We've had many folks ask for a copy of Trey's tribute to Dottie so here ya'll go. 

Dottie, Dorothy Ann, Dottie Ann, Aunt Dottie, Mrs. Currin, Dot, Dotto, Mom, Momma, Sunshine. I am sure there are others I have missed, but I list those names to say this...

When you live the way that my mother lived, when you love the way my mother loved, when you impact people the way that my mother impacted those blessed enough to have met my Mom, one or two names just doesn't quite cut it.

As a child, I remember at all those Harrison Family Reunions at Lyman Lake, Dorothy and Dottie Ann rang out everywhere. Friends and family from here earliest years knew her as these names. People she impacted in those days, some I had never had the pleasure of meeting before or even met until recent years all said those names so similarly. So sweetly and always through a smile. Aunt Dottie was one of my favorites as well. That one was my first hint into something about my mother that would reveal itself much further as I grew up. As a child I remember so many youngins calling here this. You could see the joy in cousins that called her this when they were together, but kids that I knew didn’t have the name of Currin or Harrison called my mother "Aunt", Family or not, they called my mom this "Aunt" and i just thought, "eh, just something people say I guess".  That leads me to my next set of names.

Mom and Momma. I can tell you for a fact, Dottie Currin birthed 2 children. However, I cannot truthfully tell you how many people ended up calling her Mom. I can stand here and go on about what kind of mother I had, and how she loved me, sacrificed for me, and how God blessed me with a mother I was undeserving of having, but I know I don't have to. You all know this. What some might not know, is how she did this for the rest of the people that she and Dad opened their house to, because they couldn't have had more of a desire to do so. People who Trevor and I foolishly just thought were friends, were not seen that way by my Mom. My parents saw them as people who loved their children. When you're grown, it occurs to you, that that, is family. They gained children, and we gained brothers and sisters. Not a bloodline to be seen between them, they all called her Mom and Momma.

Another name that brings me too is Dot or Dotto. Now this name is a little more interesting. I started calling Mom "Dot" at a certain point. She referred to my "Meemaw", her mom as "Dot". Anytime I'd catch Momma doing something Meemaw-like I’d call her Dot as well. Now to be clear, Meemaw and my mother loved each other extensively. So much so that I was blessed to have my Meemaw living with me in our house in her final years on this earth cause Mom and Dad had the means to care of her. This being said, they sure could get on each other’s nerves sometimes, so me calling out Mom for doing Meemaw-esque things would get under her skin a bit. But then something happened, folks in the family, again bloodline or not, started calling her this as well. And magically, she responded to that name with a huge smile because of what it become.

Now we have a name that is something I never called my mother, Mrs. Currin. And while I never used this name, I'd be curious to see how many here knew my mother by that name. This name was reserved for yet another set of her children. A set of her children that spans literal decades. We are all blessed with gifts in this life. Some of us struggle to put these gifts to use. We hide such things because we just don’t have the time or are undesiring of the effort to put them into action. This was never a problem for my mother. Dottie Currin was blessed with numerous gifts and talents on this Earth by her creator. The greatest of these, was her ability to teach. And thank God, he paired that with an immeasurable love for children. God blessed generations of people on this earth because my mother wouldn't dare hide such a gift. 1 Corinthians says, "Pursue love, and desire spiritual gifts...". I don't know a better way to explain what she wanted to be for all of her students, her children. If any of you ever wondered what you meant to her, her faith and belief was that God put her on this earth to love and teach you. That is what you meant to her.

Then I have one final name I would like to talk about. This is one that only one person called her, Sunshine. For years, my mother would call my father while he was out and about during his day, often in the cab of a truck. She would always have her speakerphone on, cranked up as uncomfortably high as it could be. A single word would be heard when Dad picked up the phone, Sunshine. If I could ever get someone to bet me on what that man was going to say, I would rob them blind, because it was always Sunshine, every single time. High School sweethearts, the football player, and the cheerleader. It sounds like a story that is too good to be true, but no, it was just too good. It is unfair the marriage i witnessed between my parents growing up. I was given the blueprint for how it's supposed to be, and what it can be. A relationship based in faith and love. Never one contributing any more than the other. A true two people as one. They made it look simple. The toughest days were when Mom started getting sick. Well to anyone else it would be tough, but nothing changed to them. Mom was fighting, and dad was her warrior, ever beside her. It was just the next obstacle for them to smile at and grow their love through. I couldn't get Dad to leave the hospital, and it hurt to know that he wasn't always looking after himself like he should. But then I would get home to my home, and my wife, and yeah, I get it. There is no way he would leave the side of my mother. She was and is his brightness, his light, she was truly his Sunshine.

Romans 12:13 says "Contribute to the needs of God's people, and welcome strangers into your home". She addressed the needs of others with her blessed gifts and made a home to and a family out of those who were once "strangers". As Christians we are asked to love others because he first loved us. My mother needed no other reason to love someone, and I like to believe it's the number one thing she taught me. Dottie Currin taught us all. Classroom or not, she was teaching us at all times. Amongst all that she taught us, Joy, Happiness, Hope, Caring, Perseverance, Love, and Faith. Faith in those around you and faith in Christ. She loved and taught us all, and I thank God that she’s not done.