Happy Birthday, Mom

Have you ever lost someone close to you? Sometimes I find it healing to write letters to my mom who passed away unexpectedly in 2006. Grief and loss are experienced by many, and I find it especially healing to blog about her from time to time to help in my healing process. Here's a letter that I would want to share with my mom today on her 49th birthday.

Happy Birthday, Mom.

Today you would have been 49.

I think you would be proud of our family this year.

Little baby Rachel just turned sweet 16 and got her driver's license. You wouldn't believe what an amazing young woman she's becoming mom. She has such a loving and tender spirit and she's just so grown up all of a sudden! She's going to homecoming with a bunch of her friends this weekend. I know you would have loved to curl her hair and take her dress shopping like you did for me when I was in high school. Remember when you bought me that white dress with all the glitter? Dad was upset you spent so much money on a dress for me... but I think it was worth it. I felt like such a queen that night!

Con man is in his second year down at U of A. Remember when you used to have to buy him special pants and then hem them during his "husky" years? You would never need to hem his pants again.... he is super tall and muscular now! He's made a ton of new friends down at college and is definitely Mr. Popular! He has a girlfriend named Meghan that I think you'd like a lot.

Bear is truly all grown up now. He graduated from ASU in May and got an amazing job over in San Francisco! Remember when we took that family vacation to San Fran? That was a fun trip.... it's still one of my favorite cities of all time! Anyway, Erik tried to explain to me what he does over there, but it's so fancy schmancy I can't even explain it. Something to do with stocks and managing wealthy people's money. Anyway, he has a condo over there with a roommate that he gets along with well. I can't wait to see him for Christmas. It's weird not seeing him all the time now.

Dad is doing great too. He just bought a new sports car... you know... the one he's been talking about his whole life but always felt it was irresponsible since he had so many kids to take care of? :) You wouldn't believe how much he's grown as a person over the past few years. You would be so proud of him. He's all I could ever ask for in a Dad.


And me?  I've been busy too.  Scott and I have been married almost 3 years now and I started grad school to get my Master's in Counseling this year.  Ever since I was a little girl you told me I would end up in one of the "helping professions."  You were right, as usual.  I miss singing and playing the piano for you.  I've been working on a few songs that I know you would love.  I'm becoming a better cook too.... I really wish I  would have taken you up on those cooking and sewing lessons when I had the chance!  I think you'd be proud of who I am today though... or at least a lot of people tell me you would be anyway. :)

It's hard to go through these milestones without you, and I'm sad that you're not here to experience life with us.

Love and miss you.

Happy birthday, Mom. 

If you knew my mom and would like to leave a birthday comment of something you miss or something you would want to tell her, feel free to comment below! :) I love to read memories that others have of her. You can also read the post I wrote last year on her birthday, HERE.

Buddy Christ

I somehow managed to make it all the way through public high school without ever being required to read Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury. After discussing this shocking fact with my friend Josh Johnson, he gave me a copy of it for my birthday. I finally got around to reading it (after forcing myself to take a break from Tom Clancy) recently...

In so doing, I stumbled across what I thought was a rather poignant statement that reflects on our society as much as it does Bradbury's fictional one. (SPOILER ALERT) The statement takes place when Montag, the protagonist, has met with an elderly former professor whose vast knowledge and skills have no place in a world that deemphasizes personal knowledge and wisdom. Quality education has ground to a halt and free thinking is discouraged. Books, the keepers of information and thought, are targeted as the actual source of discord within mankind. The knowledge and wisdom of one individual creates a schism between him and his fellow man who lacks the same knowledge. This rift causes disharmony and thus the book, or more accurately the thoughts and words within it, is evil as it turns man against another. The solution? Systematically hunt down and burn all books, thus destroying the knowledge they contain.

Upon locating what very well may be the last remaining copy of the Bible, (which literally means "book," by the way) Montag brings it to professor Faber. The Bible is the best selling book of all-time and in my opinion is the most important book in history. But in Montag's world, it is forgotten... just another book to be burned. Some of the teachings and the concepts within it still remain but are distorted, dumbed down, and bent to the whim of the government. For instance, Jesus Christ, the focal point of the New Testament and the Messiah the Old Testament alludes to, is still a recognizable figure. Recognizable in that Christ appears on the TV to market certain commercial products. In Montag's world, Christ, the King of Kings, is relegated to selling deodorant.

Upon seeing the Bible and reading the Scriptures again for the first time in decades, professor Faber says: "I often wonder if God recognizes His own son the way we've dressed him up, or is it dressed him down?"

Is our society in America any less guilty of "dressing down" Christ? Guilty of putting Him in a box, bending Him to fit our picture of how we think He should be? Guilty of twisting His teachings to be more palatable? Guilty of neglecting those teachings that aren't convenient? Guilty of seeking wisdom apart from that which He offers? Guilty of removing Him from a place of prominence? Guilty of trivializing who He is and what He did? Guilty of dethroning Him from being the Son of God to just another salesman peddling another philosophy? We may not be burning Bibles, but how faithful has this "Christian nation" been to its groom? Have we exchanged the truth for a lie?

Would God recognize His Son the way He appears in society today? In our homes? In our schools? In our churches? I'm sure in a lot of places He would, but I'm equally sure there are others that He would not... All I can say is that I pray and strive to make sure that if God looks at my life, at my family, at my church, He'll see someone He recognizes... He'll see His Son.