A Tribute to the World's Greatest Mother

I've been thinking a lot lately about my beloved Mother, whom we lost on 13 September 2008. She would have turned 83 on April 12, Easter Sunday. It reminded me of the Easter-themed birthday party we held to celebrate her 80th, so I decided to include a few pictures from that occasion. We are headed home to spend a couple of weeks with Daddy, so will actually be in WY on Mother's birthday/Easter Sunday. That has happened only once in the years I've been married, and that took place three years ago when I flew home to surprise her and we celebrated her 80th by "kidnapping" her for a girls' outing and shopping spree (for her!) in Billings.

Although Mother spent her entire life sacrificing for her eight children and others whom she loved, she would tell you it was not a sacrifice at all, as it was what she wanted most out of life. When we learned that she had cancer and would not be with us much longer, we asked her what she wanted to do with the time she had left; did she want to jump out of an airplane, fight a bull, whatever. She said, without hesitation, that she had everything she'd ever wanted: to be a wife and a mother.

When Mother learned that she was dying, she asked if I would speak at her funeral. And then she added, that if I were willing to do so, she had one request. She said that dates and places had never been important to her. She said, "The following things are important to me, and I hope what my life has been about: (1) the Gospel of Jesus Christ; (2) my family; (3) my friends; and, in equally (4) and (5) beautiful music and beautiful flowers.

While preparing to speak at her funeral, I remembered the saying: "If you were convicted in a court of law of being a Christian, would sufficient evidence be found to convict you?"

Mother had just told me herself what was important to her. I decided to see if I could find evidence sufficient to convict her. Of course I did so, and in the thirty minutes during which I spoke at her service, I shared the evidence I found, and then asked those in attendance if they agreed there was sufficient evidence to convict Mother. She was an amazing woman, an opinion shared not only by her husband and either children, but by all who knew and loved her.

Thank you, Mother, for all you are and for all you have done for each of us. We're looking forward to, and working toward, a joyful and eternal reunion.

Much love always and all ways from your Favorite-Second-Oldest Daughter

LaRae's 80th Birthday

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Make a Smilebox slideshow

" Good Friends are the Chocolate Chips in the Cookies of Life"

Deena and Marilyn and I had such fun on Thursday evening. Our dinner and visit lasted 4 and ½ hours! As they say, we behaved outrageously (and can hardly wait to do it again). Seriously, what fun friends they are, and what great Christian examples they are to me. Many years ago now, Deena was in a very troubled first marriage, wherein her former husband was physically and verbally abusive. Fearing for their lives/safety, Deena took her two small children and fled, with little more than the clothes on their backs, in the middle of the night. She drove until several states separated them from the source of abuse. She got a job as a waitress and made barely enough money to cover rent and utilities and food for the children. If they didn’t eat everything, she cleaned their plates. She also “cleaned the plates” of the customers in the café where she worked, half a hot dog here, soda crackers there, etc.
After a period of time, Deena met a wonderful man, Ron, who was divorced and had also been in a very unhappy first marriage. It was, and still is, a match made in Heaven. When Deena and Ron first moved here with their young family, Ron had a job at a local dealership, selling cars. They used their cash reserves to move here, pay first and last month’s rent, utilities (you know the routine). Ron got paid once a month and it was several weeks before he got his first check. There were four very long days remaining before Ron’s first check was due, and they had spent every last penny they had. They made it through those four days by living off PEARS—and only pears--from trees in a local park. We still talk about the pears that saved their lives. Deena says she has a lot more guts today and would ask for help if in the same situation, but at that time . . .
To this day (and Ron and Deena have now been married for years, sharing 19 grandchildren and, I think, 7 great grandchildren), Deena calls Ron “Mr. Universe,” and he calls her “Miss World.” They call one another often when they are not together just to express their love and appreciation. I’m so thankful they found one another.
Steve grilled chicken for us and joined us for dinner before leaving to attend the viewing of a friend who passed away. At one point, Marilyn asked Steve what he liked most about our home. He pointed to me and made a very sweet comment that I don’t recall verbatim.
We received a thank you note from Marilyn in today’s mail, from which I’ll quote just a portion, “When I asked what you liked about your home the most and Steve indicated it was his precious wife—WOW! That was a huge statement. How wonderful God has blessed you with such happiness. Your friendship makes the world seem right.” This was a particularly poignant moment because Marilyn lost her husband to heart disease a couple of years ago. How blessed I am to be loved and appreciated by my awesome husband.

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Families are Forever

I'm new to blogging and have spent part of the weekend picking the brains of some of my blogging/scrapbooking friends. I've asked their opinions about everything from software to tricks to freebies, and they have been generous in their responses and offers for help. I think one friend said it best when she said she is self-taught and that it takes "time and patience." Undoubtedly, the learning curve at this point will be steep but, hopefully, it will pay off in the long run, and I will be able to give back by contributing ideas to others.

Inasmuch as family is the thing that matters most to me, I thought I should begin my blog with a picture of all members of our family. I "cheated" with a pre-formatted layout from SmileBox and love the simplicity of it, at least until I learn how to design my own pages.

Steve and I love to travel, but as the Families are Forever layout states, "Going is fun, but coming home is better." One of the things we love most about where we live is that we are within 3 miles from both of our sons' families. And that, of course, means being within three miles of our three amazing grandberries! Life simply would not be the same without them. While my grandparents on both sides were an integral part of my life, our sons grew up many miles from either set of their grandparents (there simply were no universities near my family in WY where my professor/administrator husband could best utilize his talents). Traveling home to see grandparents once a year, during the summer, provided far too few opportunities for quality bonding moments, despite their loving one another deeply.