Mother of Mine

At noon on Christmas day, my mother passed peacefully away to be met by what must surely have been the largest wecoming committee heaven has ever seen. Here are some photos from the life of Lila Eunice Johansen, the greatest mother of all time.

Teddy

My mom lived on a farm as a child. They had several horses, and here she is on one named Teddy. She later had her own horse, Diablo, who apparently lived up to his name. She loved that horse, though, and talked about him constantly. I hope he is running around up there somewhere. She was counting on it.




Class of 1950

My mom liked to brag that she was the valedictorian of her graduating class. She usually left out the part about there being only six people in said class.



Cheerleading

My mom is from a tiny town in Eastern Washington called Nespelem, which lies within the Colville Indian Reservation. She and her best friend, Mary Katherine, were the only two cheerleaders at Nespelem High School, home of the "Savages." What can I say? It was the Fifties. Today, they are the Nespelem Eagles. Those dresses are real buckskin, by the way. Comfy!




December 9, 1951

My mother was in nursing school when she met a smokin' hot sailor named Rex Johansen. She dropped out of school and married him, which infuriated my grandmother. She wanted my mom to finish school and become a nurse, and this hot shot comes along and screws everything up. She refused to go to their wedding, and she hated my dad for years. All was forgiven when they named my sister Lee Ann after her.



Whidbey Island, WA

Soon after my parents got married, my father was transferred to the Naval base on Whidbey Island. While there, my dad became active again in the LDS church, and my mother, originally a Methodist, was baptized. Here they are with their first born, Michael, and Lee Ann on the way. They had just been sealed in the Idaho Falls Temple a few months before.



Haircuts to Remember



Whidbey Revisited

This was taken about 10 years ago during one of our little weekend jaunts back to Whidbey. My parents loved living on Whidbey Island. My father has some of the greatest stories about the time they spent there. Like how when he was in the Navy, there was one church building that was shared between all of the different religious groups on base. One Sunday, a couple of the primary kids found the communion wine from the Catholic service, and came home from church totally lit. Hilarious.



Singing Time

This is one of my favorite pictures. I love the big chubby ass sitting next to my niece's little tiny one. So cute. My mom only had three or four songs that she could plunk out on the piano, but she'd perform them every day in exactly the same order. One of them was Glenn Miller's "In the Mood." Another one was Perry Como's "'Til the End of Time," also known as Chopin's Polonaise in A flat major.



September 1995

This was taken the day I took out my endowments at the Seattle Temple. I love this picture of my mom and dad. My dad never smiles in pictures, so this is a rare treat.



Still Crazy After All These Years

Fifty-seven of them. They were such an odd couple. It's like Mrs. Claus and Ebeneezer Scrooge got married and actually made it work. Amazing.



Thanks for being my mom, mom. I love you.