This morning Dad had a very tender moment with Mom. He was giving her some water (as he has done so faithfully for a few days now), and she just looked up at him with a very pleased look on her face. Her smiles are pretty faint now, but we can still tell when she does. She was looking steadily, right at him and Dad was delighted, so he said, \u201cCan I kiss your smile?\u201d He did so and she smiled even more.<\/p>\n
Dad found Mom\u2019s copy of her patriarchal blessing and read it to her. It was another very precious moment to hear about her life and see how faithful she was to the tasks that she was entrusted with. I had never heard her blessing in its entirety and I had no idea that so much of her life was dedicated to fulfilling her mission. Her family has been the most important thing to her — I always knew that — but now I understand a little better why it was so important to her. She was being obedient to her most important responsibility. What a great example of faith and dedication.<\/p>\n
Rebecca called this afternoon and all of her children (at home, that is — her oldest is at college) took turns telling Mom how much they love her. Then at the end, they said it all together with an enthusiastic, \u201cAloha!\u201d They live in Hawai\u2019i and Mom has found many opportunities to go visit them. Who wouldn\u2019t want to? Hawai\u2019i has always held a special place in Mom\u2019s heart.<\/p>\n
Later this evening, Rachel\u2019s children called to express their love. Rachel\u2019s children are a bit younger, so not everyone can speak yet, but we still heard from them all regardless. It was very sweet to hear from her beautiful children also. Mom loved every minute of it. Rachel was lamenting that her kids couldn\u2019t say something like, \u201cAloha!\u201d at the end\u2026 they don\u2019t really have an equivalent in Boston. We tried to come up with some ideas, but something like “Yo!” just doesn’t have the same ring to it.<\/p>\n
Jason and Tiffany joined Rachel, Joseph, Angie, and me in our singing tonight. Her eyes were already drooping when we started, so we sang her to sleep and then sang a little more together. Mom slept a lot today, and her swallowing and coughing are weaker. She hasn\u2019t been able to drink as much and she has eaten only a few spoonfuls of food all day. Her breathing has been a little more labored also. In her most “present” moments, she still loves to just look at each of us and listen to us reminiscing.<\/p>\n
Jon is arriving tonight and Rebecca is flying back out tomorrow night and arriving Thursday morning. It will be good to see everyone again. We\u2019ve been so overwhelmed by all the love and support that we\u2019ve received over the past few months. Thank you all.\ufeff<\/p>\n\n\t\t