Too many times in this "hurry up" world we need to take the time and thank those people who helped us along the way. Many people, it seems, do not know how special it really is living with loving parents.  I am always aghast at the number of patients who have lost their parents early in their lives...or the people who were raised by parents who really were not interested in them.  I've really been very lucky in having a Mom and Dad who helped me live my dream. I may have had to go it on my own at times, but they were always quietly there trying to make sure I didn't make any big mistakes and supporting me when I did.

   Being a Mother is really getting a job much bigger than you ever expected and once you have the job, it's impossible to turn it back in.   
    I needed to become a mom myself to realize that it is usually the moms of the world [and not all of them are women] who really keep the family together.. ...remembering everyone's special needs, their favorite color, that special secret dad will never know, foods they "hate"....and on and on....giving, giving, giving....doing, doing, doing.   Few people ever expect dads to do as much as moms....after all they're so busy working......(as if moms weren't!) 
    Let something go wrong and see who people call... temperature at school, shot time, flu in the middle of the night, birthday parties, feeding the animals.   This too, an endless list, but one most moms pride themselves in and rise to the occasion again and again. 
    But you know, being a mom also means that we get the best parts out of life too! Like nursing a small life in the middle of the night, snuggled in bed while the winter wind howls outside.....or planning that spur-of-the-moment picnic, watching our children take their first steps, spending night after night going over spelling lists until that day when A's come home automatically.
    I think a family means more to me today because I had a mom that her family meant everything to her.  Today she is quietly showing me what grandchildren mean to her.... everything.
    The family is what mom's are about...and families are what societies are about.  The strength of our society is in our families and the strength of our family is in our moms and grandmas.  I am exceptionally lucky and proud to have a mother as strong as you. Thanks for being "My Mom" and my children's "Grandmother."
    Happy Birthday Mom.
    Happy 86th Birthday Grandmother! 
    Love always, Beth, Kirk, Erin, Kira, and Toby

Virgil F Schultz - September 18, 2003 was my father's 87th Birthday!!
     And the world should know what a wonderful person he is. Today I want to thank him for being "my Dad." I have many fond memories of him, but the one that spoke the deepest to me of one human's love for another, is when he helped me drive my belongings to the city I was to do my internship. He was in one car and I in another moving everything I owned. We left at night and drove until I couldn't drive anymore. In fact, I feel asleep at the wheel and if he had not sped up beside me and honked me awake I would have been just some traffic statistic. We got there, unloaded and he took off again driving back home because he had to work the next day. He never told me I couldn't. It made no difference if I were a girl.....Thanks for believing in me.

    Dad I love you....and even though getting old is the "pits," I'm glad you have grown old with me.....Beth             

For anyone wondering what a birthday cake with 87 candles looks like, I included a picture.
Love, Beth, Kirk, Erin, Kira, and Toby
Metaphysically speaking.....if no one knew it was your Birthday, would you get older?? That's sort of like that tree question my dad asked me one day not so long ago.  You know...about the sounds of a falling tree with no one around.
Love You.

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In Loving Memory
Virgil Fredrick Schultz
9-18-1916 to 1-28-2004
87 years old

FOR ALL OF YOU WAITING IN HEAVEN:
I thought of you today, but that is nothing new. I thought about you yesterday, and days before that too.
I think of you in silence, I often speak your name. All I have are memories and a picture in a frame.
Your memory is a keepsake, from which I'll never part. God has you in his arms. I have you in my heart.