Poem written by Keith D Carroll

With the moon set
I'll watch for your shadow
With the rising sun
I'll wait for your light

For the darkness cold
I wait for the warmth
With the lighted way
I'll see my path

Though you are in my thoughts
I miss you all the time
With every touch I feel
I'm reminded of you.

You're in my dreams,
You're in my heart
For every day, every minute,
I miss every part

The games you used to play
The words you used to say
I miss your face, your words,
Every single day.

I hope these letters, these words
Reach you afar
For wherever you are
I'll always know

You are here beside me
Heart, mind and all.

For my sister, Wendy
I'll love you always.

By Keith D Carroll

To my dear sister, Wendy- by Suzanne M Carroll Quillen

To my dear sister, Wendy:

As the days get longer
Our friendship grows stronger.
And as young as you may be
You'll always be the same kind of sister to me.

The cute little smile you used to give
Always gave me reason to live.
And the times we used to fight
Made me stay awake through all the night.

I've never told you face to face
But without you I could never find my place.
This place I find only comfort and happiness
And where I can leave behind the fear and sadness.

Dear little sister I wish you could see
Just how much you mean to me.
And when the world gets you down
I will never let you frown.

And when the problems may seem more than a few
Just remember that "I love you."

- Suzanne Carroll

(This was written years ago before Wendy passed)

"The Snow Falls" by David R. Carroll

"The Snow Falls"

Much is in the loss, the grief and the cause.
Too many tears to come down as rain,
too much feeling, unbearable pain.
The clouds too heavy to muster the mount,
unleash a flurry, a record account.

The snowflakes come falling and falling far more
for all to remember the power,
the wonder and the beauty once more.
For most, record snowfall for all to see.
For me I knew better, t'was my sister Wendy....

She loved the snow and also loved life
but saddest of all, was never a wife.
To all of the children she touched with her love,
she was white as an angel, a snowflake a dove.

By David R Carroll

Poems written for Wendy

I am finally putting on here the poems that were written for Wendy by various family members. They are all very special. I am not much of a poet myself- so it's nice that someone else was able to come up with these beautiful poems. I will enter them individually...

Another Dragonfly.....

Well, as many of you know I had my baby on April 1st. I was in the hospital room after the surgery (had a C-section) and was looking around. There was only one painting on the wall of a flower. It was a very nice painting actually. But, the more I looked at it, I thought that on the bottom of the painting was a wispy leaf of the flower on the bottom left hand corner with a bug on it. I ended up asking Donny what it really was... to my surprise- it was a dragonfly. Now, Wendy loved Dragonflies. And we like to think that Wendy has a small something to do with when these dragonflies pop into our lives at such strange times. It was just nice to know that It made me think of my little sister, who definetly would have come to see me at the hospital and welcomed her newest little nephew into the world and our family. Here is a picture of that corner of the painting.

Thinking of Wendy

So, I know that I am not the only one that thinks about Wendy all the time. I always think about the cute little looks she would give, or her laugh, or her ideas.... it just never stops. But, especially when there are those moments that are like- Wendy is letting me know she is here. Last night was my baby shower. As I was getting ready for the evening, I couldn't stop thinking about her and thinking that she is the reason I decided to have this baby and how she wouldn't have missed being there for anything. The night went on and it was a great night. So many friends and family showed their love and support for me! It was standing room only! But, no Wendy. But, I knew she was there in spirit. This morning, I had another Dr. appt. - going once a week now. When I got into my car this morning to leave, the radio was on and a song by evanessence was playing- one that reminded me of her. She would sing her heart out to that song! I couldn't help but smile, knowing that she was letting me know that she was thinking of me too. Then on the way home, again on the radio, there was a gal that called in for a request- and guess what her name was??? Wendy!!! Sometimes it's crazy the way things go. Wendy just isn't going to let any of us ever forget her! Just thought I would share! Love you woo!

Wendy's Beautiful Headstone!

Well, We finally got a headstone for Wendy placed. It is so beautiful! We all think it is perfect! We all went down to see it over the Thanksgiving Holiday and read poems and talked about our little Wendy! It's hard to believe that she has been gone for almost a whole year! It's amazing how a person can have such a hard time with a tragic event and feel like there is no way to get through it, but then a year later, realize that somehow we did make it through- at least for a year! So, we will trudge on in this life with our tragedies and difficult times and know that somehow- I am sure- with alot of help from our Heavenly Father- that we WILL get through yet another year, and another and another. And know that we are just that much closer to being with our loved one again! Wendy- We Love you! We miss you! Until next time!

Wendy's Birthday 2008

Here are the pictures from Halloween when we were at Wendy's grave. It was a very tender moment. Someone had already been there and gave her a dozen red roses. They were beautiful! Whoever you are- Thank you for remembering Wendy!

Two of my brothers, Dave and Keith, had both written poems for Wendy too, and were read that night. But figures- I am not able to find neither one of them now that I am on here ready to post. Those will have to come.

The good news is..... Wendy's headstone has arrived and has been placed! I have seen a picture of it and it is BEAUTIFUL!!!! We will be going as a family next week when Alan is in town for Thanksgiving to see it all together. I hope many of you will go and see how beautiful it is. I know Wendy would be proud of all of us for the contributions each of us in her family has made to make it the most beautiful headstone that she could have ever wanted!

Thinking of you, Woo!!! Love you!

Happy Birthday Wendy!

Today is Wendy's birthday. She would have been 29 today! It's still so hard to wake up some mornings and realize that she isn't going to be there to call or to plan some family party with. I can imagine she would have been having a huge party for her birthday- like she always did. When we were much younger, Suzanne and I used to throw her birthday parties for. We had some pretty good ones. My dad said to me last night that my neice, Alayna, woke up from her nap and saw a picture of Wendy (this was yesterday). And she says- "That's Wendy! Wendy is crying". I just think that if she truly is crying right now, it's because this was one of her favorite times of year and she is sad that she is not with all of us celebrating! I hope she knows that we are all thinking of her and are missing her.
We were hoping to have her headstone done by today, but it wasn't able to happen. I will post on here when it gets done and try to get a picture of it on here too. I think it is going to be beautiful!!! Thank you to all of her friends who continue to keep her memory alive........ if any of you are celebrating this day or night- please sing a little birthday song for Wendy!

LOVE YOU WENDY!!!

We're thinking about you so much Wendy

Marcia and I are just sitting here working on our blogs and just wanted to visit Wendy's blog. We added the family viewing slideshow that you can see at the right. We are hoping to gather more photos of the funeral and the dinner afterwards. We will post those later. Wendy's headstone will be in later this month and we will be having a get together when it is placed. We will let you all know in case you would like to join us. Wendy's birthday is on October 31st. We will all be thinking of you Wendy! WE LOVE YOU AND MISS YOU!!!!

Thank-you Kentwood class of '98

I just want to thank the Kentwood class of '98. They had their 10 year class reunion this past weekend and they paid a special tribute to Wendy with a slide show. They also took up a collection to help raise funds for Wendy's headstone. I was just notified today that they will be sending in a check for $500, to Hillcrest Burial Park. WOW!!! We have been working on earning money for this all summer. We had a couple of yard sales, we had a few friends and family donate (thank's to all of you too). We even had a couple of anonymous donors and people we didn't even know donate. We really wanted to get her a nice headstone and we were willing to wait until we could gather enough money to get the one we wanted. Well, we have finally gotten it ordered! It will be a very beautiful one. I can't wait to see it. It will have a 5x7 photo of her on it. If everything goes well then we will be getting it in October. Wendy's birthday is October 31st so we are hoping to have it all in and have a little celebration for her. As soon as we get it I will post pictures. Thank's again to everyone who contributed towards this. I know Wendy must be very touched by everyone who still remembers her and cares about her. I sure am.

1st Carroll Family Reunion

We have never really held an official "Carroll" family reunion. So this year we decided was the year. We held it in Sandpointe, Idaho, where Alan and Christy live. Christy grew up in Sandpointe so she had some wonderful places to show us. We went to Schwietzer mountain, Lake Pend'Orielle, and Silverwood.
In losing Wendy it has made our family bond closer and we have learned that we need to cherish and love each other as much as we can. You just never know when it might be the last time you see someone. So we try to be a little more patient, a little more forgiving, and say "I love you" a little more often.

This is really only half of our family. We hope that
this will grow every year and that more of our
family will join us.

Keith, Rochelle and Alayna

Christy, James and Alan

This is what Alan and Christy's yard looked like with all of us camped there.

We took a trip to Silverwood.

Nathan and Austin

Austin, Crystal, Tessa, and Samantha

Justyn and Jordan

Bryce and Jacob

Dad and Mom. Wouldn't this make a cute card?

Jordan

The boys skipping rocks, this beach was covered with flat rocks

Tessa

Mom

Alan and Dad

Austin

We went swimming at a beautiful lake.
James

Samantha

Crystal

Jacob

Balloon messages for Wendy

On the last day of our family reuinion we wanted to do something to remember Wendy. We all wrote notes to Wendy and tied them onto helium balloons and then let them go all at the same time. It was a very touching moment.

Mom and Dad, writing their notes to Wendy

Crystal writing a very private note

Austin drew a picture of Wendy

Samantha wrote Wendy a sweet note: Wendy, I miss you so much I hope you cum back soon. I hope I se you soon to. We cry evrey time we think of yo...Samantha to aunt Wendy

Dad and Mom writing notes to Wendy

Trying to get all our balloons ready all at the same time was a little tricky.

Getting ready to let our balloons go.

We love you and we miss you so much Wendy.