Craig's Blog of Destiny

Mom:  the one that brought me into this life!  Mom is great, always supportive of what I’ve done and very practical.  When I started my business, she’s the one that got right to the heart of the matter:  “How do you get your clients?” she asked.  She has that pioneer attitude about things, always coping with whatever comes her way, good, bad, or anything in-between.  She taught me lots about staying on task, and just getting the job done.  Her influence on me regarding reactions to life’s quirks is very strong: from her I learned that what happens to us isn’t nearly as important as how we react to what happens to us.  She taught me to cook – by telling me when I was quite young that if I wanted cookies I could make them myself.  And at the same time, her unselfishness is manifest in all the treats she’ll make for the family while not being able to enjoy them herself (because of her diabetes).  Mom’s faith in prayer, commitment to her family and church, and practicality has been true constants in my life.

Grandma Ravsten:  my mother’s mother.  We used to spend time summers at Grandma’s place, jumping in the hay out in the barn or getting dirty in the old chicken coop.  She had a scary basement we sometimes hung out in.  She taught me to enjoy rhubarb picked right from her garden, and apples even if you noticed a small hole in them. When I was a very young lad, she got sick and was bedridden a period of time, it was at that time she taught me to play checkers and I so enjoyed her company!  Grandma stayed close, writing me letters all the while I was in High School, and during my mission.  After my mission we often visited her for dinner and could never get away without her insisting on us taking way more food than we could have eaten in the weeks between visits.

Grandma Renee:  my mother in law.  You can’t help but feel good whenever Irene is around or she reaches out to you with the traditional phone call, note, or more recently electronically. Her interest in you is always very genuine and sincere.  She epitomizes the “if you can’t say anything nice…” sentiment:  I’ve never heard her speak ill of anyone.  She always seems to know what to say and when to say it, the notes in her cards are always uplifting, probably because you know she means what she says.  Although she doesn’t let it out too often, she can be very silly and entertaining:  I’ll never forget her birthday song to me one year, sung as a dirge:  “happy birthday, happy birthday… there is sadness in the air, there is death everywhere… happy birthday…”

Nanny:  my wife’s grandmother.  I don’t want to say too much about Nanny – I believe I’m in the periphery of her influence on the world, but I must mention her and her strong commitment to her family, especially the little ones, and her work ethic.  Even in her advanced years she could clean circles around any of the rest of us.  And her relationship with her daughter Irene truly was special.  Nanny’s legacy remains with me and my family and her spirit will be with us forever.

Kristin:  my wife!  What a great mom Kristin is, even to me when I need it.  I’m always so proud of her and her ability to take care of all us kids in the house.  She makes sure we learn what we need to learn (sometimes the hard way because that’s best), but will never let us fall to actual injury.  Her sense of fair play is legendary and she’s done such a great job of instilling that in our kids.  She teaches us, by being such a powerful example, that honesty really is the best policy.  Really.  She arranges her life to accommodate the needs of those of us she’s raising, making sure Sam has a great place to storm castles and fight dragons with his group of buddies and J’Neil has access to anything musical.  If you mention you are having some type of problem, Kristin will do everything she can, and even will do some things that she can’t, to fix the problem.  She will fix the problem.  In reference to some of the preparation Kristin is putting in for the kids annual summer mystery party someone posted on Kristin’s blog: “Can you be my mother? Please? Pretty Please?”  Those of us to whom she is mother, and those of us who get to be mothered by her, are very, very blessed.

Marilynn:  the mother to my four oldest kids.  While we haven’t always seen eye to eye, Marilynn’s commitment to her kids has always been impressive.  She always puts their needs and their happiness at the top of the priority list and will do all that she can to give them good times.

Jamie:  my daughter.  It may seem a little odd to be recognizing little Jamie in my mom post, but not if you know Jamie.  Jamie has been a little mom since before she started school – before she started kindergarten!  She was always looking out for the kids in the neighborhood as well as her younger siblings.  She “took care” of everyone.  I’ve often commented as she grew up that she is “just a good little mom.”  And now, she has grown up into a great little mom, having four great kids of her own.  Jamie’s commitment to and love of her family is evident in all that she does.  She really is, and always has been, a career mother.

Heather: my daughter. It is a little odd to think of Heather as a mom, but I have to say, she’s a wonderful mom! Heather makes sure that her son Dillon has a great environment to live and grow in. She encourages his interest in all things trucks, and makes sure his world is filled with the things he loves. The other day my father commented to me on how well behaved Dillon was during a recent visit they had with Heather’s family and I pointed out that I couldn’t see Heather having it any other way. Heather is a great mom now, and we’re proud she’ll continue to be so to her second child due this fall.

Happy Mother’s Day to all the Moms out there!