msnTv Viewer As told by: Alma Mitchell Once upon a time there was a woman who lived by herself in a nice warm house. One cold and snowy morning when she got up she decided to bake a cake. While she was baking she heard a knock on the front door. When she opened it there was a little old woman standing there. The old woman said, "I'm so cold and hungry; May I come in?" "Yes" said the lady, "I'm baking a cake and I'll share it with you". She took the cake out of the oven, but it looked so good, she decided to keep it for herself. She then baked another one but the second one was so pretty and perfect that she decided to keep it also. She told the old woman "I'll bake you another one". So she baked one more, but this one was even better than the other two. She kept it for herself again. She told the old woman "I don't want to share my cakes, you can go across the mountain to the next town." "Someone there will feed you and take you into a warm house." This lady always wore a red handkerchief around her neck and a white apron. The old woman asked her to let her have the red handkerchief to keep her head warm but the lady said "No!, you must go." The old woman said to her "you will be sorry for being so selfish", as she went out into the cold. The lady went back into her house. All of a sudden the house got very cold and the wind blew very hard. She reached up to pull her red handkerchief down around her ears but it turned into red feathers, and her apron turned into white and grey feathers. When she got hungry, she went to look for the cakes but they had disappeared! Later that night she heard dogs barking. When she looked out she saw that the little old woman had froze to death and the dogs had found her. They had laid her leg on the front porch. Every night when it was cold and the wind was blowing, the lady could hear in the wind, a voice saying "Please help me. I'm so cold and hungry". It was then that the lady was turned into a red-headed woodpecker, to live outside in the cold and always pecking on a tree for food. The moral of the story is: Always share and never be selfish.... This story was told to Alma when she was a child. She passed it on through four generations, to her childern and grandchildren. Alma is the mother of 14 children with two angel babies one who passed at birth and Danny who was taken by the Vietnam war. She is now 89 years young (as of Feb. 2004). This page has been added for and is dedicated first to Alma, to my daughter Cyndi who was the first child born into the forth generation and my grand-daughter Shelli who is one of Alma's many great-great grandchildren. In Loving Memory Of Alma Mitchell 1914 ~ 2005 Alma, now 90 went home to be reunited with her husband-Elmer, son-Danny, sister-Erma, grandsons-Mike and Jimmy, great-great-grandson Zachary, and two great-great grandchildren lost to miscarriage, along with multitudes of family and friends. She was a homemaker and a member of Lens Creek Weslyan Church. Known as "Mom," she leaves to mourn her sons, Elmer Jr. of Ga., Eddie of Ky. and Michael, Richard, Darrell and Rocky all of the Charleston area; and daughters Iva Lee, Phyllis, Brenda and Sherry of the Charleston area, Glenna of Pa., and Gloria of Oak Hill. Also known as "Cotton Top," "Granny," "Maw Maw," "Granal," "Grandma" and Frosty, she leaves behind 32 grandchildren, 37 great-grandchildren and 12 great-great-grandchildren. She will be greatly missed by her loving poodle, Angel, who was her faithful companion. As we let go of her, on this shore, there were others, with arms outstretched, eagerly awaiting her arrival on a distant shore. Our loss is truly Heaven's gain. Alma was a very kind and loving woman who was loved by all who knew her, she will be deeply and sadly missed. Forever in our hearts. We love you Granal. God saw you getting tired when a cure was not to be. He closed his arms around you and whispered, "Come with Me". In tears we saw you fade away, You fought so hard to stay. But when we saw you sleeping so peacefully, free from pain, we would not wish you back, to suffer that again. So treasure her Dear Lord in your garden of rest, She is a very Special Angel, she was one of the best. When the wonderful ladies from my internet group Women Of Strength and Inner Beauty heard of Alma's passing they created these beautiful memorial pages for her, please click here to view them. Thank you so much to Sadie and the TLC Garden, I will be forever grateful for your love, support and friendship. The Red Headed Woodpecker Photo is © KC Foggin and was found at BirdForum.net This webset was created by my dear friend Deb at Dreamwork Designs for use on this page. Thank you Deb :). And thank you KC Foggin for the use of your beautiful photo :).