In the beginning

And so it begins. These are the lamentation of a single, LDS mom who loves being alive, experiencing all these wonderful challenges that strengthen and sustain us during our short journey on this planet. It is interesting to reflect on the past year and embrace the trials and heart breaks and yet recognize the blessings that have come from every experience. At the beginning of this year, I attended the funeral for a dear and greatly loved and admired man in our family. Dave Balls was married to my cousin, Laurie. They have six wonderful children and had recently been blessed with their first granddaughter. Dave was a larger-than-life kind of character. He had an amazing sense of humor and just radiated warmth (and sarcasm). I had loved him since the first time I met him around the time of their wedding when I was just a child. He was a little rough around the edges back then and his humor could get to some people, but for me, I was going to find someone just like him when I grew up.
Over the years, Dave and Laurie had good times and bad times like all couples. But in the last decade, they had seen their lives expand beyond anything we could have dreamed. Dave and Laurie's brother, Butch started a company and over the years, this company grew to become gigantic, making both families multimillionaires. Dave and Butch loved to play and really just began to buy bigger toys: cars, boats, planes, horses, buffalos, and much more. The world was their oyster and they did not hold back! Of course, everyone around them benefitted and tithing payments increased as well. It was not hard to imagine that everything in their lives were perfect!
On Christmas day, Dave, his sons and nephew went out on their snowmobiles. They loved to outdo each other and play king of the mountain. Unfortunately, on this day, the mountain did not want to play or give away his title and an unforgiving avalanche ensued. We lost an amazing man that day and our heart will always have an empty place that was filled by Dave. I must admit that I am a little concerned about our Heavenly Father. Dave can be a handful at times and I hope Heaven is prepared for the practical jokes that have returned...