Today I had the wonderful opportunity to take dinner to an elderly couple in my ward. Last week the wife was diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer, a cancer that has a 10-20% survival rate. What cheery news to receive during the holidays. As I was driving to drop off dinner I was thinking of comforting words I could share and preparing myself to cheer up a distraught couple.
I pulled up to the small house and could see the man in the front room sitting alone and reading. I knocked on the door, ready to be the holiday-cheer mister, and was greeted by a happy face and an even bigger smile.
I introduced myself and explained that I have only been in the ward for 4 months so it was okay he didn't know my name, to which he said with a huge smile "I have been in this ward for 65 years! I'm 92 you know." Our conversation then drifted to his wife's condition. He told me that she was going to have chemo-therapy everyday for the next five weeks, and that it wasn't bad at all. "She is doing great" he said. As I stood there I realized that those 5 weeks included Christmas and New Years. He said that he hasn't had any breakdowns because he and his wife decided that they were going to be calm about it and take it one day at a time. As I stood there listening I noticed their front room which consisted of a couple couches, a table, and a lamp. I couldn't help but begin to tear up as he continued to tell me that they have so much to be grateful for and that they were excited for christmas. In that moment the roles were reversed. I had come to serve them, and as I stood there, he was serving me.
As I was getting back into my car I looked back at the modest home and thought of this couple, together during the holidays and SO happy together. Despite the hard time that man is going through he was able to touch my heart and remind me of God's Love for all his children. What a special Christmas gift that was, one I will never forget.
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Thursday, December 8, 2011
best year of my life.
This has been the best year of my life for so many reasons. Each month has been amazing and filled with so many exciting events.
January I met Reese. On January 21 we went on our first date and we were dating by January 26, we always talk about those days and what we were thinking at the time, what a wonderful way to start the year.
In February we went down to Vegas for Reese's birthday and for Presidents Day weekend, and we met each others families! For Valentines day he gave me tickets to Blue Man Group and we went with Nicole and Brad. Oh, and he told me he loved me. Best moment of my life.
In March we went to DISNEYLAND! It was so crazy though because we drove home to Las Vegas on Thursday and got home really late. Then we woke up at the crack of dawn to drive to California and we spent the whole day at Disneyland. (Totally exhausting if you have never been there!) Then we drove all the way home. One of our funniest memories for sure!
April Fools Day was when we got engaged, for REAL! I won't ever forget it. Utah Lake is one of our special places so he planned it all out and proposed there, it was so pretty that day. I love my husband so much. Also in April my family went on our Christmas cruise so we had to be separated for 7 days without communication, what a challenge! It was a fun family vacay that most of us enjoyed :)
This May I turned 20 and I felt so old! We went up to Rigby (the motherland) to visit the Gneiting's! So fun being there together. Its funny but both my dad and Reese's dad grew up in Rigby and went to the same High School so we loved visiting. Also we did a few hikes in the nice Utah weather.
In June we went down to Las Vegas for Brad and Nicoles wedding! We loved all of it, so much fun. It was so great to see another wedding and to get excited for ours. We played a ton of Volleyball together, another great thing about Reese. We get pretty competitive with each other when it comes to volleyball and its one of our favorite hobbies.
July was full of crazy things! Let me tell you about one crazy experience, saving seats at the 4th of July Parade in Provo! That was one we won't ever forget! We went boating in Vegas with the family and I had a couple Bridal Showers! We too our Bridal pictures in St. George- another memory we won't forget! And we were ready to get married already!
August was the month we had been waiting for! We got MARRIED in the Las Vegas Temple and had so many friends and family there! We went on our honeymoon to Cancun where we swam in the perfectly blue ocean and ate at buffets every single day. It was the best week ever! We went to Lake Powell right after and then came up to Provo and moved into our new house. Talk about the best month imaginable.
September we started school. Woo hoo! Reese did the Finance Core and he was busy busy busy, I love having a really smart husband. Both of us worked and we got lots of family visits as the BYU FOOTBALL season started. Tyler came out to visit for his birthday and we had so much fun. Reese's family came up and we all went to watch Brad play some football, we watched General Conference together and enjoyed the company.
October we drove down to Vegas to visit the family, and to go to the lake one more time! We dressed up as an Old Couple for Halloween and experienced Trick or Treating being on the other side of the door, very entertaining. I really started to enjoy cooking this month and got into it a little more. Oh, and I ran my first Half Marathon!
November November November. We went to the Military Ball and got all dressed up which was fun. We feel like we kind of went to Prom now! Crazy adventure with our friends the Teerlinks, we snowshoed up a mountain in a blizzard in the middle of the night to an amazing cabin, that was a fun one! Also we had our first Thanksgiving together and it was delicious!
And that brings me to December! Already we were lucky enough to go see Trent's Court of Honor and Ashley's baptism in Vegas, great to be there. We made it to the annual Reed family Christmas Party and we both sat on Santa's lap haha! We put up our first Christmas Tree together too. We're so excited to give each other presents on Christmas and to be with our families. I feel so lucky to have Reese as my husband and its hard to believe we only have 1 year that we've been together! I'm looking forward to so many more.
January I met Reese. On January 21 we went on our first date and we were dating by January 26, we always talk about those days and what we were thinking at the time, what a wonderful way to start the year.
In February we went down to Vegas for Reese's birthday and for Presidents Day weekend, and we met each others families! For Valentines day he gave me tickets to Blue Man Group and we went with Nicole and Brad. Oh, and he told me he loved me. Best moment of my life.
In March we went to DISNEYLAND! It was so crazy though because we drove home to Las Vegas on Thursday and got home really late. Then we woke up at the crack of dawn to drive to California and we spent the whole day at Disneyland. (Totally exhausting if you have never been there!) Then we drove all the way home. One of our funniest memories for sure!
April Fools Day was when we got engaged, for REAL! I won't ever forget it. Utah Lake is one of our special places so he planned it all out and proposed there, it was so pretty that day. I love my husband so much. Also in April my family went on our Christmas cruise so we had to be separated for 7 days without communication, what a challenge! It was a fun family vacay that most of us enjoyed :)
This May I turned 20 and I felt so old! We went up to Rigby (the motherland) to visit the Gneiting's! So fun being there together. Its funny but both my dad and Reese's dad grew up in Rigby and went to the same High School so we loved visiting. Also we did a few hikes in the nice Utah weather.
In June we went down to Las Vegas for Brad and Nicoles wedding! We loved all of it, so much fun. It was so great to see another wedding and to get excited for ours. We played a ton of Volleyball together, another great thing about Reese. We get pretty competitive with each other when it comes to volleyball and its one of our favorite hobbies.
July was full of crazy things! Let me tell you about one crazy experience, saving seats at the 4th of July Parade in Provo! That was one we won't ever forget! We went boating in Vegas with the family and I had a couple Bridal Showers! We too our Bridal pictures in St. George- another memory we won't forget! And we were ready to get married already!
August was the month we had been waiting for! We got MARRIED in the Las Vegas Temple and had so many friends and family there! We went on our honeymoon to Cancun where we swam in the perfectly blue ocean and ate at buffets every single day. It was the best week ever! We went to Lake Powell right after and then came up to Provo and moved into our new house. Talk about the best month imaginable.
September we started school. Woo hoo! Reese did the Finance Core and he was busy busy busy, I love having a really smart husband. Both of us worked and we got lots of family visits as the BYU FOOTBALL season started. Tyler came out to visit for his birthday and we had so much fun. Reese's family came up and we all went to watch Brad play some football, we watched General Conference together and enjoyed the company.
October we drove down to Vegas to visit the family, and to go to the lake one more time! We dressed up as an Old Couple for Halloween and experienced Trick or Treating being on the other side of the door, very entertaining. I really started to enjoy cooking this month and got into it a little more. Oh, and I ran my first Half Marathon!
November November November. We went to the Military Ball and got all dressed up which was fun. We feel like we kind of went to Prom now! Crazy adventure with our friends the Teerlinks, we snowshoed up a mountain in a blizzard in the middle of the night to an amazing cabin, that was a fun one! Also we had our first Thanksgiving together and it was delicious!
And that brings me to December! Already we were lucky enough to go see Trent's Court of Honor and Ashley's baptism in Vegas, great to be there. We made it to the annual Reed family Christmas Party and we both sat on Santa's lap haha! We put up our first Christmas Tree together too. We're so excited to give each other presents on Christmas and to be with our families. I feel so lucky to have Reese as my husband and its hard to believe we only have 1 year that we've been together! I'm looking forward to so many more.
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