Virginia Ruth Midkiff

83 years ago on Mar 24, 1935, a baby girl was born to Rosalind & Leonard Grant.

They named their first-born child Virginia Ruth Grant. For 2 years, they lived in Joliet, Illinois. But these were depression years, and times were hard. So when her father Leonard was offered a new job in Takoma Park MD, they packed whatever they could fit into their car and moved. They even managed to fit the baby crib in the car!

Leonard met with Andy, his new partner, and they soon started their own insulation business named A & G Insulation Co. (A & G for their names, Anderson & Grant). Slowly the depression began to fade into history. Business picked up and A & G now began constructing houses to sell at the rate of 1-2 homes a year.

Virginia became a big sister at age 4 when little brother Ronald Wilbur Grant was born on Oct 1, 1939. About this time, the Grant family moved to Sycamore Ave where they shared a house with Rosalind's parents. Grandma & Grandpa Crist lived upstairs, and Virginia's family lived downstairs. This house was close enough for the children to be able to walk to their elementary school. Virginia attended JNA - John Nevins Andrews School for her elementary years.

But trouble struck the Grant family about 1944. Virginia contracted tuberculosis while in the 3rd grade. She didn't have any pain or cough, but TB can be a dangerous infectious disease, which if left untreated, can kill half of those infected. So the doctors immediately put Virginia on bed rest that lasted for the next 9 months. Her bed was moved to the living area, so Virginia would feel included in the daily activities. Her parents bought her a kitten for company that was even allowed to be up on her bed.

With all this enforced quiet time, Virginia became an avid reader. Her father would bring home stacks of books from the library. A poetry book inspired her to start memorizing poetry. Her favorite poem that she memorized was entitled "A Mortifying Mistake" about a young girl trying to learn her times tables.

A favorite memory during this time was a visit from a famous talking bird, possibly a mynah bird, from the movie "Enchanted Forest". The owner of the bird had hired Virginia's father to do a job at his house. When he found out that Virginia had TB, he made arrangements to bring the bird to her house. Invited children gathered around her bed to see the bird placed on Virginia's right arm. With a little prompting, it even whistled "The Star-spangled Banner" for them.

Being a religious and God-fearing family, the Grants prayed for Virginia to be healed. Two church elders came to the house to anoint Virginia and pray over her. And praise God, 9 months later, a chest x-ray showed her completely healed.

Her 3rd grade teacher came to the house to help Virginia finish up her 3rd grade school year. But being on bed rest for so long caused Virginia to miss her 4th grade year with all her friends. She had to join the following year's class, and she graduated 8th grade in May 1950. She went on to attend Takoma Academy. That's where she met Betty Jo Dickson, and they became friends. They stayed in touch for many, many years, but then they lost track of each other. But God brought them back together again when Virginia was in her 70's. While in a nursing home, Virginia requested that the Forest Lake Church send someone to bring her communion. Imagine her surprise when Betty Jo (now Gillis) came with her husband Jack. What a happy reunion.

Some other memories of Tacoma Academy included typing for the school newspaper, and getting her driver's license at age 17. Virginia was allowed the privilege of dropping off younger brother Ronnie to JNA on her way to TA.

The principal of Takoma Academy must have had a sense of humor. Late students were required to get a tardy slip from the principal's office. One time Virginia was late, because it took longer than expected for her to drop off some pies her mother had made for a bake sale. The principal only wrote 2 words on her tardy slip. Dropped Pies. Virginia never did explain to the teacher that she had NOT made a big mess to be cleaned up by dropping a pie on the floor.

Virginia met Carol Paige while attending the Silver Springs SDA Church. When Carol came into the Youth dept Sabbath School class for the first time, Virginia chose to sit beside her and introduced herself and her friends. Virginia and Carol soon became good friends. Since Carol's dad was a colporter, Virginia decided to work for him one summer trying to sell Adventist books door to door. She had a difficult time at first, but her sales became more successful when she began to sell church magazines instead. Later she worked in Bethesda, MD as a typist (typing 60 words per minute), and also at the Review and Herold Publishing Co. for a short time before leaving for college.

Virginia met John Midkiff Jr as a blind date while double-dating with Carol and her boyfriend. They all went to an amusement park to enjoy the rides. John especially enjoyed the roller coaster ride. Since roller coasters scared Virginia, he was able to put his arm around her. They continued going on dates like miniature golf and paddle boats until Virginia graduated from TA in May 1954 and flew out to the Pacific Union College in California in the fall of 1955.

Virginia began her love of the piano while still in elementary school. She started piano lessons then, and even added organ lessons for a while. But it was hard to practice the organ when she didn't have an organ at home. Virginia eventually advanced to private lessons with Mr. Gilmore McDonald. When he became the head of the music program at Pacific Union College, that's when Virginia decided to fly out to PUC for her Freshman year. Mr. McDonald even had a job waiting for her in the music department when she got there. Virginia practiced hard and even had the chance to play classical music on a live radio show! She was actually a bit relieved to discover she had not been accepted to play on the radio show.

Virginia's first and only experience with hitchhiking was when she arrived at California. From the airport, she had taken a bus to the station as close to PUC as possible. Now how was she going to cover the few miles to get into the campus? Then she heard a young man on a pay phone making arrangements to be picked up to go to PUC. Virginia asked if she could join him for the short ride there. Luckily, her trunk had been shipped ahead so there was enough room in the vehicle to travel together. Unluckily, the trunk didn't arrive for another week or so. Her roommate loaned her sheets for the bed, Betty Jo loaned her towels, and she had enough clothes in her big suitcase to survive until the trunk finally did come.

John wrote Virginia almost daily. When Christmas came, Virginia really wanted to go home to visit. However, there was only enough money for a single return trip. If she went home for Christmas, there wouldn't be any money to return to PUC. Virginia decided to come back home. She was met at the airport by both her parents and by John. In the following weeks, Virginia and John spent a lot of time together and many Sabbath's dinners were shared with the Grant family.

One evening in early February, Virginia and John were downstairs in the basement just sitting and talking. The conversation became memorable when John said, "Let's go upstairs and tell your parents we are going steady". Virginia answered "OK". Then John suggested, "How about instead we tell them we are engaged." Again Virginia answered, "OK".

So Virginia and John began preparing for their wedding in just a few short months. Virginia ordered a wedding dress, but the store sent the wrong dress. Virginia was heartbroken because there wasn't enough time to re-order the correct dress, and she didn't like the dress that was sent. Her mother Rosalind came to the rescue, and took 2 weeks off work to sew a beautiful wedding dress for her daughter. Lace over satin with long lace sleeves, ballerina length with scalloped edges. She even made lace gloves.

They were married in Wheaton, MD on Aug 19, 1956 at her parent's house which her father had built. They said their vows in front of the fireplace with a mirror above the mantel. Her Uncle Ray officiated the marriage service; her brother, Ron, sang "O Perfect Love"; her organ teacher, Dale Cornor, played the piano; and her Uncle Lloyd took pictures. Two of John's sisters, Izzy and Margaret, assisted at the reception by cutting the 3 layer round cake, and by serving the homemade fruit punch.

The newlyweds rented a 1 bedroom apartment in Takoma, MD. Virginia returned to work as a typist until she gave birth to her firstborn. John R Midkiff III was born Mar. 14, 1959 with a collapsed lung and several other medical issues. He spent the first 10 days of his life in the hospital, and was finally sent home on March 24, Virginia's birthday! He needed two surgeries before age 3 to correct his cross-eyed vision. Ten and a half months after Johnny’s birth, Virginia delivered her 2nd child. Their daughter Carol was born Jan. 31, 1960.

Virginia's father and husband decided to team up to build houses together in Florida. So in Aug 1960 they all moved together to central Florida to a house on Woodside Ave. After unpacking, Leonard and John drove the moving truck back up north to sell. No sooner had they left, than Hurricane Donna began to head toward central Florida. It became a category 5 hurricane and caused severe damage to much of the East Coast, especially Florida. Virginia and Rosalind had never faced a hurricane before, and didn't know what to do. A neighbor helped them to prepare for the gale, and everyone made it through safely.

Then more trouble ...the the building bubble collapsed and John needed to find another job to support his young family. They bought a nursing home in Wekiva, and John took an LPN course, so he could work there as a nurse. Virginia played for his graduation.

After several years they had to sell the nursing home, so John got a job at Florida Hospital instead, where he worked as a nurse for 20 years before he retired.

In 1963, the Midkiff family moved into a house of their own on Linneal Beach Dr. Apopka, FL. Virginia stayed at home to raise their children. Baby James was born July 8, 1965, completing the family. Virginia considered being a mother as her most important job ever. John bought her records and a record player, and later on a piano, so she could keep enjoying music at home. Virginia stayed at home til Carol and James were away at school. Sadly, Johnny was diagnosed as mentally retarded. Virginia became exhausted trying to care for him and 2 small children. Eventually Johnny was placed into a group home at age 9.

Once Virginia had time to recuperate, she began to add more music into her life. She began to play the piano and the organ for church. She became friends with a neighbor whose daughter Karen became Virginia's first paying piano student. That was the beginning of her career as a piano teacher. Virginia ended up with almost 30 students. Some came to the house for their piano lesson. But Virginia would drive to many of her student's homes to teach piano there. Sometimes she ended up teaching the entire family. She always kept her prices very affordable. Virginia taught piano for nearly 20 years.

Virginia and John grew apart and eventually got divorced. Neither one remarried. They did become friends again before John passed away on Aug 10. 1996.

Then tragedy struck Virginia in April 2009. A stroke affected the entire left side of her body so that she could barely move her left arm or leg. Even worse was the constant nerve pain that made rehab so difficult. Speech therapy was successful so that she was able to communicate clearly until her death.

Virginia came to live with her children, James and Carol, for almost a year, with the goal of recuperating enough mobility to safely be left alone for 8-10 hours, so that others in the household could be away for work. Getting in and out of bed, dressing and toiletries, and walking 3 times a day. Everything had to be re-learned. Much progress was made, but not as much as hoped. Eventually Virginia went to live in a nursing home.

Virginia was still close to her family, and always wished it would grow even bigger with the addition of grandchildren. Carol was married to Lee Skillin, but they never had any children. Then came the happy day when James married Thezz, and Virginia gained another daughter. The hope grew again for a grandchild.

When James and Thezz moved to Australia, Virginia leaned to communicate, not only by phone and letters, but also by Skype. Finally the Virginia's wish came true on Feb 20, 2015. She became Grandma to Jarren Marvin Midkiff. There was much more Skyping until 6 months later, Thezz brought Jarren to visit Grandma in person. Much touching and hugging and kissing. All too soon it was time for them to go back to Australia. More calls and Skyping and Facetime too. Plans were being made for an upcoming visit again, when Virginia developed complications from pneumonia. She fell asleep in Jesus on Nov 18, 2018.

HOMILY BY PASTOR STEVE SHERMAN:

We live in the darkness of night that has covered our world since sin entered into our lives in the Garden of Eden. As the Bible tells us in Psalm 23 we walk in the valley of the shadow of death. Yet we do not walk alone. Jesus is always here with us.

We keep our ears open as we listen for that trumpet that will sound from the clouds in the east as Jesus returns to gather His people. He comes for us. He comes for those He loves. Jesus comes to wake those who sleep in their graves so that we all can be reunited in a better place. A place where there is no more night because the glorious light of God’s presence is there with us forever.

Jesus spoke in John 11:23-26 to Martha and said these words.

3 “Your brother will rise again.”

24 Martha said to Him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”

25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. 26 And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”

So Jesus asks us the same question as we gather here today. “Do you believe this?”

Because we can answer yes to this question we have hope for tomorrow. We have hope of a place where there will be not more night or pain or sickness or death.

We have hope because Jesus lives. We have hope because Jesus will come again so that we can be with our loved ones forever.

WORDS FROM HER DAUGHTER, CAROL SKILLIN:

My mom, Virginia Ruth Grant Midkiff, fell asleep in Jesus on Sunday, November 18. She was 83 years old. She had constant nerve pain from her 1999 stroke, so I take some comfort in knowing she is not in pain any more. But that doesn't make me miss her any less.

We had this little ritual we would say whenever it was time for me to go. One of us would say " I love you forever" and the other would reply, "I Love you for always." I'm looking forward to the day when I will hear your answer back, mommy. "I love you forever."