How can I put a lifetime of memories of my sweet mom into a few paragraphs – I can't. So here are just a few highlights for sharing at this time.

I'm so glad that mom & I were close & nothing was left unsaid or not shared with her before she went home to be with Jesus & I can't wait to see her again when God takes me home too.

Memories:
As a little girl, once a week mom would take me to ballet class in the morning and afterwards we would go to see her hairdresser Henry for her weekly wash, curl & style (which was common to do in the 1960's.) with the finale of going out for brunch and having waffles.

Mom & I loved to shop together and I spent many Saturday's growing up having fun with her at the malls, going to lunch and just being together. As a teenager – she always made sure I had the latest & up-to-date fashions. Many times we would sneak in packages of clothes when we came home to which my Dad either didn't notice or by the time I wore the new outfit was just glad his little girl looked her best.

I remember coming home from school to hear mom accompanying a barbershop quartet of young teenagers from the church in our living room or giving piano lessons to a young student, or practicing with a vocalist or violinist who would be performing at an upcoming concert. Music was such a part of her life. It began as a young girl & through her young adult years in Salt Lake City where she was trained in classical piano and later jazz at the McCune School of Music and studied from well known musicians such as Franklin W. Asper who was the Mormon Tabernacle organist. She always said there's only 2 kinds of music: good & bad. Mom also loved Rock and Roll & reminded us kids it was her generation that brought in Rock & Roll. She loved rock bands such as Heart, Fleetwood Mac, & Deep Purple.

Mom also was a natural born dancer. She danced as a young girl ballet & tap & in her young adult life trained in modern interpretative. She would take classes from dance artists who would frequently come through Salt Lake. She auditioned and later joined the dance troup of the famous modern interpretive artist Barry Lynn and was set to tour Europe with him until one day in class she tore the ligaments in her leg. Mom kept up with her dancing through my teenage years & would still take ballet and tap classes. My dad always told her she introduced him to the finer things of life, namely, music, dance & theatre.

Our teenage friends always loved mom & would many times come over just to talk out problems & confide in her or just hang out. That was mom & it carried through into her senior years. Just a few weeks ago, my friend Carol who is young enough to be mom's daughter told me how much she enjoyed spending time with mom. Forgetting mom's age she would feel as if she was with a contemporary friend. She loved discussing politics, world issues, God, the Bible, music, fashion and everything that encompassed life. She made friends wherever she went including favorite restaurants & coffee shops. She always made people feel loved, accepted and was genuinely interested in them.

Mom was an awesome prayer warrior. She would hear of a need, whether it be at home or across the world and would spend hours in prayer to Jesus talking to him, asking for blessings, healing, help, whatever was needed. She always prayed for my brother and I around the clock for safety & guidance through life. I'm anxious to see when I get to Heaven all the lives that were affected by her prayers.

During the time God saved my mom that September in 1980, he was also working on me while at BYU & by my return home in the summer of 1981 I knew the Mormon church was false. What did remain was a love for Jesus I had since I was a little girl. It was my mom who encouraged me to take the next step & make a formal commitment to Jesus which I did that summer of 1981. What an honor to be her 1st person she lead to make a commitment to Jesus. God is so good. That closeness we had since I was a little girl now was maintained in adulthood and we could share through the upcoming years what was most important in our lives - Jesus.

Mom moved to the Sacramento area in 1991 & I had the pleasure of having her with me from then until she went home to be with Jesus 26 years later. Not only was she my precious mommy, she was next to Jesus, my best friend. Many memories of going to church together, co-leading a Bible study, watching old black and white movies, shopping, lunches, and just being together. She had a great sense of humor. Many times she would mix up her syllables in a word – i.e. Fleetwood Mac became Maxwood Fleet & we would laugh & laugh. I had a theory she did this because she was born left-handed & her mom made her use her right hand as it was considered abnormal to be left-handed in that time period – criminals were left handed. Therefore I surmised her brain would sometimes process words in reverse.

Oh the wonderful memories. My comfort now is that she is with Jesus and all the saints who went before. I know she is having the time of her life worshipping her Saviour. She has probably been meeting her favorite people from all the ages who have gone before.

I can't wait until Jesus calls me home too – so I can have an eternity of new memories to be spent with my dear sweet Mommy & friend.