The Bucket List

Mom had these amazing 12 days after she got home where she felt a little better each day.  She was recovering from her surgery and as that healed, she had the energy to make a list of to-dos and get to many of them.  Don't get me wrong, she was weak, but she was in such good spirits.  It rubbed off on all of us.  It was easy to forget that she was dying.
We'd often make comments to her about how great she looked for someone who supposedly had little time left.  The amount of time left was something we all wondered about.  It was nice that Mom and Dad were so open about what was happening and we could speculate WITH Mom about when she might be leaving us.  It was healing to be able to cry with her.  I loved the moments spent sitting with her.  She taught me many things in those last few weeks.  She approached her death in the same way she approached her life--with optimism.  She knew she would miss us and that we would miss her, but she knew that her Savior had made it possible for all of us to be resurrected and live again and be together.  That knowledge was her anchor and she had faith that we would all be ok.
Other than those intangible life lessons I learned from her, she taught me many more tangible lessons as well.  She spent an afternoon with me using her embroidery machine to make a blanket for my sweet baby on the way.  She'd had the blanket done for a few months and just needed to know what name was to be embroidered around it.  I loved being able to tell her that we were naming our little girl Candace--for her.
After making a blanket for my baby, she wanted to get blankets done for my brother and sister that don't have kids yet.  She had a box of flannel ready to be made into blankets and once Tyler and Carrie each chose a boy and girl blanket, she taught me how to thread the serger to finish the edges for them.
Other things on her list included labeling the pictures of her and her cousins from my grandfather's 90th party in April.  So she took one afternoon and blogged them.
She wanted to make sure Baba (my Dad's mom) and her sister Tami knew where she was on family history work.
She wanted to get as many Thank-you cards done as she could for all the people showering her family with love during a difficult time. 
And then she wanted to write letters.  Letters to each of her children and to my Dad.  She was most anxious to have some letters for Tyler to open on special occasions (wedding day, mission, etc.).  As far as I know, she got them all written.
And somehow, she made time for so many people.  Her sisters, her brother, my dad's brothers, her children, her grandchildren, my grandma and so many friends.  She took every opportunity to tell the people around her that she loved and appreciated them and she dealt graciously with so many tender goodbyes.  

Dad, Mom, and Tyler on June 5

Vicki, Penny, Candy, Terri, Tami, and Tobi--Team Angel Sister (as their shirts say).  All together for the last time on June 6.

Mom was so great to spend some of her precious time just reading to her grandchildren.  Granny and Megan on June 6.

Brooke joined in too...

Megan and Granny on June 9

Brooke, Megan, and Grandpa, June 9

A goodbye with a dear family friend, Shelly on June 9.

Jamie (my sister), Owen (Jamie's 5th baby), Granny, and Megan on June 9

My Mom, my sisters, and I.  We are listening to the song Just One Moment More by Mindy Smith.  June 9.

Granny on the floor playing with Megan on June 10

Mom would come sit outside and chat while we swam with our kids.  This is Megan, Brooke,and I on June 10 (I was 33 and 5/7 weeks)

Also on June 10, Aunt Tobi swimming with us, Mom and Uncle Tab chatting (Tab is her only brother).  My girls both became quite good little swimmers this summer and kept me BUSY in the pool.

Beautiful Mom on June 10

Mom and Dad on June 11

Tami, Candy, Tobi, and Tab on June 11 (doesn't Mom look amazing?)...

In her recently remodeled kitchen on June 11--she LOVED that kitchen.

Saying goodbye to her brother Tab on June 11

Busy at the computer, June 13

My brother Shad's 31st birthday, June 15, 2011

Mom and I on June 15 (in her pirate kerchief as I called it--we had a pirate costume growing up that had the same polka dots)