A Tribute to my Mom

Since today is Mother's Day, I thought I would pay tribute to my beautiful mom who is so dear to me. My mom passed away almost 8 years ago and I miss her very much. Even though she isn't here, she still inspires me and guides me with her example. I often times ask myself, "How would mom handle this situation?"

There are so many things I love about my mom, but I will just mention a few. One of the greatest things I learned from my mom was the importance of prayer. I will forever have a picture etched in my mind of my sweet mom kneeling beside her bed praying. Often I would go up to ask her a question or tell her something and she would be praying. As a kid I wondered how on earth somebody could pray for SO long! But as I got older, she would share things with me that she had learned through prayer, and I knew she spoke with her Heavenly Father because she loved him, trusted him, and needed his guidance. I am so grateful to her for teaching me this principle. She taught me through words, but my greatest teacher was her example.

My mom was so compassionate and kind to others. She made people around her feel loved. Again, she was such an example to me as I watched her. She reached out to the elderly and those who were impaired in any way. She treated them like equals and loved them.

My mom served others. She taught me that service is a very important part of the gospel. One day I called her, complaining about my day. I had no car and was cooped up in the house with two small children, and I was going crazy! She listened patiently, and when I was finished she said, "Sounds like you need to go serve somebody." She knew that if I focused on serving others, I would forget my own troubles. How true that was!

My mom was my dear friend. Hardly a day went by that I didn't talk to her. When Brek and I lived in Provo, I would go home (to Sandy) once a week to teach violin lessons. It worked out well, because my mom could watch Scott for me while I taught, and I also got to spend a day with my mom every week. I have a wonderful memory of my mom's smiling face coming around the corner as we walked in the front door. She was always so excited to see us!

My mom didn't care about things. She had a beautiful home, but that wasn't what was important to her. One day, Scott was standing on the table swinging his light saber and in one mighty swing, took out the chandelier, breaking part of it! I went and told my mom what happened, and she replied, "Oh well. At least he took it out in style!" To her, stuff was just stuff. She had an eternal perspective.

She loved my kids and thought everything about them was wonderful! I miss her friendship, her guidance, and her wisdom. I have thought that in some ways I have grown more since my mom passed away, because I have had to turn to my Heavenly Father more often, where before I would just ask my mom.

I could go on and on, but needless to say, I love my mom!! I am so grateful for her, and I am so grateful for eternal families. What a blessing to know that we are all sealed together for time and all eternity!

Happy Mother's Day to all you wonderful mothers out there!

My mom and Scott. They were such buddies and loved to do things together!