When you’ve lived for ninety-two years, you tend to pick up a bit of wisdom about what it means to be human.
Wanda B. Goines of Cave Junction, Oregon, was a beloved mother to eight children, grandmother to 15, and great-grandmother of four. Although she passed away in 2016, her legacy lives on in the form of not just her progeny, but in the artwork and poetry she devoted her life to creating.
Throughout her life, Wanda lived according to these values. She was an accomplished artist, illustrator, and poet. Deeply religious, Wanda also created many Bible studies, which are still available on her website. Her oldest son is well-known artist David Lance Goines, who said his mother is the only art teacher he ever had.
A few months before her death, Wanda gained internet attention when her caregiver, Kathryn Clausnitzer Wilson, uploaded a video of Wanda reciting a poem she’d written to Facebook. The video went viral, thanks to its inspiring message and frank reminder to all of us that outward appearances mean nothing; it’s what’s inside that counts.
