Forgive me if I seem a little nervous. I usually resist public speaking of any kind. But I have felt led to share my thoughts with everyone here today.

Before I say anything else I want to say thank you to all of Mother’s wonderful friends. If I were to thank each one by name we’d be here until 5:00 tonight. But there are several that I do want to thank.

First is Marie Demmel. She has been such a blessing to Mother. She would come spend nights with Mother whenever Angie needed to be out of town. And when Mother was in the hospital, she stopped by at least three times a day. If I have half as much energy at 85 as Mrs. Demmel does now, I will be doing well. Mrs. Demmel’s faith is truly an inspiration to anyone who encounters her. She also makes the best cookies in town!

Next I would like to thank Mona Peterson & Judy Schrock. Mona would stop by to visit Mother every Friday and Judy would bring lunch to Mother and Angie every Sunday. Thank you for your commitment. I know Mother loved you both dearly.

Thanks also to all the friends who would call and visit Mother on a regular basis. I often wanted to move Mother to Texas to be closer to us, but I knew that there was no way I could pull her away from her network of friends.

And finally I would like to thank Mother’s long time friend and caregiver Angie Naiman. Angie came into Mother’s life 33 years ago. She started out as a home health nurse. As they spent more time together, they quickly became best friends. Eventually she was led to care for Mother as her full time career. At first she would stay with Mother while my grandparents would work. She would fix me lunches and take me to school. She did things for me that Mother couldn’t because of her paralysis. After Grandma & Grandpa passed away, Angie moved in with Mother. This was such a relief. Even as a child, I worried about who would take care of Mother if something were to happen to Grandma & Grandpa. Through the years Angie came to understand Mother’s condition better than anyone else. She would often tell the doctors and nurses how to treat any illness that Mother had. After Mother’s car accident in 1968, the doctors gave her a short life expectancy. I don’t know the exact number, but it was something like 10 or 15 years. Here we are 40 years later celebrating the full life that Mother had. I credit Angie for her dedication and for allowing Mother to be with us for so many years. I would ask that everyone please stand up and show your appreciation for her commitment to Mother.

Ever since I’ve been a little child, my Mother has been my best friend. I remember her reading “The Little House” and “Little Bear’s Thanksgiving” to me over and over when I was a child. As I got older, I would lay on the floor in her little bedroom and we would watch TV together. We loved watching “Little House on the Prairie”, “Facts Of Life”, “Different Strokes” and “Family Ties” together. On weekends we would stay up late watching TV. We used to love watching her digital clock until it read 11:11 because all of the numbers were the same. I’m not sure why that was such a big deal, but it was.

We did have our disagreements. The most rebellious I ever got was in high school. I frequently challenged my curfew. We would have fights over how late I should be allowed to stay out. But this was about as bad as it got. As I got older she would tell people that she had it pretty good if this was all we fought about.

Even though we had so many things we liked doing together, we were also very different. I couldn’t stand the music she listened to, and she thought all my music was just noise. My running joke about shopping for Mother was that I should pick out the thing that I liked least. That way she was guaranteed to love it. And I had to bite my tongue when I saw how she painted over Grandma’s kitchen with that ugly green color. And I don’t think she ever really understood my sense of humor, nor did I appreciate hers.

As I got older, I would often tell Mother that “I got my tightwad ways from Grandma”, or “I got my quirky sense of humor from Grandpa”. She always asked what I got from her, and I didn’t usually have an answer.

But last Christmas Mother was ill with one of her recurring health problems. I was out Christmas shopping and I became very sad thinking that this may be the last Christmas we would spend together. I literally cried when I walked from store to store. But I also started writing this speech in my head. As I put it together, I started answering the question of what I did get from my mother. I came up with two main points.

The first thing I got from my mother was my faith. I’m not very public about my faith, but inside I have a very strong faith in Jesus. Mother taught me that good deeds alone wouldn’t get me into to heaven. But putting my faith and trust in Jesus was what I needed to do. She never explicitly taught me right from wrong, but she led by example. She taught me to forgive and forget. She taught me that Jesus would forgive me of my sins. She taught me to put my faith in Jesus whenever I had a problem I couldn’t solve. One summer in junior high school, I couldn’t decide between going to junior golf or going to vacation bible school. Mother told me to pray about it and I would be led to the answer. So I prayed, and sure enough I was led to go to bible school. I had a wonderful time. Ever since then, whenever I have a tough decision to make, I always remember the junior golf/bible school dilemma. Unfortunately my golf game still needs a lot of work.

During the last few weeks, I’ve had dozens of people tell me was an inspiration Mother was to them. Practically everyone who visited us in the hospital told me how Mother has been an inspiration. If there was anything good that came from her car accident, this was probably the biggest thing.

The second thing I got from my mother was how to be a good parent. Mother couldn’t hold me. She couldn’t pick me up. She couldn’t spank me. But she did show me how to be a parent. Mother was always my biggest fan. She would celebrate events in my life that would be mundane to other parents. Whenever I would get a promotion or a raise with my job, she would make a big deal out of it. I could tell her about a compliment that I got from one of my coworkers, and I could just hear her beam through the telephone. The advent of free long distance cell phones and Bluetooth technology in the car opened up a whole new world of communication between us. I would call Mother on my way home from work 3 or 4 times a week. I would detail the events of my workday. Most parents would probably be bored with the details of a software project. I don’t know if she understood what I told her, but Mother seemed genuinely interested in every last detail. If I had a bad day, she would reassure me and tell me that everything would be ok.

Some of you are probably wondering why I’m wearing such a bright and colorful tie for my mother’s funeral. I picked this because this was a tie that I know Mother liked. She had seen a picture of me wearing it, and she went on and on about how much she liked it. This was very common for her to gush over something that most people wouldn’t even bother to mention.

Every year on my birthday, Mother would call me at 4:29 in the afternoon. This was the exact time that I was born. She would tell me what a blessing I was in her life. I anxiously awaited that call every year.

There was never a doubt in my mind that Mother loved me with all of her heart. This is a wonderful feeling to have as a child. I learned that to be a good parent, I need to show little Katie the same kind of attention that Mother did for me.

Mother, I may have gotten my sense of humor from Grandpa and my tightwad ways from Grandma, but I learned how to be a parent from you. And I’ll be forever grateful for that.

Mother & Angie came to Texas for Katie’s birth. This was a very special time for all of us and it was wonderful having them with us. Mother wanted to spend as much time as possible with Katie, so we saw a lot more of them in Texas over the last two years. They spent Christmas with us in 2007. During the drive back to Holdrege, Mother told me that was the best Christmas she ever had. During their visit this last April, we learned that the Budweiser Clydesdales were going to be in town. Mother said that it was her dream to see the Clydesdales before she died. So we made the effort to get out and see them. She just sat there and watched them. It was so fulfilling to see her lifetime dream come true.

But I also knew her life was becoming more difficult. The urinary tract infections were becoming more common. She battled bedsores whenever she spent any amount of time in her wheelchair. Her voice sounded tired more often than not. I could see her quality of life declining. I knew life was becoming more difficult.

So while I will miss Mother more than anyone can know, I am also very relieved. I know Mother was ready to go home. I know she was very comfortable with her faith. Some have said she is walking in heaven, some have said she is running. Someone even think maybe she is cheerleading. I don’t know what she is doing, but I do know that she is at peace. No more UTIs. No more bed sores.

During my trip home two weeks ago I was passing through Wichita Kansas. I was randomly scanning for a radio station. While I was doing this, Angie called. We shared some tears together on the phone, but we were comforted that Mother would be going to heaven soon and she would be at peace again. When we hung up, the radio came back on and the station had landed on a Christian station. The DJ said something like “how wonderful it will be in heaven”. He then played “I Can Only Imagine” by Mercy Me. As this song played, I told myself, we need to play this at Mother’s funeral.

Imagine my surprise when I learned that Mother had requested this song to be played at her funeral. We finally agreed on music! I hope you will enjoy the song along with some pictures chronicling the life of my mother and best friend, DiAnn Harris. I love you Mother.

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