I write this column not as the Columbiana columnist of the Shelby County Reporter, but as a devoted friend to one of Columbiana’s greatest residents who recently passed away, Sonya Lefkovits.

Miss Sonya was beloved by the community of Columbiana so much that she was known as its “queen.”

Her sunny disposition and huge smile gave her the nickname Sunny. She lived life to the fullest and was an inspiration to all.

I got to know Miss Sonya when I wrote a story on her when she received her 50-year pin as a federated clubwoman. She was a charter member and past president of the Vignette Club of which I am also a member.

But we became close, as close as a daughter to her mother, when I got sick and she began to e-mail me every day, many times more than once, when I was homebound for months. We e-mailed each other up to her last days, and I have kept every one of them.

Our relationship was not long in years, but extremely intimate in the time we had with each other. She always had a way to lift me up, for she was sunny inside and out.

Even in her declining days when it was so difficult just to breathe, she never complained and was always concerned about my health, even when she could not even get out of her chair. She thought of others first and what she could do for them.

Her accomplishments have been well-documented in her obituary and wonderful stories written in her memory.

This is just a personal column to honor the woman I called Mama2: a steel magnolia; a woman of substance; a woman of vision; a woman with a heart of gold and as big as her Texas roots; a woman much loved; a woman who will be missed by her family and also by the whole community of Columbiana.

Good bye, Mama2. I love you with all my heart.

Phoebe Donald Robinson is the Columbiana community columnist for the Shelby County Reporter.