Reflections From a Country Girl

Joellen died peacefully on January 14th, 2010. She was the daughter of the late Robert Cleveland and Ruth Naomi Williams. Joellen was an educator, writer and philanthropist. She treasured her time as a mother, a daughter, a sister, an aunt, a friend and a lover of life to those she held close to her heart. A spiritual woman, Joellen cherished her interaction with those of other faiths, cultures and backgrounds. She loved life and lived it to the fullest each day. She was a woman of integrity and honesty. Her memories will be cherished by friends and family and her spirit will forever be with her loved ones.

Memorial Services for Joellen Marie Cook will be held on January 30th at Elmwood Cemetery in Columbia, SC at 12:00 noon. A gathering will follow at Ashland United Methodist Church at 1:30pm. In Lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Sharing God’s Love in Irmo, SC or the Cook Scholarship Fund at the United Methodist Church of South Carolina. More details can be found, here.

She is survived by her immediate family – her son, Pierce Embree Cook, III, her sister, Vicki Clement of Greenville, her brother, Jeff Williams of Charleston, and also by so many who touched her deeply through friendship, love and companionship.

Hello again,

Since the 14th I have been overwhelmed with a massively generous outpouring of praise, thanks, and love for my mom. What an experience just these past few days have been. My thanks for everyone’s kind words and offers!

In celebration of my mother, a memorial will be held on Saturday, January 30th. Read the rest of this entry »

Hello all,

This is Pierce again. Today, January 14th, is my birthday, and on this day that all of you so generously celebrate my birth, I ask that our thoughts and wishes be with my beautiful and loving mother who, just this evening, left us for the the next great adventure. A simple country girl at heart, and forever loved by so many, she peacefully passed away in the early evening.

She passed with great comfort, and surrounded by friends and family. Thank you all for so graciously keeping up with her and sharing your life and love. I intend to keep this website alive to share her wonderful thoughts and perhaps eventually more of my own.

Thank you all for your continued thoughts and prayers.

All my love,

Pierce

Many of us have Christmas family traditions. This Christmas was probably the same for many of us. 

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It’s all happening. No matter how concealed the reasons may be, we keep looking for them.

In the last two days we have twice thought we were coming home, and twice had to confront the decision to stay. The most recent decision to stay, coming less than nine hours before her would be flight home, was our own to make.

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