In Memory

Today is Memorial Day. I've thought about my peoples and want to note them here. Please understand some have passed on and left a legacy of some sort, some are still pushing air in and out, but have made an impact on me.

Mom (Lucille) - Thanks for saying I could be/do what ever I wanted to be or do. I know the paths I've taken are not the ones you would have, but the end result is the same. OK, can we at least agree that the essence of the living is the same? LOL. I miss you.

Mom (Joann) - You have loved me unconditionally. I'm so blessed to have a mom/mother-in-law like you.

Dad (Tom) - You didn't do much for any of us. That's too bad. You had a choice and two chances. You blew them all.

Dad (Walt) - You loved me unconditionally too. Thank you for your hiking pack. It is through that pack that my love for hiking has grown. It is because of you I will embark on my next great adventure. I miss you.

Ken - Thanks to you I have two lovely daughters. Thanks to you for killing just enough of me to know that I will never, ever let that happen to me again. Thank you for forcing me to spread my wings and fly.

Robert - Thanks for loving me even when you really couldn't. Thanks for telling me never to own a car with a clutch because of course I do (and a drill). Thanks for loving my girls and thanks for letting me love yours. Your girls are beautiful!

The Lenny's - S - thanks for taking me hiking - your patience has given me a whole new world. W - Thanks for making me feel like the most special person in the whole wide world - at least once a year. You're the only person who ever calls me "T".

Carol - Thanks for being such a bitch all those years. You still give a good bunch of us something to talk about. I'm sorry though that you were the only posterchild for Mormonism that I had. You had it all wrong.

Paul - I think there was potential for greatness.

And lastly, but not leastly - my wonderful bunch of pals who keep me smiling, cared for and worldly: Louise, Diana, Blaine, Randi, Jules, Pat. We can't forget those most recently inducted into the brat pack: Brian, Matt and Cassie.

And because this is a three-day holiday and I don't have to work - I have to mention some mentors that have pushed me uphill: Jeff, Louise, Geoff, Don, Bill, Olivia, Mike, Kelly, Marshall, and John.