Thoughts of Tami

Several weeks ago, my mom pointed out to me that Tami is with us everywhere. Tami was always giving us thoughtful little gifts and we have them with us in each of our homes. She is in our daily lives, somewhere. I didn't realize how right she was until I walked around my house...

• Tami gave me a pink elephant watering can - he sits on the bookshelf by my desk. The funniest part of this is that she bought him thinking that he was a pig - "he's pink!" she says. My Uncle Kent laughed at her and asked why the pig had a long nose/truck. She told me that she saw pink elephants all the time after a few beers and that he may someday turn in to a pig if we drank enough.
  
• Tami gave me a When Pigs Fly Stone - a little flying pig is encased in a clear rock. He is to help my dreams come true. He sits on my desk.
  
• Tami sent me text messages a lot and I have several saved on my cell phone. I've gone back and read them several times; they always make me smile.


• Tami thought it was funny to text me pictures of herself drinking on warm, sunny beaches. I have a picture of her saved; she sent it to me from Hawaii a few years ago. I returned the favor when I could. She especially liked the one I sent her from Vegas last summer - I had a 32oz drink mug in my hand and was in the pool. I did have Jamie take a picture of me in Cancun, in October, and I mentally sent it to her.
  
• Tami gave me a pen that has Amber engraved on it. It is always in my purse.


• Tami gave me several pair of her favorite jeans. Tami liked to shop (oh boy did she!) and I now have so many pair of jeans that I'll probably never have to buy them again. I didn't think I would fit in them, but happily lost enough weight to try them on again a few months ago. (She was almost as happy as I was about me losing the weight!) I wear theses jeans all the time. I honestly didn't want to wash them originally, because they smelled like her. She reminded me that I'd eventually stink, and that that was weird.


• Tami gave me a few bottles of fingernail polish after she could no longer wear it. I've worn the same pinkish/purple color now for months. It makes me feel like I'm taking her with me places - like when I went to Cancun. It makes me smile just looking at my toes.


• Tami gave me a little plaque that says one of my favorite quotes "Be the change you wish to see in the world". It is the first thing I see when I walk in my front door.


• Tami gave me incense - I think she bought every one that she found called Amber.


• Tami gave me bath salts in cute little envelopes that had clever quotes on them. They are almost all lavender scented. They are waiting for me every time I take a bath.


• Tami gave me a bookmark that reads; Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away. It's almost always in the book that I'm reading.


• Tami gave me lavender scented lotions. I think of her every night when I put it on. I'll be devastated when the bottles are empty.
  
• Tami gave me a plaque that says Family. It sits on my fireplace mantle.


• Tami also gave me 35 years of love, laughs and wonderful memories.