's motd Saturday April 16, 2011

[Guest guest]

DELLA RUTH

JONES

Saturday, 16 April 2011

I was

on the air with The Show in

the early 1980's. From the first day my show aired,

people loved it and I received thousands of fan

letters every week. I just loved reading them. The

people who wrote asked me about eating healthier

meals, controlling what they ate and, of

course, they asked me lots of questions about

exercise, too.

But among my favorite letters were those from people

who watched my show and were writing to share their

weight-loss successes with me. And oh, you know how

much I loved reading those letters!

One day, after taping two shows, I went back to my

dressing room and there was another stack of letters

waiting for me to read and I dove right in to reading

them. The first letter I read that day was from a

young man from Hattiesburg, Mississippi named Elijah

. (By the way, Hattiesburg is barely an hour

from my hometown of New Orleans. So Elijah and I came

that close to "growing up together." LOL.)

In his letter, Elijah told me how he, a

year-and-a-half earlier, had reached his highest

weight ever...484 pounds! But he was writing

to tell me he'd lost 300 pounds and that my

show had been an important partner in his weight-loss

success. My goodness!

Well, after reading Elijah's letter, I called my

show's producers into my dressing room and told them,

"We just have to get Elijah on the show so he can

share his incredible weight-loss story with the rest

of America!" Ginger, one of our producers,

was put in charge of Elijah's segment. She called him

in Hattiesburg and, sure enough, he said yes to our

offer. So we flew Elijah to Los Angeles to be a guest

on The Show.

From the moment he walked onto the set, we all fell in

love with Elijah! He was so positive, so happy and,

like me, he had a great sense of humor. I knew he was

a special man from the first day we met. And Elijah

fell in love with all of us right back.

Well,

I had what turned

out to be a great idea. Would Elijah agree to become

a member of The Show

team? The offer was a dream come true for

him. Elijah flew home to Mississippi, gave up his old

job at a 7-Eleven convenience store, drove back to

L.A. and went work with us on my show! He's worked

with me for nearly 30 years now and I've been truly

blessed to have him as part of my team and as a dear

friend.

Now moving to Los Angeles meant Elijah had to say

good-bye to his family and friends back in

Hattiesburg. Those good-byes included a teary one to

his most beloved mother, Della Ruth .

That was the toughest part of leaving home for Elijah,

saying good-bye to his mother. But Della Ruth

understood. Her son's future was waiting for him in

Los Angeles.

The first time I met Della, (that's what I always

called her), I fell in love with her, too. Elijah was

already set-up living in Los Angeles when I met Della

on one of my trips to do a personal appearance in New

Orleans, back in 1982. Della and her daughter,

Kenita, had driven down to New Orleans from

Hattiesburg to join us in my hometown. And boy, did

we all have a good time laughing together. (Now I

could see why Elijah was so much fun!)

Della has visited me several times in Los Angeles and

one time, we had a great cookout for her on my patio.

Della got to return the favor for me when I visited

her home in Hattiesburg one year. She even cooked a

big-old pot of collard greens for me. Collards were

one of her specialties. (Hey, this is the south, you

know! LOL.)

Last week, God came down and took Della Ruth

from this earth and back to Heaven to be with

him. Later in life, she often suffered from severe

pain in her back and her joints. Those episodes led

to several hospital stays for Della during the past

few years. But she'd always bounce back from those

illnesses and get back to her routine, which included

lots of work in her yard, often in spite of any pain

she might be experiencing. She admits, the yard work

was therapeutic for her.

I'd often call Della and we'd talk about flowers,

about life and I offered her words of encouragement.

(Della called me her "white son". LOL.) We'd always

just laugh and laugh when we were on the phone

together.

The news of Della's passing was a real shock for me.

I guess you're never, ever really "prepared" for that

kind of news. I'd spoken to her not long ago and she

told me then how tired she was and that she'd even had

to give up her gardening. Her flowers were the

prettiest in the neighborhood and she once received

honors for having Hattiesburg's Yard of the Month

by their local newspaper.

I just have to share a little bit of Della's biography

with you. She was the 8th of eleven children and was

born in the tiny town of Leakesville, Mississippi.

Even at an early age, she had a great thirst for

knowledge. When she was growing up, African-American

children in her hometown received an education only

through 8th grade. But that wasn't enough for Della

Ruth ! At the tender age of 15, she left home to

live in a boarding home in Hattiesburg where she could

complete the 12th grade. Then she kept going! Della

went to college, earning a Bachelor's Degree in

Education at Tougaloo College and earned her Master's

Degree at the University of Southern Mississippi. She

later worked for the University instructing student

teachers who, themselves, would work at educating

America's young minds.

Della loved going to church and spreading God's word.

She taught her Sunday school classes up until that

Sunday before she went to Heaven. Della would tell me

that she always said a prayer for me and now, I will

say a prayer for those five loving children she leaves

behind including, of course, my life long friend,

Elijah.

Della and my mother, Shirley, got to meet each other

several times during their lives. Shirley took Della

on a tour of her own yard in New Orleans once and

Della got to admire my mother's beautiful flowers.

Well now, I know the two of them are up in Heaven

laughing and trading stories about their two sons.

They're also keeping an eye on us so...you'd

better behave, Elijah! LOL.

Della's funeral services were held earlier this week

and I'll miss you, Della Ruth . You are

quite a lady and I was so blessed to know you!

Please keep Elijah and his family in your prayers.

Love,