Meet Pam – A Precious Angel
“My life has not been easy at all, but today I have joy in my heart. The Holy Spirit lives in me. I love my job and all of the angels I get to see each day. I’d live right here if they’d let me.” said Pam, when I visited with her recently. I told her that a half dozen people had mentioned her to me but I already knew that she was special, it shines through her smile and her kind words. So, in this issue I want to introduce you to a very special lady, her name is Pam Motes and she works at the Chechero Recycle Center on Highway 76 East. She is always smiling and willing to lend a helping hand. “I love to work, an idle mind is the devil’s workshop and I am not going to give him room.”, she told me. Pam has worked at the recycling center for 11 years. She works Thursday – Sunday each week. She is a mother to five children; 3 sons and 2 daughters. She has 19 grandchildren; 18 girls and 1 boy. You’d never guess it but she is now a great-grandmother to a sweet baby boy.
Pam grew up and lived most of her life in Gainesville, Georgia. She moved to Rabun County in 2006 and recognizes what most of us know “This is God’s country.” She has found treasure in what others saw as trash and has “up-cycled” many pieces and created what she calls Clayton’s Botanical Garden. She has saved yard art, angels, pots and other things to decorate the garden. She planted perennials around the edges of the fence that enclosed what some consider just a place to dump their trash. Pam truly feels that this is her home away from home and what does she love most about her job? When I asked that question this was her response, “Talking to my angels, my Kingwood family. We have laughed, cried and prayed together here. I am always happy to see my precious angels. That’s why I wanted to make it pretty.” With tears in her eyes, she told me about two of her “angels” who bought a board and painted it with Clayton Botanical Garden and brought it to her. She hung it on the fence over the angel statues that sit among the flowers. “It warms my heart and means so much to me that they would do that for me.”
“Before I went on the weekend shift, I worked six days a week and they’d have to tell me to go home.” Pam shares her home with her husband Robert Watkins. For Christmas she told him not to buy her pots and pans cause “I can’t cook worth a flip”, so he came in with a cordless tool set, she was extremely happy with that but even more overjoyed when he bought her a backpack leaf blower. Pam is one of a kind, a precious soul who loves everybody. She said, “I am so blessed!”. Rabun County is who is blessed to have someone like Pam. “Our trash compactor is emptied three times a week and so is the cardboard container. Sunday is our busiest day here, but I love being busy.” she told me. I am not surprised that the Chechero site is that busy.
I look forward to seeing Pam when I take my trash. She is always out there working hard, helping people get their things out of their cars, sharing her big smile and kind words. She asked me to share this with you, “Thank you to all my little angels and God bless you all.” Some people just deserve to be recognized for what they contribute to the world. I am sure you aren’t surprised that she was amazed I’d choose her. God really gave the world a blessing when he created Pam.