Missing Dad

My friend Pauline gave me an amaryllis bulb to watch grow. It just bloomed this week. On wikipedia, the amaryllis is described as follows:

"The botanic name Amaryllis is taken from a shepherdess in Virgil's pastoral "Eclogues," from the Greek ἀμαρύσσω (Latin amarysso) meaning "to sparkle."^[4]

As a flower symbol it has come to mean "Dramatic"."

Pauline gave the flower to me to remind me of my dad and grandpa who have passed away. Then, I read my friend Edythe's blog about her memories of her dad and listened to music on it called Daddy's girl, and I teared up yesterday and hope that I have a couple of guardian angels that are helping me from paradise. I am a lot like my dad. Grandpa was my mentor. I spent a lot of time with him the last year or so of his life, and he adored my little girl and loved our visits. I'm really glad that I've had these reminders of these two important people in my life. I had a brain hiccup, but I just remembered where I was going with this and came back to finish this post. I know that they are a part of who I am-- just like all other friends and relatives that have impacted me. Elder Anderson gave a recent fireside. He said, "Just as our life began before our birth into mortality, our life does not end with the stopping of a heartbeat. We will continue on. Who you are—you, the distinct individual—you will always be you. Some may say, “I don’t like myself.” Sorry. You can shape who you become, you can be more than you are today, but you will always be you." I know that my dad and grandpa are continuing on and have thought about my life and what I need to do in life as the "distinct person" that I am. I love the general authorities way of encouraging us to all "sparkle" like the amaryllis no matter where we are or how the world sees us. I think it's so important to teach our kids that they are special. Already, my three year old says things like, "I can't do that good enough, etc." I help her as much as I need to and then let her shine. There is nothing like the glow that comes through her face as she says, "I did it." Ty has done this for me. I told him that he has always treated me like a 10 cow wife (jonny lingo). He doesn't care about mistakes. He openly admits to the ones he makes and moves on. I hope that our kids are able to cope with life like Ty does and realize how great they are.