This is for you, Grandma Cooley

This week was the Young Women's in Excellence at Church. The theme this year has been "Be Steadfast and Immovable, Always Abounding in Good Works" taken from the scripture in Mosiah 5:15. Each of the girls had to tell a story about someone in their family who has been an example of being steadfast and immovable.

So here's Briana's story (word for word) about Grandma Cooley:

My grandmother was the youngest of four children. A completely average girl and did well in school. She was fine until she was 11 years old. That year a mosquito bit her and gave her encephalitis. She went into a coma for about 3 weeks. During those three weeks, she got lots of brain damage. When she woke up, she had to learn everything all over again. She had to re-learn how to walk, talk, everything. It was very difficult for her back in school. In fact, in 9th grade she dropped out. It is still very difficult for her to do things like read and write. To this day, she has epilepsy, or uncontrollable seiqures. She has nearly died 3 times in her life. She is very faithful to the church even though she didn't grow up a member. She joined in 1966. She grew up, got married, and had kids, just like a normal person. One of those kids was my dad. Even though she may seem handicapped, she served a mission in the temple, learned the ordinances in Spanish, and has read Jesus the Christ all the way through even though it's like really big. She also studies the scriptures every day. My grandmother is such an example to me. She never quits. To show that, she is working on 15,000 geneology names. My grandma has shown steadfastness and immovability, and I love her.

What I loved about that night was that almost every single girl talked about one of their grandparents. That just goes to show you how much influence they have on our children. I am so proud of Briana for writing such a beautiful story about her grandma. We are so grateful to have family members that are good examples to my children. We have many!