My Daughter and Me

Where do I start when it comes to my beautiful daughter? So many things come to my mind. A few words that come to my mind are..beautiful, charitable, giving, wonderful mom, good friend, loves the gospel, good example.

Shana was born on a bitter cold, foggy day on December 21, 1980. In those days doctors rarely did ultrasounds to tell you what the sex of your baby was. So needless to say, Roger and I were so happy when they announced "it's a baby girl". We already had a son so to now have a little girl in our home was more than words can express.

Shana has always been quite the talker. She can carry a converstation on and on about anything. People are drawn to her. She has friends all over the country. I remember when she was growing up, we would go to parents visiting meetings and the first thing the teacher would say was "Shana talks too much.". Well, it was the same year after year. Shana had so many friends growing up. During her Jr. High school days she made a choice to leave some of her best friends and go to a different school because her friends were starting to drink and smoke. She would call me at work crying and telling me that another friend had started. She made the decision all on her own to change Jr. Highs. It ended up being such a good decision for her because she made some wonderful friends. She's always been a great example to me.

Shana has had some difficult times in her short life. During her high school days she contracted Epstein Barr virus and a strep infection in her blood. She was sleeping 16 hrs a day and had such achey joints. She couldn't hardly walk up our stairs. She missed so much school and was struggling to get enough credits to graduate with her class. I will never forget the day she finished her last packet to qualify her for graduation. She came home one hour before graduation with paint all over her face from a class she had and she fell into my arms at the front door and cried. She had finished her last packet!!! I was so proud of her. We hurried and took pictures in front of the house and got down to the Marriott Center so that she could walk with her graduating class. She married at 19 and had two adorable sons. She has turned into the most beautiful, loving, caring mom. I always knew she would be though. She went through a divorce after 5 years of marriage. That was another difficult time for her. To see the pain and sadness she endured. It hurts so much as a parent to see your kids suffer. She went to dental assisting school and passed with flying colors. She landed a good job close to home which was a blessing for her and the boys. During all this time she was dating lots of nice young men but nobody seemed to impress her as much as Jacob Gardner. She was smitten the day she met him. It has been so wonderful to see her smiling, happy and being taken care of by such a wonderful young man. A marriage she had always dreamed of. Today Shana is now helping to take care of her husband while they go through his cancer trial. Together they will grow closer and more loving. I've seen it already. I"m so blessed to have Shana in my life. I hope that we can grow closer and more loving and share many fun times together as mother and daughter. A relationship that I never got to have with my own mom.