Carla Theresa Earley

The good Lord created one of His finest miracles in Carla on August 25, 1956 in Wichita Falls, TX. She was entrusted to Bob & Barbara Ford. They'd agreed on naming her Carla and while Barbara was busy recovering, Bob chose the middle name of Teresa after a singer he admired. Barbara, being the jealous type, amended the certificate to Theresa, or so the story goes. Carla was close to her mother and her sister, but she was best known as a Daddy's girl; both to Bob, and later to Rob, her stepdad. Y'all had to know Barbara's first marriage wouldn't survive the singer story. Carla was a sweet girl and always eager to please, but she also retained a bold and fiery streak. A streak which would later come to haunt her disguised as her own daughter. Carla attended Hirschi High and later A&M Consolidated. An early marriage meant she and Jack would've celebrated their 49th wedding anniversary this summer, had she not left this world so soon. She said that even after 50 years with a man that often drove her nuts, she still got butterflies and that was a feeling worth chasing.

Carla was generous, loving, kind, and fiercely loyal. We can't call her trustworthy because she strongly disliked animals and Taylor Swift and that's just red flag material. But she was solid otherwise. When, Chris, the oldest and self proclaimed favorite child, announced he was moving out at 18, Carla cried on Thursday and Friday and then on Saturday, she picked up her purse and shopped all day to fill the garage with all the furniture he'd need for his own place. Then she went to the grocery store and stocked his pantry, too. She was good that way.

When I (the aforementioned daughter) was 11 years old, I got really sick with Mono (never share your Pepsi) and she got the flu. She introduced me to the comedic genius of Danny Kaye and we spent four days in bed together watching his entire film collection. Even though I was miserable, I'd never been happier. Unlike that time when Chris, her so-called "favorite", was forced to cut the grass while sick with food poisoning. Christmas was Carla's favorite season. She handmade a Santa Claus toilet lid cover to match the shower curtain and would ask for our Christmas lists in July. We loved seeing the look on her face when we thanked our dad for the gifts that he had no part in choosing and wrapping. Her Divinity candy was perfection and the magic she created has left a massive void in our hearts and spirit.

Carla's palate preferences included anything fried, her own Velveeta lasagna, and the culinary excellence cultivated by The Red Lobster. She took great pride in her home (hey Chris, can we just focus on the carpet?!) and obsessively binge watched every episode of every show ever produced by HGTV, at least twice. Carla was quite the crafter and learned to sew from her maternal grandmother. Her mother-in-love taught her ceramics and she even took up woodworking for a while. However, motherhood was her favorite hobby. It's what she did best. There wasn't a single field trip, school party, band concert, or sport game that she missed for either of her kids. She was a young mom with an old soul and she was born a natural nurturer. She took care of everyone, didn't matter if it was a bruised knee or a bruised ego. She always knew how to fix it. There was nothing she loved more than being with her family, except maybe a QuikTrip frozen coke. We rank a close second.

To watch your loved one fight to breathe is devastating. Our family was focused on getting her through the next doctor appointment, the next treatment, the next miracle medicine, whereas she could only focus on her next breath. It was a miserable way to go, but she did it, as she did everything, with dignity and grace. Carla leaves behind a world of loving co-workers, friends, and family including husband, Jack, best friend and mother in law, Bea, best friend and sister Debbie, brothers Bobby, Clark, and Keith, son Chris, daughter in law Kaycee, daughter Jackie, son in law Allen, nephew David, niece Brittany, grandsons Austen, Cooper, Jamie, Jack, and granddaughter Kori, heir to the fiery, bold streak.

Sometimes grief is a deep, dark, sinking abyss, but her love was enough to keep us afloat for this lifetime and the next.

A casual memorial reception will be held at the home of her daughter, Jackie, on Saturday, January 13th, from 2-4pm. Feel free to drop by and share in a hug and a story.