Judy's Memorials

10-7-98

Happy 17th Birthday Charity

On the day of your birth
A bit of sunlight slipped to the earth.
And all these years in pleasure and strife
Your light and your smile have graced my life.
And so on your Birthday I celebrate too
For so much of my joy was born with you.
I miss you more and more each and every day
May you rest in Peace my sweet daughter
You're an Angel now, Charity Mae.

Love you Always and Forever, Mom

10-7-81 to 1-18-98

To Charity Mae
10-7-81 to 1-18-98

A painful year has come and gone
And still I feel you're here,
Every time I pass your door
I shed a silent tear.

I miss your call, "I'm ready Mom"
For me to tuck you in,
I miss when you sign "I love you"
And tell me we're best friends.

Our years of camping are all gone
Their mem'ries I hold near,
The tents, the frogs, the fear of bear
In my heart, ever dear.

A foundation we have started
And named it Charity Mae,
So cardiomyopathy
Is cured, we hope, one day.

I know you're with our Savior now
On bended knees I pray,
That when our Lord does call me home
Your face  I'll see that day.

10-7-99

Charity Mae Kohlman
10-7-81 to 1-18-98
Happy 18th Birthday

I struggle to know just what I should say
On what was to be your most special day.
Your planning had started way long before
I dreaded the day you'd walk out the door.
You dreamed of your wedding and hoped there would be
A handsome young prince there waiting for thee.
Down the aisle you would walk, doves holding your veil
Your groom, a glass slipper, just like the fairy tale.
I'm glad that you shared all your dreams here with me
To work with little children and the elderly.
Sometimes I can feel your hand slip into mine
Then I close my eyes tight and it feels like old times.
No one can ever steal my memories of you
Our camping, trips to L.A., the Wahpeton Zoo.
There's peace in my heart knowing your work here was done
That homecoming crown you wanted, finally won.
You'll never be forgotten my sweet Charity Mae
You're safe now, you told me the angels guided your way.

12-25-99

Merry Christmas
Charity Mae Kohlman
10-7-81 to 1-18-98
You have always had the true spirit of Christmas.
Enjoying giving more than receiving. And right up
until the end, believing in the concept of SANTA.
One who gives himself all year to help those less
fortunate. Your Santa was Palmer. God
Bless you Palmer and thank you for touching
Charity's heart. We'll miss your presence on
Christmas, Charity.

1-18-00

Charity Mae Kohlman
10-7-81  to  1-18-98

10-7-00

Charity Mae Kohlman
10-7-81 - 1-18-98
Happy 19th Birthday

Charity, when you were first born
I thanked the Lord above.
I promised I would care for you
and give you all my love.

You grew up,oh so beautiful
and made me always proud.
At times I hear you talk to me
when I am in a crowd.

I dream you're gone to college now
I close my eyes and say,
"I'll pack my bags and go there
to celebrate your day."

Instead I travel to your   grave
and decorate the ground.
I pray that you can see me there
my tears don't make a sound.

When I see a Buick, just like
the one you used to drive,
I look to see who's at the wheel
as though you're still alive.

I promised you I'd live my life
as happy as could be.
A new baby boy now makes you
the oldest of my three.

At the end of every long day
when I turn out my light,
I recall your gentle whisper
"Love, lock doors, sleep tight."

1-18-01

Charity Mae Kohlman

10-7-81 to 1-18-98

On this date three long years ago today
God sent His Angels to take you away.
While I lay sleeping, He whispered to me
"It's Charity's time to finally be free."

Treasures I've found in your dresser and drawers
Letters from Grandpa and cards from before.
I ling to your words, in the midst of my tears
"If each has the other, there's nothing to fear."

A call I received from a man far away
Who happened to pass through Fargo one day.
He read of your life and wrote a song about you
He cried when he told me; each day I cry too.

Your days were so full you had no time to waste
The next challenge ahead you always embraced.
A life that was lived, not one that was lost
Is the treasure I keep no matter the cost.

I love you Charity
Always and Forever

10-7-01

Happy 20th Birthday
Charity Mae

10-7-01   -    1-18-98

I remember this date
Twenty years ago today,
Not knowing much at all
Well, except for how to play.

You always took the time
To spend your Birthday with me
Never knew there'd come the day
I would have to set you free.

Three years have come and gone
My heart ache is always there
I'm thankful my dreams last
And grateful the Lord does care.

Today we celebrate
The bonfire will be big
We'll eat your Birthday cake
Make a dinner you would dig.

Love you Always and Forever
Mom

1-18-02

Charity Mae Kohlman

10-07-81   -    01-18-98

As the wind and the snow come howling by,
The memory of that morning still makes me cry.
As we gathered around to pray by your bed,
The look on your face was angelic they said.
Your hair wrapped in curlers
preparing to look only your best.
On your day of confirmation
you were ahead of the rest.
I have so many questions I still need to know,
The answers will have to wait
'Til it's my time to go.

Love You Always and Forever!
Mom

10-7-02

Happy 21st B-Day
Charity Mae

10-07-02  -   1-18-98

Gone are the days when
I'd tiptoe down the stairs
To watch you eat your breakfast,
Taking your vitamin, Gummy Bears.

Gone are the days when
I'd proudly watch you dance
 Moving gracefully across the stage
Catching my eye with your glance.

Gone are the days when
At the end of a long, hard day
You'd sit on the side of my bed
And ask if I minded if you stay.

We'd talk of all the challenges
That you had faced that day
Then think of a solution
Which usually meant we'd pray.

Today is now your birthday
We won't be jumping in the leaves
I won't get to watch you rollerblade
Or see what you could achieve.

Today I'll stand in the ocean
On what was a bright and cheerful day
And play in the home of the dolphins
In the hopes they'll swim my way.

I'll remember how you loved
To body-surf the waves
You taught me to be fearless
And live life to it's fullest every day.

Today will bring some sadness
For those you left behind
A family who misses you dearly
And friends who are still so kind.

Today we'll blow out candles
Send a delivery to your grave
Hold hands and say the Lord's Prayer
Blow a kiss and give Heaven a wave.

Missing you with all my heart Charity.
Love you Always and Forever
Mom

1-18-03

Charity Mae Kohlman
10-7-81  -  1-18-98

It's hard to believe
Five years ago today
With all of us asleep
Your soul had slipped away.

At the time I couldn't imagine
How my life would turn around
So many things are different now
The peace I prayed for I have found.

Each night I tell a story
To Summer about you
Some are funny, some sad
But all of them are true.

I tell her of the many ways
You always made me laugh
How you enjoyed life's simple things
Like the smell of fresh cut grass.

I tell her of the times
Your friends would come to stay
The house would fill with laughter
As awake in bed I lay.

I miss those times so very much
But God has taken care
He gave me two more children
Your memory with them I share.

I now believe in Angels
Sometimes it seems so clear
The many little reminders
That your spirit is still here.

I love you Charity, Always and Forever, Mom

10-7-03

Happy 22nd Birthday
Charity Mae
10-7-81     1-18-98

Your birthday is today
I wonder where you'd be
Twenty-two years old now
To me you're still sixteen.

I've got a few questions
That I need the answers to.
Is your hair still as long?
Are your eyes still as blue?

Will you be there to greet me
When it's my time to go?
Can we go out for coffee?
Can we eat our cookie dough?

Today I was outside
Raking leaves with our kids.
They ran and they jumped
Something you never did.

It made me sad to see
What I never saw before,
That when you were little
Even running was a chore.

People think I do well
But at nighttime they don't see
When I lay down in bed
All the pain that surrounds me.

In the morning I get up
Put a smile on my face
And know you're with Christ
In a much better place.

We celebrate this day
Your candles will burn bright
We'll sing you Happy Birthday
Then let our balloons take flight.

Love you Charity, Always and Forever
Mom

1-18-04

Charity Mae Kohlman
10-7-81  -  1-18-98

"Remembering"

A mother always knows
When her child is in need.
As it was on that cold morning
of January the eighteenth.
I awoke at 5:00 a.m.
Tears running down my face.
While running to your room
Something stopped me in my place.
I looked out our front window
Saw the street light flicker on.
There were countless little snowflakes
Falling softly to the ground.
A calmness then came over me
I can't explain it to this day.
I went back into my room
As I sensed you were okay.
Later I went to wake you
Our breakfast was all made.
When I walked into your room
There silently you laid.
Your hair was wrapped in curlers
A velvet nightgown you had on.
Your face was oh so beautiful
And your TV you'd left on.
I leaned down low to whisper
"Time to get up Charity,
It's your confirmation day."
You'd been gone for a few hours
You later told me in a dream.
God took your soul at 5:00 a.m.
Now that explained everything.
The presence of our Savior
Was so prevalent that day
Your Holy Confirmation
Was a mere three hours away.
God had it all planned out
On that brisk January day.
He kept me from intervening
While the Angels swept you away.
I called all your good friends.
Each came to say goodbye.
They knelt beside your bed.
Not one left with a dry eye.
They have now all moved onward
Cards and calls I still do get.
Some friends have finished college
Their future plans almost set.
And yes I often wonder
What today it would be like,
If you could be here still
The world enriched by your life.

I Love You Charity Mae
Always, Mom

1-18-05

Charity Mae Kohlman
10-7-81 ~ 1-18-98

I tiptoe in their room at night
And quietly watch them sleep
Thinking of the prayers they said
Their souls they asked God to keep.

They remind me of you so much
The way you held my hand
The way you lived your life
As if it were God's plan.

I've tried so hard to understand
Why so young you had to die
Then in a dream I heard God say,
"I'll give you the reason why."

"This child that I sent to you
Was only just a loan
I knew you'd need her sunshine
To make your house a home."

"For everything there is a purpose
Someday you'll understand
Her time on earth was fulfilled
Her life with Me at hand."

So when tonight I close my eye
And recall your precious smile
I'll wrap your arms around me
And stay that way awhile.

Remembering the day you became an Angel.
I Love You Always and Forever,
Mom

10-7-05

Charity Mae Kohlman
10-7-81  -  1-18-98

Where did our time go?
Why did it move so fast?
I had to work two jobs,
Your baby stage soon past.

Those seemed like simpler times,
Ones I remember well.
When a little puppy kiss
Made my own heart swell.

I went back to visit Mayo
Just the other day.
So many little reminders
Of where we had to stay.

The tears came unexpected
I tried to hold them back,
Then a gentle hand took mine
And calmed my tearful attack.

I welcomed all the hardships
Took in what they could teach.
And the lessons that I learned
Bring dreams within my reach.

I'll turn back the hands of time
And recall your loving smile.
Remembering all you taught me
Makes everything worthwhile.

Our time on Earth is short
I will cherish every day.
You taught me how to live my life
Death can be one heartbeat away.

Happy 24th Charity Mae.
I will always miss you.

Love you, Always and Forever,
Mom

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