A wonderful story of a kindred spirit. I love how you describe your mom's cousin with such clarity, I almost feel like I know her through what you have shared here.

When I first met Lois in 1974, she and her husband and five children lived in a trailer in the Arizona desert. They had rodeo horses, a pet tarantula, and every Zane Grey book ever published.

A glimpse into a woman who lived a 'life less ordinary' which I can tell will be sorely missed.

Maybe those Biblical pillars of smoke and doom were farther away than they appear in the photo. Lois may be under five feet tall, but she'd sass a tornado and tell it to back off. Her only daughter, just as petite and little, drives a big rig.

These descriptions of the women in your family made me smile, women of strength and character. A really interesting read :-)