This woman’s character, infectious and consummate, has touched us as if she had always been a stately oaken tree whose roots burrowed deep into the soil of earth’s best essence. 

She is the real thing.

Our looking-for-love search engines found a welcoming address. Our hungry souls captured a benevolent glow revealed from her flourishing and gilded heart. And as for the gift of her heart, she has never asked for anything in return. 

Her gentle yet commanding manner calmed days of sorrow for two nephews who lost their mother and found reassuring and comforting love in her company. What more could a young man ask for while escaping puberty to that of adolescence than a mature woman of beauty and dignity to prop up a love lost heart? Her motherly charms established a crucible of thought and style that manifested itself in a search for a life-long mate.

Her voice, a sensuous and luxuriant descant of sound, brings warmth to conversation. Evia’s probing questions reveal the depth of her thinking. Her passionate discourse reveals an intense heart and a spirit of humble inquiry.

Young men who called themselves “The Envoys Quartet” parked a van, hearse and vintage rehabbed Greyhound bus on the street in front of her house for neighbors to stress about. A meal was always in the offing and was as superb an offering as one might fantasize about. Four hungry males attending to their stomachs watched her culinary skills transform food fragments into whole meals. No wonder we scheduled our concerts to be done near this woman. We ate like kings at that table.

Her life as a wife and mother has set an example for those of us who follow and has set the bar as high as it gets. It can be said of Evia that her life is a tribute to women everywhere and that anyone, man or woman, would do well to observe her as a model of decorum, grace and spiritual development.

We’ve gathered today to honor a God-gifted loan to us of this kindly woman. If only we could make a deal for another 90 years…

From a grateful and loving heart,

Ed Anderson, Nephew