Thursday, November 10, 2011

Memories of Ilana: by Arnie Brown

Lans, your daddy had us in stitches. . . he loves you so very much.

My sweet lovable caring daughter,
It is very hard to express our most memorable moment, because there are so many of them, but I will try. I 'll never forget when we took you home from the hospital you cried all night. I said to Pam, can't you do something you know how early I get up in the morning. She looked at me in that "loving way" and said, what do you want to do take her back to the hospital!
You know I knew Ilana when she was a teenager. One of her chores was to take out the garbage which she never did, so I ended up doing it myself. One day I got the idea to just put the garbage in her bed, she was so mad at me.
Then there was the time when Ilana was about 2 years old she loved to sleep in our bed every night. I talked to Pam and we got the idea to get one of those doggie gates so she was not able to get out of her bedroom. You see our bedroom was on the other side of the house and Ilana was not happy about that. At any rate we put the gate up and the first night she screamed so loud that we had to take it down right away.
With most of my jobs, I travelled Arizona and Southern Utah all the time. I was fortunate to be able to take my family with me much of the time, thus making my work more effective and getting more business done. It was always fun working all day, having dinner and getting together with the family at night.
My wife Pam worked for Dr. Fitch for many years at the Mayo Clinic. When Ilana was about 12, I don't remeber her exact age, Pam asked her to put up a chicken so dinner would be ready when she got home. Well Ilana called at least 5-10 times about various ways to start the chicken annoying Pam to the brink where she finally said, "put the damn chicken back in the refrigerator I will do it myself.
It must have been about 10 years later when Pam was having a bad day swearing to herself at now end. Lo and behold Dr. Fitch walks up and out of the blue says "What is Ilana making chicken again".
Ilana grew to be a young beautiful, caring woman. I think a lot of it was due to our close family upbringing, however a lot of it culminated when she met the love of her life, Ben. The beauty of their relationship was they each inspired each other and they grew in their career and family paths together. I was so proud of Ilana and Ben when she graduated from Nursing School and Ben was one of the tops of his class in Medical School.
Ilana went on to work as a solid wonderful nurse, and they also utilized their blood, sweat and tears to open our family business Fine Fittings, a truly wonderful store to help women with Cancer. My wife now calls it our mission for Ilana and I have to agree with her. You see Ilana helped so many women in their fight against cancer so they were able to find peace and strength.

I picked out a short prayer for Ilana that I loved very much


AT THE GRAVE OF A CHILD


Keep me, O God; for I have taken refuge in Thee.
God is our refuge and our strength, a very present
help in trouble.
Therefore will we not fear, though the earth do change, and though the mountains be moved into the heart of the seas;
Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord and whose trust the Lord is Psalms 16, 46 2-3 Jeremiah 17-7. O God, from the depths I cry unto thee. Thou hast taken away from me my dear child. O help me to feel that the ways of Thy providence are wise and good, though we understand them not.
Thou, O God, Knowest that my soul would not question Thy justice; I would not rebel against Thy decree. It is the tender and deep love which my dear child brought into my heart that draws me hither. O merciful Father, have mercy upon me and send the healing balm of Thy consolation to my grieving spirit.
In this moment my soul feels but little strength to praise. Yet if Thou didst take away this life, Thou also didst give it. O may the light of love which my child kindled within my heart, continue to burn brightly, so that as I regain strength of my soul, I may bring cheer unto all my dear ones. Praised be Thou, O God who comfortest the mourner with hope in the eternal. Amen

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