Missin' Mom...

Well, this is Dick and Dianne Fankhauser. The people who decided to have me 31 3/4 years ago. This was taken at their 25th wedding anniversary, shortly before my mom passed away from complications of Aplastic Anemia almost 8 years ago. I can't believe it's been that long! I still feel her regularly in my life, I think mostly because even though I fight it, I have become her. =-) But, my last post has made me want to reminisce a little more (here you go, Christi!) so here are some of my favorite memories of my mom, the one and only Dianne Yvonne Fankhauser, as remembered by Dianne Jr, aka Darbi. (Yes, I know the picture is sideways. I can't figure out how to turn it. But it's too cute to not post.)



1. While I was in college, we would talk on the phone almost every day. She loved to tell me what shows she was into. She wanted Mike and I to start watching Everybody Loves Raymond. Since we never did, she would tape it for us. We'd get home. She'd make us sit down. It would take her at least 20 minutes to, on VHS, fast forward through Oprah, nope, went too far, rewind Letterman, now cue it forward....here it is. We'd watch for 15 minutes, just long enough to get into the show as she'd stare at our faces, and then sure enough, a new Oprah would start that she had taped over Raymond with. She'd get a puzzled look on her face and say, "Oh wait now..." and start the whole process over again.



2. She loved her Richard Simmons Sweatin' to the Oldies tapes. After school, she would close all of the curtains and turn one on and dance her heart out. Then she'd call me from the back room for the finale. If you've ever seen the tapes, Richard has all of his exercisers as actual former fat people, instead of models. So at the end, they all make a row and clap to the music, while each former fat person dances down the row alone with a big grin (and they still shouldn't be wearing spandex, but they are) and the screen says their name and how much weight they've lost so far. Mom would just sit and cry EVERY TIME! She knew what was coming, she knew their weights by heart, but by golly, she was so proud of them!



3. One Easter eve, my brother Paul already had his licence and I was 3 yrs younger than him. Every year my mom would make our Easter baskets and then hide them in the house. She'd always put together a scavenger hunt with clues all over the house. It was SO fun Easter morning. Well, I don't know what was going on in my mom's life this particular year, probably just the stress of having 2 teenagers. But anyway, as I was wondering what would be in my basket and where she would hide it, she hands me a check and says, "Here. Go to Safeway and pick out your Easter basket." At first I was crushed, but then I realized the possibilities. Paul and I jumped in the Chrystler Le baron and headed south. Jelly beans, peppermints and 50 different ways to mix chocolate and peanut butter together were all in our cart. Then we hit the checkout. Back at home, mom hears the phone ring: "Hello?"

"Mom, It's Darbi."

"Hi honey, is everything okay?"

"Not really. They won't let us use your check."

"Oh, yes they will, I do it all the time. Just let me talk to them"

"Yeah but mom, this time you signed it 'Dianne Safeway'."


4. My mom was crafting in her craft room and she saw a rat! She was home alone and so she naturally called 9-1-1. The dispatcher answered.

"What is your emergency?"

"I'm OK! I want you to know I am o.k. It's just that there is a giant rat in my craft room."

"Ma'am, we are for emergencies only. You will have to call someone else about a rat."

"Well WHO am I supposed to call then? I know DAVE!" and she hung up.
Our neighbor was Dave and he always helped us out of any situation. In this particular case he came down the road in head to toe camouflage with his hunting bow and arrow and got the rat with lots of laughs and little to no effort. But my favorite part of the story is "I AM OK!"

I have to get to wrapping now, but I will for sure add to these stories again one day. But the last thing you need to know about my mom is that nobody loved like her, nobody understood like her, nobody listened like her, and nobody laughed like her, even at herself. She could make a stranger feel like a best friend within minutes and her own kids felt like the world was all going to be okay, even in the middle of complete chaos. I say I fight being like her, but it really is an honor to be like her, for she was much more like Christ than anyone else I know. Minus the flaky parts. Those are just thrown in to make us love her more.



I pray that this Christmas you love like you've never loved before, listen like you've never listened and laugh like you've never laughed. Celebrate the freedom we have because Christ came and died for us, and the loved ones we will be gathered with again one day because of God's perfect plan. MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!