HERE IS THE TEXT OF MY REMARKS ON BEHALF OF THE FAMILY AT THE MEMORIAL:

In the past few days, I’m sure we’ve all remembered thousands of things about Mom. One of the things that helped at this time is to hear family and friends share some of their favorite memories of Mom. It is impossible to sum up what Mom meant to all of us in a few minutes. We all know what she meant to us in our hearts.

Mom spent the last year fighting the disease that ultimately took her life. In Mom’s last few weeks, we got to see first hand the wonderful work done by hospice. Daryl, Cheryl, and Ann, I’d like to thank you on behalf of my family for everything. I’d also like to thank Linda for everything she’s done for Mom and Dad in the past year.

There have been some truly wonderful moments in the past year, but many were bitter sweet as we knew the prognosis was not good. As I thought back these last few days about some of my favorite memories of Mom, there are a few that rise to the top.

The first is a legend in the family. One day, Mom was driving Mark and I someplace. We were being a bit noisy and Mom was getting frustrated with us. I can’t recall who asked her a question, but it was her response that got our attention. She told us to be quiet, then told us that she is unable to think and drive at the same time. I think Mark and I were quiet for a second, then started to express our fear at being driven by someone who was either thinking or driving, but not both at the same time. Mom didn’t get the quiet she wanted that day and was reminded of what she said at least yearly.

Some of my favorite memories of Mom are of when she and Linda would drag us kids along on some adventure when we were younger. As we got older, they went off on their own and probably had a lot more fun. Eric and I reminisced about an incident where we were traveling to Sioux Falls with our mothers. They were visiting and saw a hitchhiker on the side of the road. They began talking about how sad it is to see someone down on their luck and how dangerous it is to hitchhike and all the horror stories they’d heard about what happened to people who picked up hitchhikers. About five minutes after they finished, they believed Eric and I that we’d missed our exit and were well on our way to Mitchell.

Another adventure with the Johnson’s was trying to find Candy Cane Lane in Sioux Falls. We traveled through about two dozen neighborhoods, Linda and Mom assuring all of us that the next street would be the one. I recall we got to less and less populated areas, then ended up in a town and came to find out we’d ended up in Brandon. Mom and Linda did eventually find Candy Cane Lane, but it was without our assistance.

Yesterday, I was in the kitchen and remembered an exchange between Mark and Mom. Mark came down stairs and asked Mom what a person would use to put out an electrical fire. Mom’s response was to ask Mark if he had such a fire. Mark continued to ask what to use and began rummaging through the cupboard. Mom continued to ask if he had such a fire. I ended up running to get Dad.

I also remembered Mom playing with our Atari video game system one day, playing Pac-Man. Instead of simply moving the joystick, Mom would use body language to try to help the character she was controlling on the screen.

In true crises, Mom was strong. It was the minor things that threw her off sometimes. I can recall as a boy the first time Mom pumped her own gas and how proud she was of herself. Fast forward about 20 years. Mom and Dad were taking Amy and I out to eat. Mom put gas in the car. As the pump was running, we noticed a sign that said the pump was out of order, the automatic shut-off would not work. We alerted Mom to this. She responded by yelling that she could hear the gas coming to the top and asking what she should do. She got everything shut down, but I had visions of a geyser of gas erupting from the side of the car. I think it is still one of Amy’s funniest memories of Mom. Well, maybe tied with Mom thinking that it was impossible that Amy could have seen a skunk by the house until Mom saw the skunk for herself.

There are so many memories, and more coming back to me every minute. Mom taking me to a lake she’d swum in as a child and finding the lake had been drained. Mom and Dad taking all of us to Florida so we could help them celebrate their retirement. As I look back on Mom’s life, I’ve come to realize that with Mom, the destination wasn’t always as important as having fun during the journey.

Mom started planning for this day 12 years ago. She planned her memorial so we’d have little to do but follow her wishes. About four years ago, she bought a book to have at the house in the event that she or Dad died. The book was written as message from the person who died to those left behind. I’ve read through the book a couple times since Mom got sick. My favorite part is the ending of the book,

"I will cherish all the friendship I was fortunate to find,
all the love and all the laughter in the place I leave behind.
All these good things will go with me.
They will make my spirit glow
And that light will shine forever
In the next place that I go."

On Monday, Mom’s sister and parents were visiting. Pat asked if Mom saw anything when she closed her eyes. Mom replied that what she saw was so beautiful we’d not believe it. I think of that as Mom’s last gift to us.

Mom, we love you and will miss you for the rest of our lives. We’re all thankful that you are finally at peace and have gone to be in all that beauty.