The photo above was taken in Bessemer, Alabama, around 1912. Annie is pictured standing front and center with her adoptive family. At the tender age of seven, Annie was one of nine children orphaned by family tragedy. Her mother died of consumption in May of 1909, and Annie’s father was murdered two months later in a “watering hole” called Tuxedo Junction. Relatives say he was robbed of money he had inherited just days earlier from his own mother’s death. Two men he was drinking with hit him in the head and took his money. He died four days later.

All the children were subsequently divided among adoptive parents. Annie was placed with a family named Comer. Annie later married Robert in 1921, a WWI veteran who had seen action in Alsace and the Meuse-Argonne offensive in France. They moved to Tuscaloosa and operated several restaurants in the downtown area. They had two sons and five grandchildren.

Somewhere along the way, God got hold of Annie’s youngest grandson. He had always considered himself a Christian. He believed in God. He even prayed. He didn’t really know God, though, not like the Bible talks about. One night that changed. He heard a man on TV explain what it meant to be a believer. He realized he wasn’t one, and he wanted that to change. The grandson surrendered himself to God through faith in His Son. He wasn’t the same after that.

That grandson tried many times to bring up his faith in conversation with Annie. He was never sure where she stood spiritually, because she never wanted to talk about it. Things like that scared her. Maybe it was her childhood. Perhaps the “fire and brimstone” preaching of the era had instilled fear in her instead of hope. It was a different time, perhaps one when God was used as a weapon to make kids behave. For whatever reason, she was closed to the conversation.

At the ripe old age of 91, Annie was nearing the end of her earthly life. As she lay in her final hours in the nursing home, her grandson was in church hearing the testimony of two young guest speakers. They preached passionately about the urgent need for believers to share the hope of Christ with friends and relatives. As the grandson listened, the realization of the brevity of life overtook him. He felt a burden to share his faith before the opportunity passed.

After church, he went straight to the nursing home. He spoke to his grandmother Annie at her bedside, even though she was too weak to respond. He told her that Jesus loved her. He told her Jesus died for her. He explained, the best he could, that God’s grace is given to all who trust Him. Then he asked his grandmother if she wanted to put her faith in Jesus.  

Slowly, she lifted her hand toward him, as if to shoo him away. Perhaps she just wanted to be left alone. Then he realized she was actually extending her hand to join him in prayer. He led her in a simple prayer of surrender and faith. At the age of 91, Annie trusted Jesus as her Savior. Within 24 hours of that prayer, she went to be with Him in eternity.

By human standards, Annie was a good person. But the Bible says, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Thankfully, the verse doesn’t end there. It also says we are “justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 3:23,24) That day in the nursing home, the day before she died, Annie chose Christ. She chose to surrender to the One who lived and died on her behalf. Because of that choice, Annie is with Jesus in a place called Heaven. I will see her again. Annie’s full name is Annie Loyd Baker, my grandmother. I am that grandson, the one who still bears her name.

“…and He died for all, so that those who live would no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose on their behalf.” (2 Corinthians 5:15)