Alex's Dia de los Muertos Altar

 

 

Alex was assigned to make an altar commemorating a loved one that had passed on in the manner of the Dia de los Muertos celebrations in Central America.  No surprise that he chose Aunt Melinda.  The second picture is of a decorative skull like those used in the celebrations, with details about Melinda filled in.

Always A Friend

As July begins, I am reminded of my last visit with Melinda a year ago. Mike, Todd and a very pregnant Laura went to Oklahoma for a visit. Of course, while we were there, we went to church at Alameda. Although I had emailed Melinda that we were coming, she didn't know that we would be there that Sunday. In true Melinda fashion, she was SO excited to see us and she immediately made plans for lunch. She talked about playing soccer and looked so good. Mark and Melinda were the first of our friends that we met when we first moved to Oklahoma. They took us in right away and the friendship grew. Although we only lived in Oklahoma for a year, every time we came back for a visit Melinda was always there with a hug and a "how are things in Colorado?" She was always a friend and has been truly missed this past year. We think of and pray for Mark and the kids often, wanting them to know how much Melinda was loved by people she touched. Thank you, Melinda, for always being a friend and Christian example.

Mike, Laura, Todd and Scott Collinsworth

Selling Flu Shots

When Melinda and her friend Kenzi were in nursing school, they received an
assignment to sell flu shots at the local Homeland. They were very eager to
find customers so they could practice their new shot-giving skills on
someone other than each other. After about 30 minutes, Melinda became
frustrated at their lack of business. She decided to find some customers by
walking up and down the aisles and encouraging people to come visit them for a flu shot. She found two college-age guys and told them to come visit the shot station. Her reasoning was simple, "Girls won't want to kiss you if you have the flu!" After that encouragement, the young men stopped by and got their shots and Melinda and Kenzi got their practice. After hearing this story, I told Melinda that she missed her true calling - she should have been in sales instead of nursing.
~Mark

A Cake for Jesus and Melinda

This year we started a new tradition at our house. Becky's dad read our boys the story of Christmas from the Bible on Christmas Eve. Then on Christmas we had planned to have a "Happy Birthday Jesus" cake for Christmas dinner dessert. A few weeks ago, my oldest son Alex asked Becky if we could include Melinda's name on the cake and celebrate her also since she was up in Heaven with Jesus now. We couldn't say no to that. Alex wanted a "white" cake, so we found one with chocolate frosting and "1000" mini chocolate chips all over the edge and sprinkled on top. As we ate it, it reminded us about how much Melinda loved chocolate. Aaron, my youngest, wanted to get some cake up to Melinda and Jesus, but we told that they would have to share it with us in spirit. I think we may do this again next year. It gave us a happy moment that we needed at this time of year. ~Jason