One Year Today

I miss her every day.

Lets talk story...

You know how you lay in bed at night and compose novels and blogs and letters and they are so in depth and full of useful information, but then you fall asleep and in the morning you remember that you thought about it all before sleeping, but now that you're awake you can't remember a single thing.... That's how I am today. I laid in bed last night wide awake for quite a while and I thought about what I could blog about today and all the interesting information and events that I have had lately, but now that the morning has come I don't remember much of it. Funny, how I keep a note pad next to my bed for just this stuff, but I never use it. I guess I'll just look back on the past few weeks and see what I can come up with.

Yesterday was the One Year mark of John's Dinosaur Flu, and I'm happy to say that he hasn't had any real problems since last July. He had an appointment with his Neurologist last month and the doctor lowered his dosage of Varapamil from 180mg to 120mg and if he stays crazy free until his next appointment in June then the doctor will take him off the medication. We are both excited by this. John is looking forward to not being tired all the time, which is a side effect of the medication. I'll be happy to leave this chapter of our lives behind and there won't be an ounce of regret to have it gone. But again, the Neurologist changed his mind and reversed most of what he told john the last time he went in.

SIDE NOTE: I have decided that Specialists aren't very special at all and this particular provider doesn't check his patient records before appointments. I understand that doctors can't fix everything, and that most of what they do is just educated guessing, all I ask is that a provider remember his patients - if not by sight, than by at least reviewing their charts before an appointment.

At least on this topic life is looking up. However, thinking he'd be funny yesterday he sent me the following email "Hey I have headache, and they are taking me to the emergency room……. Just kidding. Ha Ha. I love you." I didn't think it was funny in the least bit. I really did start to panic a little before I reached the end of the message.
I wonder, sometimes, how long it will take for the panic to go away so that every time he has a headache or if he gets too tired or if he's silent for too long or if he stumbles over a word I don't feel like I'm on the verge of having to take him to the ER, or if maybe this time he snaps and doesn't quite come back. Some times I think that maybe the worry wouldn't be so bad if his Dino Flu hadn't been compounded in the same week as Lariann's death. I guess I'll never know. I find that every time we broach the topic I have to reach out and touch him, his hand, his arm, his hair, to reassure myself that he is still here, and that we are both okay. I remember the blank look in his eyes and inability to speak. It's frightening. I'm hoping that we are past that now, but you never know what the future brings.
Weird thing though, is that I think the Varapamil has been keeping John from having his night-terrors. Ever since he's gone to the lower dose he talks more in his sleep then I can ever remember. That would be an interesting thing to research. I wonder if it's true, or if maybe he has just been over stressing in the last month or so. I guess we'll never know.

Speaking of One Year anniversaries.... John, Rachel, and myself took flowers to Lariann the other night.

Aaaaand... time for a new topic. I had the weirdest dream last night about roller derby, high school and mice. I don't remember much of it at all, but lets just say it was strange. I do recall that the mouse that was chasing me was missing half it's face, and I was trying to protect a purple egg to deliver it some where, but I ended up on a giant's stove and I worried that we were both going to be eaten. Then I was in school, but I never went to my classes and I couldn't remember where the seminary building was and some how that tied in to roller derby. I really do love roller derby though I'd join a league if I wasn't such an inactive wuss. Weird. I know.

We had planned on taking a mini vacation in May, but in the end it has been decided that we are not going to Illinois for Bryce's graduation. This was a trip that we really had been looking forward to and I sat down so many times to book our flights but something always came up and I'd walk away from the tickets. A few weeks ago it finally came down to - Are we going, or not? - and then the lawn mower died and life got expensive and in the end it was determined that it's just not the right time for us to go. We are really sad that we are missing out on this, but it just didn't work out for us. If you don't know, or haven't heard, Bryce, john's best friend, is graduating from Southern Illinois University with a Masters in Arts. He has been working on his degrees in theater since we all got home from our missions nearly 9 years ago. So...

Way to go Bryce! We are so proud of you, and your accomplishment!!

He has also landed himself a job at the University of St. Louis as the assistant professor (I think) in their theater department. It looks like they'll be setting up house there for a while. We have decided that once the Allen's are settled in their new home in Missouri we'll make our trip to visit them.


Mother's day is on Sunday May 9th.
Did you get your mother a gift?
What are your plans?
I plan on staying in bed with a blanket over my head.


As for the rest of our lives, we're pretty much the same. Nothing really new or exciting is going on. Norm & Becca are still having a baby girl. Z & Not-Your-Sister are also having a baby that we may or may not know the gender of as of yesterday. No names for either of them yet. So they are currently referred to as little Sue and Rotten.
We visited with the Awesome family a little on Tuesday night since Not-Your-Sister wanted to get her Will signed and notarized before someone could murder her. So John and I were witnesses and John's sister, Rachel, came along as our notary. So now it's all official so Not-Your-Sister can rest easy ... at least on that issue, apparently she worries about being murdered. I'm impressed. I think Z's family has more of their affairs together then most people I know. I guess it's good to have a plan.
I suppose that if I were to write a Will currently it would just cover my cats, my bed and my TV since those are the only things I really own. We have no money and no belongings that are worth anything... I know that if John and I were to die someone would probably just come and let my cats out to get run over by cars. Poor Kitties.
Okay, if John and I die unexpectedly before a real will is created; Andrea, Jessica, and Erin can fight over my jewelry except my pearls, they will go specifically to Erin. Jessica also regains possession of all the barbies. Scott can have my TV's and gaming systems. Logan, Bryce and Jacob can split up John's comic book collection and action figures. The oldest Awesome child and Andrew can have my books, they can decide who gets what. Nicole can have my music boxes, I love each of them and hope she likes them as well. Erin gets my cedar chest and all items inside of it. Rachel and Kenji can have my music collection/CD's, even though I've been told my music is "lame". My mother gets the laptop for her genealogy. My dad regains possession of my big box o'love as well as all of his sweaters. Lucy gets the treasure chest and all the jewels and treasures therein. Andrea get my photo albums and my glass cake stand. Mikayla can have my bed, the broyhill head and footboards were something I always wanted and they're special to me. Devin gets the DVD's. Kira can have the basket of key chains, they belong to John, her mom can tell her how special they are. Norm can have the star wars toys, most are still in their boxes so they may or may not be worth anything. Natalie can have all my stuffed animals. Loran gets custody of the cats. All other items that are left can be divided up between the unnamed members of my family I'm sure everyone can find something they like. Tools, lawnmowers, weed whackers and fire pit become property of the estate and may be disposed of as the landlord sees fit. Any money or insurance polices we have will go to our parents for funeral expenses and reimbursement for the years of trouble that we caused... and our car should be driven off a cliff or donated to the Mythbusters. John is to be cremated and turned into diamonds, and I just want a burlap sack. There you go.

Other than that, we haven't had any car accidents, no one has gone to the ER and we don't have any special announcements. As my uncle Blaine put it last week: "That's pretty much it, get up, go to work, come home and go out to watch a movie once in a while."

New topic: The Dark Ages, they were neither dark nor an age. discuss.

Michelle Huppi Young

Michelle Huppi Young 1977 ~ 2008 SHOSHONE, IDAHO- Michelle Huppi Young, 30, of Shoshone, Idaho passed away Wednesday, March 12, 2008 in Twin Falls Idaho. Born in Logan, Utah, the daughter of Melvin Charles Huppi and Denise LaDine Johnson Huppi, she grew into a wonderful woman. She loved playing the clarinet and being a wife and mother. Michelle was in her final semester at the College of Southern Idaho and would have graduated with honors. Michelle served an LDS Mission in Washington D.C. She loved the Young Women in the Shoshone Ward and will miss them greatly. Michelle will be missed by her husband Andrew Young, her boys, Caleb and Jackson, her foster daughter, Maria, her brother-in-law, Allen Hanberg, and her parents Mel and Denise Huppi. Michelle was greeted on the other side by her sister, Maya, her brother, Mel, and her grandpas Huppi, Johnson, and Oyler. Services will be conducted at 11 a.m., Sat., March 22, 2008, at the Shoshone LDS Church, 507 N Greenwood St., Shoshone, with Bishop Gale C. Roberts officiating. A visitation will be held on Fri., March 21, 2008, also at the Shoshone LDS Church, where family and friends may call from 6-8 p.m., and again on Sat. one hour prior to the service. Interment will be held at 4 p.m. at the Wellsville, Utah Cemetery (friends are welcome). In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to: The Michelle Huppi Young Memorial Fund, at any branch of the Wells Fargo bank. Arrangements are under the care of Farnsworth Mortuary, 1343 South Lincoln, Jerome, ID 83338.

http://www.legacy.com/Link.asp?I=LS000105949151X

Published in the Salt Lake Tribune on 3/19/2008.

when faced with mortality

It's raining today.

It's unfair to me how life just seems to be picking up again and we look towards the future with a brighter shade of gray then usual and then suddenly trials abound.

My Michelle passed away last night. She was a mother of two and not to much older then me.

It makes me think. I need to tell people "I love you" more often and be more open and loving to the world around me. I need to reorganize my priorities and not stress over the little things in life. You never know, I could die tomorrow. For a while there we had an untimely funeral to attend for a cousin and friends every 6 months. We took a year off and the cycle starts again. I have learned something from each of them:

Ryan McIntyre 9/26/2005 - Appreciate Family more

Jan Callahan 1/30/2006 - Let your friends know you care

Chad Ashby 8/16/2006 - Call those friends you haven't heard from in a while

Michelle Huppi Young 3/12/08 - Always, Always say I love you. And respond today, because they may not be there tomorrow

These deaths have all been hard for me to deal with, but Michelle is on a different level completely. She and I were kindred spirits. She is the one who saved my mission for me, without her I would have given up completely and just gone home before it even started. She is the companion I had the most fun with and was the most off-the-plan with. We spent our time teaching the gospel and checking out historic Fredericksburg. She loved cemeteries and ghosts. When she met her husband she told me that she loved him more then ice cream, and to Michelle, that meant a lot. She is the one I cried with when her younger brother died, and the one I sought to comfort but she comforted me instead. She is a rock. We listened to off-the-plan music. She got tattoos and piercing on P-Days and fraternized with the Elders, but still set an example of what a good missionary could do. I loved that about her. She is one of my best friends.

I am feeling very mortal today.

Life is precious.

This song has played several times on my iPod today. maybe there is a message I'm supposed to learn.

If Tomorrow Never Comes by Garth Brooks

Sometimes late at night
I lie awake and watch her sleeping
She's lost in peaceful dreams
So I turn out the lights and lay there in the dark
And the thought crosses my mind
If I never wake up in the morning
Would she ever doubt the way I feel
About her in my heart

If tomorrow never comes
Will she know how much I loved her
Did I try in every way to show her every day
That she's my only one
And if my time on earth were through
And she must face the world without me
Is the love I gave her in the past
Gonna be enough to last
If tomorrow never comes

'Cause I've lost loved ones in my life
Who never knew how much I loved them
Now I live with the regret
That my true feelings for them never were revealed
So I made a promise to myself
To say each day how much she means to me
And avoid that circumstance
Where there's no second chance to tell her how I feel

If tomorrow never comes
Will she know how much I loved her
Did I try in every way to show her every day
That she's my only one
And if my time on earth were through
And she must face the world without me
Is the love I gave her in the past
Gonna be enough to last
If tomorrow never comes

So tell that someone that you love
Just what you're thinking of
If tomorrow never comes

Ironic isn't it....

this was my email comic for today -

Hi Everyone -

I'm passing on the information that I have learned, so listen very carefully for I shall say this only once.

I talked to Andrew yesterday (Michelle Huppi's husband if you didn't know) and the prognosis is bad, very bad.
What happened you ask? They don't really know. Michelle had been feeling very sick this past weekend and Andrew had stayed up to make sure she was okay. She stopped breathing Sunday night around 3 am and Andrew had to do CPR while he waited for the ambulance to come. Once she was evaluated by the EMT's they called in life flight to get her to the Twin Falls hospital. Monday they did an EEG to check her brain function and the brain was still firing at that point, but when they did another on Tuesday there was very little activity.
The family met with the Neurologist last night and Andrew told me that she is beyond even a miracel now. The only parts of her brain that are still functioning are the frontal lobe and the cerebellum which controls her breathing and her heart. They could keep her on life support for an indefinite amount of time, but he doesn't want to do that. This is probably the end of Michelle Huppi. What caused it? They're not really sure, it all theories now, but her potassium was very low.
Andrew said that if anyone wants to see her before she goes then your best bet is to come to the hospital withing the next few days. She is at St. Luke's Magic Valley Hospital in Twin Falls, ID it is located at 650 Addison Avenue West. She is in the ICU. If the family is not in the waiting room then pick up the service phone and the hospital staff will help you.
I have contact information for Andrew, if you would like it please contact me. I do not have anyway of contacting President Crouch, if anyone knows how to contact him please let me know, or pass this information on to him directly, I'm sure the Crouch's would like to know.
Please pass this message to all the DC South Missionaries that you think should know. I'm sure this will be followed up soon by funeral plans so stay tuned. I really am at a loss for words on this, Michelle was my favorite companion and one of my best friends. I'm sure there are other's who fell the same. I'm sure her family thanks you for your prayers.
I'll pass on any other information I get, but for now this is all.

in the News today

'Mister Rogers' Tribute to Include 'Sweater Day'
Feb. 27, 2008, 12:12 PM EST
The Associated Press

PITTSBURGH -- A tribute to children's public television pioneer Fred Rogers will include an effort to get people everywhere to wear a sweater on what would have been his 80th birthday.

March 20th is being promoted as "Sweater Day" to honor Rogers, who died of cancer five years ago. A sweater was his trademark garb on "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood."

David Newell, who played speedy deliveryman Mr. McFeely on the show, appears in a YouTube video that touts the event.

"Sweater Day" is the capstone to a six-day celebration planned by Family Communications Inc. of Pittsburgh. Rogers created the company to produce his show.

The roses on my desk are dead. They have been since last Monday, but I have yet to throw them away. Why? I’m not sure. It might be because I’m lazy or because my husband gave them to me or perhaps because I like dead thing. Who really knows.
I took this picture of one of the roses today because even though it is dead, I think it is beautiful. The cell phone picture really doesn’t do it justice the rose itself is a dark pink but now that it is dead it had dark maroon tips and yellow veins running through it. It is fascinating to me how nature can be so beautiful in so many of it’s different stages.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has announced that the new prophet and president of the Church will be Thomas S. Monson. His counselors are Henry B. Eyring, first counselor, and Dieter F. Uchtdorf, second counselor.

Here I am.

TGIF!

WOW - I don't know what it is about today, but I am SO tired.

 

but to quote the husband who often quotes the Simpson's "You say that so much it has lost all meaning"

 

Seriously though, I haven't been this tired in a while. I wonder if it has to do with my 2 trips to the gym this week, or shoveling the snow or the fact that even though I've only worked 4 days this week it feels like the longest week ever.... Yawn! I'm going home to take a nap before I do the dishes, and after I'm done with the dishes I'm going to bed.

 

I'm going to President Hinckley's funeral tomorrow and I'll be riding into work with John at 6 am. oy! He has to be to work at 7 am so I figure I can go in with him, walk over to JB's, have breakfast and by the time that's all over it may be close to 9 so I can get in line with the other 20,998 people that are going to be in the conference center tomorrow morning. sigh. I have my tickets so I SHOULD go, but right now I'm feeling like I'd rather stay in bed and watch it on TV.

 

Gordon B. Hinckley 1910 - 2008

President Hinckley passed away last nigh January 27, 2008. I was watching Exreame Home Makeover when "Breaking News" came on to announce his death. I was about to be upset about missing my show, but instead I found myself crying for the loss of the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, our Prophet.
President Hinkley became the propht in 1995 when Howard W. Hunter passed away. I was a sophomore in High School. I remember hearing the news in my Seminary Class, my teacher at the time was Brother Slaughter. I remember that I was so glad President Hinckley was the new Prophet, he had been running the church for a while anyway with the last few prophets being old and not in the best of health.
I once had the opportunity of see President Hinckley as he passed me in a hallway at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. I was standing at the ticket desk to get tickets to Legacy when a hush came over the building and you knew something was coming even if you couldn't see it. Moments later President Hinckley, his wife and an escort of security came around the corner. Many in that group I was standing with got to shake his hand, but being in the back I did not. However, I could "feel" his presence and I knew he was a prophet of God. I will miss President Hinckley, but the work goes on and the church is still true.

“This work is true. You know that, as do I. It is God's work. You know that also. It is the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. It is the way to happiness, the plan for peace and righteousness.”

“God our Eternal Father lives. His Son, our Redeemer, the resurrected Savior of the world, lives. They appeared to the boy Joseph Smith to part the curtains in opening a great work of restoration, ushering in the dispensation of the fullness of times. The Book of Mormon is true. It speaks as a voice from the dust in testimony of the divinity of the Lord. The priesthood with its keys, its authority, and all of its blessings is upon the earth.”

“And we are partakers of these precious gifts. And so, as we might say to an old friend, good-bye. May the blessings of God rest upon this sacred and wonderful hall. And may we, as those who have come here frequently to partake of the Spirit felt here, live worthy of the title Latter-day Saints is my humble prayer in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, amen.”

(“Good-bye to This Wonderful Tabernacle,” Ensign, Nov. 1999, 91. )

dead guys who used to hang on my wall

Heath Ledger - died: January 22, 2008
Jonathan Brandis - died: November 12, 2003
River Phoenix - died: October 31, 1993

That's 3 of my "to watch" guys dead

Heath Ledger found dead in NYC apartment

Oscar-nominated actor reportedly discovered in Mary-Kate Olsen's home

BREAKING NEWS

MSNBC News Services

updated 3:33 p.m. MT, Tues., Jan. 22, 2008

NEW YORK - Heath Ledger was found dead Tuesday in a Manhattan apartment in a possible drug-related death, police said. He was 28.

According to the New York Times, Ledger was found naked and unconscious with pills strewn all around him in an apartment owned by actress Mary-Kate Olsen. Police sources told the Times that the death appeared to be a suicide.

NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said Ledger had an appointment for a massage at the apartment. The housekeeper, who went to let Ledger know the masseuse was there, found him unconscious at approximately 3:30 p.m. ET, according to the New York Times. After receiving no response from the actor after shaking him, they called authorities.

"We are investigating the possibility of an overdose," Browne said. "There were pills within the vicinity of the bed."

The Australian-born actor was nominated for an Oscar for "Brokeback Mountain," where he met actress Michelle Williams, in 2005. Ledger and Williams had lived in Brooklyn with their 2-year-old daughter, Matilda, until they split up last year.

Ledger was to appear as the Joker this year in "The Dark Knight," a sequel to 2005's "Batman Begins." He's had starring roles in "A Knight's Tale" and "The Patriot," and played the suicidal son of Billy Bob Thornton in "Monster's Ball."

Ledger grew up in Perth, and began doing amateur theater at age 10. At 16, he moved to Sydney to pursue an acting career, quickly landing TV movie roles and guest spots on Australian television.

After several independent films and a starring role in the short-lived Fox TV series "Roar," Ledger moved to Los Angeles and costarred in "10 Things I Hate About You," a teen comedy reworking of "The Taming of the Shrew."

Offers for other teen flicks came his way, but Ledger turned them down, preferring to remain idle than sign on for projects he didn't like.

"It wasn't a hard decision for me," Ledger told the Associated Press in 2001. "It was hard for everyone else around me to understand. Agents were like, 'You're crazy,' my parents were like, 'Come on, you have to eat."'

His latest role was in "I'm Not There," in which he played one of the many incarnations of Bob Dylan — as did Cate Blanchett, whose performance in that film earned an Oscar nomination Tuesday for best supporting actress.

© 2008 MSNBC Interactive

URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22788914/?GT1=10755

Dead Cat

I don't know how many of you have had to deal with a dead cat before, I know that many members of my family have in the past since cats always seemed to be a part of our childhood. But to describe it for those who may not know, a dead cat is a very unpleasant thing to look upon or to touch. I'm not talking about poor kitties that get run over by cars, I'm talking about the one's that are perhaps stepped upon or die from some other traumatic experience, or maybe they're just old and die. Once it's dead, it doesn't seem like long before the cat loses all heat that it's little body creates and it kind of deflates and no matter the size of the cat it just seems to go flat like an old tire and it's not breathing so it's ribs all poke out and make it look gangly and the whole cat seems to take on an unnatural weight that makes it immoveable and as heavy as lead.

Thus is a dead cat.

Why am I telling this you may ask?

You'll see.

Did one of Liz's cat's die?

NO, one of my cats didn't die. I still have 2 cats. There were 2 cats following me around this morning, and I expect that there will be 2 cats when I get home. Again, I repeat, NO cats have died. None, Zip, Zero Zilch, Nada, Null … no animals were harmed in the typing of this post.

Got it? Okay I'll move on now.

This story is about Noranti, my beautiful black kitten (and I still call her my kitten because she's still only half the size of Mahana.) For some strange reason, for the past few months Noranti has taken to sleeping next to me in bed. She is not usually a snuggly cat, and is more often then not scared of everything and hides from the world, but at bed time, and at nap time she magically appears and either demands to be under the blanket with me, or is at least content lying next to me. She probably just does it because in the winter I keep my heater set at a very chilly 68 degrees because I don't want to pay the heating bills for this non-EnergyStar house and she is probably very cold too… However when she is lying next to me there are specific requirements that must be met:

1) I must be laying on my right side in the spooning position, if I am not on my right side, John must not be in the room. If John is on the bed next to me when I am laying on my left side, she will leave.

2) John cannot be talking. I don't know what it is about her and the sound of John's voice, but if he is talking she gets very annoyed. If John is talking she will leave.

3) If she head butts you then you must pet her, but if she bites you you must stop immediately. If you do not pet her, or if you do not stop petting her when she says so she will leave.

4) If I try to roll over or try to change positions, she will leave.

Keep in mind that this is the cat that WILL NOT be petted in any room of the house that is not the bedroom, and only when she is on the bed. If she is in another room and you try to pet her she darts into the bedroom and up on the bed and THEN waits to be petted. She has also been mistaken for the "ghost cat" I talk about because no one really believes that she exists because very few people other then me and John have actually seen the black kitty.

Again I reiterate, Noranti is not dead.

However, at 1:53 am, I sure thought she was.

I don't really know why I was awake that time o f day, but I was. I had john sleeping to the left of me and Noranti sleeping to the right of me and I was stuck in the middle. Which I can't complain about because at least I was warm, and the cat has not run away even though I am laying on my back.

So where does the dead cat come in? Well Noranti is there sleeping peacefully so I put my hand down on her to pet her and enjoy her company, but to me she felt like a dead cat. She did not move when I touched her and she had that cold, flat, dead cat feel to her and I swear she wasn't breathing. Perhaps I was just halfway dreaming, but I'm pretty sure I was wide awake but this cat was dead.

There was not movement. There was no breathing. She was freezing cold and a heavy as a brick. This of course made me very distraught and I tried moving her but she weighed a ton and she was so cold and still. So I shook her, you know, like when you shake a person to wake them up, again and again trying to get her to move or respond or something and finally she did. She lifted her little head and looked at me like "lady, you're crazy," but she looked at me and that's what matters.

Like I said, I was probably half asleep, but it all seemed very real to me. It was so real that after that point in the night I would wake up every once in a while and shake her awake just to be sure she was still with me. Amazingly enough this did not cause her to run away because when the alarm was going off at 5:24 am she lazily got up and stretched like a well slept kitty.

So the panic was over, but I cannot forget the feel of the dead kitty weight in my hand as I tried to rouse her from her sleep. I was sure she was a goner. Did she freeze to death? Did I roll over on her? Was she sick and I hadn't noticed? So many questions ran through my head in that short period of time and each one made me sad for my poor kitten. It makes me wonder what would happen if one of them really did die? That really is a question that often keeps me up at night.

okay, you can't just leave it at that....

At the behest of a friend further details are in order...

I have to set this story up by first saying that it was a mission experience, and not a very good one.
I was on the 6 month stretch of going home and I was serving in Falls Church Virginia I had a companion named Sister Wilson, who I didn’t like very much at all. She was a lazy sister who didn’t do much work and mostly sat around the apartment whining about an Elder who she “loved” (the funniest part was when he, after being home for a few weeks, wrote her and told her he was marrying someone else and she only had a few more weeks to go before she also went home... Oh No!) I was Sister Wilson’s last companion, she had 6 weeks left when I joined her in Falls Church. And then there were our roommates who were: Sister Norman who I also didn’t like much and she was also very lazy and she would sit on the living room floor and eat out of a GIANT tub of cheese puffs every time I would see her. (Sister Norman and Sister Wilson were friends.) Then there was Sister Norman’s companion Sister Stringham. Sister Stringham was sweet. She was a “greenie” meaning she was in her first area and had only been out for a few weeks. She had an annoying habit of constantly picking at split ends which in it’s own way would drive me crazy. She and I ended up working together A LOT because the other two sister’s needed to be together.
But that has nothing to do with fat people or my story so we’ll move on.
One of the only days of the week I could get Sister Wilson to do anything was on Thursdays which was our service day. For service we would go shopping for a woman in the ward named Sister Day. She was house bound and couldn’t do it herself. Why you ask? Because she was HUGE. She lived in a tiny little apartment that smelled of kitty litter and old paper. She had tons of bookshelves lined with romance novels and piles of romance novels on the floor. There were stacks of old news paper and TV Guides. It was a ground floor apartment that was kind of laid out like this – The front door opened into the living room which was a large open shaped like an L. Looking straight ahead from the door you looked into the TV/sitting area of the living room. Looking to the right you looked towards the back of the apartment which had the kitchen, a dining area, 1 bedroom, and a bathroom. Just a note: since she was such a LARGE woman she couldn’t get to the door to let you in so the front door was always unlocked and she’d just holler “come in” or for us we’d just knock and walk in because she was always on the couch and knew we were coming, and the windows were always open.
Each week she’d have her shopping list ready for us and we’d hop in our car and drive to the nearest grocery store which was the Food Lion in Arlington to do her shopping for her. This list included various grocery items but it always included 10 cans of wet cat food (because apparently her cat’s couldn’t eat dry food), 2 lbs of peanuts for her to feed the squirrels that congregated outside her kitchen window, and 4 loafs of bread to feed the birds that fought the squirrels that congregated outside her kitchen window.
We also would take her a copy of the Relief Society message on Sunday nights. Well, one of these Sunday nights we stopped by Sister Day’s apartment to drop off her lesson. We knocked and walked in. “Sister Day!” we called to no response “Sister Day?” then looking to the right there she was in the bathroom sitting upon the toilet. “Sister Day?” we called one more time. But there was no answer. I looked at Sister Wilson and asked do you think she’s okay? And Sister Wilson said “She’s probably asleep.” So we backed out of the apartment and went about our evening vowing we’d go back in the morning and see her.
The next morning the first thing we did was go to Sister Days to pass along the Relief Society lesson and on the way there we joked about ‘what if she’s still in the same place?’ Lots of what-if’s.
Low and behold we got there and I was the first to walk into her apartment. Now picture this as a scene from a horror movie where the camera focus’ on all the little things before it shows you the terror lurking just out of site.
I walked in and did a slow motion scan of the room. I’m sure it was only a few seconds, but it felt like an eternity. The Cats were missing, the cat bowls were empty, there was an abundance of flies and there was silence. I turned and looked to where I had last seen Sister Day and there she was. From the way the toilet was situated, being such a big lady she couldn’t close the door while in the bathroom. So from the front door you could see her legs, large belly and most of her left arm. That’s what I remember from the night before. But this time I noticed that her fingers were a chalky blue and worst of all, SHE WAS IN THE SAME PLACE WE HAD LEFT HER THE NIGHT BEFORE.

Sister Day was dead.

What do you do when you find a dead body? We didn’t know, so we left her apartment and drove to our district leaders house which wasn’t far from where we were. We didn’t know what to do or who to call so eventually Sister Wilson called the Relief Society President, and I went in another room and prayed that Elder Gardener would come home and help us (but he never did). Sister Moran advised us to go back to Sister Day’s apartment and wait for her, she would call 911 and we’d get it taken care of.
We spent most of our day filling out police reports, and by the time we were done We Were Done so we went back to our apartment. That was quite the nightly phone call into the District Leader that night “hi sister’s how was your day?” “well elder gardener, we started our morning finding a dead body and then spent most of the afternoon filling out police reports. We didn’t get any contacts today, sorry.”
Turns out she had probably been dead since Saturday. She had a massive heart attack. Apparently there is a nerve that runs from your heart to your bowels and when this specific type of heart attack is occurring it makes you feel like you have to go to the bathroom and that is the end of it all.

Therefore, I do not like Dead Bodies or Fat People.

The end