Tomorrow is Mom's birthday. She would be 55 years old. She died 13 years ago at age 41. It is a long time ago. Below are pictures of Dan and Mom -- we gathered up a few pics to include in a photo book he took on his mission. As I get older 41 is seeming super young. At the time, when I was 19, I thought 41 was pretty old! :) How things change. At the time Mom passed away Dan was only 7. So sad! I can't imagine #1 growing up with no mother as dan did and #2 leaving my children motherless at such a young age. So tragic and yet it is just part of what all of us experience in life. Everyone has trials, suffering, sadness and difficulty. Nobody has a blissful life -even if it appears that way from time to time.
I have always loved President Hinckley and his attitude about life. “Life is just like an old time rail journey ... delays, sidetracks, smoke, dust, cinders, and jolts, interspersed only occasionally by beautiful vistas and thrilling bursts of speed. The trick is to thank the Lord for letting you have the ride.” Life is a great ride. There is so much to be enjoyed and to experience.
One neat thing my Mom did after she learned she had cancer and would be dying is that she prepared some things to be left behind to her kids. She wrote letters to be sent to the missionary kids, wrote a personal history and made quilts for the kids and baby blankets for the grand kids. Such treasures!
I think it is neat that she was able to stay so focused on the important things in life. I suppose the illness helped her to do so, but a lot of credit goes to mom and her determination. It would have been easy to enjoy the last 2 years of life, spend time with family and do meaningful things. She did that and then more, going above and beyond to make sure her legacy and testimony were left behind.
I was reading in "letters from mom" last night and loved her letter about God's love. In the scriptures God's love is compared to fruit trees -- easy to reach, very abundant and available to everyone. Also, the straight and narrow path that leads to the fruit tree is described. Mom pointed out that the path is straight and narrow - not to restrict us but to keep us safe. Satan's influence is all around us. The only way to be really safe is to stay close to God. To make it as simple as possible, it is a straight and narrow path. Easy to find and easy to stay on. And yet, it is also so easy to wander off the path and get lost. It was a good reminder to me that I need to be more diligent in sticking to the path - doing the "daily's" and making sure that my priority is really what I know I want most.
best family pic of all time!
mom and pete
mom and scott
mom, pete and dan on the tramp
Speaking of Dan, here is ELDER DAHLQUIST!! He went to the MTC Aug 15th and leaves the MTC for Spokane tomorrow Sept 3rd. It didn't hit me 'til just now as I write this that it is sort of significant that it is Mom's birthday tomorrow too. She must be so happy for him.
My kids think it is so fun to go to the cemetary -- so tomorrow for Mom's birthday we'll head over with some flowers to visit Mom on her birthday!
7 comments:
Beautiful and touching post, Denise. What a special mom you had. I'll be thinking of her on her birthday tomorrow. Stop by after the cemetery and visit.
She is surely proud of you, too! Sad, but touching words you wrote. What a great reminder of the preciousness of the time we've been given.
Wow. I am in tears. You have an amazing mom....
That is wonderful that Dan will be in Washington on your mom's birthday. In my opinion it is was meant to be. I love all the pictures in the next post.
I love this post.. so inspirational. Thanks for sharing.
I miss you! When are we going to hang out?!!!
This was such a beautiful post Denise. And I loved seeing all the pictures of your mother. Congrats to your brother and wishing him the best of luck throughout the next 2 years.
Seems like she was a beautiful person inside and out.
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