Wrangler Dani

If you saw my earlier post, you now know why I’ve been MIA. I need to write about all of this because writing is a huge part of how I process, but I also have been avoiding writing because I’m not sure how to say what needs to be said, and my attempts seem to be constantly falling flat. So I’m not going to try to write anything big about Linda. I’m just going to write about who she was to me, to Adam, to our tiny slice of the Nichols/Zakaryan family.

The biggest thing about Linda was her infectious, chortling laugh – the kind that you could hear across the house and always made you smile. She took Adam under her wing when he moved to California, relishing cooking for such a large appetite and rejoicing in his triumphs. She had a fun-loving spirit, and loved to tease.  Whenever Adam would say anything outrageous, (which happened often in her presence, just looking for reactions) she would just chuckle and give him a good-natured slap on the arm. “Would you listen to this guy?!”

When I showed up, even just as a girlfriend, she embraced me right away. She was the first to tell me “welcome to the family”, the first to tease us about giving her more grandbabies.  After we were married, she confidentially pulled me aside one evening to assure me that she would make us a baby quilt when the time came. As I giggled and thanked her, she gave a knowing wink and pulled me into yet another of her wonderful, all-encompassing hugs.

She wore flip-flops covered in gold glitter, that we teased her about taking to Vegas. She loved big jewelry because Asher loved to play with it. She was an incredible cheerleader for anything we “kids” wanted to do. She came by to see our progress on the famously large playhouse one day, and just hearing her excited approval made the work go faster.

It’s a testament to the incredible person Linda was, because I feel like I’ve lost someone I’ve known my entire life, even though it’s only been a couple short years. I can’t put a pretty end to this piece, just as I don’t feel ready to move on without our “California Mom”. I was so lucky and blessed to be “one of her girls” for a little while, and she will be missed in the little beach house that she was so excited to share with us, and in our family that she enveloped with love and care.  We’ll miss her laugh, her solid, sensible advice, her wholehearted approach to life. We’ll miss her fantastic hugs, her generous hospitality and her honesty. We miss her already.