Debbie was born December 3rd, 1978, the second of four children of Jim and Karen Baird. Debbie grew up with her older brother Jeff and younger sisters Jennifer and Christy. Her siblings were close in age and heart as they each progressed through life’s stage gates with great success. Debbie also maintained a close relationship with her cousin Lisa. Their adult relationship flourished as Debbie had the opportunity to work with Lisa at a medical conference in Manhattan two years back, creating lifelong memories.
Debbie graduated from West High School in 1997 and completed her education with a master’s degree from The University of Tennessee. For the past 10 years Debbie served her community pursuing her passion of impacting the lives of at-risk children as the Clinical Case Manager for The Tennessee Center of Excellence.
Debbie had a 15-year loving marriage with Nathan. They met on a snowy winter day when they were both still in college and they were engaged and married shortly thereafter. They moved away for a few years, to Atlanta and Mobile but managed to move back weeks before Jakob was born. Debbie was the proud mother of two wonderful boys, Jakob (11) and Raylan (8). She enjoyed raising them to be smart and athletic. She imparted her joy of all holidays, but especially Christmas. She worked to create many holiday traditions that will live on through time. Debbie was privileged to have the opportunity to share a yearly goal for each boy called “my wish for you”. These thoughts will be shared with each boy each year.
Debbie’s love of art began at a young age, with paintings and drawings in her collection that date back to elementary school. Debbie’s style and technique increased in sophistication through the years, landscape and scenic watercolor pieces transitioned to bold abstract art that incorporated complex textures. Every room in Debbie’s house has select pieces that stood up to the influx of new art each year. She also enjoyed painting pieces as gifts for friends and family and even worked with her sister Jennifer to sell art as part of the commercial interior decorating business. Many of Debbie’s favorite pieces will be on display at her Celebration of Life.
In recent years Debbie found peace and joy in the garden. Inspired and mentored by Jon and Kristin, Debbie’s lifelong love of pumpkins and decorative gourds yield an annual fall decorating nirvana. This year’s crop of pumpkins is set to be the largest harvest yet with three of coveted Cinderella pumpkins currently on the vine. Many of Debbie’s best gourds will be on display in her urn arrangement. Nathan and the boys plan to honor Debbie by continuing and expanding the garden. Debbie’s garden legacy will live on as her canning supplies pass to the boys so they can go on and create new pickle, pizza sauce and tomato sauce recipes.
Debbie was known for her calm and cool under pressure disposition. Her thoughts were often insightful and always humorous. This was grounded in her philosophy of peace and compassion. Debbie loved elaborate pranks and would patiently wait for the perfect plot to unfold. Anyone that was wound too tight would usually get a thoughtful joke aimed at encouraging them to relax and not take things too seriously. If Debbie could tell you one thing important to her, she would tell us to treat each other well, to look out for one another, and embrace the beauty in life’s imperfection.
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