lives over 2,000 miles away from me.

To coin a phrase,

“That ain’t right.”

But thanks to modern air travel we get to see each other once and a while. Not nearly as much as we’d like, but I wont complain…too much.

She was just here, and can I tell you something – I have made a discovery about her,

She. is. magic.

While she was with us she:

taught primary, and had everyone in the palm of her little hand

took care of my children in the morning so that I could sleep in

shoveled  tons of snow while Jan was away on a business trip

did ALL our laundry – folded it, put it away and IRONED everything!

read to Millie, laughed with Millie, taught her about science, philosophy, imagined all kinds of crazy things with her, made up games with her

She watched Millie and Clara overnight so that Jan and I could escape for a while

She made sure that she took care of her other New York based relations – going into town to watch John-o, while Cam and Nikks went to the temple. Then she visited for an afternoon with Allison. Then took the train home with her son in law, Jan and they talked all the way!

Not to mention she talked with me for hours and hours, helped me re-arrange furniture, went with me to the mall, took a date with me into the City where we found some fabric for a sister’s future wedding dress

And now….

I really, really miss her.

Come back soon, Grandma!

We miss you too much!!

(Seriously, how CUTE is this woman!!?!!

I love you, mom!

Is my mom.

And today is her birthday.

You ALL know what that means…

but what you don’t know is that I think this blog was born so that I could write a birthday shout out to “me ma”! When I was considering starting a blog I wondered what in the world I would write about. I thought about what I might enjoy writing and what my sisters (aka my audience) might enjoy reading…but one thing was certain. I was going to shower my mom with love on her birthday.

And now the day has come!

So, without further ado, please allow me to tell you a little bit about why I, for one, am sooooooooooooooo happy that Khaliel Kelly was born and why I love her so.

My mom:

is kind. She is selfless. Perfect example – only a week ago my mom took my crying baby out of my arms (after I had sworn, not at her, but in her direction) and stayed up with the little blighter all night long so that I could sleep. WHO DOES THAT?  The only person in the whole world who has ever done this for me is my mom. She is remarkable in her ability to do this not only for me but for everyone around her. Case in point, as I was packing up and getting ready to leave UT for our trip back to NJ my mom fixed me and my girls lunch. Tuna melts, if you care to know, and they were rather “tasty jingles” to coin a Khaliel-ism. So, while my mom was – making us lunch, getting our suit cases loaded, (the very suit cases she’d helped me to pack) she also fed my two brothers, brought lunch for my dad and sister Tess who came with us to the air port. WHO DOES THAT?

I’ll tell you who, MY MOM!

People adore her. Everywhere I go I hear praise of my mother. “Oh, you are Khaliel’s daughter! I LOVE her.” I always smile and say, “Me too!” I am kind of proud of her. I feel lucky, no a better word is, blessed that I can lay some sort of claim to her.

But let me be clear, although my mom is one of the kindest and most generous people I know but she is no “doily carrier” – she isn’t soft spoken and she isn’t a push over. She is a woman of strength and grit. True story: Once my mom was in the car driving some of her many children hither and yon. She noticed that my brother’s best friend was being picked on by a really tall fat kid on our neighborhood streets. What would you do in this situation? Well, I’ll tell you what Khaliel did. She pulled the car over and got right up into the face this rotund human being and told him where he could go! Later she also got right in the face of the father of said boy. He must have been a few hundred pounds heavier, and a few feet taller. That made no difference, she also told him where he could go too.

Not only is she gutsy and bold, she is intelligent – I think she is intelligent in an academic way, an emotional way and a spiritual way as well. I once heard or read that wisdom is when knowledge is applied – I feel that this is my mom. She is a very wise woman. She has a true depth. She just gets “it”. She gets why she is on earth. She loves people. She cares for people. She listens to the needs of those around her. She is a counselor. She is always calling out words of encouragement and hope. She is not afraid to admit when she is wrong or apologize – even to us, her kids. I am grateful for this example, because it means that I too am able to apologize to my own children.  Her humility and willingness to see where she needs to change is one of the coolest things about her.

She has tons of class – and yet she is totally down to earth. She is funny and very, very witty. She has great taste. She loves beautiful art, theatre, music and she taught all nine of her kids to love and appreciate the good stuff. She had the guts and wisdom take ALL of us into the City to visit fine art museums, see shows on Broadway, to hear poetry readings, to listen to interesting lectures. The interesting thing to me is that none of this was ever done in the spirit of elitism, it wasn’t ever haughty – rather she was teaching us to celebrate beauty and goodness. I am starting to see the fruits of her efforts in the projects that my siblings (all film or theater majors) are creating. I recently had the privilege of watching a documentary that my brother Chas made. It is about a boy in my parents’ ward who got into big trouble, went to jail, was converted to the gospel in jail and is now out and doing his best to hold on! The film is wonderful. I think it is not only a reflection of my brother’s goodness – but also a reflection of his mother’s goodness.

If I could show you the scripts my brothers and sisters have (0r are in the process of) writing you would start to feel the impact of my mother’s influence. Each is unique, but each shines forth with a special kind of love – a love of goodness, morality, decency. I think this comes right from my mom. We used to MOAN when she would dissect every single movie, TV show, and book that passed through our home – but she dissected with a real purpose. She was helping us to get to the core of what that piece of art was SAYING. It is because of her that I cannot read, watch or listen to anything without judging its moral content and ultimately its true worth.

My mom loves the Lord. She loves to do His work. She loves to read the scriptures. Any time I call her with a concern she has some deep and beautiful insight that she has gained from the scriptures to share with me (usually from that morning’s scripture study).

She is a wonderful teacher. People just lap her up! From little children to teenagers to grown-ups. She can get every last one of them, right in the palm of her hand. Currently she is teaching Sunday School to the teenagers in her ward. One of the boys, who she also taught as a belligerent primary boy is now one of her most devoted students. He told his dad, “Sister Kelly is THE MAN!” He even flagged her down last Friday night (I was there) to say “hi” while he was out with his cool, goatee sporting buddies. My friends, she has got it!

She loves and is completely devoted to my dad. And he loves her with equal devotion. They laugh together every day. When my dad was called to be in a BYU Stake presidency he was describing my mom to all the students in his Stake. The other two men of the Stake presidency who’d gone before him had mentioned their wives as “treasures”. My dad, well he said, “You are going to love Sister Kelly. She is NUTS!” He said it with love and he meant it in love. And he is right – she is lovable, and she is nuts.

Now I will try to tell you what my mom means to me, personally. I feel like a bit of a love glutton when I consider my mother and the relationship that I share with her. She means everything to me. If a few days go by and I haven’t spoken to her I feel totally and utterly lost. She is the first person that I want to talk to when something goes horribly wrong and she is also the first person I want to talk to something wonderful happens. It as though nothing, no matter how wonderful or horrible, is real until I have shared it with her. She just delights in the details – what the girls have done, what Jan has said, what wallpaper I have picked out, it doesn’t matter what I am doing – she just wants to hear all about it. And how I LOVE to tell her every last juicy detail.

This woman who gave me life, has stood by me in every trial, and been with me in every adventure – through it all she has been my truest and dearest friend. You couldn’t ask for a better mom. I love her more than I can say.

I love you mom! Happy Birthday

I adore you right down to your socks!

Of late my mom has been on something of a roll.

She has been sending Jan special treasures in the mail.

It started with this fabulous-ness

It came in the mail all folded up with a sticky-note that read, “what do you get for the man who has everything?”

When Jan opened up the shirt over this logo another sticky-note was carefully placed and it read, “something that nobody wants”.

(Which one of these cool b-ball players do you think Jan is? I think he is the one on the far left who is taking that skinny guy DOWN! Or he is the one on the right hanging from the rim. Yeah! baby! If you’re wondering which one I am – I’m the one getting hit in the head with the ball.)

Oh, but it gets better, people.

This week in the mail Jan received yet another package from his ma-in-law

Can you read what is written under Jan’s name? In case you can’t, I’ll tell you -“Sports Enthusiast”. Jan was already laughing even before he saw what new treasure my mom had found for him.

My mom is a woman of many talents. But one you may not know about is her knack for writing pithy notes. She was FAMOUS in our high school for sending in the best “please excuse my child for [fill in the blank here]” type notes. The office ladies would hang them up and laugh about them for days.

Here is the note she sent to Jan

What did she send this time?

Jan was born in 1975. And we live in Jersey.

My mom sure knows how to pick ‘um, doesn’t she!

Thanks, Mama-dukes. Jan has already worn his Provo Men’s Basketball shirt (around the house). When I asked him if he has any plans to wear it to play ball with his buddies he just smiles, that famous Jan smile.