So I took/stole this photo from my cousin's Instagram but it was for a good cause (blogging is a good cause, right? Don't answer that!! LOL).
Today, we went to the Logan LDS temple and did my great aunt Shirley's work and sealed the Burke family for time and all eternity. It was amazing and so special to witness an eternal event and be proxy for dear, dear deceased family members.
My Aunt Shirley died a year ago and was preceded in death by my Uncle Gil and cousin Sherry, and Michael who died as a baby. I miss Sherry so much it hurts. The Burke family were always so nice to Lesley and me and we may have been the only kids they actually liked. JK!!
Uncle Gil always had M&Ms to give us, made us big bowls of Snelgrove Canadian Vanilla ice cream with Hershey's chocolate syrup and all the 7-Up we could drink, and he probably got a kick confusing us with his potato pancakes (are they potatoes or pancakes?!).
Shirley let us sleep on the pull out couch in the TV room and I'll never forget when we stayed with them in 5th grade and she did my hair for school; the teacher actually had to re-do for me at recess but I was so proud my aunt had fixed my hair.
Lesley and I were talking about how great Sherry was to us and we figured she was more of our "auntie" than a cousin. She taught us how to color in the lines, watched Sesame Street and Mr. Roger's Neighborhood with us, took us to the Cottonwood Mall where she introduced us to cheese sticks from Hot Dog on a Stick and gave us 10 cents to get swedish berries at ZCMI while she used the phone to call for a ride home. She took us swimming at Jan's and taught us how to use public transportation. She loved to point out how much I looked our mom and Lesley looked like our dad even though we are identical twins. She was like our first adult who was a friend. We would spend hours with Sherry and she never got angry or upset with us when we were probably a lot to handle for someone in a wheelchair. There was nothing Sherry couldn't do.
I am so happy that they are now an eternal family and can have the blessings of the temple if they choose so. My Aunt Sondra (Shirley's baby sister) said something to the effect of "my mother has been waiting a long time for this day" and it hit me how true that is and how much effort has been made on the other side to make this day possible.
I am grateful every day for my family and for the promised blessing that we will be together for all eternity, and that my dad's death is only a temporary separation. It was such a privilege to be in the temple with some of my family members and witness this long awaited, blessed day.
