Heaven
With every passing year, I find myself wondering how it could have been nine years since my mom, Collene Spencer, left us to go to Heaven. Like she lived her life, my mom went out in her own time, and in her own way…on her own terms. I’m sure that you have heard about having a bucket list. Well, my mom had her own kind of bucket list. After my dad, Allen Spencer graduated to Heaven on December 12, 2007, Mom told us that she was going to stay. I don’t know if she thought we thought she would just give up, and maybe we did to a degree, but she told us that she missed Dad very much, but she felt that she had more to give and that there was more life for her to live.
She talked about the things she wanted to do. Her bucket list was filled with simple things really. She wanted to travel to Washington to visit family up there. My Aunt Ruth and Uncle Jim were gone, but their kids, Shirley Cameron and Terry Wolfe were still there, as were their families. She wanted to see them again, so Mom, my sister, Cheryl Masterson and I went in 2013. It was a good trip, even if part of it included my Uncle Jim’s funeral. The next year, we took her to Wisconsin to she family up in the Superior, Wisconsin area. We reconnected with so many people, and had a lovely time, making lasting cousin friendships. Mom got to reconnect her brother-in-law, Bill Spencer, her sister-in-law, Doris Spencer, as well and good cousin friends, Les 
and Bev Schumacher, Carol Carlson, Bernice Hutchison, and several of their family members. Mom was so happy to see her relatives on that side of the family, who had become her close friends too.
Mom had always said that she wouldn’t mind going to Heaven straight from church, and she almost did. On Thursday of that last week, we took Mom to dinner at Red Lobster (one of her favorite places). Then, on Sunday, we all went to church, as we always did, but this day was to be different. Mom’s sister, Evelyn Hushman was in the hospital. She had terminal Breast Cancer, and Mom wanted to get all of her remaining siblings to meet at the hospital to have lunch with Aunt Evelyn. They were all able to make it, except Aunt Dixie Richards. They all had a lovely lunch, and really enjoyed the visit. That night, Mom and my sister, Cheryl had a nice dinner and watched a movie. At 10:00pm, Mom said she was going to bed. Cheryl loaded the dishwasher and went in to take Mom her pills, but Mom would no longer be needing those pills, or any other pills. She was lying on the floor, peacefully. She had not fallen, because nothing was disturbed. She could not have laid down 
there by herself, because her knees would never have allowed that without disturbing everything in the room. You can say what you will, but we know that the angels carefully laid our mom down there on the floor, when they took her spirit to Heaven, because Mom was ready to go. She had been talking about it for weeks, if not months. I think she might have left during church, had it not been for the chance to say goodbye to her siblings. What a blessed way for a blessing of a lady to graduate to Heaven!! We love and miss you so much, Mom. Tell Dad we love and miss him too. You are in our future now, and we will see you both again someday.
It’s hard for me to believe that my uncle, Bill Spencer has been in Heaven for more than three years already. Uncle Bill chose Christmas Day to go. I think maybe he wanted to spend the holiday with his parents and siblings. He was the last of the original family to go to Heaven, and with Covid stalking the world, he didn’t get to see his children as much either. Since Uncle Bill had Dementia, he probably didn’t realize that he didn’t get to see much of his family, but they knew it, and it made them sad. There were months and months during which they could not go visit him, and sadly it didn’t matter that all these precautions were taken. Uncle Bill still got Covid, and by Christmas Day, he was ready to go home. And so, on Christmas Day 2020, the Spencer brothers got back together again.
My dad, Allen Spencer was two years younger than his brother, Bill, but they were the very best of friends. When they were together, you didn’t have to ask them to talk about their childhood, all you have to do was sit back and listen, because the stories were the talk of the day. They had so many great adventures. They would go fishing, swimming, and boating with friends. They also loved getting into mischief, and dynamite was one of 
their favorite mischief makers. They normally used dynamite to remove tree stumps, but they weren’t above the Independence Day “fireworks” display or the “gate post” experiment. They were very industrious boys, and in those days, before things like video games, television (while it did exist, was not common in every household), and telephones (they were first in homes in 1856, but only 35% of homes in the 1920s had one), kids actually played outside, and used their imaginations. These brothers had the best time. They rode their bicycles for miles and miles. They hopped the trains…no, not like illegally. These boys had a pass, because their dad worked on the trains, but they never simply boarded a train…they hopped the train, even though they were scolded for it, they hopped the trains anyway. Danger be hanged!! Oh, the adventures they had.
When the United States entered World War II, the brothers were all set to go into the Army Air Force together, but Uncle Bill had a hernia and flat feet, so they wouldn’t take him. My dad went in alone, and his big brother, who had always been there to take care of him, was…well, a little frantic about it. He didn’t want my dad to go 
without him. He worried about his little brother. Sending any family member into the military in times of war, is something any family would worry about, and Uncle Bill was no exception. So, while his brother fought in the war, Uncle Bill worked on the planes here at home. Uncle Bill was a welder, and his skills were very important in the building of the planes that would fight and eventually win World War II. His was a very important job, and I am very proud of the part he played in the victory. Today would have been Uncle Bill’s 102nd birthday. Happy birthday in Heaven, Uncle Bill. We love and miss you very much.
Every year that my sister-in-law has been in Heaven seems more and more impossible to me. Marlyce Schulenberg left us on August 13, 1989, meaning that she has been in Heaven for 34 years now. Marlyce was 39 years old when she went home. I still miss my sweet sister-in-law every day. She brought so much joy into our lives, because while she was developmentally disabled, she had such a great capacity for giving and for bringing happiness to or lives. Marlyce was fairly high functioning, in that while she was unable to live on her own, due to her mental age, she was well able to do things like knitting and baking, and it gave her such great pleasure to see the faces of those people to whom she bestowed her gifts.
Marlyce, being a part of a large family of six children, was faced with the teasing of her siblings. They weren’t cruel, they just all picked on each other, and some handled it a little better than others. Marlyce kind of liked some of the teasing, especially about supposed boyfriends, which she may or may not have had at the time. She would grin and maybe even blush a little, but other types of teasing just made her mad. And her siblings, Debbie Cook, Bob Schulenberg, Jennifer Parmely, Brenda Schulenberg, and Ron Schulenberg knew just which type of teasing was which…much to the irritation of their parents, Walt and Joann Schulenberg, who would shut it down when they had had enough. You have to understand too, that Marlyce was the oldest, so all this teasing was going on among children, and if you have had siblings, you probably know all about teasing. Nevertheless, the siblings all loved Marlyce very much. I joined the family when Marlyce was 25 years old, and I really never took part in the teasing, so I got to be the loved sister-in-law. It’s not that I was against teasing, but rather that she was always so sweet to me that I didn’t have the heart to tease her…even in fun.
Mom and Dad always worried about what would happen to Marlyce when they were gone. She couldn’t live 
alone, and I’m sure they wondered if the siblings would take care of her. Of course, we would have. It was just understood, but it would have been a lifestyle change for the sibling she lived with. In the end, of course, it didn’t matter, because she went home before Mom and Dad did. I don’t think any of us were thinking about that the day she left, we just knew that everything had changed, and we would always miss her very much. Marlyce would have been 73 years old today. Happy birthday in Heaven, Marlyce. We love and miss you very much.
I was born in Superior, Wisconsin and at that time, I had one grandfather, George Byer, who was my mother, Collene Spencer’s dad. My grandfather and grandmother, Hattie Byer lived in Casper, Wyoming, where my mom was born, and where our family would eventually move back too. Sometimes, I wonder if my grandparents were happy about having us moving back. It wasn’t that they weren’t happy to have us closer, but now they didn’t have an excuse to visit the beautiful Wisconsin area.
Grandma and Grandpa made a few trips up to see us, as did my Aunt Sandy Pattan and possibly some of my other aunts and uncles, and they always had a wonderful time. I don’t think you could gage kept my grandpa away, because when it came to kids, he was a big softie. About the time he knew he had a new grandbaby, he was ready to go.
Grandpa was the same way with his own kids. He loved coming home from work to have all of his children around him. The girls would often comb his hair, and even paint his fingernails. If his buddies at work ever laughed about that, he didn’t say, and I doubt he cared. I’m sure he just likes having the attention his kids loved to give him, 
especially after a long hard day at work. The evenings were often spent listening to the radio or reading a book out loud so the whole family could hear. They also sang, and after Aunt Dee bought the old piano, maybe they played that, although I don’t think anyone really knew how. Nevertheless, evenings were for family time, and Grandpa loved it. Today marks the 130th anniversary of my grandpa’s birth. Happy birthday in Heaven, Grandpa Byer. We love and miss you very much.
Since both my mother, Collene Spencer and mother-in-law, Joann Schulenberg are in Heaven now, Mother’s Day has taken on a new meaning. I think of my “moms” often, and I miss them both very much. They were a huge part of my life, and since I was part of the team that took care of them at the end of their lives, I think I actually grew closer to them in those latter years. I think everyone on the care teams did. Those latter years were hard on the “moms” because they couldn’t get around as easily as they had before. Struggling with mobility makes life harder. Nevertheless, they were both happy ladies. They enjoyed the extra time spent with family, and that really made the work of caregiving worth the time spent. While it was work, I would love to have the time back. Funny how you don’t really know what you have until it’s gone.
Of course, these days, I’m the mom and my girls, Corrie Petersen and Amy Royce are the moms, and we also 
have granddaughters, Karen Petersen and Athena Salazar (soon to be Petersen) who are the moms too. Mother’s Day can evolve and grow to include new moms all the time. There is always room for more “mom love” in our lives. Some of the memories I have of my moms are beginning to repeat themselves with only slight differences. I remember the bell ringing at lunch and running out the doors of the school to head home for lunch. Mom would have soup and sandwiches waiting for us. My favorites were Chicken Noodle soup and Grilled Cheese Sandwiches or Cream of Mushroom soup with toast. Yummy!! At that time, I was sometimes jealous of the kids that got to eat their lunch at school, but when I went to junior high and had to eat my lunch at school every day, I sometimes missed those days when I could run home for lunch.
I was a stay-at-home mom for the grade school years of my girls’ lives, but they rode the bus to school, and so they ate lunch at school. Karen babysits and so she is a stay-at-home mom, there for lunch before her 
daughter goes to school, although when Cambree is in school fulltime, it will be too far for her to come home for lunch. Athena works parttime and will often be able to be home with her son, Justin. My girls worked, so their kids ate lunch at school. Nevertheless, while mom life is and was different for each of them, the love that their children have for them and the love they have for their children is exactly the same. Every person who is blessed with a good mom knows just what a wonderful blessing that is. Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there!! Have a wonderful day!!
My sister-in-law, Rachel Schulenberg joined our family when she married my brother-in-law, Ron Schulenberg on June 2, 2010. It was a match made in Heaven. Rachel was introduced to Ron by his nieces, Machelle Moore and Susan Griffith. She was perfect for Ron. She was kindhearted and sweet, and a blessing to all who knew her. Rachel was a Christian girl, who worked at a church in Powell, Wyoming, when she was introduced to Ron. She was dedicated to the Lord, and witnessed to everyone she came across.
Rachel was a wonderful mom to her kids, Cassie Franklin, Riley Birky, and Tucker Schulenberg. She is also an amazing grandmother to her grandchildren, Lucas and Zoey Iverson. I just wish she had known her grandkids, Ryder Birky and Alicen Burr, as well as bonus baby, Jace. She would have absolutely loved these new little ones. Rachel really was a great mom and grandma. It really blessed her heart to become a grandma. I think that quite often, when we are done having kids, we almost immediately start to look forward to having grandkids. After all, it’s all about the babies. Who doesn’t love babies? No one, I know anyway!! 
Rachel was a part of our family for the last ten years of her life. Like her mother, Connie who died in 1985, when she was 35 years, Rachel passed away at a young age. Rachel was just 45 years old when she passed away. It is always so sad when someone so young leaves us so early. Rachel died of a stroke, which is, I believe, how her mother also passed away. Looking back, so many of us wish she was still with us today. Rachel had such a sweet way about her. Kindness radiated from her, because she was kind deep down in her heart. How can someone so young, leaves us so soon? When Rachel left us, she left a huge hole in the hearts of everyone who cared about her…and believe me, that was a lot of people.
Rachel changed everything in Ron’s life, and in the life of her kids and grandkids. My only wish is that their time w
ith her hadn’t been so short. They all really needed her in their lives for many more years. Rachel’s influence in their lives was beyond huge. Everyone needs the influence of their mother and grandmother, but sadly, when they are gone, you really find out how badly you missed them. There are countless number of times that all you want to do is pick up that phone to ask them a question or tell them about your day. Today would have been Rachel’s 48th birthday. Happy birthday in Heaven, Rachel. We love and miss you very much, and can’t wait to see you in Heaven, when we all get there.
My mom, Collene Spencer went home to be with the Lord, eight years ago today. It’s so hard for me to believe she has been gone that long. That was the day my sisters and I officially became adult orphans. It’s a strange thing to think about, after having your parents with you most of your life. I think that the things I miss most about my mom are her faith in God, her natural goodness, and her humor. Mom’s humor still makes me laugh today. She really was kind of a natural comedienne. She loved to laugh, and even more than that, she loved to make others laugh. She was known for the funny faces she made, and the goofy things she would do.
Mom was the true middle sister. She had three older sisters, Evelyn Hushman, Virginia Beadle, Dolores Johnson, followed by brother Larry Byer. She also had a younger brother, Wayne Byer, followed by three sisters, Bonnie McDaniels, Dixie Richards, and Sandy Pattan. I think her humorous side might have come from her brothers, both of whom were hilariously funny. I could say they were a bad influence on her, but even with their mischievous personalities, they were really a good influence on her. The three of them were always in some sort of “trouble” with their mom. Not real trouble, just mischief. There was never a dull moment. That’s how it was when Mom got her girls laughing too. Never a dull moment.
My mom loved to sing, and she made sure that our days started off with something like “Keep on the Sunny Side” or “You Are My Sunshine.” Even if we didn’t “feel” sunny, she tried to bring out the sunshine in a cloudy day. We didn’t really know just what a wise woman our mother was, but looking back, I wish we had known. Starting your day with a smile is probably the single best way to start your day. Life isn’t always easy, but living life with a smile on your face gives it joy. All too often, we try to be far too serious, and we miss out on all the 
funny parts of life. Mom didn’t hold grudges. She just wouldn’t allow those kinds of feeling to ruin her day or her life. She tried to teach that to us too, and I like to think she succeeded. We may not jump out of bed with a smile on our faces…at least not before a few cups of coffee, but we are all happy people, and on occasion, we still sing those songs, because it reminds us of our sweet mom. It’s really hard for me to believe that Mom has been gone for eight years now, but it is really easy to believe that she is in Heaven, because it was Jesus in her heart that made her so happy. We love and miss you everyday Mom, and we can’t wait to see you again.
For Christmas, I gifted my grandson, Josh Petersen and his fiancée, Athena Salazar a Cribbage Board game. Since that time, I have been thinking a lot about my uncle, Bill Spencer, who taught me to play Cribbage when I was a kid. We had so many great times playing Cribbage together. Uncle Bill was a stickler for actually “teaching” me the game, without “giving” me the game. I always appreciated that about him, because I knew that when I won…I really won. Uncle Bill was a fair, and sometimes, as with his family history documents, brutally honest man. He didn’t take credit where it wasn’t due him, and he always gave fair and honest praise. I think I am a lot like him in that way. I like things to be fair, honest, and above board.
It’s hard for me to believe that my Uncle Bill has been in Heaven a little over 2 years now. He passed away on 
Christmas day, 2020. I didn’t see much of him toward the end, because he had dementia. Still, the times I saw him were such a treasure to me. The fact that he went home to Heaven didn’t really change very much in my life…physically, but it changed so much mentally. I always knew he was there, and while writing him a letter was out of the question, we were able to send him gifts that we knew he would enjoy…even though he wouldn’t know who sent them.
Uncle Bill was my favorite uncle. I loved all my uncles, of course, but Uncle Bill was like me…or, I was like him. I think my dad, Allen Spencer was a lot like his brother too. They were two of a kind…the Spencer boys. Always coming up with some new idea, even if it was a mischievous one. I can practically see God’s, for lack of a better word, reaction to Uncle Bill’s homecoming. My first reaction was, “Hide the dynamite!! The Spencer boys are 
back together!!” Of course, if there is dynamite in Heaven, it will not be a destructive force, but I have no doubt that it will make a loud noise. The Spencer boys would love it if it did, so I’m sure God would make that arrangement…just for them. Today would have been my Uncle Bill’s 101st birthday. I think he would have loved that he almost made it to 100 years old. The only thing that would have pleased him more than 98, or almost 99 years, would have been 100 years. Happy birthday in Heaven, Uncle Bill. You boys be good and have a great party!! We love and miss you, very much.
As a kid, and especially as a teenager…those stupid ‘I know everything’ years, I like many kids thought my mother, Collene Spencer couldn’t possibly understand life as it was in my day. I think we all thought our parents were ‘older than dirt’ in our teen years. Then, we grow up and become parents, and suddenly, we find out how much our parents really did know. I found out that my mom was really a wise woman. Yes, she was wise in the ways of raising a family and managing a household, but my mom was also very wise in the ways of the Lord. I think if she had chosen to, she could have been an evangelist…not that she wasn’t really. What ’embarrassed’ me, was simply my mom telling anyone who would listen, about the Lord. When this happened in stores and such, I wanted to crawl under the floor. I kept thinking, “Mom, they don’t want to hear that…from you or anyone else!! Please leave them alone!!” Of course, I was wrong to do that. Mom saw what I didn’t…a person in need of the Lord. I can only imagine how many people she brought to Jesus…either that she knew of or that she never knew of. Knowing my mom, she immediately claimed Isaiah 55:11 over them, which says, “So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.”
Mom knew her Bible, and could be found reading it, listening to it, or listening to Bible teachings every day…pretty much all day. It was only after her passing on February 22, 2015, that I really knew that quietly, behind the scenes, my mom had been ‘secretly’ sharing the gospel with people, and many were saved because of her. She also had a way of being a type of counselor to people…not people with real big problems, necessarily, but just a person who could be counted on to listen when needed. That truly was my mom. She always had an ear to hear, and a caring heart. She was a person who always gave of herself and anything she had, if someone needed it. So many people have told me since her graduation to Heaven, that she was there for them with just the right words, when they needed them most. It was truly ‘Mom’s Secret Legacy’ and so welcomed by so many.
It was her secret, probably because she knew that her girls (I was probably the worst) would try to have her not do the work she felt led to do. She did of course, talk to all of her family, as well as her siblings and Dad’s 
siblings…whether we wanted her to or not. She wanted all of us to be in Heaven with he when our turn came…and how thankful we all are that she was that way. We all think of a legacy as something that just happens easily, but it isn’t it takes work, time, and sacrifice, and most people do it without even knowing that they are building a legacy. That was my mom, exactly!! Today would have been my mom’s 87th birthday…our New Year’s Baby!! Happy birthday in Heaven, Mom!! I know you and Dad are having the time of your lives!! We love and miss you both very much, and we can’t wait to see you again!!
Whenever our aunt, Pearl Hein talked about her husband, our uncle, Eddie Hein, she always called him Big Ed. It was her “pet name” for him…kind of like saying he was her superhero. That is truly how Pearl felt about Eddie. Theirs was a long-standing marriage of 52 years at the time of Eddie’s graduation to Heaven. He was her superhero, and she was his too. It was always fun to watch them, because their personalities were very similar, and yet each was unique.
I first met them on my first trip to Forsyth, Montana to visit my husband, Bob Schulenberg’s family, and the trip was so much fun that for many years we went for a visit every summer. I loved all of the Forsyth family and looked forward to it every year. Eddie and Pearl lived at the edge of town beside the dike that held the Yellowstone River back from the town. Eddie and Pearl always had a vegetable garden, and they canned lots of their food. 
Eddie transformed their house from the original mobile home to a house and decorated it in various places with river rock. The fireplace was a beautiful focal point.
Eddie, and Pearl too, had what I call a smiling face. Their whole face smiled with they smiled, and that is a very cool kind of face to have. I think it is a sign of a really happy person too. They loved to entertain, and they loved to laugh and joke. Some of my fondest memories are when they were picking on my husband, Bob. He had long hair back then, but everyone in the hippy generation did, so he wasn’t alone. Eddie was always threatening to give him a buzz cut, and one time went after him with the shears, but of course, they weren’t plugged in. Nevertheless, it was funny, and unless you looked closely, you might think they were plugged in. The picture is funny anyway. It’s funny stuff like that that I think I miss the most about Eddie. There was really never a dull moment when we were over at their house.
Eddie went home to be with the Lord on October 16, 2019, and I still can’t believe he is gone. He had a stroke a few years earlier, and fought his way back, with much help from Pearl, who was his “rock” during those days. I think one of his happiest moments after the stroke, was when he was able to walk his daughter Kim down the aisle when she married Michael Arani on October 7, 2017. I don’t think he thought he would be able to do it, but Eddie was a strong man, and he was determined. I’m so happy that he got to see that day. Today would have been Eddie’s 79th birthday. Happy birthday in Heaven, Eddie. We love and miss you very much.
