My Mom

(a picture of my mom, Karen McGee Atwood)

Today is my mom's birthday. She died on September 18th of last year. Bismarck State College has a publication called Figments of Imagination that any one who's taking classes at BSC can submit either literary works or artwork to. I submitted 2 poems that I wrote, "All These I Miss and More" and "My Mother Was My Hero". I was surprised when I got a call on Wednesday from BSC informing me that one of my poems got in.

(another picture of my mom, Karen McGee Atwood)

My Mother Was My Hero

She wasn't very special

In the eyes of the rest of the world

But she was my hero

The one I always trusted.(a picture of my mom and dad and 2 of my sisters, Sara and Rachel)

I'd wake up each day

To the sound of her voice

Telling me to get up

And ready to go.

I wake up each day now

To the sound of her alarm;

The beeping is all I hear.

My mother was my hero

But now her voice is gone.(a picture of me, my mom, my sister, Sara, and my brother, Clarence)

I'd walk in the door

And see her on the couch

She'd be sitting or lying,

Resting in her special spot.

Now, the house is empty

Her space on the couch is clear

She's nowhere in sight.

Her presence is no longer there.

My mother was my hero

But now she is gone.(a picture of Sara, my sister, Becky, my dad, Rachel, my mom, and me)

Calling the house

Nearly every time

She'd answer right away

She was always there.

Calling the house now,

Her answer never comes

She is no longer there.

Another answers every time.

My mother was my hero

But now she can't be heard.(a picture of Clarence, me, my mom, Becky, Rachel, and Sara)

When a ride was needed

She'd be on her way

She would always make it

No matter what was going on.

Now, when I need a ride

She's not going to come

Someone else must come instead

She will never come again.

My mother was my hero

But now her presence is gone.(a picture of my dad, my mom, and my sister, Rachel)

She took me to deliver papers

Whenever I requested

She'd take me everywhere

That I needed to go.

She'll never again take me

Wherever I need to go

I have to take the bus

Or get a ride from another.

My mother was my hero

But now she is here no more.(a picture of my mom and me)

I would talk to her

About every little thing

Every single day

When I had something to say.

No longer can I talk to her

She's nowhere to be found

Now, I talk to Rachel

Since Mom is not around.

My mother was my hero

But now she's far away.(a picture of my mom and my sister, Sara)

For people who knew her,

She was always there

If ever help was needed

She would immediately come

But now she is not coming

To those who are in need

She cannot come directly

Someone else must come instead

My mother was my hero

But now she is not nearby.She may have been my hero

But now that she is dead

Her influence on her children

Will always be felt.

My mother is my hero

She will be forevermore.In the future, when I have children

They will know of her:

Her smiling face

Her caring eyes

Her loving words

My children will know my hero

Her memory will live on.(a picture of my sister, Sara, my mom, my sister, Rachel's cat, Gizmo, and our dog, Xavier)

My sisters, Sara and Rachel, and I used to talk to Mom about everything. Whenever something happened, the first thing that came to mind was "I have to tell Mom about this." But now, I can't. (a picture of Mom and Xavier)

Every Sunday at Church, I would sit by my mom in Sacrament meeting and then in Relief Society. I would always lean on her. She always complained about me elbowing her in the side and that it hurt, but I couldn't help but do it anyway.

Ever since the first time I went with the Sister Missionaries, I have been going with them at least once a week. Since the last time I wrote, Sister Nicholls was transferred and Sister Mustoe got a new companion, Sister Kozlowski. Often I've ended up going with them from 1 to 2 pm until I have to be at work around 4 to 5 pm, when they drop me off. I have also ended up going with them on several Thursdays, when I never go to work. I also sometimes end up going tracting with them.

Before the transfer, Sister Nicholls was feeling really sick. But I ended up going out with Sister Mustoe as her companion for the afternoon. Sister Nicholls was kind of babysat by Sister Lanouette (a member of the ward) while we were out teaching. I ended up going to a dinner appointment with Sister Mustoe, becuase of Sister Nicholls being so sick. It was really interesting. It gave me a good idea about what it would be like on my mission when being fed by members. The couple that fed us are inactives that moved here from somewhere else.

We also began a Young Single Adult Family Home Evening that we have just about every week in March. We decided to adopt Preach My Gospel as our FHE Lesson Manual. I gave the lesson on March 16th from the book, and i talked about the Restoration.

On March 18th, I went to BSC early. Sister Pitcher (one of my visiting teachers) wanted to set up a time when we could meet, and the only good time was before my Spanish class, which her husband suggested. He suggested that we meet in his office at BSC at around 8:30 am. That way we would be able to visit that month. Sister Pitcher and I met up at 8:30 in his office. It was really interesting. At around 9:50, I left the office, so I'd be able to get to my class, that Brother Pitcher teaches.

On March 27th, I went with the Sister missionaries. They had an appointment with someone named Douglas Tyler. Upon meeting me, he asked if I had a younger sister, to which I replied that I did. He said that he thinks he knows her. Then after we were seated, he said "Your sister's name is Sara, right?" To which, I again answered "yes". He said that he knew her from school. Upon later inquiry from Sara, he was apparently in a class with her and she had very briefly answered questions he had about the Church and The Book of Mormon when she was in the 9th grade. Apparently, he had been given 2 Books of Mormon from members of the church and had thrown both of them away, but they apparently made a big enough impact on him that when finding a Book of Mormon in a thrift store, he bought it, read it, and gained a testimony of it and decided he wanted to be baptized. He got baptized on April 12th, and both Sara and I attended. I felt that I really needed to go because I had ended up accompanying the Sister missionaries to teach him several times.

On Thursday, April 3rd, my dad and his wife were out of town for the week (since Saturday night), so since it was Sara and I, I decided that I wanted to have the Sister missionaries over for dinner. Sister Kozlowski can't eat gluten or dairy, so it kind of complicated what I could or couldn't make. I decided to make chicken with tater tots, tossed salad (even had a salad dressing she could have), olives, tomatoes and cucumbers (for the salad), and whole kernel corn. We also had Tropical Punch Kool-Aid. The dinner was a success they really enjoyed it. Afterwards, they were going to be able to go to Institute because Doug would be going, so they gave me a ride there.

On Thursday, April 10th, a girl in my Spanish class, Ruth, offered me a ride home after class. She asked me if Spanish was my last class for the day, and I told that it was the only class I was taking because I wanted to better prepare for a mission. Then we discussed exactly waht i meant by a mission. After that, she asked me what my church believes. I told her briefly about Joseph Smith wanting to know what xchurch to join and praying about it, the First Vision, the gold plates translated into the Book of Mormon. I also told her that we believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God along with the Holy Bible and that Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost are 3 seperate beings. Then, she asked me what I believed the Atonement to be and I told her that it was Jesus suffering in the Garden, dying on the cross, and rising again from the dead, which initially I was able to state thanks to all the times I went out teaching with the Sister missionaries. I went out with the Sister missionaries at around 2 pm. Then, around 2:30-ish, we were invited to eat at Space Aliens, since I was with them I got to come, and I met Elder and Sister Cook, a missionary couple serving in the state. They had invited all the missionaries in the area (2 Elders in Bismarck, 2 Elders in Mandan, and 2 Sisters in Bismarck) and I got to come along and get fed because I was with the Sisters for the afternoon. It was really interesting; I had never been to Space Aliens before.

On Thursday, April 24th, I was out with the Sister missionaries, and they were being fed again that day, and I got to go with them. Elder and Sister Johnson (the CES missionaries) fed them.et Elder and Sister Johnson at Los Amigos, a Mexican Restaurant. It was really interesting, because that day in class, Brother Pitcher was saying that the class would go to Los Amigos and order in Spanish for extra credit, but I wasn't going to be able to go, because the time when most of the class could go is this Thursday at 7 pm, when I have Institute. So, i was going to miss out, but I ended up going there the same day it was brought up in class. It was also interesting that Elder and Sister Johnson were the ones feeding them, since the Sisters wouldn't be going to Institute that night, and Elder and Sister Johnson were going to be teaching it, so the Sisters ended up not taking me after all, since Elder and Sister Johnson would be going anyway.