Marion Ruggles 1926-2007

On Thursday February 22, 2007 my Grandma passed away. Her last few years were very hard on her and she was ready to go home and start her eternal life in Heaven. One of my earliest memories of Grandma was during the summer Barrett and I stayed in Taber for a week to go to day bible camp. During this visit, Grandma taught us a prayer said to invite Jesus into our hearts. We said the prayer together and she taught us the importance of loving the Lord. This is a message that she repeated often, it was her mission to ensure that everyone she loved, loved the Lord so that they would one day enjoy eternal happiness in Heaven with her. This same prayer was included in her eulogy at the funeral which just goes to show how important the prayer was to her. One of the cards of sympathy that my Grandpa received spoke of my Grandma; "She carried herself like a Queen, but lived like a servant." This was so true of my Grandma. She was the most giving, gracious, humble woman I have known. The funeral was nice. We went to the funeral home in Taber to view and pray for Grandma. This was probably the most difficult part of the funeral. To see my Grandpa standing over the body of his partner and best friend for 58 years weeping was heart breaking. I spent quite some time standing in front of her as well with my dad as we talked about our memories of her. When the prayers were over, I almost didn't want to leave because it would be the last time I would ever see her on this earth. I know that it was silly considering that it was only her body and not her up there but at that point it just all seemed so final. The next morning we met at the cemetery for the burial. A young pastor spoke about Grandma and had some wonderful things to say about her. From there we went to the church for lunch, visiting with family and then the actual funeral service. My Dad, Uncle Les and Grandpa all said a few words about Grandma. Grandpa told the story of how him and Grandma met, and their missionary days in Peru and Venezuela. Much of the message was the same, Grandma was the Lords servant and she loved Him. It had been so long since I had heard Grandpa speak in church and hearing him made me remember that he has a gift. He loved her so much and so much of his last 10 years were consumed by taking care of Grandma. As poor as Grandma's quality of life was, Grandpa also had a rough time the past few years caring for her. We will all miss Grandma, but we can celebrate her life and know that she is in a happier place awaiting the time we will join her. Love You Grandma!

Valentines 2007

This was Dennis and my 7th Valentines Day together and I think it was my favorite so far. On the 14th, Dennis had a dozen beautiful long stemmed roses sent to work. Getting flowers sent to work will make any day a good one. We actually ended up celebrating Valentines on the 15th since I had the next day off work and didn't have to be in bed so early. We didn't do anything really exciting, just hung out at home, pushed the couches together and watched some movies. Dennis was awesome and once again showed that he definitely knows how to make a wifey feel like she has the best hubby in the world! This is the reason that this was my favorite Valentines. We didn't need expensive gifts or to go out and do something extravagant which is what most people believe Valentines should be. I think that as long as you are with the one you love, doing something you both enjoy, you have had a successful Valentines Day. Thank You Dennis for a fabulous Valentines Day that I will never forget!

Lindz' 25th Birthday Pub Crawl

Almost a month has gone by since I celebrated my birthday but it was such a memorable one that I had to include it in my blog. January 3rd started out slow since I had to work and I knew that Dennis would be working when I was done. The day started to change when Sheri took me out for a delicious birthday lunch at Fuel, then at around 3:00 I got a call that there were flowers up in the mail room for me. My thoughtful hubby had sent me a dozen pink roses. As you all know, flowers will always make your day better and from there my day did get better. I met with Sara, Bobbie and Colleen to go for Sushi after work and we had a blast. We laughed so hard that our stomachs hurt, which I am sure had nothing to do with the 'all you can eat' dinner we had just eaten. After dinner, Sara came over and we played some Nintendo Wii sports. It was a lot of fun but the next day Sara was complaining that she threw out her back and I thought I had pulled something in my arm. Wow I am getting old! lol Since my actual birthday was on a Wednesday, we celebrated again on Saturday for those that were busy during the week. My day started when Bobbie picked me up to go meet Sara and Colleen and get my hair cut and colored for my birthday present. After we were done at the salon, we went to Chinook Centre to eat lunch and then Sara and I went and got our makeup done at MAC. Once we were done at the mall we went back to my house to finish getting ready. We had rented the 'Tiger Bus' to take us to a few of our favorite bars. Most of my really close friends were able to make it for a memorable 25th birthday celebration. We were picked up from my house and went to Morgans on 17th. From there, we went to the Alley for $2 drink specials and ended the pub crawl at the Roadhouse. After losing my husband while leaving the roadhouse, a group of us stayed downtown waiting for Dennis to come back. Everyone else went to the Station while we waited for about an hour before deciding to go ahead to the Station. By the time we made it, no one was there anymore, so Sara, Barrett, Ross and I stayed and drank until last call. We walked home to play some Wii where we met up with Dennis after he spent the evening looking for me. So despite the temporary loss of my hubby, I had the best birthday I could have hoped for. Before & After