From Bonnie Zollinger (Daughter)

One of the earliest memories that I can remember that “I think” happened; I faintly remember mom nursing me as she sat at her type writer or maybe she was nursing Shalay as she was sitting typing, rolling and unrolling the paper on the type writer.

Mom was pretty trusting in me and early on she let me perm her hair and dye it!

I remember many times sitting on the floor watch mom curl her hair. As long as I could remember, mom had short hair that she permed and then would curl it the same way all around her head. It’s been a fun change the last coupe years to see her with long hair, I always wanted to see what she would look like with long hair when I was younger.

Mom and Dad always made a point to discuss problems in private instead of out in the open for us to hear. I never remember Mom and Dad ever raising their voices toward each other. It was and is something that I admired about them and wanted to be that way because it helped the Spirit to remain in the home.

Whenever I was sick mom was THE BEST nurse in the world. She would use all her herbal remedies to nurse me back to health. I specifically remember having earaches late at night and mom heated up onion juice and would put it in my ear and then rub it around. She always could make everything feel better. Mom had a vast knowledge of different herbs that she had us use. Echinacea was definitely a staple that she would use. I would help her capsulate her herbs. She had a special capsule holder and I would pour the powder in and then put the caps on. It seemed like on all our annual trips to Wal-mart, we would always stop at Joy Owen’s Herbary : ) I remember hating that place because it smelled so weird and mom would always take forever in there, figuring out what she needed for the next couple months till we could get back there again. One good thing that came out of that was that mom would always get us some type of healthy snack from the herbary. We would get sesame sticks or dried fruit, or trail mix. One time when we were at Joy Owen’s I watched mom go to the building next to Joy Owen’s. I was wondering where she was going so I looked at the sign and it was something like “Planned Parenthood” I remember being curious about what that meant and later found out that Mom was pregnant with Tyler!

Watching movies with mom was always an interesting experience! She would get really into the movie and would be extremely dramatic. It there was a super sad part, she was sure to cry and if there was an intense part she would yell out loud NO! No! No! I remember being embarrassed watching movies with friends when mom was there because of her reactions but they just thought it was amusing.

Who can forgot Mrs. Cunningham? Mom should have here doctorate with how many of us kids papers that she wrote-I mean helped us write. She would stay up for hours, even sometimes longer than us to help type and proof-read our papers. She always wanted to do whatever it took to help us succeed.

During the Christmas season, mom would have us go caroling to different people. I remember getting tons of plates of goodies from people( especially Divinity from the Jones family). Instead of eating it all ourselves, mom would divide up other people’s plates to use for our caroling plates! So resourceful! I didn’t love the idea of caroling but it ending up being so much fun singing “Wish You Merry Christmas”. People loved it! Tramping through the snow, the cool air, it was the best thing to get into the Christmas spirit! Mom would kind of do the same thing with our Christmas plates, instead of stockings, mom would put out plates with an orange and then any left over goodies in the house divided up on our plates!

All of her life, mom has been a member missionary. She always was inviting non-members or less-active neighbors to church events. She would ask and ask until they went and then she would ask again. She wasn’t ashamed or afraid of asking anyone. She always thought the best of people and I never remember her speaking guile against anyone. She is such an incredible example of persistence and unconditional love to me.

Mom was always very persistant about putting us in music lessons even though sometimes we hated it, I am so grateful that she was adimate about us taking lessons. We always had a Season Ticket to watch performances in the Snowflake High School Auditorium. It is there that I developed my passion for the arts and I am ever grateful to Mom and Dad for instilling that love in me for the Arts. We got to see so many cool performances. BYU dancers, The Dutton Family, etc…

Mom always had a positive compliment to give to me. When I won a prize or something exciting happened, I could hardly handle my excitement  and anticipation to tell mom the news. She would clap her hands and go Ohhhh! Give me a huge hug and would beam with pride! I loved her reaction and loved her positive words of affirmation! Mom was always available to talk to: we would come home super late from a date or dance and go into her bedroom and tell her all about our night. She would never tell us to go away or that she was too tired, she might have fallen asleep while we were talking but expectedly since it was usually around midnight!

The Holy Ghost goes to bed at Midnight is something Mom and Dad would always remind us and that is something that has really helped me to be safe and make good choices.

After Hayden was born in Los Alamos, New Mexico, mom drove all the way by herself to come help me. The morning after she got there, I had had a sleepless night with Hayden and I remember coming out and mom was there and I was able to just hug her and cry. Nothing is better than a mother’s embrace. While mom was helping me, she massaged my feet with lotion and took Hayden during the middle of the night so I could get some sleep. I hope you know mom how much that meant to me, those were ultimate acts of service! After having mom with me for a week, she had to go home and I remember bawling as she drove away. I still get choked up when I think of it, she was more than a physical support to me but the emotional support that she gave me during that time, is worth all the gold in the world!

No one can ever replace the woman that you are mom. No one else could have ever filled your shoes. Your life has been one of endless sacrifice. I agree with Tyler in the fact that you truly exhibit the true character of Christ. You have shown Christ-like love to an immense amount of people. So many people love you and care about you and it is because you have always shown love toward them. You sacrificed your whole life for us kids and the gospel. You were going-going from the moment you got up till the second you went to bed. I remember you praying for what seemed like hours for other people to have their needs met. You would often get emotional during your prayers and it was because you were so connected to the Spirit and truly felt heartache when others were in pain. You hardly ever took time for yourself, and that is why I firmly believe that you have earned a crown in heaven. Your life is one of the most Christ-like lives that I have ever been able to be a part of. Thank you for teaching me the gospel. Thank you for teaching me how to pray-how to talk to my Heavenly Father. I will love you forever and ever mom, you are so special to me and I am so honored to be raised by you!