An Era Has Ended......Another Has Begun!

Well, an era has ended and a new one has begun.  After 30 years, our Bishop Family Letter has seen it's last edition.  I took over the letter about 15 years ago and have loved being in charge of putting the news of my parents, siblings, and their families together.  The past few years have been a challenge.....not many of the family really cared about it, at least not as much as my Mom and I, so we decided it was time to put it aside and have each of us kids do our own thing for our own families. It's so wrong, but it feels so right!  I thought it might happen after my parents were gone but the time has come and I think it is a good thing.

I am now changing my own personal blog to my family blog.  I'm very excited to begin a new venture called the "Brooks Family Blog"!!  I will gather letters from each of my children monthly and add pictures of their families that are pertinent to what has happened in their lives during that month. I was always a little worried about bragging about my kids, but now I don't have to worry about that. I can brag and post like a crazy woman!

It is hard to believe that our Bishop Family News has ended, but I can truthfully say that having those monthly letters to look back on has been a great thing for me personally.  I have never been good at writing in my journal but I always have my monthly letter to count as my family history.  I can literally go back through the letters and find out what we were doing in any particular month.  I remember the most poignant experience using the letter......Tom had passed away and I was asked to deliver his eulogy.  I locked myself in my room and poured over 25 years of old family letters to write his tribute and quote him in his own words.  It was a priceless tool in paying tribute to my amazing brother.  

My Mom has been the best example of keeping record of her life and the life of her family members that I can think of.  She has volumes of journals in her closets and has kept a detailed record of every event that has happened in her life.  It is amazing to me.  I know that we will pass those journals down through generations of our family and that they will become priceless records of a legacy lived by my most wonderful mother.

My daughter, Ciara, has also set a great example of faithful record keeping as she has been perfect in her journal writing for many, many years.  She has even helped her children start their own histories by helping them write in their journals with pictures and their limited writing skills.  My daughters-in-law, Charity and Christine, along with our youngest daughter, Summer, all have blogs for their own families and will hopefully continue these histories over the years.  I am surrounded by examples of great people who understand the importance of keeping record of our life here on earth.

So, this month I have written my last Bishop Family News and my first Brooks Family Blog.  The torch has passed from one name to another.  In the end, it's all about family.  That's what's most important to me and to my Heavenly Father.  I am blessed beyond measure for being raised by goodly parents and being blessed with siblings I love and admire.  And I am so grateful to have four awesome children, four fabulous sons/daughters-in-law, and 6 incredible grandchildren - soon to be 8!  And how could I forget the most important person of all - the love of my life, Michael!  Life is good and I am happy!  

Thought for a New Year!!

Well, it's been far too long since I wrote another post on this blog that I committed to be faithful to last year.  My intentions were pure, but my life got away from me and other things became the priority.  That sounds so lame when I read it back, but there you are......

I've been thinking this past week about my brother, Tom, and wanted to expand on those thoughts for a minute or two.  Tom's birthday is tomorrow - he would have been 54 years old.  He passed away in 2005 from brain cancer.  Next to my husband, Tom was my best friend.  He was funny, wise, kind, smart, athletic, an amazing husband to Ann, and a great dad to Katie.  He was dearly loved by his family and left a huge hole in our family the day he left us.  I have been reading his family letters lately and still can't understand how he could take a simple, daily happening and turn it into the funniest, most hilarious story ever.  I've tried to do it in my own family letters and I've failed miserably.  He lived his life to the fullest, until the very end.  I remember visiting him a couple of months before he died.  I would sit by his bed and talk to him, not knowing if he could hear me.  I would then go into the backyard and sit against the house and cry my eyes out.  The next time I would go into his room, he would shake his finger at me and make a line down his cheek with his finger - telling me not to cry.  He made it known to me through his limited ability to speak that he would like me to clip his toenails.  It's common knowledge in my family that I love to clip and polish fingers and toes.  He certainly would have been angry had I polished his toenails, but I had the privilege of trimming them.  The thoughts going through my mind at the time were of Mary washing the feet of the Savior, in her humble attempt to serve Him.  I felt like my equally humble attempt had been accepted by my brother, and by the Savior.  It was a sacred experience.

I've also been thinking about my sweet sister-in-law, Ann, and my most amazing niece, Katie.  Ann has been the strongest person I know over the past 7 1/2 years.  She has given Katie the stability and love that she so desperately needed, with no thought of herself or her own loneliness or pain.  I admire her beyond words and I'm so grateful that my brother was smart enough and wise enough to choose her for his eternal companion.  Watching Katie grow into a beautiful young woman has been sweet.  I see my brother in her.  I see her becoming the kind of person he would be so proud of.  I thank Ann for raising her the way he would have if he were here.  Ann, you are my hero!!  I love you both beyond words.

Tommy - I miss you!  I look forward to the day when we can all be together again.  I'm envious of the time you have with Lanette.  You are both so precious to me.  I am blessed to be counted as your sister.  We are all blessed - this family of Bishop folk!!!  Happy Birthday!