I love Susanne Burnett

Last Thursday my mom and I went to a beautiful wedding reception. It was for Taylor and his new wife Marcy. I loved it. The room was decorated beautifully with Marcy standing in the middle. Her dress was amazing. I don't think I looked that great in my wedding dress. Marcy was absolutely gorgeous. The reception was at Noah's in South Jordan, Utah. It was perfect.

(The Groom's cake)

What I loved the most, was that I felt Taylor's mom Susanne was included. Susanne is one of my super heroes in life and a great example to me. When I was still a baby, Susanne was diagnosed with MS. Still, I don't remember her ever showing the signs of being sick until I was much older. Susanne is one of my mom's best friends and she came over a lot. This friendship started in Dallas and continued even after all of us moved to Utah. I remember being so excited to see her when she came to our house in Bountiful. It brought back a lot of happy days and memories for the entire family. We love our Dallas days and talk about them often. So it is no surprise that with Kevin talking about moving to Austin, I smile.

Sadly the disease slowly crept on Susanne as I grew older. I remember going with my mom down to a nursing home at one point in Provo to visit her. Despite all the pain she felt, her eyes sparkled at the sight of my mom. True friends always come in the toughest of times. She wouldn't let us see her pain and we talked of old days. I couldn't believe how strong she was. It was such a sign of character. I honestly believe that it was her faith that kept her going.

Later she moved again this time to Bountiful. When I was getting ready to leave on my mission, my mom began helping her around her house. By then the disease had almost fully taken over. She could barely walk and was hanging on to things, she still got up for my mom.

After a few weeks of me being homesick in the MTC down in Sao Paulo, Brazil; my mom sent me an e-mail. She wrote that she had gone to see Susanne for the last time and then just a few hours after the visit, Susanne left this mortal world. I froze at the computer and tears streamed down my face; all the other missionaries in the room began to stare at me.

The rest of the day, I thought of my mom, Susanne's family and all our Dallas friends. Later that night, I prayed that everyone would feel peace knowing that we would all be together again one day. I fell asleep and had a dream about Susanne and that she was perfect. My favorite Primary teacher, Scarlett Humphries who passed away from cancer years before is also in the dream. They embrace each other and I feel peace.

I will never underestimate the impact one can have on a child, as both of these women played a huge role in my life. I remember that one of my main reasons that I even went on a mission is because of these two women. They helped me know that Jesus loves everyone.

The next day near the door of my room, is a rose and some cookies. Not just any rose, a yellow rose. This is no coincidence.

All these memories fill my mind at some point during the reception. I loved seeing the Burnett family, how we've all grown. I loved looking at the pictures of Susanne bright and cheery as ever. I feel as if she is there in the room. I watched my mom's eyes water up just a teeny bit as we look at the pictures. The eyes of her kids tear up just a teeny bit as well, as we greet them. The same is with Susanne's husband, Scott. I feel as if my mom helps bring back the memories of when Susanne was well and how they used to go out to lunch all the time.

On the way home from the reception, I have my mom tell me the details about her last visit with Susanne since I was away in Brazil. She explains what happened and this part stood out to me the most. She said that she told Susanne this, "You and Scarlett are going to now be our guardian angels. You'll get to see her soon. She'll be waiting for you." I begin to tear up as my mom said it, because it's true.

I know that they're together and that is the blessing of heaven. We have the knowledge and hope that we'll all be together someday. We now have the privilege and blessing of having two beautiful guardian angels watching over us.

In heaven, Susanne now has a perfect body and is no longer sick. My final message to her since I never had the chance to fully say goodbye is this:

As quoted from the song "All About Your Heart"

I've loved you from the start, in every single way and more each passing day.

You are brighter than the stars.

Thank you for being such an important part of our lives.

My kind of heaven

Last Sunday I was sitting in church with my family. Literally, with all my family. Now this may seem normal to everyone else; it has hardly ever happened. Allow me to explain. My dad sings with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. While I love the choir and am really happy that my dad has the opportunity to sing, we hardly ever saw him on Sundays because of the morning broadcast.

When I arrived at my parents house that morning, Katelyn and

Aiden were there and had spent the night. My mom had managed to get them in their clothes and I tackled their hair. Katelyn was the first. She sat still while I managed to get her hair in a pony tail but she had to be the one to brush it. I thought something was missing when we were done. I ran upstairs and found my old hair bag. Inside were some pink rose bows with light green leaves that matched her dress perfectly. I laughed because they were my favorite when I was her age.

Next was Aiden and I wasn't sure how that was going to work. Luckily, Katelyn had a clip from the day before that matched her polka dot shirt. I won the "keep the clip in your hair" war for about an hour, she won it in the end. Silly girl. She's getting so big now.

Nate and Jen then arrived and we were set to go, all of us. We all sat together on the second row to the right. We've been sitting there in every chapel as long as I can remember.

The first hymn began, my mom leading the whole congregation. Aiden starts screaming "YAY!!! YAY!!!" We can't stop laughing. My mom has a cheerleader. Nate and Jen comment, "Well, it doesn't matter if everyone follows her or not, someone is happy."

After the hymn and opening prayer, I can't help looking up and down the row. I kept thinking to myself, this is my heaven. I envisioned this is what it must be like, having all of your family together in one place.

I realize that Mark was not there but in a way he was, in spirit. I also then came to understand that is the promise that Heavenly Father gives us. That our Families can be Together Forever. That means that in heaven Gracie will be with us too.

It will be my heaven.