I found this photo in your email ... it was sent by a close friend of yours. Your graduation was such a wonderful time! The party you threw was a grand event to celebrate such a momentous event in your life. I remember laughing with you, and crying too, that Mom wasn't there to share such a moment. We talked about how you wished she had been able to be there with you, how you wished she could help you decorate your house and be there for you. A short time later, you and I cried about how we wished Dad was there to share our lives, be proud of our accomplishments, share a pizza with us, watch Survivor, and share in every aspect of what we were doing. I sit here wishing I could share that same thing with you. Mary and I celebrated her birthday. We missed you - wanting you to be there with us as we welcomed another year of her life and all of the changes that are happening. We went to the Finlayson bar - people came up to us to talk about you, they had tears in their eyes, even though they had only spent a short time with you, they remembered your spirit, the glint in your eyes, and they missed you. You touched this world more than most ever will. We all miss you, and will love you forever.

Jean

I wish I had better memory of when I was younger because I know you were there for a lot then- driving Billy and I to dance and keeping us in line, taking him to the hospital when I hit him with a golfclub (accidently of course) and later when you finished college and lived in the "Pink Barbie Room". Those are some I remember. But in the last few years you became a friend, someone I looked up to, and the one to call for advice. Every time I came home from college you were the person I wanted to see the most. We started a tradition of going out to sushi (which you introduced me to) and you got the idea of going to every place in the cities. And we did! You showed me around Uptown and took me concerts like Dave Matthews for my birthday, Jason Mraz, and Bob. But the best times in the last few years are the times I got to pay you back for all the love and experiences you gave me. You visited me at college where I got to take you a Nebraska game, and on my broke college budget got you a student ticket so we decided you would be a "grad student" and then later that night we went out to a bar, me being twenty, you were now my "mom" in case the cops dropped in. In so many ways you were like a mom to be, always there when I needed you. There was no doubt in my mind when Scott proposed that I wanted you to be my maid of honor. It made me so happy to have you there next to me. I still feel the urge to call you. You helped me through so much, and I hope I was there for you too. You were such a giving person, and I was so excited to start giving more back, I thought I would have the time. But in the time we did have, no how much I loved you and how much you did for me and it seems like so many others.