A tribute to our beloved Pam.

Here is what we said about our wonderful Pam on Tuesday.  This was the hardest day of our lives but a beautiful day as well. The amount of love and support we received was phenomenal.

From John

Pamecdotes:

These are some things that Pam loved … She loved animals, especially her horse and her doggies… She loved her friends…close ones and casual – it didn’t matter..  She loved her friend’s pets or doggies … She loved flowers and gardening.. She loved cooking and she was a great cook, (my waist line can attest to that) …. She loved cooking for others…. She loved organizing and decorating parties and making sure everything went off just right…. like soup suppers at church or a baby shower… She loved Jimboy’s Tacos, (something she developed early on after our first meeting); … She loved Marshmallow peeps… She loved to be silly… She loved to be serious… She loved to speak her mind and share her opinion about what she thought was good, right and proper no matter the consequence … She loved to sew and create things.. She loved her family,.. all of them… all the time! She loved her two sisters Tina and Kim, their families and all their children … She loved kids … she was like a magnet to them … She loved teaching her friends children and her own granddaughters how to handle different life situations and how exciting our lives can be … She loved all the holidays – birthdays, anniversaries, St. Patrick’s day, (it includes special food).. and especially Christmas. so she could spoil her family, (especially the little ones), with the “perfect” and “most appropriate” gifts .. She loved to entertain and plan events and parties….She loved to wear jewelry…. She loved our cabin in Lake Tahoe … She loved to travel …. She loved collecting antique glass ….She loved serving the Lord, just by being a selfless model of understanding and grace… and learning about what His perfect love meant for her … She loved to sing… She loved to smile …. her smile was wide, inviting and sincere… She deeply loved her husband and finally… She loved life itself... no matter what adversity was thrown at her, whether it be a physical problem from her many surgeries, or a personal issue that was before her… she prayed about it, strengthened her resolve, overcame and marched forward, not giving up anything in any form…. She left her mark on so many… and was my hero.. We are truly going to miss you very much Pam..!

From Brad:

I will miss you so much mom.  You were an amazing mom, a wonderful grandmother, a loving wife and the protector of our family.  I love your giving spirit which was your true gift.  Your huge smile and even bigger laugh.  I love your sense of adventure that took us to so many places near and far.   I am truly fortunate to have had a mom who so willingly gave me a lifetime of unconditional love and support.

Your gifts, your character, your life lessons, your smile and laughter and everything else has shaped me into the man that I am now.  It is my prayer that somehow my daughters can grow up to be women embodying the same things you have taught me, without having a lifetime of knowing you. 

I want you to know that I will forever miss you and always cherish the time we had together and I love you with all my heart. 

From Amy:

It’s not often a girl gets to say they truly love their mother in law but I get to stand here today and say that I did.  Pam and I took pride in the fact that we actually really liked each other. For many years I got to be showered with her love and treated like a daughter.  And then the babies came along.  It was so neat to watch someone love my kids as much as I did.  She embraced being a Nana wholeheartedly.

I loved telling people I lived next to my inlaws and have them look at me in horror and ask, “how’s that going for ya?” and be able to answer with “it’s awesome”! I pretty much skipped with my girls every time I walk over to Pams singing “to grandmother’s house we go.”  So, nothing prepares you for a loss of this magnitude.

I have felt a very supernatural strength this week and I am grateful for my faith and that we as a family shared this faith together.  I find peace in knowing that she is in heaven celebrating and waiting for us to join her someday in that victory.

Not many know this, but in December I was pregnant with my 3^rd baby but by February I was no longer pregnant.  Pam helped me get through such a difficult and emotional challenge and I’m scared now knowing that that rock next door isn’t there anymore. I don’t know how to be a mom without that support system.

But, while I feel an overwhelming amount of pain that she is gone, and that she has left those 2 beautiful grandchildren here on earth, I find a remarkable amount of joy knowing that she was greeted in heaven by yet another grandchild.  My baby that even I haven’t met. She still gets to be Nana. She still gets to nurture and love on my baby and other family members that she has now joined in heaven.

In all of the outpouring of love this last week, everyone talked about her huge smile, her compassion, humility, selflessness, her hospitality and how giving she was.  She cared deeply for each and every one here today. Her heart had so much love to give and every comment this week that our family received was a blessing and we are so grateful for that support.  She affected us all on a very deep level.

Not a thought passes through us that doesn’t include you in it.  I still want to share every joy my girls give me with you.  I want to send you pictures and texts of what we are doing when we are out and about.  I want you to come through the back door just to say hi.  I want to hear Brielle running to you screaming “MO HUG AND KISSIES” but my life is forever changed.

I’ve never taken you for granted.  I always knew I had something special, but I didn’t know the gravity of it until I lost you.  I didn’t realize how big and beautiful your smile was until I knew I wouldn’t get to see it again.  I’m scared to live without you and my heart aches for my babies.  I pray that I can embody your spirit enough so that they will never forget how much you loved them and how important they were to you.  You treated them with the deepest love and as their mother, I could not have asked for anything better.  You were an incredible grandmother. They were your world.  WE were your world, and you were our world.

I love you and I will forever be changed by you.

https://vimeo.com/91877864
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