The content of my column today, for as much as my personal role is concerned in the storied and iconic life of Mrs. Ruby Woods Carter, started 55 years ago. It was 1970, and I was a senior in high school. I remember sitting in her office at Gordon High School, where she was the sole guidance counselor for the entire high school. Mrs. Carter had given the seniors, who wanted to go to the next level in their educational pursuits, an assignment to compose an essay about their ambitions and why they needed a college degree. As she read my very brief and contextually (as well as grammatically) flawed composition, she paused and looked me straight in my eyes and uttered these words, “Michael, you have some good ideas, but your writing is atrocious!” At that particular moment, I did not even know the meaning of the word “atrocious.” However, the statement (that was spoken in love and constructive criticism) lingered with me and became an incentive to why I endeavor to be as proficient as my God-given talent will allow me when writing.
I truly believe that if Mrs. Carter was still physically with us, she would be in opposition to the many words of praise and honor that have been bestowed upon her (due to her passing).
It is perhaps because of the modest, considerate, compassionate, and very affable way she carried herself that was so highly esteemed and endeared by so many. Right here, I want to include an excerpt that I extracted from a brief biography written by her immediate family entitled, “A Life Well-Lived.”
L. Frank Baum wrote, “A heart is not judged by how much you love, but by how much you are loved by others.” How much others love you is just one sign of a life well-lived. To live a good life, you must earn the love of those around you and the best way to do that is to share your own love. Love shared, spreads, and it touches the lives of others in small, but meaningful ways and if you’re blessed, as Mom was – that love comes back to you.
Mom used to love quoting Bette Davis who said, “Old age ain’t for sissies.” But Mom was blessed to grow old gracefully. Our hearts are full of joy and gratitude for Mom’s deep and abiding love for us, and for the way others cherished, respected, and appreciated Mom.
Really, Mom wrote her own obituary every day of her life. She loved, served, supported, taught, learned, and nurtured – without ceasing. She lived graciously and generously. She lived life abundantly, always giving – as if God’s blessings were never going to run out, and they never did.
Mrs. Ruby Woods Carter was much more than an educator, coach, and guidance counselor. She was much more than a long-standing, faithful member of St. Stephens United Methodist Church, who wore many hats on a local, regional, and state level. She was a virtuous wife to her husband and devoted mother to her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. Mrs. Carter was a champion, a heroine, and warrior chosen of God to fight the demons of Jim Crow, ignorance, and poverty in a southern, rural community where such gallant and valiant people are truly a rare species. When I had the privilege of visiting and fellowshipping with her a little over a week before she transitioned from earth to glory, I was truly blessed to be in the presence of an iconic person who, arguably, epitomized the struggle and history of the African-American community of our locale more than anyone else that I have known over the years. In her, I saw the many teachers, counselors, coaches and other professionals who served and sacrificed their time and talent in our area to bring us to where we are presently. Ruby Woods Carter was definitely a true warrior who engaged the enemy on many battlefields for her entire adult life. In her multifaceted struggle for the liberation, preservation, and maturation of the total person, spirit, soul, and body, she waged an unwavering battle in the home, the church, the community, and of course, the school. It was there that she truly excelled in her God-given talent and touched, inspired, and impacted so many lives. It was there that she challenged, encouraged, and motivated us to dream, set goals, and pursue our ambitions until we would fully develop our potential and thereby, experienced success and satisfaction in our quests. What more can I say about this extraordinary and heroic woman that has not already been said by those who knew her and were the recipients of her ministry and labor of love. The many, like me, whose lives were touched by this terrestrial angel, who themselves are now striving to serve others and give back in various fields and professions as she did. Though Mrs. Ruby Woods Carter was the last of her kind, she passed the torch to many of her students, protégés, and admirers, who gladly receive it. Our willingness to imitate her and walk in her steps is perhaps her greatest legacy and proof that people like her will not become extinct in humanity’s struggle for sanity and survival.