a klassy lady, a friend...

as owner and operator of klassy kids,

a local, high-end, children's, clothing store,

diana whitmore was not only a blessing

to her family

and

to our community,

she was a personal blessing to me...

to my katherine.

~@~

she became my touchstone

months before katherine was even born.

from the moment i told diana

i was having a little girl

until the moment katherine "outgrew"

klassy kids,

diana was our personal buyer.

more importantly,

however,

she was our dear friend.

miss diana knew what i was going to love 

even before i did.

she knew if it wasn't soft...

extremely soft,

not to even bother.

she knew 

if it wasn't beautiful

or adorable, or precious

i wouldn't buy it.

first,

miss diana introduced me to

sophie dess and house of hatten,

both companies produced

sweet, little, hand-smocked 

dresses and gowns

with a lot of attention paid to detail.

house of hatten

also designed

hand-sewn applique, nursery

bedding and decor.

they were both favorites,

however,

katherine was a sophie dess girl...

so much so

miss diana asked katherine

to model sophie

each spring and  fall

for klassy kids.

each pre-season

when diana returned from market,

she was always so excited to tell

me about the things she'd ordered

with katherine in mind.

she was never so as excited 

as i was though.

for ten years

from sophie dess to sarah louise

to sweet potatoes 

to hartstrings...

when her shipments arrived,

diana called,

and i giddily hurried down to her

darling little shop on elm street.

in all those years

i can count on only one hand

the number of articles she chose

in which i was uninterested.

diana worked tirelessly

to do this 

(i'm sure)

for most of her customers.

she was the best

at what she did...

she was the best

at who she was!

~@~

in 1997

diana knew katherine and i

had had a particularly hard year.

our mamaw had died in august of that summer,

and katherine and i were so sad.

on the first day of december,

diana showed up at the coffee shop

with a smile, a hug,

and a gift for katherine.

katherine opened it to find a hair-bow

with her name sewn on it.

it was darling!

we thanked her

not knowing

it was only the first

of twelve days of miss diana's giving.

for, 

the next day

she came in with another gift

and so on

and so on

and so on...

on the tenth day

miss diana brought katherine

a pair of bobby-socks

with a maroon bows,

on the eleventh day...

another darling hair-bow,

a maroon and white one

with "hchs" painted on it,

and on the twelfth day

diana brought katherine 

a little-girl-sized

cheerleader uniform

that matched the high-school

cheerleaders'...

diana whitmore

was endlessly thoughtful.

that was who diana whitmore was.

i say was because

miss diana died on sunday morning.

please keep her family

and our community

in your thoughts and prayers.

she will be dearly missed.

love and God's blessings,

dani xxx