Merry Christmas

Kristin
Brandon
Jaron
Jaron & Lauren
Scott
Brooke
Carly
Dad
Christmas was alot of fun, as always. We were minus one, but it didn't feel like it. Like so many other times, your heart tells you she's still hanging out, and then your head opens it's big mouth and informs your heart otherwise. We were playing Monopoly and I kept looking up at a picture of my mom that her friend, Denise, sent each of us from their cruise that was sitting on the piano. I would feel normal and then I would notice that picture and go, "Oh, yeah."

I would get sad for half a second and then the feeling would be pushed away. Probably my heart telling my head, "Oh, yeah? She's right here!" On the flip-side, if my mom was still with us I wouldn't be playing games on Christmas, I'd probably be peeling potatoes.

She made Pumpkin Rolls every year for the neighbors for Christmas and Brooke wanted to give some away. So we searched for the recipe and I tried to act like I knew what I was doing but the first couple I made tasted kind of funny. I got it right eventually.

Molly's thoughts about death and the afterlife, part three...

Molly worked for many years as either a dental assistant or as an oral surgeon's assistant. Even though she enjoyed this work greatly, she seemed to have found her niche in teaching children. In her paper on Tuesdays with Morrie, she gives us a clue as to how she may have come to have such a love for teaching and for reaching out to the children in her classes:

"We all can look back through our lives and remember the teachers who made a difference in our lives and helped us become our best selves or who noticed us enough to let us know how important we were to them. My fifth grade teacher, for one, in North Carolina, Mrs. Pettis. She was a short rounded black woman with a smile for every one. I can't exactly remember what she did to make me feel special. I just know that she did. That feeling has stayed with me since that time."

Molly wished to touch the hearts of the children in her classes in a similar fashion. The children she taught brought her great joy and I can't help but think that she continues to be interested in them and wishing for their success in school and life.

Winter

Molly's thoughts about death and the afterlife, part two...

As part of the course on death and dying that Molly took for her degree at the University of Utah, Molly wrote a paper on the book Tuesdays With Morrie. She began the paper with her observations about Morrie:

"Morrie was lucky. He figured out what life was all about before it was too late. And best of all, he shared it with others. Morrie is the type of person who makes the world go round. People lucky enough to have him in their lives know how blessed they are. He gave his friends and family his most precious possession, time. Amazing how this one person had enough time to give not just to his family but to his friends and acquaintances as well. And how much richer they were for it. And not only did he spend time with them, he actually listened to them. "

This description of Morrie is interesting because it is how people who knew Molly would describe her. She saw in Morrie the characteristics that she exemplified. She continues her essay with:

"When Morrie found out about his disease, he was 'stunned by the normalcy of the day around him. Shouldn't the world stop? Don't they know what has happened to me?' I think when anything as startling as a death or knowledge of a fatal disease comes to the forefront of our lives, it is shocking that the world around us still continues. I thought this very same thing when my mother passed away. 'Don't they know?!' I couldn't understand how calloused the world was. Jokes about death on the late night shows, people celebrating and laughing like nothing had happened. And of course, in their lives, nothing had. But in mine, my foundation for life was gone. And though I believed in a life after life, it still was no consolation for the many years I would be without her. I wasn't ready to be without a mother at the young age of twenty-five. And as time went on and I became a mother, it was then when I fully understood her role as my mother. Finally, I was able to relate to her not only as a daughter but as mothers. And she was gone! My children would never know their grandmother. I would never be able to let her know how much I appreciated her in this life, but somehow I think she does know. I think when we invite our departed into our thoughts, they are aware of that."

I think Molly is correct about our departed being aware when we invite them into our thoughts. I think her use of the word invite is very interesting. One thought I have of Molly is that she certainly would have been a super grandmother!

Memories

Hi family,
I was going through pictures the other day and came upon this classic shot! I think it personifies Molly to a "T". She always had her camera ready.... this was taken in May on the day Jeremy went into the MTC.
Merry Christmas!
Love,
Aunt Laurie

Molly's thoughts about death and the afterlife, part one...

In the spring of 2001, Molly took a course called "Death and Dying" at the University of Utah. The course was designed to "explore and acquire knowledge concerning topics related to death and dying." Some of the areas to be considered were the "stages of grief, the dying process, and coping mechanisms." Taking this course for her degree program would have been a natural fit with her long-term interest in the afterlife.

Molly was also in the habit of keeping her class notes, assignments, tests, etc. for courses that she took. We came across her course assignments for this class and they included some passages that reveal a bit of how she viewed death and the afterlife. I think that Molly would certainly want to share some of these thoughts with those who were close to her in this life.

In one assignment, she wrote about her own grandmother. Although the circumstances of Molly's passing are shocking and tragic, she gives us an idea of the emotional joy that must have accompanied her reunion with those she loved who had preceded her into the next life:

"I believe that those buried are going on in another phase of life. I do believe in an after life. I had an interesting experience a month before my grandma died. I had a dream in which my grandpa who had passed away over twenty years ago came to me in my dream and told me it was time for her go and be with him. I was sad and cried that I didn't want her to go. But as I watched their reunion, I saw that they were ecstatic to see each other, so much so that they were dancing together with the biggest smiles I've ever seen. They were definitely happy to see each other again after so many years. I know their reunion was a celebration by the way my dream went. My grandma died surrounded by family and able to to do for herself til the end. She lived to be eighty-seven years old and remained in good health up to the last day. What an ideal way to go. It was sad to not have the interaction with her on a regular basis, but yet I was happy she got to finally be with my grandpa after being without him for so many years. They were happy together."

Did You Know?

My mom's Patriarchal Blessing tells her:

Let your light shine and your personality radiate...

Coincidence?

Carly's New Pet

Carly had a bird that kicked the bucket a few days ago named Kami. She loves birds so Kami was replaced. This is KiKi. She named it after my mom's cat that she had when we were little.



She's found a favorite spot in the Christmas tree.

Christmas is Coming

My mom made this decoration and others like it when we were really little. I think it's the only one left now.


This must have been a present from one of her students.

One of Mom's Trips

My mom sent me this email on March 26, 2008. She tells me to put her pictures on my blog and I thought, "Oh, my heck. You should have your own blog for all the stuff you've been doing." I don't think she was ever home for a whole week this past summer. She was in and out of the state and in and out of the country so much, I'm surprised she didn't forget where she lived! : )

Hi Honey...

It was nice to hear about your Dr.'s appt. I saw you that day and I have to read about it on your blog. I think it's pretty funny. I'm glad you can take a break from the meds. It will be interesting to see how things go. We'll hope for the best. Let me know if you sleep better.

Here's a couple pictures from our trip. I'll send more from school. This system can't do diddley-squat.

Here's some pictures to put on your blog. The pictures are of Dave Grimsman's big brother and me. It's through him that I became close to Dave and Tricia the Grimsman Family, and then, Carly and me in San Francisco waiting to get on the Trolly Car that got stuck going up the hill and we had to get off and walk to the top of the hill. It was fun.

Mom