No Regrets

I can never get her with her eyes open!

Alexa came home today. Yea!!!!!! It is so good to have her home. She seems like she grew so much just in the last week and a half. While she was gone, a friend of my parents came over and we were discussing the gospel. He read an article titled "May We So Live." (click here to link to the actual article. It was really good. I highly recommend it.) In the article it talked about death and how we can live our lives in a way that we need not fear. This was a great message, but the thing that really touched me was the part about living without regret and giving service. You could hear his voice start to crack as he was speaking and I was holding back the tears. The spirit was so strong in the room. There was a story about this old lady and this feud that she had with her neighbor. They were neighbors since they were newly married little couples just starting out and something happened to start the battle. In the local newspaper the grandmother used to write in to the "Dear Abby" type column where anonymously other locals would write back solving each other's problems. The grandmother made a dear friend through the column and they would write each other regularly. Using their pen names, they became best friends. This is where you thing the story gets good and you can kind of predict what happens, but then there is a turn for the worst. The neighbor from the horrible feud passes away. Because they were neighbors it was customary to go and help the grieving family so that is what the grandmother did. She was asked to help clean the office where she found a scrapbook full of her letters to the column. The woman next door who she had spent all of these years hating was actually her one true friend.
I know it is a sad story, but it just reminded me how important it is to love you neighbor and to live your life in a way that you have no regrets. Since I have moved to Vegas, I almost daily have to explain why my last name isn't Brown anymore and yet I am not married. There are so many people who knew me as a Brown. They then always feel awkward for asking, but it doesn't even seem weird or uncomfortable for me. I have had some things happen the past year that I didn't want. Things have not gone according to my "plan," but I have absolutely no regrets. I am so grateful for Alexa and the life that I have. I don't think I would have really changed a thing. I have learned so much in the past few years that I would never have understood. I am so grateful to my Savior for all that He has done for me and for the comfort he has given me. I only hope that through serving others, I can begin to show Him my gratitude for the love He has shown me.