Thirty-five years ago today Mindie came into our lives…and they would never be the same…nor would we want them to be. Mindie was born around 2:00 in the morning and weighed about 7 pounds 2 ounces. So she started out well…but she remained very small.
One morning when she was 16 months old she woke up very early and was a little cranky all day. I figured that was normal since she had woke up very early that day. I put her down for a nap around noon and at about 2:00 pm she woke up crying and threw up…not violently and not a lot…but she was a little bit warm. Something inside of clicked and I was in a panic. I called the doctor and told them that I needed to bring her in immediately and them I called my mother crying and asked he to come and tend Jared and the children that I was tending that day so I could take Mindie to the doctors. She asked what was wrong and I felt somewhat foolish as I explained that she was a little warm and had thrown up her bottle. I figured I had had a bit of an over reaction. Mom came over and me and Mindie left for the doctors. That was in the day before car seats were the law, matter of fact they were not even a big deal. I put her on the front seat and away we went to the doctors. She just sat there with her head kind of drooping down and was a little pale. We went into see the doctor and he really could not find anything wrong with her. I remember him snapping this little thing trying to get her to look down and she would not do it. He told me to take her over to the hospital which was about 2 blocks from his office and he would follow us over there. He wanted to take a spinal tap and check for spinal meningitis. I did not know much about spinal meningitis, but it did not sound like something we wanted to have. He told me that he was going to draw fluid from her spine and that it would take about an hour for the results. I called Craig and was waiting for him to get to the hospital when the doctor came out and looked at me and said she has it and then he started snapping orders at the nurses. They would not let me be with her or even see her. I felt totally numb. Craig finally arrived and finally the doctor came and took us to a room to talk to us. He told us that she was very sick and that the spinal meningitis that she had was the type that moved very fast and that they were doing everything that they could for her, but no promises. He asked why I had brought her in when I did…I had no answer other than something just told me that I had to. He expressed that he had had those same feelings. He said that at the time he had taken the spinal tap that there was not the medical justification for doing so, but that if he had waited it would have been too late. My mom and dad came to the hospital and they finally let us into see her and give her a blessing. She was in quarantine because they did not know what strain of bacteria she had, so we had to wear hospital gowns and masks to go into her. With the assistance of my dad Craig gave her a blessing. It is an experience and feeling that I will never forget. Never in my life have I felt my Heavenly Father's spirit so strong. I felt that if I were to open my eyes I would have seen Him. After Craig finished the blessing, my dad looked up and said: "She's going to be alright." He said that during the blessing she lifted her little leg and bumped into his arm. It frightened him because she had been so lifeless, so he opened his eyes and looked at her and when he did he said that she just smiled a little smile as if to say "I am going to be okay."
She was in the hospital for 10 days and it was a long 10 days. The doctor told us that even though we had caught this illness soon, that there was not promise that she would make it and that even if she did that the disease would have to run its course…he said that a stiffness would set in and that there was nothing they could do to stop it. She had an IV put into her leg and they strapped her arms and legs to the hospital bed so she could not move around. It was the worse 10 days ever. But she recovered completely. So many times I have been told of people who were serverly handicapped or deaf as a result of spinal meningitis. She was fine…How blessed we were.
We made many trips to the doctors with Mindie, as every time she got the least little bit sick I would panic and take her in. When we would stop at the store to pick up the medicine that the doctor had prescribed for whatever ailment she had, she would ask for things and I was so grateful that she was okay that I would buy what ever she asked for.
Then one day, when at the store on our way home from the doctor's office she asked: "Why do you buy me what ever I want after we go to the doctors?" and I realized that she had been playing me all along…she knew exactly what she was doing.
Mindie loved her Aunt Dawn…She would go stay with her and not want to come home because I was the mean mom and Aunt Dawn was so fun.
She loved to dance and she loved to dress up.
She did some pretty funny things during her life. One time when we were at a confirmation she was looking around and said "Where is the funny ghost?" Another time Aleisha was taking her somewhere and as they passed the gas station she hollered "Hey Aleisha…there's Gase…Don’t you need Gase?" One day she was driving our old brown van down the freeway and when she got home the side window was missing. When we asked her about it she replied that she had heard a big whish but did not know what happened except that cars kept trying to get her attention. One of my favorites was the day she called me after arriving to work at Salt Lake City Parks and said…Mom you know how every day you learn something? Well today I was driving to work and noticed that some cars had snow on them and some did not. Then all of a sudden I realized that the ones that did not were in a garage all night."
Mindie was always a jokester…just like her dad. As a matter of fact in high school she was voted "Class Clown".
Mindie met Jeremy, who was from Virginia, while he was serving his mission in Salt Lake. All I can say is that I am just glad she met him towards the end of his mission rather than the beginning. He called her the day after he went home from his mission and every day after that for the next month and by then he was back in Salt Lake and they were married 5 months later. They now live in Idaho with their 4 children. Maddie, Kailee, Jaxon and Jace. Last August She completed her schooling and received her Bachlers Degree in accounting. We love you Mindie and are so very proud of you and so thankful to have you in our lives. Happy Birthday.