A NICE Legacy...

Today I drove down a street called Quirk in my little hometown.

It's kind of a "quirky" name when you think about it,

which I haven't until this second and now I'm kind of smiling over it.

I was driving on my way to spend some time with a 5 year old so his dad could go to an appointment.

  He was happy to see me because I brought him a "tweet".  I was happy to see him because he calls me "Aunt Trista" and that makes me smile.

As I pulled out of my driveway I noticed the house to my left.  The man who has lived there all these years isn't there anymore. It feels kind of lonely without him.

Then a little bit up the road I saw Betty's house.  She used to grow daffodils all over her front lawn.  It was always a fun sight.  She's not there anymore but the fact that she still keeps a can in her driveway for the high school kids to put their garbage in makes me smile.

I continued to drive and to my left I saw where Leah and Toni lived for many years.  Across the street was where Ann used to walk in her front door. Before I got to the stop sign I saw where Betty Lou and Bob raised their family.  Their house used to have pink trim.  It doesn't anymore.

As I turned onto Main Street, still in pursuit of that 5 year old, my heart missed those old Grantsville faces.  Each one knew me by name and each one always made me smile.

I finally got to the house of the 5 year old, by "finally" I mean 2 minutes after I left my house.  Interesting how much you can ponder in 2 minutes.  The 5 year old talked to me non-stop for an hour until it was time for me to leave.

I climbed into my car, still feeling warm and fuzzy with thoughts of my earlier 2 minute drive down Quirk. It didn't take much for me to convince myself to take the long way home and think about those before me who used to drive these little town streets.  So I pulled out of Deseret Circle and headed for a trip down ...

I past by Grandpa Johnny and Grandma Bernadine's place on Main.  They weren't really my grandparents by birth but they laid claim to everyone in town and we all laid claim to them.  We loved them and they loved us.  Our tennis courts are named after them.

I thought of Verl.  He was a gem!!  He used to golf with Jeff's dad.  When it became to hard for Dick to golf, Verl would bring him delicious treats from his garden and stay for nice visit.  They loved each other and will forever!

On a side-note... golf or no golf, Dick still can smooch his sweetheart!

I thought of Mr. Callister.  He will forever go by that name to me, although most people knew him as Gary.  He was my 5th grade teacher.  I remember one day my mom put a bun in my hair because I was running late for school.  Oh how I hated buns back then.  I went to the desk of Mr. Callister to explain my tardy and as I walking away he told me how pretty I looked.  I didn't turn back to look at him because there were tears in my eyes. He loved his students and knew the things they needed to hear.

As I turned onto the street where I live, I passed by Joe's house and his daughter JoAnn's. Then down a bit from there was the place Barbara used to live. A little beyond that was the home of my beloved neighbor Lorraine.  She lived there when Dillon was only 3 years old.  He called her "Duane", kind of like I get called "Aunt Trista" sometimes.  Oh she loved Dillon and he loved her ... and they both loved her kitties!

I pulled into my garage thinking of my grandparents and also Jeff's.  My memory brought the faces of Tom, Fern, Brad, Ron, Bernice, Ray, Bob, Nada, Vearis, Kim, Bev, Kate, Robin, Becky, Marsha, Berkley, Faye, Florence, Morley, Donny, Marjie, Relva, Cleo,  Phyllis, Lucy, Don Ed, Joyce, Barbara, Clyde, Don, Elaine, Richard, Don and the many others who lived here long before I. My pondering caused me realize all these people, and many more, represent all that is good in this small hometown of mine.

Those people have been in my heart all day and I've wondered what made them so iconic.  Then it hit me!  It was because I never saw a single one of them that they weren't ...

I hope I will be remembered someday when someone drives down Durfee Street.  I hope they'll remember that Jeff and Krista raised their family there.  Most of all, I hope as they think of us, they'll smile and say we were always NICE!

That would be a pretty awesome 

LEGACY!

Wanted.

Note:
For no good reason I've been in a serious funk today!! As I've prayed for direction, Heavenly Father directed me to my OWN WORDS.  This post was written FOUR years ago.  I'm not sure why I never published it but I'm glad it was here for me to find today. The pictures you'll see are old, Oprah is off the air now and yet these words still ring true for me and perhaps for you too.

April 8, 2011

So yesterday afternoon I was awarded an

"Ah-ha" moment with ...

which is weird in itself

as Oprah and I don't usually

see eye to eye

and we spend very little time together.

However, I didn't feel good

and it was snowing

and I was warm by the fire

and Oprah just happened to show up.

As I looked at her and 

wondered why she'd chosen to wear that 

red sweater, she shared something 

very private

which caused my tear-ducts to leak

and my head to bow in 

deep thanksgiving.

Oprah told me that she was never ...

The circumstances of her birth

had brought shame to the family.

When she was born, instead of smiles and joy,

there was disgust and the attitude of

"Who is going to take care of this child?"

It was no secret how everyone felt

as they passed her around like an unwanted plague.

It was never a secret that Oprah was...

then came as she said, with tears streaming down her checks

"To born into this world WANTED... is a gift."

My head dropped to my chest and

with tears streaming down my own checks,

I immediately gave thanks for my mom and dad

who kissed and hugged on me May 18, 1970

and have made it clear every day since that 

I was WANTED.

I was also thankful for sweet Bobbie

who gave up a lot to bring Jeff into the world.

It's never been a secret how much 

he was WANTED.

I thought of these 3 cousins of mine

and how, although they came into

our family through other loving ladies,

they were each WANTED

in a deeply prayerful way.

I thought of a little boy

and the day he was born 10 years after his last sibling

and how joyful that day was.

He was WANTED.

In fact, everyone I know in this life 

was WANTED 

so it never occurred to me,

until Oprah showed up today,

that being so was

a gift.

Therefore, I had to stop in my tracks

and make certain

the two boys I bought into the world

knew how very much they were...

If you haven't let the gifts in your life 

know they were

NOW is the time!

Day 0 ... No one fights alone!

Today is a big day in my small world ...

I say "small world" 

because my sons tell me 

I live in a bubble.

They are right and 

I'm quite comfy here.

But a little over 18 months ago

my bubble didn't feel so comfy.

In fact, I feared it would pop

as I sat in a doctors office and 

listened to my mom's diagnosis of

Multiple Myeloma

an incurable form of blood cancer.

(click HERE for that story)

I came home that night and cried myself to sleep.

No one knew I was crying 

although I suspect 

I wasn't alone.

I suspect a few of my brothers and 

perhaps some of our children

also spent that night with tear soaked pillows.

We woke up the next morning,

dried our tears,

we rolled up our sleeves, 

and went to work,

praying for a way to 

save our mother!

Our prayer led us to

The Huntsman Cancer Institute.

How blessed we feel to have them so near.

People from all over the world travel there 

searching for that hope,

that longing to know they are not alone.

We didn't know they offered such a 

Beacon of HOPE 

until we were the ones needing it.

Each patient puts a pin on 

the Myeloma board.

It's kind of like a bunch of 

little beacons

representing the hope each patient 

so desperately needs.

I suspect there are boards like this, 

for every kind of cancer treated at the Huntsman.

Thousands of patients ... 

Thousands of pins ...

Thousands of prayers ...

My mom was one of those.

I've had many tiring days 

since my mom put 

her pin on the board,

as have my six brothers, 

our spouses 

and especially 

our dad.

We've sat through countless blood tests, 

infusions and scary bone marrow biopsies.

We've strained to understand our mom's doctor.

We call him Dr. K because his name is 

just ridiculous to spell and even harder to pronounce.

He's from Europe, speaks with a heavy accent,

and saves lives.

I've heard his voice so many times 

in the past year that now I can

understand him with perfect clarity.

That heavy accent,

that used to represent fear for me, 

now represents peace and 

hope.

One year ago to this day 

my dad and I sat in a room.

It was full of tubs, needles 

and a high tech cart which 

held my mom's 

stem cells.

In the months prior 

she'd received many treatments,

including days in the hospital 

harvesting those stem cells.

It is not an easy feat

when you're needing

20 million!

But it was all worth it for the chance of

qualifying for the life saving procedure 

she was about to receive ...

A BONE MARROW 

TRANSPLANT

Two days earlier she was given a strong dose of chemo.  

She kept ice in her mouth for a solid 2 hours 

while the chemo did it's work.

The ice offered hope that perhaps 

she wouldn't acquire mouth sores. 

Thankfully the ice worked and so did the chemo!! 

Within 24 hours the cells in her body,

 both good and bad, were all dead. 

As we sat in that room,

 my mom handed out treats

to her Huntsman 

Myeloma Team.

She wanted to celebrate her 

new life!

The team knew the significance of that day

as they presented her with a birthday gift

and all sang HAPPY BIRTHDAY to her.

WOW!  

A brand new birthday!

April 22, 2014

would always be referred to as 

DAY 0

After the hullabaloo was finished, 

all eyes were focused on the task at hand.

The stem cells were removed 

from the high tech cart.

They were frozen solid 

to keep them alive and 

were infused into her 

when they were still "slushy".

As it entered her body ... it was truly 

miraculous!!

But the glowing light of 

witnessing a miracle was soon 

overshadowed by her 

shaking body.  

She was literally 

FREEZING 

from the inside out.  

Warm blanket after warm blanket were piled on her.  

I can't remember the exact number but 

I know it was in excess of 12 

and not a single one helped.

Her teeth chattered and her body shook 

as if she were standing in the frozen tundra, 

for surly she might as well have been but she

NEVER complained

and in the difficult days to come, 

she never would.