Auntie

Alice meant so much to so many. I'm so glad that I went home to Arizona for a few days last month before she went back to Utah. It didn't make any sense at the time because my husband was about to leave for Ireland. I was glad I went, but now I'm especially grateful for those moments I had to see her and hear her one last time say, "I love you, Carolyn. I'm so proud of you."

On another note, my sister, Sarah, and I were just reminiscing about all the fun things we used to do with Alice. I will never watch the Sound of Music without thinking of her and a particular one-on-one sleepover we had together. I used to love all the sleepovers. And then there was our trip to Disneyland, which was so spontaneous and fun. Sarah, Amber, and I used to love getting into her oodles of makeup (especially all the many bright colors of lipstick). But our favorite was when she would let us give her a makeover with all her makeup and curl her hair. I wonder if we ever took any pictures? Sarah and I when we were at BYU used to take weekend trips up to see Alice. My freshman year there was a weekend we went up there and we all did facials one night. Somewhere we have some great pictures of the three of us in facial masks.

The first family that my husband's parents met were Sarah and Alice that summer that Sarah stayed with her. She and my father-in-law had a special relationship. He would call her on occasion and would always ask after her. She was always so sweet to my husband and accepted him as another one of her "kids". Alice will always be so special to us and our marriage -- she even housed our wedding festivities.

Who can forget her hiccup-burps? It was the cause for the running joke between her and my dad about the flask she must have had hidden away somewhere. I'll let my dad tell his own "funnies" that they had together (there were a lot!), but that was one of my favorites. He had a way of making her laugh that I always enjoyed observing. I loved the summer that we set up the remains of a poker game on her kitchen table for her to find when she got home from work: green visor, poker chips, cards, card shuffler, the light pulled down low over the table. The joke was to have her walk in and then we could ask her what she'd been doing the night before. She thoroughly enjoyed that. As I recall, that all started because of the "cheese and crackers" holder that, my dad pointed out, conveniently held a deck of cards and poker chips perfectly. And so it was that Dad always teased Alice for clandestine flasks and late-night poker games.

And now let me leave you with one of my favorite episodic memories of Alice. My mom, Sarah, and I took Alice to a double feature. (I even remember that one of the movies was the Harrison Ford "Sabrina".) In between movies, some guy walked in and loudly said to the darkish theater, "Hey [so-and-so], are you here?" Alice promptly shouted, "I'm right here!" And then she giggled. At first I felt horrified and thought she was out of her mind, but when she started to giggle and then laugh it was so infectious that we all started to laugh. Sarah and I laughed tonight thinking of it.

I need not list everything Alice physically suffered throughout her life. I don't know how anyone else could have born it. But she did with laughter and love. She may not leave her own posterity behind her on this earth, but she has left a legacy of faith, perseverance and hope that will continue to influence countless generations to come.

Oh, I love you, Alice. I'm so proud of you.