A Day filled with Memories

It's been a such a good day.

We left Stake Conference a little early to pick up my brother, Gary, who flew in from California for Aunt Beth's funeral. I love talking with Gary and hearing his memories. Gary is the oldest of my four siblings, and he mentioned tonight how he didn't even know Mom was expecting me until she was six months along. When we walked down to talk with Maisel and Kay (our cousins), Gary recounted that. Maisel's response was "Well, you were pretty naive for being 16." They were very different times for sure.

Gary and I talked about their children, Chuck and Christine, who both died of a skin disease known as epidermolysis bullosa. Gary's wife, Lynn, started the foundation EBMRF after they passed away and has devoted her life to it. http://www.ebkids.org/index.php

Words cannot describe the pain of those who have it deal with this disease daily. Tonight as we watched videos with Chuck and Christine in them, I was once again reminded of the incredible lives they lived. One of the things we watched tonight was a recording of a an April 1989 LDS General Conference session in which Elder Hugh Pinnock spoke of Chuck. The whole talk can be read at http://lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=cf1027cd3f37b010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&hideNav
and it is well worth reading.

This is what he said of Chuck:

"Many of us have a special hero. His name is Chuck Anderson. Brother Anderson died fourteen months ago. He had an extremely rare disease, epidermalosis belosa. When he was young, whenever his skin was touched, it would hemorrhage. After a time the injury would scab over. Cotton would partially protect his hands, feet, and other areas of his body, but not well enough to avoid the pain and scabbing. His skin became a form of inflexible tissue. He could not touch his scalp, so combing his hair was very difficult. He lived to be twenty-six years old, but never during those 312 months did he have a day free of pain, scabs, and bandages, or a day that he could run and play as others.

But he decided to be positive and as productive as he could be. He had a wonderful sense of humor. His example of courage and being as self-sustaining as possible blessed everyone who knew him. Of course, his wonderful parents, friends, Church leaders, and teachers did all they could, but Chucky Anderson determined he would be as self-reliant as possible. He desperately wanted to serve a mission, but could not in the typical sense. So what did he do? He served a mission by helping all who knew him to know that he was a Mormon boy and loved the Lord. He made the decision to forget himself and do all that he could do to be courageous, helpful, and build others."

I want to write much more about Chuck and Christine and the amazing people they were. I learned so much from Chuck (I was only 8 when he was born) and later from Christine. I want to pass their legacy on, because there is much to be learned from the lives they lived.