Sweet Sandra

I don't even know where to start with this post, Sandra is such a dear friend to us and is a very special lady. Let me take you back 3 years when I got a call from some missionaries from our church asking if we could take one of their investigators to church with us. This lady had been watching general conference for 20 years and loved listening to the tabernacle choir. She saw a commercial for a free tabernacle choir CD so she called the number and the missionaries brought her the CD and a message from our church. When the missionaries asked if we could take her to church, I said sure and they gave me her number to arrange plans for Sunday. We go pick her up and had just normal first time conversation. She had recently had knee surgery and so I helped her walk to and from the car. We had her sit in the front seat so it would be easier for her to get in and out of the car. I had never been involved with an investigator so I was hoping she would come back next Sunday.

Well, she came back to church and kept coming and we were lucky enough to take her to church each time. We attended Sandra's baptism late January and were so excited for her. Sandra became one of our close friends and we loved our Sunday drives together. Some of the things she said had us laughing very hard. We went over to her house for dinners, took pizza over there, watched cooking shows and when we told her we were pregnant she about flew out of the car. She was so excited for us and we told her she could be our babies adopted grandma! Once we had Nolan she didn't want to interrupt our life so she started taking a taxi to church. We didn't really see her too much, but I still would call at least every other week to see how she was doing. Sandra went to the temple a few months ago for the first time and she always spoke about the special spirit she felt there.

Before we left Raleigh, we knew we wanted to go see her and have dinner one last time together. She made spaghetti and meatballs for us and we took her to the store to pick up a few things. We are going to miss her a lot and only hope the best for her and can't wait to see what is in store for her. She is a very special lady and we love her like she is family!

*A couple of hours after I wrote this post we were sent an email that Sandra passed away on Christmas day in her apartment. I am glad we were able to see her before we left and I know she is in a better place and watching over us.