Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Pictures of Elder Law

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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Sunday, March 25, 2012

"Mom I Need Your Password"

My most favorite story that came from mom's death was this one.

Mom passed away on Wednesday night and it was too late to call Bo at his mission and besides that, I did not think that I would be able to talk very coherently at the time. The next day, me, Joyce, DeeAnne, Dale and Dad drove through Logan so that we could buy grandma's temple clothes and get dad a new suit (that is a story in and of itself!).

Anyway, by the time we got to Star Valley it was evening and by the time I got to the computer is was late evening. I called 1411 to get Bo's mission home address and tried the number I was given. It was obviously the office number because it said, "We are not in the office, please leave a message." I left a message, but knew I needed to call Bo that night. (I didn't want to wait ANOTHER day and tell him that grandma had died two days ago.)

So I tried to get on mom's computer. Who would have thought that it was password protected??? She had several sticky notes with passwords on them, so I tried them all and then I tried any password that I thought might work. Nothing worked.

Finally, in exasperation I said out loud, "Mom I need your password!" I can't remember if I touched a computer key or the mouse, but in the one click that I made, the computer screen completely changed. I looked an "awe" as I saw what was there. Right before my eyes was mom's security information page and right in the middle of is was....her password!

Do I think she was right next to me that night....I certainly do! Thanks mom!

The Price is Right

We found that mom tried her hardest to keep us in line even up until the last hours of her life. It was about 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday, March 7th, and we were waiting for Dave and Mariah to get to the hospital so that they could tell her good-bye. As we waited in mom's hospital room, we had random conversations about random things.

One of our conversations centered around Jim's description of some relatives of his that had recently won the showcase on the game show, Wheel of Fortune. He was telling us all about the exciting news and as he did; we could see mom shaking her head back and forth. I think I could even see a little disgusted eye rolling in the mix. Jim kept talking and mom kept shaking! Finally, she opened her eyes just a bit and tried to say something. We couldn't tell what she was attempting to say so she motioned for us to get the writing pad again! She hadn't written anything in two days because it had become very difficult to do; but once again, we figured there must be something very important that we needed to know.

We steadied the writing pad and her hand as she once again, wrote. As soon as she was done, she gave an exasperated gasp and let the pen go. We looked carefully at what had been written and lo and behold we saw these words: "The Price is Right!"

Thanks mom, we didn't want to be watching the wrong show and now we know that you didn't want us to either!!!

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Mitt's Biggest Fan

Funny story about mom: Wednesday, February 29th mom was life-flighted to L.D.S. Hospital for a "shot in the dark chance" of staying alive. After a horrendous morning of not being able to breathe and then sedation and life supporting devices to keep her alive, she made it to Salt Lake. For the remainder of that day, she was pretty sedated and out of it. Her family stayed nearby just in case she didn't make it at any moment.


The next morning, she was less sedated and actually woke up quite alert. We were all very happy for that. She couldn't talk because she had a ventilator in place but as soon as we came into the I.C.U. room she wanted a piece of paper so that she could write something down. Thinking that it might be her dying wish, we hurried and got her paper and a clipboard. Still very week from the previous day and her overall condition, she carefully wrote this message:

"Did Romney win?"

It was obvious to us what she was most concerned about! Not her family, not the terrible roads, and not her own life status; but rather, the previous nights GOP election results!

Friday, March 16, 2012

Dad's Talk at Mom's Funeral

Dad’s Honey Do List

Dianne’s biggest love and concern was for her family. That was what kept her going throughout her entire life. I think she was kind of worried about leaving our children in my care. She had some valid reasons for these concerns.

1. Jim rubbing Vaseline on the brand new carpet that she had waited 6 years to get

2. Brian riding his trike down to the highway while I slept.

3. DeeAnne getting lost.

She would probably say, I was kind of a slow learner. And it’s taken her many years to feel comfortable enough to leave her family in my hands. She frequently left lists around the house in strategic spots to help me out. I have all the children’s cell phone numbers in bold print on the fridge. I have birthday calendars on the wall. There are reminders all-around of what was truly important to mom. One list that was never written, but thoroughly taught, was her Honey Do list. These are things that she did that I know she would want me to do. These are the things that will continue her wonderful legacy in our family.

Honey Do List:

1. Keep the snack cabinet full!

2. Learn to sing Happy Birthday for the kids and grandkids birthday phone calls.

3. Learn how to use a computer get my own Facebook account to keep up to date on family news and what my grandkids are doing.

4. Stock both refrigerators when the family comes home.

5. Learn how to fill plastic Easter eggs with candy and MONEY!

6. Be quick on the draw and learn how to answer the phone on the first ring! And know which button to PUSH!

7. Memorize the brownie recipe and cook them for every family gathering.

8. Reserve every President’s Day weekend to spend with my daughters…SHOPPING and going out to eat!

9. Remember that baby blessings, baptisms, weddings and even funerals are important events to be part of.

10. And most importantly, ask more “how are you doing?”; give more hugs and say more “I love you’s.”

In honor of mom, I’m going to work on Dianne’s Honey Do list to continue the legacy and honor her.

Mom's Life Sketch

Dianne Call’s Life Sketch

Mom had our sister, DeeAnne, write down everything she wanted for her funeral the day before she was life-flighted to LDS hospital. Fortunately, she assigned me and Shirlene the easiest talk to give…her life sketch. The good news for us was that DeeAnne had actually cornered mom on enough occasions to to get a few stories recorded.

For those of you who knew mom that was not an easy task. She did not like talking about herself because she was far more interested in what you were doing instead. Mom did want us to have a few stories though, because her biggest fear was that when her life sketch was being read, it would only say, “She worked at the cement plant…and died.”

Mom was born in Berkeley, California on December 20, 1941. She was the youngest of four children and probably the most spunky one of the bunch! Her parents were both educators and she grew up on a small farm in Providence, Utah. Her best friends were Sharon Zollinger, Saundra Neiderhauser Merritt, Karen Anderson Blotter, and Lorna Anderson Eggelston. They have remained lifetime friends.

As a child, mom’s parents tried to keep her busy by gathering and candling eggs, hauling hay, and shearing sheep. One of her most graphic stories about farming that she shared was how they would catch the chickens, chop off their heads and then watch them flip flop around without their heads until they died and then they would be Sunday dinner. We’re not sure that a love of farming ever sunk deeply into mom’s soul but it was good preparation for the fact that she would be living on a farm for the rest of her life!

Mom first met Dad when she was a junior in high school. She was a carhop at Steeds Dairy Bar and he was attending Utah State University. She said that he and his friends would come there very often and then one day one of dad’s friends told her that “Dee wanted to ask her on a date.” She was in heaven knowing that she was going out with the cutest guy she had ever met!

They did not meet again until dad had completed a mission and mom was a sophomore in college. One day her friend, Linda, told her that she thought she had seen Dee working as a janitor at the college. Mom walked down the hall of the building and stood around the corner, so that she could hide real fast if it wasn’t Dee, and said, “Are you Dee Call?” He said “yes” and she asked if he remembered her. He did! And the rest is history. Their first date was the first of February and they were engaged three weeks later! They were married in the Logan Temple on November 2, 1962. They celebrated their 49th anniversary last year.

Mom said she was quite shocked the first day she saw dad get ready for work. Instead of putting on a shirt and tie like her father had always done, Dee put on grubby coveralls and headed out the door. They built a home in Afton and lived on $100.00 per month until it was paid for. Mom says that she felt as “poor as a church mouse and remembers rummaging through the entire house just to find 10 pennies so that she could go buy a soda with a friend.” She decided that she had to do something to earn money as well, and so with three kids at home, and one on the way, she began babysitting. She saved every penny she earned so that she could buy a few treasures. Her first purchase was a bedroom set and her second purchase was a snowmobile.

With four young children and babysitting to boot, mom felt like her family was complete and that her life was busy enough. She was extremely surprised when she found out that she was once again…expecting! At this point she said she was ready to have a “nervous breakdown!” (We were angels and can’t even imagine why she would have written this in her life history!) Needless to say, when Brian was six months old, Dad traded their newly built home for 80 acres in Grover and a FREE house. Mom’s exact words are “it didn’t take a rocket scientist to know why the house was free.” As kids we thought it was just fine, but as we now look back at pictures we are shocked at how tiny that house was.

Mom records living in that house as the most difficult time of her life. It took 3 ½ years to build a new house on the farm and mom was the architect of the entire thing. We remember her drawing the plans on the graph paper and watching the house take shape. Our family moved into that house two weeks before DeeAnne, baby number six, was born. During these years she also worked countless hours as secretary, accountant, CEO, and PR manager as she and dad built Call Ready Mix and Lumber. She was loved by those who did business with her as they formed lifetime friendships through their business associations.

Our family lived in that house for about twenty years. It was where we grew up into teenagers and then ventured off to college. We are sure that mom liked us most of the time, but there were moments when she would just take off and go for a drive in her car!

She loved her car and her telephone. We remember mom throughout our high school years as always being the mom who would drive us anywhere, bring us anything, help us on any school project we were involved in, and make brownies and treats for the whole group of teens who were working on floats, or election campaigns, or anything else that was going on.

She was also more than willing to take us toilet papering whenever we wanted to go. One night she even got caught with us and our neighbor, Ron Tolman, was quite surprised to find that these delinquent teenagers were being chauffeured by their delinquent mother!

Mom’s children seemed to leave the nest as quickly as they arrived and her three oldest children were all married in one summer. During these years she was finally able to resume her love for travel. She went on many trips with family and friends. Some of her favorite places to visit were Europe, Argentina, China, the Mediterranean, and Mexico.

In 1996, mom and dad’s house burned down. This was one of mom’s biggest challenges she faced up until this point of her life. She and dad started over and rebuilt a new house in the same spot. The main focus for the house was to create a home that would welcome family and accommodate large family gatherings. Everyone who entered that house felt her love.

Unbeknownst to mom, her greatest challenge was yet to come. In 2001 she was diagnosed with pulmonary hypertension. We had an early Thanksgiving that year because her prognosis was grim. Ten and a half years later she had proven the doctors wrong, outlasted almost every medical procedure imaginable, remained positive through pain, and continued to inspire and influence her family and all who knew her with her courage.

She loved life. She loved living. She loved people. She was bound and determined to stick around here as long as she could. We were quite certain that she would not go to heaven until she made sure that there was an internet connection and facebook. We are sure that she has found out that the Lord has those types of communications figured out. Her life is a legacy that will continue. We have learned so much from her. She is truly our example. We will miss her. We love you mom.

How Do You Say NO to This?

This note was hanging on my door when I got home from work late one night. It was quite obvious that Mariah felt like she had a very valid reason to skip school the following day. It worked! How could I possibly say "No" to this type of justification! Besides, I like hanging out with my daughter!
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Shopping with Dad!


Mom's Hospital Stay




Cado's Basketball Honors

 Cado had his basketball banquet on Tuesday and he received and award for being on honor roll and a trophy for the most improved player!  Go Cado...we are proud of you!
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Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Grandma's Final Resting Spot

 
 
 
 Grandma was buried near the top of Grover Cemetary in an absolute beautiful spot.
  Is there anything more handsome than this.  Grandma would be proud!
 
  The boys had a slushy hill to climb.
 
 
  Gage gave a talk that he had written for Grandma.  It was the perfect end to the day.
 
  Helping dad get his flower ready.
 The boys pulling on their boutineers.
 Parker putting his boutineer on Grandma's casket.
  Dallin and BethAnn.
 

Grandma wanted to be able to see her house when she picked out her burial plot.  If you see the tall trees in the distance...that is her house.  She will be happy.
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Grandma's Funeral

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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