Tuesday....January 25th...2011

Another portion of the Eulogy for Linda...2nd of 4 parts....

Thank you for coming here today to celebrate the life of the most amazing person I’ve ever met.

Whether you call her Mom, wife, sister, aunt, or friend, I think we all agree that the impact she had on us with her limited time on this earth has changed each of us forever.

Linda Lou Rasmussen Emken Wood.

I’d like to share some stories of my mother so you can fully understand who she was. Mom was born in Blair, Nebraska as the youngest child of four… all in five years. That’s a lot of baby raising! She was really close with her siblings, as you can imagine but I think they were a little bit jealous of how special she was.

You see, Mom grew up having this reoccurring nightmare that she was in some sort of box and was tumbling down a hill. One day she confided in my grandma, her mother, this story and Grandma laughed and said, “That wasn’t a nightmare, sweetie, your brothers put you in a baby buggie at the top of a hill and sent you shootin’ down it when you were a baby!” They might have been the first to realize, at that moment, that she was a force to be reckoned with.

Perhaps this was the beginning of her thirst for adventure. Mom was always up for a new adventure, even the scary ones. She was NOT a fear driven person, but rather set out with intention to conquer them. Some of my favorite memories with Mom include our many outings on the river or boating in Central Oregon’s lakes… even though she couldn’t swim and had a fear of water. But the memories that I will always hold dear, here, are our adventures on the roller coasters! I think that buggy ride may have started something, because she LOVED roller coasters.

A few years back, about a year into her cancer diagnosis , I had the amazing experience of spending an entire day at Busch Gardens in Florida with her on these rides. She was like a big kid! Her smile and excitement as the ride began was matched by no one else on the ride. My greatest thrill that day was watching her as the roller coaster, The Sheikra, would hang us on the edge of 10 story high straight drop down and watch her giggle with excitement before it would let us go. Oh, how she smiled and while I was clutching to the bar for dear life, she would scream with joy and let her arms raise up like it was a walk in the park.

Nothing scared that woman. Nothing. She raised me to be strong and independent, through example. To take care of myself through whatever challenges life threw at me. And she knew life challenges and pain. But she was stronger than most. I always loved the story of when she was attending St. Paul High School she was a cheerleader and the president of FHA. Do you know what FHA is? Future Homemakers of America. My mom was president! I don’t they have that club anymore. I always said she’d kick my butt if I ever joined a club called THE FUTURE HOMEMAKERS OF AMERICA.

I would always tease her by asking what kinds of things did they do in the FHA? Did they practice making pot roasts and the perfect inseam? She was proud of it though. Very proud. And she was the perfect homemaker, but she was SOOO much more than that. I always told people I had a stay-at-home mom who had fresh baked chocolate chip cookies on the counter everyday when I came home from school. The other kids were totally jealous, of course. Their moms didn’t make cookies.

It wasn’t until I was an adult that I truly realized she was so much more, how could I not see that as a kid? She was a landlady, and hard core… you didn’t mess with her, and instead of calling someone to fix every little thing that went wrong in her buildings, SHE fixed it. She learned how, and just did it. She was an active volunteer in the American Lung Cancer Association, a general contractor, a builder, a designer, a member of the Assistance Guild of Bend… helping others.

Helping others. This lady, as many of you know, didn’t have a negative bone in her body and she believed the BEST in everybody, even when they proved time and time again the opposite. I’ve never met anyone quite like that. She would bend over backwards to help anyone, even strangers.

My mom taught me many things in her time here on Earth, and although I hear from people how great their moms are and how they have the best mom ever, sorry… mine’s gotcha beat. We had the most amazing mother/daughter relationship I’ve ever seen or heard of. My mom was my best friend, and was the first person I’d call when something good, or bad happened.

She always listened to what I had to say and when she offered advice, it was non judgmental and in the kind of encouraging way that would ultimately lead me to make the decision and feel good about it. I sat with her in the hospital last week and told her how I couldn’t think of a single time in my life when I was mad at her, or a fight we’d had. Honestly, we were so alike in so much, I don’t think we ever did. Really, who can say that about their relationship with their mom? I can.

My mom showed me, and taught me, more patience than I probably deserved. I wasn’t always the easiest kid to raise, but she showed me love and trust. One time, in high school, I got home really late. Like 3 in the morning. I thought I’d snuck in and they wouldn’t notice. Shortly after my arrival, my mom opened the door to my room, stood at the door and very calmly said, “This is one your one get out of jail free card. You don’t have a curfew right now because I trust you, but if you come back this late again, things will change.” She smiled, turned around and left. The thought of disappointing my mom and not having her trust was more than I could bear and I never did it again.

I had a dream the other night. Tuesday actually. I was in the hospital again with my mom, but she was alive. And not only was she alive, but it was “pre cancer” Mom. She had her hair, and her winning smile and her eyes just lit the room. In my dream I was aware that she was gone, yet here she was, as vibrant as the four million memories I have of her. And she said, “I’m back!

But just for a bit. Is there anything you need to say to me before I go again?” I was so excited as I rushed to her side, held her hand and said, “Oh yes!! I… I…” and I racked my brain for things that I wanted to tell her that I didn’t get a chance to say before she went to Heaven. And nothing came. Wow. When I woke up I realized that my mom had given me the greatest gift ever… a chance to be with her, stare into those beautiful blue eyes, to tell her everything I wanted to, needed to, before she went to God. She gave me that. No other gift I ever get in my entire life will be as precious as that gift is. Nothing.

And so, Mom’s last great roller coaster ride, Cancer, came to an end last Saturday. Just like the Sheikra, she took this one with amazing grace. The ups, the downs, the blind corners, the unexpected drops, she sat in the front row and was present the entire time. The emotions were all the same. There was joy, pleasure, a little bit of fear, but also the belief that at the end of the ride… she’d be okay. And when that roller coaster had its last dip… the steepest of all, it came to a halt at Heaven’s gates and gracefully, I know my mom got off the ride and was greeted by those who went before her, those she loved so much. They’d been watching from the side of the ride this whole time, and they took her hand and welcomed her home.

So, welcome home Mom. Your energy, your wisdom, your hugs and love, your cookies, your stories, your help, advice, your positivity and your presence…. Will be missed greatly by all, but especially me. I will see you again someday when my roller coaster comes to a stop. I know you’ll be there, and it will be a beautiful reunion. I love you.