Joshua Lanius

March 31, 2025

The Unexpected Blessing



Mrs. Linda Sue Gover lives alone in an old house off a one-lane road in the small town of Henderson, Tennessee. It is quiet there. Peaceful. Birds sing, dogs bark, and crickets chirp. The wind blows through the leaves on the trees and makes the wind chimes dance. One wind chime has six words inscribed on it: “In loving memory of Don Gover.” Don is Linda Sue’s late husband. 

Once a week the quietness is disturbed. The porch creaks under the feet of many visitors. Laughter and conversation can be heard from ways away. The smell of fresh chocolate chip cookies fills the natural air. Once a week, over fifty college students love on Mrs. Linda Sue Gover, and once a week, Mrs. Linda Sue Gover loves on them.

“She is a lover of nature, people, and God,” said Freed-Hardeman University and Phi Kappa Alpha alumnus Connor Creasy. “She is an encourager and a wise counselor. She is joyous, not because of an easy life, but because of her faith in God. She is colorful in her charisma and personality, as well as her attire.”

FHU junior and member of PKA Caroline Graham described Linda Sue as “one of the most outgoing people that I have ever met… any time I need her, I am able to knock on her back door, and talk with her for hours on end. I pray that I can be half the lady that Mrs. Gover is to each of us.”

I must now break the journalism rule of neutrality and admit that I too know and love Linda Sue, or as we call her, Mrs. Gover. I am a junior at FHU and a member of PKA. Before I met Mrs. Gover, I knew the stories of her love and the impact she had on others. I did not know, however, that I would become a part of this story. 

Every story has its beginning, and Mrs. Linda Sue Gover's story started in Neosho, Missouri. She was born on Thanksgiving Day in a year she will not admit to. “I can't tell you the year because I’m a vintage woman,” she said.

She was the youngest of five siblings; she had three brothers and one sister. Her oldest brother was 22 years older than her, and her sibling closest to her in age–her sister–was 16 years older than her. Because of the age difference between her and her siblings, Linda Sue often felt like an only child. “My mother called me the unexpected blessing,” she laughed. 

Linda Sue moved to Lubbock, Texas, in 1961 and attended college at Lubbock Christian University soon after. This is where she met Don.

The Gentle Giant

Mr. Don Gover was a Texas gentleman who stood at 6 feet 7 inches tall. Creasy described Mr. Don as “the opposite of Linda Sue. His demeanor was calm and quiet. He had a deep voice and was so tall he was intimidating, until you got to know him. They complemented each other so well. She was the talker, he was the thinker. He was wise because of his life experiences and his faith in God. He was a jack of all trades; could fix or build anything with his hands.”

“You would've loved him,” she told me. He always helped her fix her computer. That is what I do now.

“Pardon me, do you young ladies have a date to the ‘get acquainted’ party tonight?” Linda Sue recalled the first words Don said to her. She had just begun her first day of college when Don and his roommate approached her and her roommate. Linda Sue and her friend accepted their invitation. The only problem was, the girls were not sure which guy they were going out with. Luckily, Don liked brunettes, so he chose Linda Sue. 

They courted until right before their college’s Thanksgiving break, when Linda Sue did the unexpected: she broke up with Don. Linda Sue had an on-and-off-again relationship with a boy from her hometown: the boy her father wanted her to marry. She suspected this boy would ask her out during the break, and she could not honestly tell Don what her answer might be, so Linda Sue called things off with Don. 

Linda Sue went home. The boy called. She told him no. The phone rang again, but this time it was Don. 

“So did he call you?” Linda Sue recalled Don asking.

“Yes,” she answered him.

“So what did you say?” Don asked.

“I turned him down,” Linda Sue said.

“Why?”

“Well, there's this tall Texan, and I decided I really like him.”

“You do?”

“Yes.”

“Well, would you marry me?” Linda Sue recalled Don asking right there on the phone.

“And I said, ‘yes,’” Linda Sue told me with a huge grin on her face.

Don immediately bought her an engagement ring and properly asked Linda Sue when they got back to school. Soon after, Linda Sue went wedding dress shopping with Don’s mom and sisters. Their plan was to get married on New Year's Day. “But then we got word from my mom and my grammy that my dad was on his way, so we got married on the 30th,” Linda Sue said.

Linda Sue’s dad did not approve of Don as he did not know him. Her dad, armed with a lawyer, followed Linda Sue and Don back to their school. The lawyer diffused the situation and Linda Sue’s dad eventually came to respect Don. Linda Sue reflected on the time with the same gratitude and humor she brought to every story from her past. 

“We met in September; got engaged in November; got married in December,” Linda Sue laughed. They both grew up on farms and as members of the Church of Christ. Linda Sue was outgoing and loving. Don was a gentle giant. They were similar where it mattered, but different in such ways that made them a perfect fit. 

The Warrior on a Crooked Horse

The next characters that came into the story of Mr. and Mrs. Gover were their three children. Brett was the oldest, Stacey was in the middle, and Brandon was the youngest. Brandon had cerebral palsy and congestive heart failure. He was immobile but an astute communicator. Don and Linda Sue wrote a poem titled “Warrior on a Crooked Horse” describing Brandon, which reads:

Though his body was badly bent,

His spirit stood straight and tall.

Though his legs would not support him,

He walked the road with every friend.

Though his arms were stiff and drawn,

They encircled all he met.

Though his hands were hard for him to use,

His touch could soothe an aching heart.

Though his vision was somewhat clouded,

He could see into your soul. 

With courage, zest, and humor he met the challenges of his life,

And enriched the lives of all who knew him.

“He loved life,” Linda Sue said. “He lived life to the fullest as possible with his condition. He was not one that held resentment for his condition.” You would think he would want to be able to walk, she told me, but “he was content with four wheels under him.” Content. The word Linda Sue kept using was “content.” 

Cerebral palsy is a condition where the brain cannot properly communicate to one’s muscles. Congestive heart failure is a condition where the heart cannot pump enough blood to sustain the whole body. Brandon had both. “He did not whine,” Linda Sue said. “He was not bitter. He had a zest for life.” Brandon accepted himself as he was. He was content.

After Brett and Stacey had grown up and moved out, Don was offered a transfer from Amarillo, Texas to Jackson, Tennessee by the company he worked for, Owens Corning. The company wanted Don to help start up their new factory. Linda Sue was happy to live closer to a river. Don packed up his family and he, Linda Sue, and Brandon moved out into the Tennessee backcountry.

The Bulldogs

“The boonies,” Linda Sue called her new home. Out there with no one around and hundreds of miles away from his childhood friends, Brandon became lonely. 

This is where David Powell enters the story. At the time, Powell was a professor of Bible at Freed-Hardeman University, a sponsor of an on-campus social club, Phi Kappa Alpha, and a minister at Henderson Church of Christ, where the Gover’s now attended services.  

One night, at a local steakhouse, Linda Sue approached Powell and asked if there were any groups or clubs on campus that could visit Brandon and befriend him.

The next Thursday, the bulldogs of PKA did. “That's how it all started,” Powell said. “Linda fed everyone homemade cookies, and the students instantly loved Don and Linda. Their house was so warm and homey. To encourage Brandon, we sang.”

This tradition continued on and on. The bulldogs of PKA came to the Gover’s each Thursday and visited with them, worshiped with them, and loved on them.

Then Brandon passed away. Linda Sue read 1 Corinthians 13 to him, and its final word–love–was the last word he heard before taking his final breath. 

Don wrote a poem from Brandon’s perspective describing his final moments, which reads:

I labor for each breath,

“As the Deer Pants for Water”

Background music to my distress.

It soothes my tired soul and aching body.

Through closed eyes I clearly see,

A brilliant figure reach out to me.

I hear my mother’s voice reading,

Loving words from 1 Corinthians 13.

She touches my arm as I reach out for the hand of Jesus.

The Heavenly Chorus begins to sing.

We are standing on holy ground.

I cross over.

Don and Linda Sue assumed their house would be empty that upcoming Thursday. They were wrong. Just like the Thursdays before, the Gover’s home was filled with love and companionship. It continued on like this for quite some time, just the bulldogs and Don and Linda Sue.

Then Don passed away. “[The tradition] started for Brandon, and then it was for Don and me, and now it is just for me,” Linda Sue said. 

Despite all the pain that came alongside it, Linda Sue said her son’s and her husband’s memorials are among her favorite memories. 

Brandon’s memorial took place in the Gover’s home. David Powell gave the eulogy. The songs and prayers were led by men of PKA. 

Don’s memorial took place at Henderson Church of Christ. Linda Sue said there was a line wrapped around the block to get into the auditorium. She half-jokingly estimated the number of attendees in the thousands. “It was just a sea of red,” Linda Sue said. Red was PKA’s color. “It was absolutely unbelievable.”

FHU and PKA alumnus Chandler Ross attended Don’s funeral as a freshman. “Everyone there was wearing a PKA jersey,” Ross said. “Every single person. The mood of the funeral was sad of course, but it felt like a family reunion. Everyone there poured out love on Mrs. Gover like I had never seen love poured out before. There was grief and tears, but more than anything, there was a feeling of love and celebration of Mr. Don.”

PKA went back to the Gover’s the next Thursday and has continued ever since. They have been pouring out their love on Linda Sue for 25 years now. 

I concluded my interview with Mrs. Gover asking her what PKA meant to her. For the first time during our conversation, her eyes welled with tears. Not tears of sadness, but of gratitude. “One of my biggest blessings,” her voice broke through the tears as she spoke. “God’s providence in my life.”

Linda Sue recognized the rarity of her blessing, asking, “How many other widows have what I have? There is just no way.” 

“I always wanted a big family,” Linda Sue said. “I always wanted lots of children. This is one way God has given them to me.” Providence.

The Big Red Family

“Linda Sue is not only a mentor, grandmother figure to me, but one of my best friends,” Connor Creasy said. “She is a confidant and someone I trust with my life. She had been a prayer warrior for me and a spiritual guide through college and even now.”

FHU and PKA alumna Cece Spencer said, “Mrs. Gover means the world to me. From the moment I met her, she became a steady source of comfort and love in my life. Mrs. Gover was there for me during the best and toughest times in my life. From great accomplishments, like getting my first summer internship or winning Miss FHU, to the hardest times, like breakups and even the passing of my mother, Linda Sue Gover was there. She was there with a kind word, a big hug, and most of all, God’s love. To know and love her is such a privilege. Her presence in my life has felt like a hug from God. To me, Mrs. Gover truly means the world.” 

“Mrs. Gover is a solace to me,” Chandler Ross said. “She was and still is a place of rest for me. I never felt more at peace in my time at Freed Hardeman than when I was at Mrs. Gover’s. Many times I would go out there alone just to be there and sit still. I am a person who is anxious and restless. But the Gover’s and Mrs. Gover herself made me feel a peace that I had not felt before. I would sit and talk with her seeking advice, and I would receive so much more than that. She gave me rest. And I will be eternally grateful to her and her home for that rest.”

“Mrs. Gover is more than a lady that welcomes us to her house each Thursday,” Caroline Graham said. “She is the most hospitable person I have ever met. She is a godly, Christian woman that helps each of us navigate life and give us advice. She listens, she cares, and you can truly see Jesus through her. Mrs. Gover is so important to me, and I greatly value our relationship. I thank the Lord for Mrs. Gover, and I pray He blesses so many more people in knowing her.”

To me, Mrs. Gover is an inspiration. She inspires me to be more loving, outgoing, and hospitable. She inspires me to laugh—just as she does in each conversation she has—and to not take myself too seriously. She inspires me to have gratitude for what God has done even within the storms of my life. She inspires me to have hope; hope that God will provide. 

When Linda Sue was born, her mom called her “the unexpected blessing.” That nickname still rings true in hundreds of lives after all this time.

Mrs. Linda Sue Gover’s story is one of love, loss, grief, gratitude, laughter, hope, and God’s providence. Phi Kappa Alpha may have been a gift from God to Linda Sue, but Linda Sue was certainly a gift from God to Phi Kappa Alpha.