In Rememberence.....

Thought I'd share a little note that I wrote to my family, in honor and rememberence of my father, Norm Lundgren. I send a mailing to them every year on the anniversary of his death. This year, this is what I wrote......

"To live in the hearts we leave behind is not to die." ~ Thomas Campbell


Dear Family,

I cannot believe it has been a decade since we’ve lost our great father. However, as we know, so much joy and love has come to our family in these past ten years. A young, innocent 2nd grader has grown into a lovely young woman and will soon graduate from school. New members of the family have come to love and marry our siblings and become an integral part of the Lundgren clan. Two little boys have come into our lives and brought unexplainable joy and vibrancy to our family. Homes have been bought and sold and remodeled and built. Careers have been left and created and expanded and changed. Trips have been taken, adventures have been had, and lives have been changed. Loved ones have gone to share eternity with dad and join in everlasting love. So many events have occurred and so much has changed. However, the one thing that has remained constant throughout these past ten years is our unconditional love for one another. We may not see each other every day or even every week, but we always remember and we always love. How proud he would be of us. How happy we would make him.

Not sure if I’ve ever shared this story, but I’d like to. The night daddy died, I was in Rhinelander, Wisconsin out having fun with Scott just having graduated from college and making the six hour trip up North to see him. Around 11:15pm on Sunday, May 10th Scott and I were driving home from a local bar in Rhinelander when all of a sudden a lone deer ran in front of Scott’s truck. Scott must have been going 45-50 mph at the time and we slammed on the brakes. Sure he was going to hit the deer, Scott put his arm out in front of me as we braced ourselves for a collision. After the car screeched to a halt and we opened our eyes, we saw the deer “in the headlights” staring at us. Untouched and unhurt, but shocked and surprised, the deer simply ran off into the potato fields. We watched the deer running away and remained amazed that it hadn’t been touched. I have always remembered that exact moment on that particular Sunday night. Maybe it’s because I wasn’t there, in Naperville, to be with daddy, as some of you were, and it’s my way of “remembering” the moment our lives changed forever. However, I will always think of the day, time and moment daddy passed and think of that deer. The deer was not hurt that night, the deer was not in pain, the deer was rescued by something out of our control, and the deer was able to be free. I like to think that daddy is running free in the potato fields of heaven!

So, don’t be sad today as we remember our father, our husband, our grandfather, our friend. Be happy that he made us who we are today, as a family. He’d be so proud.


"What we have once enjoyed we can never lose. All that we love deeply becomes a part of us." ~ Helen Keller