Last Saturday I had the most INCREDIBLE, AMAZING, HUMBLING, FUN, UPLIFTING day in a long, long time. (Brace yourselves... it's a long but must-tell story!)
It was indescribable.
I have to start at the beginning of the story though... nearly 17 years ago.
It still shocks me that not all Young Women's groups were like mine. I
had no clue how special and unique my experience was and I credit those
incredible friendships and years of unconditional love (and lots of
giggles and fun) to Patty.
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| The most beautiful woman in the world... Patty Jones. |
Patty Jones was my Young Women's President when I was a Laurel. But I honestly never remember YW without her. She was our Camp Director for several years but everyone thought she was our leader year-round. She has served in YW for more than 20 years. I had a lot of really good leaders but Patty was different. The way she loved each of us is hard to describe. No matter what we did, who we were, what our home lives were like, what we looked like or acted like, she loved us.Patty loved us when we didn't love ourselves. She brought us together and to be quite honest, many of us probably wouldn't have been friends had it not been for Patty. Patty has the incredible gift of making everyone around her feel like they are the most important person in the entire world. Everyone felt like they were her favorite and that she loved them the most. She is one of the most beautiful people I have and will ever know. A true angel who walks among us.
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| I had this picture sitting on my kitchen table until after Jeff and I got married! I just couldn't bear to
put it in a drawer because it reminded me of all my "girls." |
I could go on and on and on about Patty. All the fun times we had in YW... truth or dare (let's just say it involved bras and loads of giggles), camp shenanigans, the "birds and the bees" talk, the original Patty O' Jones show (our own Camp version of a talk show popular at the time where we came up with something hilariously embarrassing for everyone to confess to the studio audience), and so much more.
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| The original Patty O' Jones show with Patty and Carri. I still can't believe Patty let us get away with that show! |
The spiritual power Patty had when giving her Sunday lessons and making us feel like she was speaking just to us, about our deepest concerns. She went on a 3-week medical trip to Bosnia at a time when that area of the world was extremely dangerous (the youth of our stake put together medical and hygiene kits and toys... only to have them stolen out of a storage unit and then witness several miracles to make the trip possible). She was a Physician Assistant and my family doctor for years. She treated her patients just like she did everyone else in her life. And she has cheerfully endured more trials than most of us could even imagine. She is a three-time cancer survivor. Her oldest daughter and my dear friend, Carri, died three years ago from a brain tumor and her youngest daughter, Kali, is a cancer survivor (brain tumor).
Throughout the years, Patty stayed involved in the lives all of her "girls." She has been there for all of our milestones... when we graduated, got married, had babies, endured deaths of family members, struggled in our marriages or jobs or personally. Last Mother's Day, in the midst of feeling inadequate as a mom with two little kids, I got a call from Patty... just to tell me I was a good mom, that she was proud of me, and that she loved me (oh and she loved my blog). It meant the world to me, giving me the strength to go back inside the house and try again.
So when I got called to serve in my ward's YW, I was instantly overcome with feelings of inadequacy. I kept thinking, "There is NO WAY I can be Patty for these girls! I don't think I can love them as much as Patty loved me."
Then Patty got sick. Really sick. She is dying of cancer. Jamie and I plan a yearly YW reunion for all the girls and leaders and we knew we had to do something soon. We weren't going to wait around and miss what may be the last chance to tell Patty how much she has meant to each of us. So we started planning. And I started talking to everyone who would listen about how scared I was to be in YW because I had had the most amazing leader whom I would never be able to live up to. I mentioned Patty to a friend at work, who just happened to be a Stake YW President. She told me I needed to tell someone about Patty and how much influence leaders can have on the youth they serve.
Then I had an impression to track down a former coworker who was now working for the LDS Church in their media department. I sent him an email about Patty and begged him to help me find a way to tell her story, the story of how much she has impacted the lives of my YW group. I don't think it was more than five minutes after I sent the email that Cody was on the phone with me. He had a thought to call the producers of KSL's Mormon Times show, a half-hour program on Sunday mornings. I sent KSL some more information and waited anxiously for about a week or so before hearing back from them. They wanted to tell Patty's story! I was elated! I felt this rush of nerves and excitement and joy. And I kept thinking that Carri was playing her hand in this somehow.
At this point, Patty was still in the hospital and I wasn't sure if we'd be able to actually film the segment. Her family had already given me the OK to pursue this, but Patty didn't know yet. A few days after she came home, I called to tell her what I'd done. The first thing I said to her was, "I'm asking for forgiveness and permission, so just say yes." Patty was overwhelmed, telling me she was nobody special and didn't know if she wanted to do this. My heart sunk a bit. But then she told me that if this was a way that she could serve others, she would do it for me. My emotions were so mixed. I wasn't sure if what I had felt just days before was really the Spirit telling me it was the right thing to do or if I'd just gotten so excited about this idea that I'd bypassed any spiritual promptings. The last thing I wanted to do was make Patty feel like she had to do something and stress her out. Things settled down and then in typical media fashion, coordinating a camera crew and nine people's schedules became a nightmare. We were going to have five of the oldest girls from my YW group, Patty and her daughter, Kali, and Patty's medical partner (and ironically the doctor who delivered me and all my siblings) Dr. Glen Mortensen interviewed. Which meant all of us had to be in Logan on the same day at the same time at the same place. Every time I figured schedules out, KSL would call with something that had come up. I was beginning to think it wouldn't happen and that's when I asked for prayers. I just had the most indescribable emotion/feeling that this was meant to me and something so special was going to happen. At one point in the week, I called Kali to ask her what I should do. I was trying so hard to protect Patty because she only had a few days during the week that she would feel good enough for a mini-YW reunion filled with tears, giggles, and lots of talking! Patty got on the phone and told me to stop worrying about this! They would be there whenever I needed them and to RELAX! True Patty style to tell ME to relax about this!
Saturday came. I had butterflies in my stomach all morning. The second I saw my friends, my true friends whom I love more than anything, I had a rush of love and happiness fill me! I can't describe it but I was so happy. Jamie arranged for a makeup artist to come and doll us all up before filming. I have to admit, I haven't felt that beautiful since my wedding day nearly 10 years ago. Since I was going with KSL to film Dr. Mortensen's interview, I went first.
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| It's amazing what a bit of makeup does! |
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| Mary Poppins' bag of magic! It's amazing what a little bit of makeup and a professional can do for a girl. |
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| Patty getting her makeup done. Thank you Vivian! |
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| Vivian doing Kali's makeup. |
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| Beautiful and wonderful, Kali. |
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| Molly |
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| My beautiful friend, Kristy. I miss her so much. |
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| Rachel, Jamie, Kristy |
Seeing Dr. Mortensen was so fun! When I called to ask him if he'd be interested in doing this T.V. segment, he said he was so excited and honored. He loves Patty as much as we love her! He was so sweet and his stories of how influential Patty was to him, their coworkers, and patients were beautiful. It was privilege to hear him speak and I knew I was in trouble because we were all tearing up.
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| Dr. Glen Mortensen |
After Dr. Mortensen and his wife were interviewed by KSL, we went back to Rachel's house to interview all the girls and Patty. When I walked in there was laughter and hugs and seven women who couldn't have been more excited to see each other! It was amazing! We laughed and laughed and laughed over camp pictures, ridiculous hair dos, camp stories, and memories we'd long forgotten about. I felt like I was 17 again!
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| Molly and Kristy reminiscing over all the embarrassing things we did at Girls' Camp. |
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| Rachel, Me, and Molly looking at old pictures |
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| The real photographer, Kristy | ! |
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| Rachel and Molly. |
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| Rachel... thank you for letting us come to your home! It was beautiful and you were a wonderful hostess. |
Our camera guy, Dennis, filmed us interacting with each other. He told us he felt like he'd stepped into forbidden territory like he was intruding on some "girls' party." He was a good sport to put up with all of us! We even had him (and the producer, Irinna) laughing about "fake boobs" (ask Patty to explain) and then crying with us at the end. In our defense, we are WOMEN who have known each other for a long time and we did feed him afterwards! I asked my mom and sister to bring us lunch... they really wanted a sneak peek and it gave them a good reason to come and join us.
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| Yum. Rachel makes these delicious treats for our YW reunions (Patty's favorites) so it was only fitting for today! |
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| Mothers and daughters! Me, my Mom, Kali, Patty, and my sister Kimmy. |
I was interviewed first and pretty much cried the entire time as I tried to convey my love for Patty and how she had influenced my life and the lives of all the young women she had served. Now, I'm used to T.V. interviews for work but this was hard. I don't think there are words enough to say how wonderful Patty is and what she means to us. As I told Irinna, Patty taught us how to see and love others the way our Heavenly Father does. She has taught us what it means to be Christlike.
Patty bore her testimony and recounted on how she has been blessed to know her Heavenly Father loves her throughout her life. Hearing her talk, it became clear that Patty's mission on this life was to teach others what she has always known without a doubt... that we are Heavenly Father's children. He loves us. He gave his Son to us so that we could know Him and return to live with Him someday. Why Heavenly Father blessed me to have Patty in my life I will never know but I am eternally grateful for this blessing.
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| Touching up makeup before filming. |
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| One of my favorite pictures from the day. |
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| Mother and daughter... Kali and Patty. |
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| Kristy and Patty. They are extremely close... Kristy calls Patty, Mom. |
We could have talked for DAYS about Patty! But KSL had to be back to SLC for the Jazz game by 4 and by the time we finished, it was past 3 p.m.! I felt terrible that we ran out of time and only myself and Patty were able to complete individual interviews. We all sat together, as Kristy, Kali, Molly, Jamie, and Rachel were able to tell a few favorite memories of Patty. I wish we would have had more time... I didn't want the day to ever end.
I wish everyone could feel how beautiful and special the day was. There are no words for the feelings I had and it will be a memory I will cherish forever.
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| My beautiful, true friends. I can't tell you how much I love these women! |
Patty will be featured on KSL's (Channel 5) Mormon Times show on Sunday, May 13, 2012 at 10 a.m. as part of their Mother's Day episode.
It's a perfect fit because in so many ways Patty did (and still does) love us the way only a mother can.
