After two years of battling with brain cancer, my mom passed away on July 10th, 2019. I won't talk about the events that surrounded this, but I will share the life sketch I gave at her funeral:
My mom was born on Oct 19 1965 in Anchorage Alaska, she was a miracle child for Leon and Peggy and the first of 9 children. She lived in Alaska for about the first 2 years of her life and then she moved to California.
At age seven she moved to Ojai California, where she spent the rest of her childhood and teenage years. She loved growing up in Ojai and would say it was a paradise and the perfect place to be a child. She was very active and played soccer, loved water skiing, snow skiing, & dance.
In Ojai she made lifelong friends, and it was where she also met my Dad, who lived just down the road. Though you could call them, high school sweethearts, they did their best to not “technically be dating”, but were together as much as possible.
After high school she moved to Provo to attend BYU, where she joined the sportswoman club on campus, and would often rent a car to go snow skiing.
Around this time, my dad returned home from him mission in Ecuador, and things fell right back into place, 6 months later they were engaged.
They decided to come back to BYU for my dad to finish his degree and it was then that they have their first child, Josh.
After college my dad took a job with Marriott, which brought them to LA and then Colombia SC and after 2 years with Marriott, they moved back to Provo for my dad to get his Masters in Tax from BYU.
My mom insisted on getting a degree - and decided to go to UVU to finish her schooling where she got a degree in a child development. She was a straight A student, and often told me that the hardest class she ever took was water painting.
My mom loved her experience in the southern states with the more family/religious lifestyle - so they accept a job in Dallas, and moved to Texas.
It was here that she took up jogging while pregnant with me and jogged up until the day I was born. Jogging became her addiction- no matter where she was, she had to start her day that way. Whether she was in Cairo, Cuzco, London, Serengti or at a hotel in a seedy part of Reno where she had to run laps around the small parking lot, she started the day with a run.
Eventually we moved to Highland Village Texas- her dream neighborhood on the lake. More lifelong friends and memories were made, and here she had children number 4 and 5.
Around the year 2000, my parents felt the prompting to move to Provo, it broke her heart to leave very close friends, the neighborhood, and our ward. But obedience was her second nature. So they moved to Utah.
Provo was an amazing and a beautiful surprise for my mom. Though she never like the winters. I remember her telling me multiple times “I don’t know how I ended up in a place where it snows”. PV5 welcomed us with open arms and raising a family within this community was a dream come true for my mom.
Callings of all types came her way, leading her to serve diligently in many different organizations at church, but she especially loved working with the little children. She always dedicated herself 100% to each calling - and did nothing half way. She never had a doubt or a waiver to do EXACTLY what the lord or church leaders ask, and was always completely dedicated to the church and its teachings.
While my dad was completely done after child # 5, my mom felt a prompting for a 6th - you could never talk her out of what she felt was right. So a 6th child it was. Even though this meant she had to upgrade our car to a 8 seater, which she hated because it was far too large and she forever called our Ford Expedition, the Beast.
As previously mentioned, she loved jogging, and while in Provo jogged the temple figure 8 loop everyday. However, after an accident while traveling in India she messed up her ankle, so cycling became her new exercise of choice and she lived for the challenge of the steepest hill. After cancer, she could only walk - but she walked as hard and fast as she could, so much so that others would have to jog to keep up. She always took her health very seriously, and that also included her diet. She always ate oatmeal with berries for breakfast, and a green smoothie almost every day-and there was no fruit in these smoothies. They tasted awful, but she loved it because she could taste, as she would say “the goodness” and loved how healthy and good it was for her body. However, at the same time, she had the biggest sweet tooth. You could always tell when mom had gotten into the ice cream because all of the good chucks and toppings were picked out, leaving just the plain parts of ice cream behind.
She loved her kids and would sacrifice anything for us - except for sleep. Our curfew was modeled around her sleep schedule. She had black out window curtains, wax ear plugs, and a noise maker. And when traveling, one of her checked bags was designated to a sleeping pad, blanket and pillow.
The one time she would sacrifice sleep was if it had to do with us signing up for class schedules. She always made sure we got the best teachers and schedule possible, whether we were in elementary school or college, it was a priority. Our education was very important to her, she went to every parent teacher conference, and helped us diligently prepare for the ACT. She is definitely the reason her children got into BYU.
She was a wonderful mother. She made sure we had nutritious family dinners every night, decorated the house for every holiday-which always included a themed flag out on our porch, left a plate of treats on our beds every valentines day, and facilitated family nights every Monday. She attended our extracurricular activities, and watched many a soccer game from inside of the car to avoid the cold weather. She was the savviest shopper and truly the queen of shopping the best deals-especially at Kohl's. She made one type of cookie-one that used a cake mix and only took 4 ingredients, and it was always a crowd pleaser. The summers were filled with afternoons at the swimming pool, and I swear I spent my whole childhood listening to Dr. Laura and Glen Beck while driving with my mom in the car.
She cried during musical numbers, had a beautiful alto singing voice, kept the cleanest house, and had an exceptional ability to dodge all photos and videos. Which always baffled me, because she always looked beautiful.
Two years ago she was diagnosed with stage 4 brain cancer, and she attacked her cancer like she did her life. With hard work, faith, and confidence in God. She beat the odds, and was able to enjoy some wonderful months with family and friends. She lived an exemplary life, especially when it came to obedience, faith, persistence, and sacrifice. She is an example that will bless our family for generations to come, and she will be very missed.
Love you, Mom.
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