January 8, 2011

As the shock is starting to wear away and the reality of Mom's death is beginning to sink in, I have put in a very restless night. It will be a difficult sight to behold when I walk downstairs and don't see her sleeping on her bed in the living room. My head is filled with thoughts of the coming decisions we'll make for her services, how she would best like to be memorialized, and how we'll all keep going in the days, weeks, and months to come.

I appreciate all the messages and phone calls giving your condolences and so willingly ready to jump into action to fulfill our every need. As I've tossed ideas around all night and into this morning I've concluded that many of our physical needs are met. We're well provided for in every imaginable department. I'll never turn away an interest in your prayers as we face difficult days ahead, but aside from this, we're going to be alright.

My request, if you're still interested in fulfilling a "need," is to do a good deed for someone in my Mom's memory. Visit a shut-in neighbor, donate to the local food pantry, prepare a meal for a co-worker who's recently has surgery, send a card to a friend who's feeling down. The possibilities are endless and we should continually strive to jump at opportunities to serve others. "No act of kindness, however small, is ever wasted." --Aesop My Mother never wasted an opportunity to show God's love and kindness to someone else. I am sure that nothing would delight her heart more, or better honor her kind spirit, than to put into action the lessons she lived by. Dad, Justin, and I were fortunate because we were showered with love and kindness to an infinite degree having spent so many years with Mom. It almost seems unfair that she gave so much of herself to us leaving less to share with everyone else. No project was too big or too small in Mom's eyes. She worked alongside me as diligently for a 4-H poster as she did in helping me prepare the speech I delivered at my high school graduation. She never refused to help, even when she may have rather done something else. My Mom is a perfect example of what we all should strive to be. As we decided last night-- She was perfect, now she is more perfect.