by Marilee Bird
Today, as I attended the celebration of Melissa’s life my heart was so touched by the comments from her family, her bishop and a general authority. Thank you all for sharing so much about Melissa and for giving us who are not her family a glimpse of more of the wonderful person that she is.
I was a former roommate of Melissa’s at Utah State University. We had a wonderful year of experiencing life, trials of faith, love, and great fun together. Some of my fondest memories of Melissa, during that time, were of her running to and fro, almost like a butterfly. She would flit from one class to another, stopping in at our apartment to grab an apple or yogurt, stuff some “stuff” into her brown bag that was always on her hip and then away she would go. She was like a quick blast of wind that would blow into our apartment and then back out, always leaving us with a big smile and even an apology. It would always make us smile. I loved our talks, our fun “movie” nights where she would immediately fall asleep, always with her mouth open, our dancing around, and our even more fun “toyota” jumps!
I have so much appreciated the friendship that we continued to have after our college days and was so grateful that our husbands got along so well together and that we had the fun times that we did.
Melissa was such a wonderful example to me of always looking for the good in a situation, for always striving to have faith when it seems too hard to have faith, and she showed me what it truly means to love others and serve. I will miss her sweet friendship and look forward to the time when I will see her again and will be able to hug her and tell her how much I love and appreciate her.
Samuel, please know we are here for you and your family anytime you need us!! We love you all, and our prayers will be with you now and in the future!!
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