37. She's soft-spoken
Kayla, Mom
and I recorded our voices to tape one year. My mom was sitting directly over
the tape recorder and I was across the
room. My voice came in more clear than
my mom's; to this day Corey and I will
remember her soft voice while speaking in normal tone and mimicking "I am
yelling" though we are obviously not.
38. She's generous.
I'm sure it
was through her generosity that each of her children felt the need to be
generous as best as we can.
39. She's given me financial support.
She would
often "give" us money to pay back loans or to purchase a needed
item; she would often do if without our
even asking.
40. I love her incoherent late-night
conversations.
My brothers
were always better at the late night conversations than I. I was tired.
I wanted to go to bed. Mom would
have to unwind. Often she fell asleep
with the TV on. One time she took
pictures of Patrick and I building a snowman at 2:00 a.m. - one of the few
times I hadn't gone to bed less than ten minutes after we returned home.
41. She's directionally challenged.
There are family members
who have inherited this quality. I would
be lost without the GPS - literally.
42.
She helped me to appreciate music.
43. She showed a great deal of trust in me when
I was growing up.
I don't know
what example Corey used, but one that often comes to my mind is allowing each
of us to drive the car, even after an incident like the first example found
here.
44 She was a night-owl at one time like me.
45. She taught me to be honest.46. She's a good example of service.
There was a sister in the ward who
was receiving dialysis treatments - which are given several times a week. The sister did not drive and Mom assisted with
driving several times during the month.
She may have also felt like the care giver as she devoted much of her
time towards my paternal great-grandmother, my paternal grandmother and my dad.
She was able to serve her own
mother during the last month of her life also.
She instilled into each of us the
willingness to serve the way that she had.
47 She showed me the importance of family.
48. She raised well-adjusted kids
One thing that we've got going for us that many
families unfortunately don't, is trust.
We trust each others. We trust in
the values we were taught. I think we
are fortunate to deal with death in the manner which we do. I feel very blessed to have turned out how I
did and highly regard my sibs and their spouses and children as well.
49 She shows a great love for her religion.
Mom was so
diligent about fulfilling her callings and putting in effort to participating
in lessons given by others; I hadn't
appreciated her devotion until after the dementia started robbing her of her
mind.
50. She has shown a great deal of support for my
goals.
When Corey was
six years of age or so, he had decided that he would grow up to be an
actor. Mom supported him by going to
every one of his plays - even out of town or out of state.
51. She's shared her life history with me.
52. She buys ice cream.53. She's prayful.
Lot of
prayers. Here is just one example
54. She taught me to keep a journal
Corey and I
both kept journals and detailed letters.
Writing was not a favorite pastime for Patrick. I don't recall Kayla keeping a journal
either. But the letters she sent home from her mission were
more informative than Patrick's. Mom and
I had always wished Patrick would have said more.
No comments:
Post a Comment