Listen to this : Talipia baked in macadamia nuts , Pina Colada rice , steamed broccoli and carrots with garlic and onion , and rolls . Loved it ! ! I will have leftovers for lunch . Then they were off to play games at first Brock and Erin 's home , Den and I were standing front and center at the airport . . . waiting , waiting . . . . watching the family reunions all around us . No sign of Tyler and Karen . So I turned to Den and said , " They 've run out of people . There are none left . " The long isle in front of us was totally vacant . Elora was shy for about the first 15 minutes and went into hiding . See her there under the table ? It 's almost freaky . She soon snapped out of it and joined us . Then I had what I thought was a great idea . Let 's play Life Stories . First of all , the blessings of having sons on missions far outweighed any challenges . I also discovered that the challenges were actually lessened when he was on his mission . But I didn 't know all this back then . So Brock left on his mission in January of 1996 . After getting through the first 5 days of shock that my first born was actually gone , and I would not see him for 2 whole years . . . I then started looking for the answer to that prayer . Each companion Brock would have I would ask for his mom 's email address , or her home address . . . . not everyone had email in 1996 . I wrote to them all . It just did not somehow click right with any of them . Then 10 months after Brock was gone , his dad died . That was yesterday 's story . A few months after Bill 's death , I received a very nice email back from the mom of Brock 's current companion at the time . Her name , Peggy . We did click and have been writing daily since that day . To be totally accurate , we may have taken a week or so before we were actually writing daily . That was 11 1 / 2 years ago . Interestingly , I thought I was praying for a friend to help me through Brock 's mission . But what Heavenly Father knew I needed more was a very special friend to help me cope with the unexpected loss of my husband . Peggy was always there for me . Our correspondences back and forth were quite therapeutic for me , allowing me to talk about whatever I needed to talk about . Talk is the wonder drug for grief . You can 't really see it in this picture , but we had coincidentally bought the same pair of pants . One particular visit we decided we were determined to drive up to Oakland and attend the temple . Our Fresno temple did not exist at the time . So we drove up to Dublin , stayed the night there in a hotel . Got up early the next morning and got back on the freeway to head to the temple . I decided I did not want to drive . . . can 't remember why . . . so I pulled off to the side of the road , which was an extremely busy fast paced freeway . So as cars whirled past us we changed seats . When Peggy attempted to start up the car again it was dead . Nothing . This made no sense , and this was NOT a good place to be with a stalled car . Neither one of us had a cell phone . We both had dresses and heels on , and this was not the place anyway to go walking . We said a prayer . Then she attempted to start the car up again . NOTHING . NOW , what do we do ? We had prayed , and without a cell phone , what options did we have left ? We sat there in silence for a few minutes . I knew our prayer would be answered but I was curious as to how . Can 't remember how long we waited . . . 5 . . . 10 minutes ? As we were sitting there I could see a large truck pull up behind us . What could that possibly be about ? So this large man comes up to our window . We roll it down just a little bit to be cautious . He asks if we are stuck . I said , yes , and I think I asked him to call Triple A . He said he WAS Triple A . Huh ? But no one called him . I looked back at his truck . Sure enough , he was Triple A . He said he was coming down the freeway the other way and saw us parked along the freeway , so he turned around to see if he could help . We popped the hood and he had it diagnosed in a short time . He did something temporarily to get us by . He said as long as we did not turn off the ignition it would keep running . Sure enough we made it to the temple . We had a wonderful session there , and as predicted , the car would not start up when we wanted to head home . So we called Triple A from the temple and they came out again . They were able to once again fix our car so it would work as long as we did not turn off the ignition . It was a trick a few hours later putting gas in our car with the engine running , but that 's what we did . The power of prayer is amazing . Often times we have to learn patience when our prayers are not answered as quickly as we would like . My experience has been , when we have not the time to wait , we are rescued in a very timely way . Bill left early , about 6am , planning to participate in the annual " turkey shoot " . Our son , Logan age 17 at the time , had planned on going with him . However , he had promised his friend Robby Pauline he would help him with his Eagle project that same morning . Logan loved to go shooting with his Dad and it was rare for him to miss out . While Logan was at the store , and McKay ( 12 ) and Tyler ( 10 ) were playing basketball in our driveway , Bill called me . He was very excited about the great day he had shooting . He said he just got back to his shop and he was getting ready to close up and come home soon . He wanted to know how my fever was and if there was anything I needed . He said he missed me and couldn 't wait to get home . Then I heard what sounded like fireworks ( or gun fire ? ) and Bill said to me over the phone , " Call the cops . " I hung up immediately and dialed 911 . The dispatcher who answered said they were already receiving calls about that address . I asked this man what in the world was going on , but he said they didn 't know yet . After hanging up from 911 , I immediately called Dee , my next door neighbor and very trusted friend . Dee is one of those rare people who are great in a crisis , who stay calm and know what to do by instinct . All I said to her on the phone that day after she said hello was , " Please come over right now . " And she did . As I explained to her what was going on , McKay and Tyler came into the house as it was beginning to get a little dark . Logan also had just walked in the door from the grocery store . We hesitantly , but bluntly told the boys what had just happened . Looking for some clues , and since it was just about 6pm and the news would be coming on , we turned on the TV . If something really bad was going on , it would be on the news . If not , then our worries could rest a bit . So our fears escalated when we saw that Bill 's shop was the top news story . There right on the news was his shop with an ambulance in front of it . This was not a good sign . I knew in my heart at that moment that if Bill were shot , he did not make it . But the TV said they did not have details yet , only that there had been a shooting . She called again a little while later . This time she was more adamant , " . . . She needs to know the status of her husband ! " She was put on hold . I left the room and wandered the house . I went into the closet to find my shoes . I was looking straight into the large mirror we had in our bathroom . I just looked at myself , trying to process all this . Is this a nightmare I 'm in ? Is this really happening ? They didn 't know . They were not thinking like I was . They thought their dad got injured , possibly like he had 7 years earlier . I knew this was not the case . I didn 't want to go to the hospital . I did not want to face what I knew was true . But more than that , I did not want my sons to have to face this . I wanted to protect them somehow , someway . My sons were soon in my closet with me . McKay was going through my shoes in a hurry , handing me a pair of heels , and saying , " Here Mom , put on these . Come on . I want to see Dad . " At least I had the presence of mind to find some flat shoes , and a sweater , and looked around the room slowly trying to find something else to delay me . I thought perhaps we should have a prayer , but since I knew he was already dead , I felt it was useless to do so . I know that does not make sense now . We could have prayed for strength , I could have prayed for many things , but I just was not all there in my head at the moment . By now our bishop 's sweet wife had shown up . She along with my neighbor Dee coaxed me into Dee 's car so we could all go to the hospital to " see Bill " . I don 't remember this , but I was told later they had to help lift my legs over the threshold leading out of our home , and again into the car . All the way there , I kept thinking of my baby boys ( although they were 10 and 12 and 17 ) in the backseat . . . and my 19 year old on his mission . . . and how this would all affect them . . . how their safe sweet little world was about ready to come tumbling down around them . As soon as we arrived at the hospital Dee gave the receptionist my husband 's name , and said we had come to see him . I could tell they had been waiting for us because right away they took us to " a room they have ready for the family . " A smallish room with chairs along all the walls that came together like a horse shoe . We were told to be seated and someone " would be with you shortly . " I knew what that meant . My parents were present , along with a few other relatives . In walked a tall , somber looking man . He stood right there before us and simply said , " I 'm sorry . Bill has died . " The room filled with immediate sobbing . I felt frozen . I wanted to reach out to my crying sons besides me but I couldn 't even put my arms around them . I just said , " please someone take care of my children . " But everyone in that room was too lost in their own shock at the moment . Logan sat there quietly but I sensed his deep pain . He had been very close to his Dad . McKay and Tyler kept sobbing , " I want my dad , I want my dad " , over and over again . I felt my heart was being pierced each time they said that . A very few moments later this same somber man turned towards me and said , " The dr will be here in just a moment and he can answer any questions you have . " I said without hesitation , " I don 't want to see him . I don 't want to know any more , and I don 't want anyone telling my sons anything either . " He looked surprised , but said , " Okay " . ( In a few days we were ready to learn all the details , but not right then . ) Then this man asked , " Would you like to see your husband 's body ? " I was just talking to Bill less than an hour before . I was not ready to see his dead body . I said , again without hesitation , " No . And my sons will not be seeing him either . I want to go home . I want to take them home , right now . " This was all part of my way of trying to protect them , and myself . Plus I felt like I was going to throw up . My parents offered to see his body so he could be officially identified . Or maybe I asked them to , I can 't remember . Someone needed to do it . I heard later that Dee also went with them . My brother Richard gave us a ride home . With my sons quietly crying on the back seat of his car he turned on some gentle music , or was it a talk . . . I don 't remember . But I do remember what he told us . He said , " I know the days and weeks and months ahead are going to be very difficult , but I also know that you will see many blessings come into your life during this time . " I knew this , but it was nice to be reminded right then at that moment . I had come to learn throughout my life that we are blessed through our trials . That our Heavenly Father never leaves us alone . Shortly after we arrived home I called Brock 's mission president . I told him what had happened and asked if I could call Brock to tell him . I also told his mission president that I wanted Brock to come home for a few days . President Hedrick said they don 't normally do that in the event of a death . I told him that is what I wanted , that is what we all needed . He asked me to think about it and call him back the next morning . Meanwhile I called Brock and gave him the news . It 's hard enough telling your son his dad has suddenly died , but it is harder having to just say good bye and hang up , after I had just told him his father had been murdered . So I called President Hedrick back and asked him if he would please go see my son . He said he and his wife would . . . . and they did . . . . and I will be always grateful to them for that . By the time we got home many people began arriving . Some I had not seen in years , others were close friends . I was so thankful they just showed up . There was nothing we needed more than to be surrounded by loving friends and family . Our driveway and cul - de - sac filled up with cars as our family room filled with visitors . By about 11 - 12 pm most everyone had come and gone . My mother told me she would spend the night . Of course . She was always there for me , during any crisis . None of us had dinner that night . No one was interested in eating . Someone gave the boys Taco Bell but it just sat on their laps in a bag unopened . Logan went to bed around midnight down the hall in his bedroom with his friend Robby staying with him . Even at Logan 's young age of 17 he was very protective and concerned about my feelings , and those of his brothers . I sensed that he was desperately trying to represent " normal " for us . McKay and Tyler slept on the family room floor , along with our good friend and neighbor Brett , who is Dee 's son . They all had grown up together but tonight Brett was not only their friend , but their comforter . He laid there next to them , patting their backs and soothing their cries . It was like they had their own personal angel . My mom fell asleep on our couch . I sat on the little couch in our kitchen . I sat there all night , not the least bit sleepy . I sat there and just thought of my life with Bill . I thought of our wedding night 22 years before . I thought back to the days each of our 4 sons were born . I thought of all Bill 's qualities as a husband and father and what a good life , what a good marriage we had . I thought of all our tremendous blessings . I relived them all that night . It was like watching my life " pass before my eyes , " although I was the one still alive . As soon as the sun came up everyone started waking up . The night went by very quickly for me . It was like I had been sitting there for an hour , not all night long . I suppose that would be called being in shock . The next day there was again , a steady stream of visitors . The phone also seem to ring continually . I talked again to Brock 's mission president . He had a change of heart and felt it was best , since Brock was my oldest son , to send him home for the funeral . Or perhaps he realized that I was not going to budge in the fact that I wanted all my sons to be together . Some things as a Mom , you just know . Brock did in fact come home for 5 days . He helped plan the funeral , chose a burial plot and casket for his dad , and spoke at the funeral , besides being a comfort to his younger 3 brothers . The crying in our home just would not stop . I was a mess and so were my sons . We basically sat huddled together on our family room couch for days , talking to the visitors as they continued to come and go . I particularly kept my arms around my 2 younger sons . Logan was of the age where his friends could comfort him more than I could . Occasionally McKay or Tyler would leave my side and I would go hunting for them , or ask someone else to find them . I did not want them being alone at all . And sure enough , every time we would find them they would be rolled up into a fetal position on their bedroom floor or on their bed . I could not stand that . I had a hard enough time dealing with my grief , but I absolutely HATED watching them grieve . I would take their hand and lead them back to stay by me . None of us were clear headed at the time , I realize that looking back . . . but my instinct told me to keep them with me . So I did . Logan was 17 and was surrounded by his friends . He did not miss a day of school , except for the funeral . This was typical of Logan . We all grieve differently . My 2 younger boys missed the entire following week . Tyler basically missed the rest of the school year as I put him on temporary home school . One particular evening . . . . I think it was the following Monday , 2 days after Bill died . . . . our stake president came to see us . President Tanner is a such a kind , gentle soul but also a spiritual giant . He asked if there was anything he could do to help . I told him that I needed to know how long the crying of my boys would go on . Not expecting him to have an answer , he said without hesitation , " 5 days . " I don 't know if that is a universal typical answer , or if he was inspired to say that . Whatever , I trusted him , and sure enough he was right . The grieving was far from over then , but that all day long off and on crying came to an end , 5 days after the death of their father . We had his funeral the day before Thanksgiving . Slowly we adjusted day by day . My 2 younger sons slept on the floor of my bedroom for the first 3 months after his death . They would often cry out in their sleep , at least nightly , and I would be right there to say , " It 's okay , go back to sleep . " In the morning they had no memory of these episodes . I don 't think they would ever completely wake up till morning which was a blessing . Exactly 3 months after his death , February 23 , 1997 , was a beautiful spring day . We went to the cemetery together and we could laugh and be happy about some memories of their Dad . I feel that day was our turning point . We all went home and slept in our own beds , in our own rooms , and some normalcy began returning . Still , I felt like a broken person for a very long time . I felt my sons were broken too in their own way . I have come to the realization that one of the hardest things to cope with in this life , is watching your children in pain . All 4 of them know they will see their father again , but they pure and simply MISSED him . They have learned as the years have gone to cope with this loss , but I don 't expect them to ever " get over it . " Still , I am amazingly impressed with all 4 of them . They have each grown into very good , responsible , and loving men . I think they have definitely learned much from this tragedy and developed a true love for what really matters in this life . This tragedy was also extremely difficult on Bill 's parents . They were crushed with grief , yet they were so sweet and tender with my feelings . It was like they could not do enough for us . Looking back over that first year , I could see the hand of our Heavenly Father in our daily lives . He did indeed send us so many , many blessings . Most of these blessings came in the form of family and friends coming to see us , checking on us , calling , being there . There were a few in particular that put their own lives on hold for us . I will never , ever forget the many sacrifices that were made on our behalf . Never . Logan , McKay , me , Tyler , Brock in the viewing roomThe first time we went to church after his death , with my head lying on Bill 's Dad 's shoulder , the opening hymn was , " I Heard the Bells On Christmas Day . " One particular line has stayed with me ever since , " God is not dead nor doth He sleep . " This became my motto , the words we lived by , the words that gave me comfort through many long nights . Our oldest son , Brock , drew this while on his mission and sent it to us as our Christmas present . Of course none of us knew Bill would not live till Christmas . In fact he died the day after this arrived in the mail . I had been running a fever all that day . I went to bed very early , about 7pm , while Bill stayed up playing with the boys , ages 10 and 12 . Logan , age 17 , was out with friends . ( Brock , 19 , was on his mission . ) I had chills but wanted to keep sleeping so I called out to Bill . He came in the bedroom and all I said was , " I 'm cold . " He left the room and came back with 2 extra quilts he had taken off the boys ' beds . He put them both on me , patting them around my body so I would warm up quickly . I didn 't even open up my eyes . Next thing I knew I squinted open my eyes and looked up at the clock , half asleep . It was about 10 pm . I could hear the boys still playing with their Dad . I heard a ball bouncing up and down the hallway . Not a hard ball , but a plastic 49ers football . Still it continually slammed against walls and doors . Lots of laughter . Happy noises . I wanted to get up and tell everyone to GO TO BED and to QUIT PLAYING BALL IN THE HOUSE . My fever was the only thing that kept me from interfering . I remember when Dad told me he was going to marry her . We all thought he was nuts . ( Sorry , Dad ) He did not know her very well . . . that was our concern . My mom had only been gone a short time . But I should have never questioned him . He has always had good judgment , so I should have known he would this time too . I am so thankful he married Susan . She is filled with goodness . And somehow , someway she is able to keep track of all our lives . She knows what is going on with us and asks for updates . I have decided to face some things this coming weekend , and I have been preparing for that . It has been 12 years since my first husband passed away . I don 't talk about it much , and I have only written about it in my journal . But it is part of our history and I feel it needs to be recorded for my grandchildren who may have questions in years to come . I 'm also going to cook my very first Thanksgiving dinner in 12 years next week . Being he died the week of Thanksgiving in 1996 , I have related that day to those times . I know this probably does not make sense to those who have not gone through the death of a close loved one . It doesn 't even make sense to me at times . . . especially considering I am very happy with Dennis and the life we have created together . A therapist once explained to me that our brains are much like computers . If we put data in , we can expect certain results . I use to get depressed somewhat every November . I couldn 't figure out why because I felt I was done grieving , I wasn 't even thinking about that . . . and yet November would come and I would feel sad . Then I understood that my brain was interpreting the falling leaves , the cooler days , the smell of Fall , the smell of turkey cooking even , as a time of sadness . It wasn 't , but that is what was in my " computer " . Does this make any sense ? I am working now on de - programming my " computer " . Postscript : I wrote this last night , and now reading it this morning it sounds pathetic . I hope no one thinks I am grieving and never got over this . . . or that I 'm trying to imply in anyway that I am the only one who has had a tragedy in my life . We have all had tragedies . . . it is part of living . The first year and a half were very difficult , but life is really wonderful and has been for years . I have been blessed beyond what I deserve , I know that . I was just trying to say that I am trying to bring back the day of Thanksgiving in the way it use to be . I use to love making a big turkey dinner and I just sort of turned that off 12 years ago . We still celebrated it , I just didn 't do the cooking . This year is a new beginning in that sense . There will be a turkey in our oven ! : ) Posted by I was remembering a conversation I had with Elora last year about this time , when she was 5 . I looked it up in my journal and sure enough it was there . I want Elora to someday have this , so here it is for memory sake . Nov . 9 , 2007I was driving her to my home after picking her up from school . Elora : My sister broke her leg . Grandma Honey : What ? ! ( in shock ) Elora : Cami broke her leg and it is really bad . It is swollen and red and it is so bad . Grandma Honey : Oh you mean , she had her muscle biopsy yesterday . So how is she doing ? Elora : Not very well . She can 't crawl . She can 't walk . She went to Frans San Cisco but she broke her leg after she got home . Grandma Honey : She did ? She really did break her leg ? Elora : YES ! Her leg is broken ! It is BROKEN ! It is SO bad ! Grandma Honey : Well why didn 't anyone tell me this ? Elora : I don 't know . But it is so bad . Poor Cami with her broken leg . I saw it and it is red and so so swollen . ( She shows with her arms and hands how swollen it is ) . Grandma Honey : That is just terrible . ( not sure what to think ) Elora : My parents tried to buy a baby wheel chair for her on dot com but it costed too much money . So they found one at Toys are Us . Grandma Honey : They did ? They bought her a baby wheel chair ? Elora : Yes ! They bought a baby wheel chair at Toys are Us . At first they didn 't know Toys are Us has baby wheel chairs but they found one there for Cami . Grandma Honey : Well that is nice ( figuring Cami must have really broken her leg because Elora was so convincing ) Elora : She has to stay in the baby wheel chair for 55 days . 55 days ! ! She doesn 't need her high chair anymore . She just eats in her baby wheel chair . Grandma Honey : Really ? She even eats in her wheel chair ? Elora : Don 't tell my mother I told you this . Grandma Honey : Why ? ! Elora : Because I 'll get a time out . Grandma Honey : Why would you get a time out ? Did you break Cami 's leg ? Elora : No , I didn 't break Cami 's leg . But every time things go crazy at my house I get a time out . So I was anxious to ask Erin how Cami was doing after I brought her home a few hours later . She said she was fine … getting into everything as usual . Didn 't even need any pain meds after the muscle biopsy she had on Thursday . And the more I thought about Elora 's story … it came to me that if Cami needed a baby wheel chair , wouldn 't they just use a stroller for that ? ? " Posted by There was a warning in our newspaper this morning ( or was it yesterday ? ) about giving gift cards this Christmas . How we should think twice before giving them as Christmas presents . How many retailers are planning on going out of business right after Christmas , with no warning , yet are selling gift cards nonetheless . I also heard on the radio this past week that Sharper Image sold gift cards right up till the very day before they went out of business . How cruel is that ? I don 't get headaches very often , but when I do , Peppermint Oil is my favorite remedy . I spread it across the top part of my forehead , and then I add more where it hurts . I just make sure not to get it too close to my eyes or they will water and burn , but even that is temporary . It is so soothing . It takes about 20 - 30 minutes after I apply it for the headache to go away , but it does work for me . I 've read that it opens up the blood vessels . Whatever , I love it . Last night we were out with our friends Bev and Brent , and while we had a fun time together ( we always do ) I had to resort to Tylenol because I didn 't want to smell like toothpaste . But at 4am when the pain returned I put my peppermint oil on and less than 30 min later the headache was totally gone . And Dennis lying next to me says it opens up his sinuses . I originally found this cure years ago in the book , " Miracle Cures " by Jean Carper . My granddaughter , Elora , had a nightmare Tuesday night . She said it scared her and she woke up . She tried to go back to sleep but she kept " seeing it " . She was noticeably upset by it . She said she was running a race with one of the Veggie Tales . She did not tell me if it was Squash , or Tomato , or who it was . But she did not win the race . I have a problem that I can almost guarantee no one else has . Normally , no matter what I am going through at the time I can console myself by saying , " Well others must have this same challenge . " I think I might be alone in this one . How do I know this ? Well I have had off and on pain in that front tooth , that has progressively become worse . One morning recently I even woke up with my lip swollen right above that tooth for the first couple hours after I woke up . My dentist has taken xrays of it and says it has gone through trauma of some kind . Well I know what kind . . . my fist . Last Saturday we went to the Bone Store trying to look for a solution . . . trying to find some mechanism to wear perhaps at night on my right hand so I can 't curl it up in a fist when I am sleeping . I told the lady there , " I have a problem you have never heard before . " She looked at me like she was thinking , ' yeah right ' . Then I told her what it was . I don 't know why she thought it was funny but I could tell she was trying not to laugh . She said she had nothing to help me . I asked if they have splints for broken fingers . . . . maybe something like that would help me to keep my hand straight at night . She said no , I would need to go to a drug store for that . ( so I can 't make a fist in my sleep ) So who would have ever thought that by wearing this , my tooth might get better . Otherwise my dentist is going to send me to a nerve specialist . I didn 't know they had those . A few moments before this picture was taken , her little friend Katelyn was crying because she didn 't get an award . I saw Elora put her arms around her . I couldn 't hear ( from where I was sitting ) what Elora was saying to Katelyn but I could tell she was consoling her . Elora kept patting her back in such a loving way . You can tell Katelyn has still not quite recovered from her tears . Proud Mommy and EloraI filmed the remarks Elora 's teacher made about her , but the audio did not come out very well . So instead , I have printed out her teacher 's words . I did this so not only will Elora have record of it later , but her Grandpa Dale and Grandpa Dennis , who were out of town today , can read it : " Elora was a very easy choice this quarter . She has all O 's on her report card . She excelled in every area academically . She mastered the DRA level 16 reading test the first time she took it . She received her reading medal that she 's wearing it now , for the first quarter , which is quite an achievement . This is a goal for the end of first grade so we 're very proud of her . She 's such a good friend and a good helper in class . Always willing to help , anybody , even her teachers , which makes them very proud . She has such a kind heart . She has a lot of friends . Everybody enjoys being around Elora . She told me that she loves to do centers in class and that her favorite thing is reading . She also said when she grows up she wants to be a magician . So I think that assembly had something to do with that . It will be fun later on to see if she shares some magic tricks . I am proud to present Miss Elora . " Posted by We use to share a room growing up and we 'd practice our spelling words out loud , and then he would tell me to turn off the light so we could go to sleep . And I would say to him , " He who wants the nut must crack the shell . " I think I saw that in some book I was reading . Saturday night Richard took us out for a great Chinese dinner . I hadn 't eaten Chinese food in nearly 5 years and had forgotten how wonderful it can be . Thank you Richard ! Yesterday morning my cousin Kathy , from Bakersfield came to see me . This was such a treat . We literally talked for hours , mostly reminisced about our childhoods together . She grew up down the block from Beverly Hills High , ( home of 90210 ) . I was fascinated by her neighborhood . It seemed we were surrounded by movie stars . Richard and I would take the Continental Bus from Fresno to her Beverly Hills and spend the week at times with Kathy and her sister Nonie , and our Aunt Hegge . I learned a few things from Kathy yesterday . Her mom didn 't have her own bedroom when they were growing up . Strange to think now , but I never even noticed that as a child . Kathy said she slept every night on a pull down bed in the living room . Raising her daughters as a single mom , she opted for the less expensive 1 bedroom apartment so they could be in a better school district for her girls . What a testament of a mother 's love .