In Memory of Anita Miller-Banks

On Friday morning, July 31, 2020, I was on the phone talking shop with a fellow faculty member. We were discussing a number of uncertainties that teachers everywhere are facing during the pandemic and trying to process some of the policy decisions that our administration had issued the night before. Out of nowhere, he blurted, “Anita is dead.”

His brother-in-law had just sent him a text with the news. We both sat in stunned silence for a moment, thinking it could not really be true. I kept thinking, “Nothing is posted on social media about this. How would he even know?” However, soon after these thoughts ran through my mind, a second message confirmed the heartbreaking news.

Anita and I had met in band during our college years. She was a sparkling, winsome lady in every sense. She was the kind of person we all need to meet when we are new and unsure of our surroundings. She welcomed people. She took the initiative to speak to those who were out on the periphery. She was always the optimist - when things looked bad, I could always count on her to smile and help me see the brighter side of things. As one friend put it, “she was transforming the energy wherever she was.”

Following graduation, I ran into Anita infrequently. Her smile and warm embrace never changed. Through social media, I was able to see her still engaging with people who needed her most. When the pandemic hit hardest in March, Anita challenged us all to help wherever we could. It was what she was doing. She made masks for people. She spread her kindness all around, and she called on others to join her in so doing. She made a difference.

She loved her husband, Cliff. She would relate how he cared for her and protected her. She never lost her faith in a God who was working things out for good. She loved her family - including her Sigma Alpha Iota sisters.

If you want to join me in honoring the life of this marvelous woman, do this: take a moment to reach out to someone and listen to them. Smile more often. Make something. Share a kind word with someone who needs it. Welcome others.

Be at peace, Anita Miller-Banks. I am a better person because I knew you. Thank you for being exactly who God made you to be.