On the second anniversary of our shared birthday since you’ve been in heaven …

Mom, I’m wearing your necklace this week and thinking about you. You welcomed me into the family with open arms, a twinkle in your eye, a great game of cards, and a lot of tolerance for one who was so different than the rest of your family in a lot of ways. I was the one your son chose to love and marry, and that was all you needed to know to open your heart to me.

Yours was not always an easy life. But you faced the hard things by accepting them and finding a way to live within their boundaries. And you determined that you would do what it takes to send your children to Christian school, to take them to church, to support and love them. You were so important in helping your son to be the outstanding man he was when I married him and the even more precious, upstanding man he is now 40+ years later.

I praise God for your input in my life. I will see you in heaven when God calls me home.