Mom

I really like this picture of mom with all my kids it's really cute. This is from when she came down to help when Emma was born. The sad things is that one time when I was visiting recently she told me that she hardly even remembers anything from this visit. She was in so much pain at the time because she had a very painful cancer and they had not yet diagnosed it or started medicating her for pain yet but you'd never guess that by looking at the picture!

Here is her obituary:

Karoleen Marie McClellan, beloved and admired wife, mother, daughter, sister, and friend, passed away just after 12 noon on Thursday, Oct. 29, 2009. Karoleen was born the fourth of nine children in California on Nov. 21, 1954, to Robert and LaRue Walker. She grew up in California and earned a degree in Clothing and Textiles from Brigham Young University in 1976. Following her marriage to David McClellan in the LDS Oakland Temple in May 1975, Karoleen lived in Utah, Texas, Colorado, California, and since 2001, in Lake in the Hills, Ill.

She will be remembered for many gifts - for her love of music and her ability to create a welcoming home, for her warmth, humility, and wonderful sense of humor, and for the quiet courage and compassion that characterized her life. Most of all, she will be remembered for her faith in the Savior, which sustained her through a lengthy and valiant battle with cancer.
She took great joy in passing on her talents to others - from her passion for making keepsake dolls to her love for quilting and sewing - which she taught to many young people throughout the years. Quite often, friends received answers to their prayers, not knowing that Karoleen was behind the kind and much needed act of service. Her continued desire to help and cheer others in the midst of her own deep suffering was a testament to her firm and abiding trust in God and her love for His children. Her greatest regret throughout her illness was that she was often unable to do more: "it was in Karoleen's passing, like the beautiful autumn leaves that surrounded her in her final days here on earth, that we were privileged to see her truest and most vibrant colors shining through."

Karoleen is survived by her father and seven siblings, as well as David, her devoted husband of 34 years, her five children and their spouses: Charles (Heidi), Daniel (Miranda), Kera (Andy), Brian, and Melinda. She was a grandmother to nine grandchildren with three more on the way. Each family member was a light and strength in her life.

A memorial service will be held in Karoleen's honor at 4 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 1 at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 5209 Walkup Road, Crystal Lake, Ill. Her burial will take place at 2 p.m. Monday, Nov. 2, at the Village of Algonquin Cemetery, located at the corner of Route 31 and Cary Road in Algonquin, Ill. In lieu of flowers, the family has asked that donations be made to the Crystal Lake Second Ward of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, payable to the Perpetual Education Fund. This resource enables young people to improve their education and career opportunities, thereby better serving their families, the Church, and their communities.

It was really neat to attend her funeral and hear all the great things about her that I already knew. It was a really good funeral and I learned a thing or two about my mom too. I didn't know that her theme song was "Have You Done Any Good." I did know that she loved to serve people but not that it was a conscious effort - or her theme for life. But what I really enjoyed were all the people who came up to me and told me little stories about what made her special to them. It was kind of strange, because the funeral was on Sunday afternoon, but first we had church and it was fast Sunday. Really it was like having two funerals in one day. Practically every one who got up to bear their testimony mentioned mom, but the thing that was so cool is that they were all actually bearing testimony of something gospel related and also relating it to mom. What cooler tribute could I have had to how cool my mom is than that everybody recognized Christlike qualities and attributes in her and relating her life to the gospel.

Then during church, before and after the funeral, when the ward was feeding us, on my ride to the airport etc. people kept coming up to me and telling me stories about their relationships with her. Since I am finally tired though I won't write them all right now, but I plan on popping little mom stories here and there so that I will remember them and so my kids will know what she is like. Seeing as I don't write in a journal you will all have to bear with me as I randomly do it here!