Goodbye For Now

There are few things that feel as strange as having your sibling graduate to Heaven. Like it or not, at some point, you expect your parents to go home, but a sibling, especially a younger sibling…well, you just don’t expect it. My sister, Alena Stevens was a beautiful woman inside and out, and we always thought she would be with us. Nevertheless, on Wednesday, April 23, 2025, Alena quietly slipped from this Earth and woke up in Heaven. We know where she is and we know that she is happy…very happy, but for those of us left behind, this is really hard. It has been especially hard for her sweet husband, Mike Stevens, because he has lost his life partner, and he loved her so very much. It’s also been very hard on their children, Michelle (Matt) Miller, Garrett (Kayla) Stevens, and Lacey (Chris) Killinger, and the grandkids, Elliott Stevens, Maya Stevens, Brooklyn Killinger, and Jaxon Killinger.

Our childhood was really what I would call idyllic. We had great parents, who took us on many trips around the United States. We traveled by car…and old station wagon, and as was typical in those days, we got to hang out in the far back end of the wagon. No one wore seatbelts in those days, and laying in the back end with the sun shining on us made for a warm little nest we played and sang songs as we traveled. With five girls, our parents found that singing was a great way to pass the time as we traveled, and thus avoid the inevitable question, “Are we there yet?” I don’t recall really ever dealing with that on our travels, but I remember that Alena loved to prank us. She had a great sense of humor, and she might pull a prank quietly, and then be seen trying to hide a giggle as the prank played out. She did delight in that, and she was very good at it. I don’t think there was one of us who didn’t “fall victim” to an Alena prank at one time or another…and when she got you, she always had this satisfied little grin that would light up her face.

While pranking and teasing were both in her nature, so was loving kindness. Alena had a soft heart, and that made her a natural-born teacher-educational support member. Alena spent most of her working years as an educational support member at Verda James Elementary School, where she left a legacy of shaping young minds. Her students loved her and the teachers and staff she worked with couldn’t have asked for a better friend. She had a soft, gently way about her, and she had a heart for people. She had a way of settling down a student who was upset, and the students never forgot her kindness to them. Both students and staff have stayed friends with her for many years. For years, Alena was a fixture at Verda James Elementary School, and when she retired on June 8, 2020, it left an empty place there.

After her retirement, she went on to do the things she had looked forward to for years. Alena loved her role as wife, mother, and grandmother, and spent as much time with each of them as she could. Alena and Mike loved traveling, golfing, watching television, and going to her happy place…Pathfinder Reservoir. She always loved the lake. She thrived there. Alena was so proud of her children, and the adults they became. She watched them learn and grow, and was thrilled at the paths each of them chose. She knew then so well that she knew long before they grew up, exactly what field they would go into. She could see it in their personalities. When the grandchildren, Elliott Stevens, Maya Stevens, Brooklyn Killinger, and Jaxon Killinger came along, Alena was thrilled. She would spend as much time as she could with them. They all love her very much.

Over the years, our sister group has seen many phases. Childhood to adulthood. Friends to Prayer Warriors. As this new reality began, I felt like there was a “chink” in the armor of the Sister Prayer Warriors, but then the Lord reminded me that Alena is still praying with us, as are our parents, they just pray from a different location. It’s good to think of our close-knit sister group still being intact, and I know we will all get used to this new reality at some point, but we will never stop missing Alena. It is really awful to have to say, “goodbye for now” to our sister, because we can’t imagine life without her in it. Still, we know that she would not want us to be sad, so we will remember all the good times and look forward to when we will see her again. We love you Alena, and we miss you so very much.