a member who had lost some in their family. This was the last words she posted on BYC. "The loss of someone close leaves a hole in your life and heart. Fill the holes with treasured memories and they shall always be with you."
In the spirit of Ranchhand's last words on BYC I would consider it a great gift if you would take a few moments and share your memories of her with us.
