Today is June 1; our youngest daughter Merry's birthday. She would have been 45.

So this is a day to indulge a mom (ME!) of a couple of 'Merry Memories'.

When Merry was about five, we had annual Ridiculous Day uptown in Clarion. Merchants would dress up in costumes to fit the theme of the promotion. Sales would be the priority of the morning. A parade would be in the offing in the early afternoon. Merchants would walk a couple of block to show off their garb. Others were invited to join in the fun as well.

I had cut three holes in an empty grocery box for Merry to don. I plastered the sides with all kinds of labels from grocery items, covering the entire box. In the center was a yellow 12 - 14" sign which read, "I'm recycled!"

Merry walked down the street with several others who were also ridiculously clad. Or maybe with a decorated bicycle.

When she got back after the walk, she said, "Why did you make me walk down the street saying 'I'm retarded?'

*

Merry and Jamie always knew that if Jim had a handful of holes in a favorite t-shirt, it was their chance.

He would put it on one last time and they would spend a few minutes, giggling and laughing as they put their small fingers into the newly forming holes and rip the shirt to shreds off their dad.

*

Merry had five surgeries in nine months to try to keep her shunt open, so she could function normally, before her untimely death in a car/semi accident.

She was a 'forwarder' of pass along emails. When she died, I had saved nine of them. I wished I had saved more. But here is one, emailed the afternoon of July 22, 1999. She was killed less than a week later:

"A well-known speaker started off his seminar by holding up a $20 bill.  In a room of 200, he asked, 'Who would like this $20 bill?' Hands started going up. He said, 'I am going to give this to one of you but first, let me do this." He proceeded to crumple the dollar bill up. He then asked, 'Who still wants it?' Still the hands were up in the air.

"Well," he replied, "what if I do this?" And dropped it on the ground and started to grind it into the floor with his shoe. He picked it up, now all crumpled and dirty. 'Now who still wants it?' Still the hands went into the air.

"My friends, you have all learned a very valuable lesson No matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it because it did not decrease in value. It was still worth $20. Many times in our lives we are dropped, crumpled, and ground into the dirt by the decisions we make or the circumstances that come our way. We feel as though we are worthless. But no matter what has happened or what will happen, you will never lose your value in God's eyes. To Him, dirty or clean, crumpled or finely creased, you are still priceless to Him."

"Psalm 17:8 states that God will keep us, 'as the apple of His eye."

"THOUGHT:  The work of our lives come not in what we DO or WHO we are but by WHOSE WE ARE!"

"You are special. So have a great day!!"