A Present for Meme!

Families are Eternal

So we took family pictures last summer with the Torgersons. It was long overdue.  I think we were all very excited to get a picture of all of us together! There was just one thing missing, David's brother Eric.
Eric passed away on April 7, 2000.  He was 9 years old.  He had been battling cancer for a while and was taken from his family here on earth and went back to his Father in Heaven. I had been very lucky in my life to have never dealt with losing someone close to me growing up and when I met the Torgersons, I couldn't exactly grasp what it felt like to lose a sibling or child to such a terrible disease.  I met David about 4 years after Eric had passed away, but even then I could tell that the wounds were still very fresh from what the whole family had gone through with it all.  I felt so sad at first that I didn't get to know or meet Eric, but the family soon informed me about all of Eric's amazing qualities and talents and some of the funnier times in his life, like his extreme biting phase that he went through when he was about 2 years old. I think they all have at least on scar from that fun stage in a toddler to show.:)  They also told me about his amazing attitude that he had through the whole battle of cancer.  One of his favorite quotes was, "It's all about attitude." He was an amazingly strong child and I know had to have an even stronger spirit.  After being in the Torgerson family for 8 years and seeing pictures, videos, and hearing stories I sometimes forget that I have never met Eric in this life.  The Torgersons do such a great job at keeping his memory alive and letting us that didn't have the opportunity to know him in this life, feel like we did know him in some way. 
After having 3 kids of my own now, I can almost grasp a tiny bit of what Sherrie must have felt being the mother and losing your child at such a young age.  I have a huge respect for her.  I look up to her for so many reasons, but one of them is her ability to do what she had to do for her family still on the earth after such a great loss. So in honor of remembering Eric and making him apart of our latest family picture, David came up with the idea to put the 2 family pictures together, so that we could all be together in some way in the picture.  
Sherrie is such an amazing mom and grandma.  She is always there with a helping hand and never thinks of herself.  She lives for her family and especially her grandkids these days and would do anything for them.  She is always there with the time to listen at least 3-5 times a week when Maggie wants to call and talk to Meme and tell her about just the everyday things that go on in a 4 year old's life.  She remembers all the holidays and the kids are always excited to get a card in the mail from their Meme and Papa.  She makes the kids feel like her  world revolves around them and they are so lucky to have her.  I am so grateful to Sherrie for raising David the way she did, because it made him who he is today.  I am so glad to have a mother-in-law that I feel so close to and that I can talk to.  We have had so many great and fun times with too many laughs to count. 
So on your birthday, I would like to wish you a Happy Birthday!! You deserve an amazing day! I hope you know how much we all love and miss you.  Hugs and kisses from your family out west!!