First of all, I was with my boys at my mom's house when we found out. So I was surprised to hear my daughter walk up to the special edition newspaper in the morning and say "President Hinckley!....President Hinckley died...."
Oh! I didn't know daddy had told her. So ...
I said: Yes, he did. He was very old.
Princess: Yeah, he was two.
Me: Well, he was a lot older than two. But we will have a new prophet soon.
Princess: Yeah! We will have a new President Hinckley!
How profound that was to me. Yes, we will have a new leader in a few days, who will add his own personality and strengths to the office. But he will not replace who we lost. We will never have another Gordon B Hinckley. I think he was one of a kind.
Potter and Bugs wrote in their journals yesterday and were very sincere and thoughtful as they expressed their feelings. Potter's brought me to tears with how beautiful it was. He was quite emotional throughout the day and I just let him know it's ok and normal to be sad when we lose someone special.
At Family Night last night, the circumstances prompted amazing discussions on the priesthood, the order of the authority of the Church, the pre and post life, and other things. It was very special. Strider asked me to say the closing prayer and I cried through it somewhat. The spirit was strong, and as we finished, everyone just sat there in silence for about 2 minutes. Yes, my kids were silent. And still. For more than two seconds. It was an amazing feeling. I had to thank Heavenly Father last night for the chance to teach my children. I feel like I was born to do it.
This is the view out my front window this morning. I love when stark white mountains meet blue skies. Yesterday we were whalloped with a storm, fast and hard. Today, though, the sun is bright and the sky is clear. I feel like it represents the prophet's exit from this life. How happy I am to know that death is just a curtain and the sky is SO bright on the other side.
