11 February 2025
Happy, happy birthday Sweet Lady!!!
(First of all, I want to acknowledge and apologize for the blooper in my video! I really am NOT turning 80 next month, but when my loving son called me out on it, he told me not to re-do my video because it was "funny.")
Now. Onto the real stuff! I don't know if you remember (or ever even read) the blog post I wrote about you on your birthday in 2013, but I'd like you to go back and reread that post now, because everything that I said back then is still true today.
However. The past twelve years have helped me get to know you so much better so that I have been able to come to appreciate the real Emily. You are such a strong, supportive, integral part of our family; even through your own personal challenges and heartache.
I know it had to have been very difficult for you to experience so many challenges as you and Bart were beginning your family, watching all the nieces and nephews being born in both Crabtree and Sloan families. Then with incredible strength and courage, you accepted the heartache of losing Baby Brandon mere hours after welcoming him into your family. Amid all that, knowing you wouldn't have long with that sweet, precious baby boy, you didn't focus on yourself, but invited your parents, Brandon and I to be there with you, so that we too had the opportunity to meet him and recognize his amazing spirit that will forever be a part of our eternal family.
I worried about you a bit as you created this perfect, organized little world around your young family when Abigail was small. You understandably doted on her and I wondered what would happen when you had a child who wouldn't meld perfectly into that world you had created. And then you had Millie. Her strong, enthusiastic, energetic personality took your quiet, organized life in a whole new direction. Many would have been unable to accept the chaos she left in her wake. Not you, though. You just learned to laugh and realize that her mischief and curiosity contributed to her way of learning and growing. And, somehow, you managed to teach Millie to help strengthen Rocky and catch up in his development. Now, you've taken the time to educate yourself and prepare your home to take in and foster children who don't have a stable, supportive family of their own.
I did you a tremendous disservice years ago, and for that, I apologize. I saw how close you were to your own pioneer heritage family and didn't think you would ever be able to truly embrace our crazy, dysfunctional convert family. I couldn't have been more wrong. At first, I took a little bit of offense to questions you would ask about our family or why/how things and people were what they were. I assumed you were seeking out information to judge us. I am so, so sorry. Eventually, I did come to realize that you were simply (and sincerely) trying to get to know and understand us and our dynamic better. Now, you may know us better than we know ourselves!
I began to get a real inkling of your love and desire to really be a part of the Sloan clan when you brought Abigail on the trip with me down to Aurora and Decatur. I saw how you interacted with Norm and Elaine. I marveled at how you voluntarily, with no tools, began to clean my parents' grave. I was impressed with how you would listen to "Grandma's" health tips and ask her questions that showed you were truly listening. And, I was thrilled that you cared enough to be sure to get pictures, especially of Grandpa and Abigail on the swing. That meant so much to both of them. Grandpa still referred to her as his little sweetheart and remembered her trying to push him in the swing on the porch.
Your family love and support have only grown and become more evident as you open your home and offer assistance to everyone; especially to Sarai, Jonas and Ethan in the past year. Your love and compassion have meant so much to me this year as you came for Grandpa's and Lanie's funeral services and the way you just dig in to get the job done, attacking cleaning and packing... you just amaze me!
You always think about me and do your best to share family happenings with me! I'm always so excited to see a new Marco Polo from Millie, or to hear that Abigail needs some family names to go to the temple, or to see the latest (illegal) video of Bart in a play or videos of him singing with Bran or Abigail, or to see the message on my Skylight frame that I have new photos! I'm so appreciative of the love and concern I feel from you and Bart and I'm so blessed to know that you (and Diedre) are both willing to let me live with you. (Not many daughters-in-law would be that open. I don't know how I'm lucky enough to have two!) Maybe someday, the time and circumstance will be right for me to make that move. I hope if it does, you'll still want me.
Emily, I love so many things about you: Your love, kindness, generosity, patience, intelligence, spirituality, dedication and humor are just a few. Thank you for being a wonderful, supportive wife to my baby boy and an amazing, loving mother to my grandchildren. I know your parents are responsible for raising you, molding all those natural gifts within you to make you the beautiful woman you are today, and for that, I offer them my thanks.
You are a gift to our family, sweet lady and I hope this small gift of my thoughts and words help you to know how much you are loved and appreciated. Happy 40th Birthday!
With lots of love,
Mama Sloan
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