This is my mom, JOAN
ANN DIETZE DIONNE. She passed away on August 10th, 2015 at
4:45am. My mother was an amazing person. Incredibly creative and artistically
gifted. I miss her every day but I know she’s in heaven in a restored body and
mind. She will ALWAYS be my mom and I will always be her rabbit.
I have wanted to do this for some time now. Losing your
mother interrupts your life in a way that’s unimaginable at times. It made me
reflect about the incredible women that have come before me. I’ve thought about
how I met them and what they mean to me. And before life’s ability to swipe
them away with no one’s permission, I want them to know what they mean to me.
This is my sister JERRI
LYNN DIONNE. She is the greatest sister anyone could ever have.
Sure
growing-up there were times when we were at each other’s throats! But for the
most part we were thick as thieves (and truth be told we still are).
I remember when I must have been about 5 or
6-years-old, just around the age of being a complete and utter nuisance to an
older sister. She did the most amazing thing.
Jerri decided to build me a fort.
It was under our staircase and made for a perfect lair to engineer our master
plans. She called this particular plan, “the midnight sneaky.” The objective…to
get the leftover dessert out of the fridge without anyone catching us!
Of
course with her own allowance, she had gotten us provisions while we plotted
our mission. There was soda and animal crackers. I believe “midnight sneaky”
was a success and chocolate cake was successfully captured.
This is SUSIE
IRISH ULRICKSON. I think Susie has known me all my life.
I was a Sesame
Street watcher, while eating peanut butter jelly sandwiches and then take a nap
kind of kid. Waking up from naps was not at all enjoyable for me.
My earliest
memories of Susie would be of her quietly coming into the room after I woke up
and playing with me.
She had a sense of calm and I remember her smile and
having an overall feeling of being loved in her presence. I remember her
playing with my Dressy Bessy doll with me and showing me how to tie the bows
and button the buttons.
I’m not even sure if I knew her before Paul or after
Paul, I just know it was ALWAYS Susie and Paul. And when they would come to our
house I loved every minute of it!
This is SUSAN
HINKLE PARSONS. I think she’s known me all my life like Susie.
Susan went on
our church high school trip to Mexico in 1983. Her presence is always bright
and beautiful and eloquent.
I think she was the first red head I ever knew and
I remember thinking when I was young how amazing it must be to be a red head!
It has been a joy getting to know her as an adult, woman to woman. She’s forged
a path in this world with great compassion and faith.
Having her in the fabric
of my life allows me to know and believe there is truly blessings on this
earth!
And to know Susan is to know her mother SUE HINKLE. Sue passed away on September
18th, 2012.
Sue was a beloved Sunday School Teacher at Westside
United Protestant Church in Richland, Washington for many years.
Among those
years as a youngster, I spent many Sunday’s sitting on the floor listening to
her tell wonderful stories from the Bible using a felt board with felt
characters! She brought so many special Bible stories to life for children.
She
was a lifelong friend to my mother and I hope they are both celebrating in
heaven together!
This is PATRICIA
STIEHLER SANDERS she passed away on March 18th, 1997. I don’t
remember very much about her but a few things.
She and her husband Al Sanders
used to come to our house to have Bible Studies with my parents. They would be
upstairs at the dining room table or in the living room, and you would find me
downstairs in front of the t.v. or in my room.
I always remember hearing her
laugh in our house. She had the most infectious laugh! She had a most beautiful
smile and was tall. She was warm and funny and I remember when I would hear the
Bible study ending, I always kind of made an excuse to go upstairs and say
hello. Because when you said hello to Mrs. Sanders she always made you feel
relevant.
She would ask about school or sports you participated in. I just
remember feeling good every time I had a chance to talk to her.
This is CHRISTINE
ROMANELLI DEVILLENEUVE. She and my mother were friends for many years.
Christine and her husband Floyd were another couple that would often come to
our house for Bible studies.
You ALWAYS knew when Christine was in the house!
She has a laugh like no other on this planet! And her hugs are beyond
consuming. You haven’t been hugged until you’ve experienced a Christine hug!
Did I mention it comes with a BIG kiss on the cheek too?!
This woman is incredibly gifted, hardworking
and the most infectious person you will ever know.
She gave me my very first
job as a bus girl, cleaning tables every Friday and Saturday night at Carlos
Willy’s Mexican Restaurant in Kennewick, Washington. It was there I learned
what it meant to be a hard worker, be on time, have a good attitude and laugh
along the way.
This beautiful woman is KELLI POLLARD DIONNE. The day she met my brother my mom told her
she was an answer to prayer!
The day she married my brother, technically she
became our sister-in-law. But Jerri and I never wanted to use “in-law” so we’ve
called her our sister ever since.
Kelli is the most kind-hearted person I’ve
ever known. When she says she loves you it comes without restrictions, rules or
precept. She is truly a child of God’s and demonstrates it every day.
When I
took a job in Spokane, Washington it was a VERY trying time. After long days at
work I would come over and sit in the kitchen and she would take out the snap
peas and say, “tell me about your day…” to which sometimes she would get more
than she bargained for! But she always was encouraging, sympathetic and
compassionate.
Kelli truly has become the Matriarch of our family and I can’t
think of anyone else that could fit the bill.
My mother loved her with the kind
of love that only a parent can give. Because my mom knew Kelli loved her son in
a way that only God could have created.
This is DR.
BYUNG-KUK CHO and MOLLY HOLT.
Many of you have heard me speak about them often. Molly Holt is the daughter of
Harry and Bertha Holt. Together they created, Holt International Children’s
Services the adoption agency my parents used to adopt me.
In 2010 I had the privilege of volunteering at Holt’s
Ilsan Town for special needs orphans in South Korea. I lived in Molly’s house
with her for four months. Her father built and passed away in that house and I
was fortunate enough to call it home for a brief time. Molly has cared for
orphan children in South Korea for over 50 years. She’s devoted to the legacy
her parents started.
Dr. Cho was Holt’s Head Pediatrician for many years.
After retiring she continued to devote much of her time to the children of
Holt. She now lives in Molly’s home with her in Ilsan. Dr. Cho signed my intake
paperwork when I was one month old and brought to Holt’s office in 1967.
The
first time I met her she hugged me and called me one of her babies.
This is BETTY
THOMAS WYATT. The moment I met her I knew I was going to love her. She
turned 80 this year and you would never know it! We keep telling her she should
slow down, but she still prepares income taxes and likes to keep busy.
The
Wyatt’s are a very close knit family and she makes sure of that. She’s truly
the Matriarch of the Wyatt family and she is loved by every family member from
Oregon to Oklahoma.
If Betty knew you were in need, she would give you what she
has and go without. Several months after I met Alan, he told me that his mother
had said to him he would be a fool to let me go!
From the first time I met her,
she has loved on me like I was one of her children. Betty is so caring and
generous and truly would do anything for her children or grandchildren.
I
expect many more years out of her because this family needs her so very much.
Betty has worked hard all her life, but her greatest accomplishment is the
family she’s created. A LOT of family!
And this my friends come to the finale of the legacy of
women that surround me. This is BARB
SCHANNO McCRUMB. I moved to Colorado in October of 1988. Not long after I
met her daughter Debbie. We instantly became the best of friends. We both
worked at Red Robin in Lakewood, Colorado. From there we moved to Keystone,
Colorado and became bona fide ski bums for two years.
I have spent countless Christmas dinners at the Schanno’s
house. And that meant buying an extra prime rib and lobster tail. I even lived
in their basement for a time. Over the years I was an adopted Schanno kid. Barb
would have it no other way. When her mother Katie moved in with her in
Colorado, I remember Barb explaining to grandma Katie that I was one of her
adopted children.
Then there was the summer Debbie and I had the great idea
to move to Virginia Beach, Virginia. What a fiasco that turned out to be! We
moved into an apartment that was infested with fleas, everywhere we turned
there were young women with babies because their husbands were in the Navy. We
had no friends to speak of and missed Colorado so bad we put it on our
answering machine (yes, this was a few years ago). It was fun for about a month
and then we got desperate!
One night I heard Debbie on the phone. She was crying and
was really upset. I knew she was talking to her mom. Debbie was telling her mom
how miserable we were and that things were not as they were suggested to us. We
only had ourselves to blame. But the next morning Debbie tells me, “my mom is
renting a car and coming out to get us.” I think we were so happy we started
dancing in the living room (with the fleas!)
Barb rented a car and drove from Colorado to Virginia
Beach and back with all of our belongings stuffed in that car. She paid for the
car, the gas, the food and took the time to bail us out. I could understand her
doing that for Debbie, but for me? That was beyond grace.
My mom and dad came and visited me in Colorado. They
treated my friends and I to a nice dinner downtown. I remember I had invited my
“Colorado Mom” because I had told my mom how Barb had looked out for me and
cared for me since I had moved to Colorado. I remember my mom meeting Barb and
thanking her for looking after me. It was a remarkable moment I’ll never
forget. I think really from that point on I always referred to Barb as being
my, “Colorado Mom.”
Barb lost Pop (Mike Schanno) in 2001. We were all so heavyhearted
at the loss of such a remarkable man. He was the rock. The center of the
Schanno family. I’ll never forget walking into the church at Pop’s funeral and
Barb, my Colorado mom, taking my hand and saying, “you’re coming with us,
you’re family and today you’ll be with family.” I burst into tears and sat with
Debbie, Mike, Michelle and mom. Pop got quite a send-off that included a
procession of Harley Davidson riders. I cried all the way to the cemetery.
It
was a beautiful sight to see all those bikes honoring Pop.
There’s so much more I could tell you about Barb, but I
think you understand how much she means to me. So with her blessing, after my
mom passing away this past August; I asked Barb to be my earthly mom. I now
have my beautiful mother looking over me in heaven. And I know she would
approve.
Know from this point on when I speak of my “earthly mom,” or just
“mom” it’s this wonderful, caring and beautiful woman that has known me and
looked after me since I was 21-years-old. And it wasn’t because she had to…it
was because she wanted to and I am forever grateful she did.
