The Cropper Family

Dear Helen

Happy Birthday!

Thank you for being such a big part of my life. As I was growing up before marriage, I wondered many times about who my mother-in-law would be and the type of relation I would have with her. You exceeded my expectations. You have taught me that when one marries it goes beyond just the spouse, it is a family that one marries into. I pretty much lucked out.

My little brain carries many memories of the last thirty-seven years. I must admit that I consider all of those memories as positive and learning experiences. It seems that you had some involvement with most of the important things that have happened in my life.

Just recently Shane and Sara drove here from Utah. Shane took me out for dinner and asked me for Sara’s hand in marriage. As I sat across the table from him I thought, “is this the man that MaryAnne and I have been praying over for the last twenty seven years? I finally get to meet him”. I remembered back to the time that I was getting ready to ask Jack for Mary Anne’s hand in marriage. I remember standing in the kitchen with you, Joan and Mary Anne at 4333 E. San Miguel. You all were saying how Jack was going to toast me over the coals. We had a good experience over lunch. You and I had many great talks in the kitchen about a lot of different topics. I learned so much in those conversations.

You have been a woman/mother-in-law for all seasons, intelligent, fun, accomplished, spiritual, balanced with family and other pursuits of life. Loving your husband, your children, your grandchildren, your sons-in-laws and daughters-in-laws, consistent, always able and willing to give good advice, and the list goes on and on.

One of the real strengths I see you having is the ability to give people confidence and build them up without being gushy or shallow. I have seen you with me and others in conversations talking with such a “can do” attitude that it is contagious, and the person you are talking to actually believes what you are saying.

We attribute our family being in Oregon as a result of you and Jack. We have loved it here and feel that we were made for Oregon and Oregon for our family. I remember the first adventure we all had here, the motorhome, the miles and miles driven, the property that came with rattlesnakes, and everything else. We loved it. For the next two years we kept saying, we are moving in two years. Finally you said,” why not now”, and so we did and we never looked back.

It seems to me, with the exception of the first time I met you :) that you carry a smile on your face all the time. I remember standing in your kitchen on Camel Hill and discussing the importance of having a positive attitude and showing it. Thank you a life time of smiles even during the hard times. You are an incredible friend, grandma, and mother. You have been a great blessing in my life and my family’s life.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Love,

Dean

Dear Mom,

Joan asked us each to write to you in celebration of your 80^th birthday. It’s staggering really, isn’t it?— the immensity of 80 years in mortality and all it has encompassed; the people you have touched, the progeny you have nurtured, the events you have influenced, the lessons you have taught, the succor you have provided, the legacy you have established, the memories you have created and shared.

As I reflect on the impact of your life, I focus on the area that is most dear to me, and that is your relationship with my children and grandchildren. All your other pursuits, more noteworthy perhaps to some, seem like adjuncts to your constant and powerful outreach to upcoming generations. From the beginning you established venues and resources and processes that allowed you to interact with, influence, and love your grandkids and great-grand kids. You scored on everything from trips to Disneyland to sodas in your fridge, from trips to Mexico to sticker books in your closet, from babysitting for temple trips to pies on your counter. Always you have gone to great effort, expense and personal sacrifice to make each person feel special in each encounter. As I spend more time in this grandparent game, I come to appreciate more and more the sheer work involved in establishing and maintaining these relationships. And I can never hope to measure up to your accomplishments in that arena. The evidence of your success is the loyalty your grandchildren have towards you.

Thank you, dear Mom, for your example of holding a family fiercely and without yielding. I will spend my whole life asking myself if there’s more I could do to be like you when it comes to the actual work of holding family close, and supporting each in their journey.

Here’s to another decade or two, and maybe even yet another generation, of love in this life.

Love always,

Mary Anne

April 29, 2011

Dear Grammy,

Happy Birthday! What a blessing you have been in my life. I’m so grateful that I have been able to spend so much time with you and build such a strong friendship with you. Our trips that we’ve gone on and phone calls and sleepovers and working in the garden together… all the hours we’ve spent together have meant so much to me. Through your life and example, I’ve learned so much about relationships and philosophies and communication and how to love. I will tell you though, that through watching you and how you approach things, I’ve learned so much about myself. I’ve been able to see our similarities in our personalities and through it been able to change how I approach things. Honestly, watching your relationship with grandpa; how he treated you and what you did for him, helped me form in my mind what I not only wanted in a marriage, but what I needed. I’m grateful to have had you to model that for me.

I’ve enjoyed watching how you love people. All kinds of people! You love them for their differences, for their personalities, for their trials. You always have a little following of people who turn to you to be loved and cared for in any form that that needs to take place. Traveling with you helped me appreciate people more, their culture and their history. You are always so good at taking advantage of the time that you have with them, to learn from them and understand them better.

You are always the first to go on an adventure. All the places that I’ve been on a horse with you; Hawaii, Costa Rica, Mexico… I love that you don’t make excuses to not go out and try something new and exciting. I think my favorite trip with you was Costa Rica and Panama with Aunt Beth and Kathy. Remember the mineral springs that we rode horses to and got all lathered up in mud and ate all sorts of tropical fruits? That was such a blast. Who even gets to do that?? I am so lucky.

Here’s the other thing, every grand kid knows that they are your favorite. I always know that when I call you I am going to get all sorts of undivided attention and all sorts of good advice and counsel. I always know that you’re going to be my biggest fan.

Thanks for loving me and being such an amazing grandma. I treasure who you are and your amazing example.

I love you!!

Sara

May 27, 2011

Dear Grandma,

I have always had a difficult time making friends. When I was younger, I spent very little time with children my age and took more to socializing with our garbage man Kurt and our mail man Roger. Looking back I don’t really remember having a best friend, but then I remember you. Sometimes it is odd to picture your family as your closest friends, but the more I think about it and see friends come and go, I realize that it is the truth. I look back at the many trips that you took me on and the activities that we did so often and realize that they are some of my fondest memories. I can’t believe how much fun we had driving to Canada, or refashioning Grandpa Jack’s handkerchiefs into lavender filled eye pillows. Most of all I can’t believe how much time you spent trying to make sure that we had fun. I am so appreciative of the portion you had in raising me and shaping me into the person that I am today. I Hope you have a wonderful birthday and can’t wait to see you soon.

Love Daniel Cropper