No Regrets

I wrote this post in my head just before I fell asleep last night.  I doubt I'll be able to do as good of a job right now... but I'll give it a whirl.

Yesterday I was reminded how important our family relationships are.  And not just my relationship with my hubby and kids, but with my extended family, too.  My brother and his family and all Eric's siblings' families as well.  Not to mention all the parents and grandparents.

I went to a funeral yesterday for a woman who was my age, and the oldest of 8 girls.  She passed away from Breast Cancer which was only diagnosed 4 months ago.  Such a tragedy for someone so young.  At the funeral all of her younger sisters got up and spoke, sharing memories of her and spiritual thoughts about our belief in the afterlife.  Mormon funerals are cool that way... no matter how sorrowful you feel about the loss of a loved one, there is always a sense of peace and hope that comes from knowing that we will be reunited with them again after we die.

I attended the funeral in support of the 2nd daughter in that family.  She is a friend, and I knew her older sister a little bit, too.  After the funeral, I found my friend to give her a hug, and I was really impressed with something she told me.  "At least I have no regrets..." she said... "I know I spent our time together well."

I spent all day thinking about that one idea.  Do we spend our time together well with our families?  Do they know how much we love them?  Do we take the time to show them?  Tell them?  Serve them?

It made me so thankful for my family.  I am very thankful that my children are not only siblings, but friends.  I hope it stays that way for them as adults.  Do I have some relationships that I need to work on?  Yes... because even though my only brother lives over 1000 miles away, that's no excuse for me not to check in with him more often.  The next time I'm at a funeral for a family member, I don't want to be the one that has regrets, because I believe "regrets" can be 100% preventable.

When I Knew

Thanks, Sheri, for the Valentine's Day inspiration.... I hadn't really decided what I was going to blog about today, but now I know!

Eric and I met at the Single's Ward Blood Drive... romantic, eh? We went on our first date a week or so later....

Three months later we were both returning to Ricks College for our second year. I lived in Dorm 4 (on campus) - he lived in Green Briar (off campus.) I was at Albertson's with my parents buying dorm food and supplies (this was before Rexburg had a Walmart!) and we ran into one of my freshman year FHE brothers, Dean. (During my freshman year, I thought this guy was HOT, but he NEVER seemed interested in me.....) Anyway, we were in Albertsons buying food and he came up all smooth and suave to say "hi" and was acting really "flirty". Four months earlier, before I'd gone home for the summer, I would have been so excited and "wowed" that Dean was finally acting interested in me, but now that I had Eric, I could care less. I was completely annoyed, thought his cologne smelled really bad and was really irritated that he was trying to "kiss up" to my dad in the grocery store of all places! I couldn't wait to get out of there and I guess that's when I knew I was in love (with someone else!)

Six weeks later Eric and I were engaged... 10 weeks after that we were married... and this is our 17th Valentine's Day. Love you sweetie!