This Wonder Woman mother of 10 is adjusting to a new life after her husband’s sudden death
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POCATELLO — Ann Bailey is adjusting to a new way of life after her husband was suddenly killed when his car rolled on black ice near Cokeville, Wyoming.
The mother of ten children lost her husband, Kirk, six months ago and she is getting used to being a single mom and grandma.
“The last thing that I remember doing with my husband was giving him a big long kiss on the sidewalk before he left,” Bailey said recently in an interview with EastIdahoNews.com. “I’m very glad to be able to say that. I miss him a lot. I miss him every day.”
After Kirk’s death, Bailey quit her job so she could stay at home with her youngest daughter, who is still in high school.
Now she is learning to forge a new path and often reflects on past experiences that have led her to become who she is today.
While raising her kids, Bailey was involved with a musically gifted trio, which started in the late 80’s and early 90’s. The group wrote songs to inspire women at any stage in life.
“Our program was called ‘Womanhood: Enjoy to the End,'” Bailey recalls. “We get so caught up in doing our mom thing, or doing our work thing, or doing whatever it is we’re doing that we forget that we’re supposed to be here to enjoy the journey – not just when we get there.”
The group spent 22 years doing their show one weekend a month for eight months out of the year.
After moving to Idaho in 2007, she became a choir teacher at Franklin Middle School in 2009 where she taught for 8 years. Many students say she changed their lives.
“She just lights up a room so quick, and I love it, and I loved going to choir every day just to see her,” former choir student Anisa Satterfield says. “She’s just amazing and nothing will ever make her sad. Even though it makes her sad, she’ll never show it.”
Students came together to show their love at Bailey’s last concert with her students. They made her a sign that read “Ubuntu.” It means, “I am me because of you” in honor of an African song they learned.
Bailey says she’s continuing to move forward from her husband’s death by participating in community theater and doing the things she and her husband had planned.
“I’m looking forward to figuring out what I’m supposed to do, discovering where I’m going to end up and what things are ahead of me,” she says with a smile.
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