Mary "Penny" Burns left this world on Friday, October 4, 2019, and entered the spiritual world where her light and energy could continue to flourish and grow. Mary received a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from the University of Memphis and later became an adjunct professor for the University of Memphis, Christian Brothers University, Rhodes College and Memphis College of Art. She also taught English as a second language in the Czech Republic. She was a supporter of all the arts in the community. She was a member of the Memphis Business Association, the Cooper-Young Association, Cooper-Young Garden Club, and featured in Memphis Magazine as well as $5 Cover , a web-based film project involving people and places in the Midtown Memphis music scene. She loved to teach and share her love of language arts, but her heart was her coffee shop, the Java Cabana Coffeehouse in Memphis, Tennessee. For more than 20 years, you could find her there and meet our ever-enchanting Mary. She had a passion for all things real, organic, natural, and anything that grows from within. That includes words from the heart as well as flowers, plants, and trees from the earth. A goddess on this earth, she could instantly fill a dark room with light and had energy so powerful that meeting her only once would enable you to remember her forever. To meet her was a blessing; to know her was a gift. From a very young age, Mary loved to write poetry. Her words were found on anything that could hold ink including paper, napkins, walls, postcards, and pictures. Below is a small sample was written by Mary on the back of a photo she sent to her sister more than 25 years ago. It is a perfect reflection of the beautiful being we all knew and loved. Mary ("Penny") leaves behind her parents, Richard and Martha Lois Bailey; her aunt, Mary McNeelis Sather; sisters and brothers-in-law, Dawn Casey-Chiles and Kevin Chiles, Angela Bailey Briggs and John Briggs, Amy Bailey Bennett and Brad Bennett; nieces and nephews, Tyler Newsom, Dylan Soyland, Arabella Casey, Zoe Casey, Graham Chiles, Cooper Bennett, Caylee Bennett, Gracee Briggs and Hannah Briggs, also her dear, Robert Balanger, and many many sweet caring friends.

"There is still hope and time to grow. Time to love ourselves and others. Still, time to be thankful for the birds that fly and sing and soar. Time to be thankful for mornings, afternoons and nights…for rain, for flowers that make the air smell sweet…for trees that reach the sky and give us shade. Oh so much to appreciate, to understand. There is still time to look at life with fresh eyes, to open up and let your heart be filled with peace."

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