This is my mom in 1959 right after she married my dad...what a cutie. She had her whole life ahead of her. She didn't know she was in it for richer for poorer, for better for worse. She didn't know she would have 5 children and live her whole life in Bountiful. She didn't know she would be a great teacher and mentor to so many people. She didn't know she married an entrepreneur who would own and work in many businesses and always adore her. She didn't know she would join my dad in Scotland on a mission. She didn't know that she would get cancer and leave us all at the young age of 74. She had so much ahead of her with so many lessons to learn and to share.
One lesson that I learned from my mother... is to easily forgive and forget.
Mom was not one to hold grudges, keep records of peoples past failings, or look over the fence at others and get jealous. She knew her family was exactly as it should be. There was no other family like us and no other mother like her.
She taught that life is a process of learning and growing and changing and becoming for all of us.
We were all works in progress, as was she, and that was part of the fun.
We made mistakes, figured it out, moved on. She gave all of us a lot of slack and made sure we did that for each other too.
She was all about forgive and forget because it took too much energy not to. She wanted that energy for more positive things in life.
Another lesson learned was to jump in and participate no matter what size or shape you are. She was so great at pulling on a swimming suit and enjoying life no matter her size. Don't get me wrong, she was always on a diet or trying to diet or wanting to diet....but that didn't stop her from life. She wasn't going to wait around until she felt or looked perfect. I can see her on the beach every day at family vacay at Bear lake playing with the grand kids, or making sandwiches, or painting, or reading..but totally invovled with all of us and with life.
Family is forever was a lesson we reiterated every night as we ended our family prayer. We all put our hands in a circle and said in a cheer, "forever." We did this in my growing up home for as long as I can remember and it was one of the last things we did as a family while mom was alive. We did this when the boys were growing up and we do it now nightly with Laila. What makes it a memorable lesson, is that no matter what was going on with each of us, she knew that we were a forever family. No question. She trusted that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ had it all figured out....all under control....so she didn't have to worry about how it would all work out in the end.
What Mom wanted most was for us siblings to get along and want to be together after she was gone.
She got her wish.We celebrated her birthday on tonight at dad's house. We had our friend Paula Carlson join us. She happened to be in town, so of course we had to "pull a Sheri" and invite her. We had dinner, talked about our sweet mom, our own families, our successes and failures and knew it was a safe place to share. When mom was alive anytime any of us had some issue, some problem we needed help with, she would say, "I'll get my angels on that." So now she is our angel and we need her help. We wrote down requests for our angel mother and tied them to helium balloons, went outside and sent them off to heaven. It was a good night.
I love this wonderful mother of mine. She is my angel now..and watches over all of us, reminding me of so many mom lessons.
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| 1978 Lyle and Sheri Cole Family..with dog Noel. |
Mom was not one to hold grudges, keep records of peoples past failings, or look over the fence at others and get jealous. She knew her family was exactly as it should be. There was no other family like us and no other mother like her.
She taught that life is a process of learning and growing and changing and becoming for all of us.
We were all works in progress, as was she, and that was part of the fun.
We made mistakes, figured it out, moved on. She gave all of us a lot of slack and made sure we did that for each other too.
She was all about forgive and forget because it took too much energy not to. She wanted that energy for more positive things in life.
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| Bear Lake1998 back row: Garret Brown, Jenna Cole, Grandma Sheri, Rachel Cole, Landon Welch, Addison Welch. Front; Becca Cole, Truman Welch, Monson Welch, Hayden Call, Austin Brown |
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| May 9, 2013. 12 days before momma passed away. |
She got her wish.We celebrated her birthday on tonight at dad's house. We had our friend Paula Carlson join us. She happened to be in town, so of course we had to "pull a Sheri" and invite her. We had dinner, talked about our sweet mom, our own families, our successes and failures and knew it was a safe place to share. When mom was alive anytime any of us had some issue, some problem we needed help with, she would say, "I'll get my angels on that." So now she is our angel and we need her help. We wrote down requests for our angel mother and tied them to helium balloons, went outside and sent them off to heaven. It was a good night.
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| We watched our mom message balloons go up and up til we couldn't see them.... |
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland testified, “Angels are still sent to help us, even as they were sent to help Adam and Eve” [emphasis in original]. Elder Dallin H. Oaks also stated, “For most of us the mortal journey is long, and we continue our course with the protection of guardian angels.” Even the Lord himself promised, “I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up” (D&C 84:88).
Guardian angels, then, are surely very real. They are messengers of comfort and peace, bearers of warnings, and protectors of faithful Saints. They are part of an innumerable host doing the will of a loving Father in Heaven who looks after each of us. Whether they are spirits unknown to us or spirits of our loved ones, guardian angels are indeed all around us to bear us up.
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