Memories of Brenda shared by Family and Friends
I was blessed with a true friend when I first met Brenda over 30 years ago. We became fast and instant friends. We spent many hours together, whether it was sitting on the patio late into the evening sharing thoughts, memories and goals, or taking our daughters, Jennifer and Sarah, on weekend trips or to movies (many of which I left early and waited outside for them as they liked thrillers and scary ones, I didn’t), to monthly dinners so we could catch up on each others life.
Brenda was the first person I asked to be one of my camp counselors when I was in charge of our church young girls summer camp, as I knew I needed her dependability and support. She didn’t let me down, and we had lots of fun taking those 12 and 13 year old girls hiking, floating down the river, on a covered wagon trip, and making crafts.
We have laughed, cried, shared life hurts and fears, along with triumphs and celebrations. Our family will always remember and laugh at the Christmas she made Karrl his favorite pistachio bundt cake that she made for him every year, and accidentally added salt instead of sugar. For years, we have joked “bring the cake – minus the salt”.
Brenda was always such a big part of our family and we miss her . I still look for her miscellaneous texts of “Hi, I’m thinking about you” or “Happy Monday”. I can’t bring myself to cancel my monthly calendar invite for our dinners on the first Tuesday of each month – now, every month I get that calendar reminder on my phone, I look up to Heaven and say
“I miss you my friend, choose a good place for our reunion dinner, when the time comes”.
Brenda, thank-you for being my friend. My life is better because of you.
~ I Love you. Bonnie
Aunt Brenda always remembered my birthday, and I treasure all the birthday cards she has sent me over the years. Most of my memories of her are from visiting Las Vegas every summer. It was always great when she had time to visit. I remember one summer as little kids, my brother and I went to her townhouse and swam at the pool there, and we had a lot of fun with all the inflatable pool toys and pool noodles she brought. But what I remember most of all about Brenda is how she was always smiling and laughing, and her presence always put a smile on my face. I've never met someone who radiated as much joy as her.
~Emily Williams
I always enjoy Brenda and I reminiscing when Brenda and I were up at our family reunion in Utah. I don't remember the year. When we used to have our family reunions up in Utah one year Brenda and I were traveling to get to Kamas on the freeway. I think it was on the Park City side or the summit side. The B-52's Love Shack came on the radio and we were having fun, laughing and having a good time. We started singing with the song Love shack and getting into it. We weren't paying attention to our speed the next thing you know we heard a siren behind us. We got pulled over because we were speeding. Brenda and I always laughed about that. We used to joke about it periodically that Love shack by the B-52's was our song.
~Grace Sessions
There's a lot of memories of Brenda and they will be stored in my heart forever. Brenda was such a kind sweet soul loving mother, loving sister, and loving daughter etc. She had such a beautiful smile and a fun laugh. She would be there for our family even when she didn't live with us . Brenda would be there for Mom myself and my siblings. She took Mom and myself to the store when needed and wanted to spend time with us. Brenda would bring things to me to see if it would help me in my process of losing my leg. She always had everyone else on her mind thinking of what she can do to help and take care of them.
Brenda loved the Lord so much and she would always send us sayings periodically just to remind us to have hope and faith.
She loved her daughter Jennifer so much. I remember she always looked for a special Christmas ornament to give Jennifer on Christmas Day each year.
Brenda was very close to her Grandma Grace Anderson Buys and enjoyed the memories that she had with her.
We called Brenda our pie maker because she got a good at making a pie crust. She made a beautiful lemon meringue pie and pumpkin pie. Every year when she came for either Thanksgiving or a Christmas meal we would say Brenda are you bringing the pies.
Brenda knew lemon meringue pie was her father's favorite pie and pumpkin was the rest of the family's favorite. We enjoyed both pies very much. Brenda once in a while would make a mincemeat pie for her and mom, no one else liked it.
She didn't spend all the special holidays with us she took turns when she had plans with Jennifer or she had plans with Jim or anyone else; but she always seemed to make a pie for us even if she wasn't going to attend dinner with us.
Brenda you are missed very much, and we love you. We thank you for sharing your time and love with all of us. I know that when you pass into eternal life you were welcomed with loving arms from family and friends who have passed before you. There's Dad, Radley, Nicole, your best friend from high school that left this earth at the early age, Uncle Grant, Don , Bob, Aunt Ruth , Grandma Grace and many more. They had their arms open and welcomed you with lots of love.
When I see you again and I will have a big hug for you. I'll miss having our talks when I needed someone to listen. Thank you so much for being a great loving big sister love you always Grace.
~Grace Sessions
When Brenda, Grace and Laurel were all still infants/toddlers, Grandma Grace came to visit and she couldn't figure out why Grace and Laurel were always so hungry and fussy since they were given a bottle every time she put them down for a nap. One day she peaked into the room after she had put all three in their cribs with full bottles and found Brenda climbing into the other cribs, drinking the other two girls bottles and then proceeded to put the empty bottles back down beside Grace and Laurel crawl back into her own crib.
~Bernice Sessions
Brenda and I got close working on the HOA Board. We became friends. She was such a lovely Human,Kind and so Sweet. I will cherish our friendship always. I miss her. But i know I will see her on the other side of the Veil.
~Pamela Torres
My heart is breaking over the loss of my dearest friend in the world. Brenda, you left us too soon; there were so many things I still wanted to do with you. We spent almost every day together from the time we met in the 7th grade until you married and moved to Alaska our Senior year of High School. I loved you so much, and I admired you greatly. I always looked up to you because you were the kindest person I ever met, and I wanted to learn how to become more like you. Being around you was so fun and brought me so much joy. You had a unique way of making me feel very special. You had the most beautiful smile; it lit up my heart. I am comforted knowing we will see each other again. Until then, my thoughts and prayers go out to those she loved the most: her beautiful daughter, her sweet companion, and her loving family.
~Cyndi Hooks
1) Brenda always remembered our birthdays. We always got a phone call and a card from her. That was very special.
2) I remember she loved music growing up. I have many memories of dancing and singing to songs on the radio with her at various times. The one song that stands out to this day is "Jeremiah was Bullfrog" by the Three Dog Nights. I was probably about 7 or 8 and I remember her singing to this song in our old house on Newton Drive. Also, the latest time we sang together was Taylor Swift's song: "Shake it Off" at Grandma's house.
3) Jay says that she always had an optimism in life that impressed him.
4) She treated my children with so much love and care. She was an amazing aunt.
5) She forgave so many things. She had a lot of reasons to be hurt and upset in our family, but she chose to stay and love us anyway. She was an amazing person.
6) I will miss her random texts of encouragement and faith that she sent out periodically to me and others.
7) I miss being able to call her and talk on the phone. I always looked forward to being able to share things with her, get her opinion and counsel.
~JoLynn Williams
When we would travel to Utah as a family as kids loved listening to early rock and roll songs on the good old 8-track. One of the songs was Three Dog Night: 'Joy to The World-Jeremiah was a Bullfrog', Blue Swede 'Hooked on a Feeling'. My Sister Laurel had a 8-track of Three Dog night and then we had the music on other early rock songs. Our dad would always say why do we listen to that garbage and he put on his music and one of the ones we remember is from Glenn Miller 'Three Little Fishies'. That's the only one we really liked on the Glen Miller tape. We used to have fun singing the verse 'and they swam and they swam all over the dam" we kind of had a joke as sisters with that song.
~Grace Sessions
When we moved out to the Gillespie address we were on a water well for our water. When it would go out we would hook up a hose to the next door neighbors house in order to get water for the house . One year dad had a wooden platform. I think it's one of those big cable wooden wheel that held cables. I don't know where he got it; but he put it up against the fence and we had a hose hooked over to the neighbors and we put our bathing suits on and go out there and take showers. Brenda refused to do that so she would hauled water in from the hose in a bucket heated it up on the stove and then haul the water into the bathtub. Once she got the tub full enough she could have a warm bath until we got the well repaired.
~Grace Sessions
Brenda, Laurel, Grace (myself), went to seminary in the morning before we went to Chaparral High School for our classes. We had to get up really early every morning and then we would travel with our dad to school. Our dad was a teacher at Chaparral high School. Our dad did his coaching after school we would drive the big blue truck home. One time driving home we were all so tired. I was in the middle, Brenda was driving and Laurel was to the right of me in the cab of the truck. Laurel and I fell asleep and then we woke up suddenly and we saw ourselves headed for the edge of the road. We looked at Brenda and she had fallen asleep at the wheel. Laurel and I yelled to Brenda to wake up and she woke up startled. Brenda realized what was happening and she tried to correct the truck but over corrected the truck. At that time out where we lived it was before all this development and there was a 10-foot drop off. We went off at that spot and we hit on the nose of the truck and rolled three times head over. When the truck came to a stop we were blessed that no one was severely injured. Laurel jumped back and screamed my leg but found out that her leg was tucked underneath her. She had seen a big indent in the dashboard and some blood and shock was taking over us. Then Brenda was in shock and she got injuries from the steering wheel. I was cushioned between them both so I got the least of injuries. We were all very blessed and fortunate that we weren't severely injured that day and blessed that so many people surrounded us immediately. At that time there was really nothing around it so it's all desert. The Las Vegas boulevard road was long and hardly any houses and that day a doctor was teaching his daughter to drive and saw us go off the road. He stopped and walked down the embankment to check on us. There happened to be a house that was in direct sight of the our wreck. The owner of the house happened to be outside and saw us wreck. He ran across the desert (approximately 2 blocks lengths) to get to us. He knew our parents went to get our dad. Our next door neighbors happened to be coming down the opposite side of that road and saw the accident and they hurried home to get my mom. The ambulance came loaded us up into the ambulance to take us to get checked out. (Everyone that was around us that day was shocked that none of us were thrown out of the vehicle due to the damage of the vehicle). By that time or neighbor had shown up with Mom so she followed the ambulance as we were headed to the nearest hospital. I remember looking out the back and I saw my mom in the passenger side of our friend's car and we saw her crying. Brenda was on the stretcher in the back of the ambulance, I was sitting in the back with Brenda. Laurel got to sit up front with the other driver as we traveled to the hospital. We asked our mom later why she was crying and she said there is no sirens or lights on the ambulance as they travel to the hospital and she thought we were dead. We were all checked out and released and sent home that day.
~Grace Sessions
How do you say good-bye to your best friend? Norman is my spouse, and I love him dearly, but Brenda was my “person.” She was who I talked to about my spouse. In fact, we could talk to each other about anything. Brenda was loved by so many people. She was generous, kind, a loyal friend, and genuinely interested in others; she was a total joy to be with and had the most beautiful smile. I never heard Brenda say an unkind word to anyone which is indeed a rare characteristic. It’s difficult to imagine my world without her in it. I already miss her calls and visits.
I will never forget when we met. I was 12 years old and painfully shy. My family had just moved to the East side of town, and I didn’t know anyone. A kind girl by the name of Tammy introduced herself to me at church. Alongside Tammy, was another shy girl, Brenda. They both immediately made me feel at ease. Sadly, about a year later, Tammy got very sick. Our Young Women’s class at church hadn’t seen Tammy or Brenda for about a month, and we decided to visit Tammy. When we arrived, Tammy was lying on the sofa and Brenda was at her side taking care of her. That’s why I hadn’t seen her. I remember how impressed I was that a 12-year old girl could be so unselfish as to spend all her available time taking care of her friend. I wanted to be that kind of a friend. I knew the best way for me to learn how to be like Brenda was to stay close to her. After Tammy passed, Brenda and I continued our friendship, and it grew over the years to the strongest friendship I’ve ever known. She was my person, and I learned so many life lessons from her.
Memories:
We also had a great deal of fun together! It was rare to see one of us and not see the other. We both ran for Student Council and won. I was so thrilled we could experience that together. The Student Council had a swim party at our Advisor’s house, and Brenda and I made matching swimsuits. Looking back, I’m not sure that was the best decision, and it was probably my idea, and she probably just went along with it. My goodness that girl was patient with me! I’m sure we looked ridiculous, but we loved it. They were identical except for the color. On our way home from the party, we ran out of gas and had to walk for what seemed like five miles, although it was probably more like one, in those matching swimsuits and our sandals to find a phone so we could call Brenda’s mom for help. We didn’t have cell phones back then. If we did, I’m sure we would have filled a wall of photo albums with selfies and those swimsuits would be in one of them.
My first job was at the Circus Circus, and I worked late. I got off at midnight sometimes, and I would pick Brenda up, and we would go out to eat at one in the morning. I used to wonder what her parents thought of me picking up their daughter at one AM.
I have so many fun memories: church dances, church softball games, camp and playing our clarinets in Seminary (although, that’s one memory I think we’d both rather forget). We of course talked about boys, and our future. We were going to go to Ricks College together, but she fell in love and married a man who just happened to be in the Air Force and was being transferred to Alaska our Senior year, and that’s when my life changed forever. I remember throwing her a Bridal Shower, and she made an absolutely beautiful bride. Right before she moved, we had the hardest time saying good-bye and probably gave each other 10 hugs before she left. We talked about staying in touch and visiting often, but we never lived in the same town again. When we did get together, it was like we had never been apart, but I think she made everyone feel that way. She was such a special person.
Visits:
When Jennifer was about 6 months old, Brenda came to visit me. I was about 7 months pregnant with my daughter, Krissy. Jennifer was just starting to crawl, and she was so cute. I loved them being there with me and the three of us just hanging out. It was a sweet time.
I actually came to Vegas on my honeymoon when I married Norman so that I could introduce him to my family and to Brenda.
The last time we visited, though, I felt cheated. I was in Vegas with my friends from work and my stepdaughter, Eden. Brenda took time off work, picked Eden and I up at the airport, and drove us around. I felt cheated because we didn’t have any time alone, so I promised her I would come back, and we would spend a few days together just the two of us. For different reasons, once again, life kept getting in the way and the trip kept getting delayed. I was still planning to keep that promise, when I got the call that she was sick. My first instinct was to fly to Vegas, but it happened so fast, I wouldn’t have made it in time.
This is the first time visiting Vegas that she hasn’t picked me up at the airport. Coming home again will never be the same. I had always pictured us growing old together and running around in our golden years as if we were still teenagers. She brought out the little girl in me. She has left a very large hole in my heart as I’m sure she has with so many people. I know when it’s my time to go, she will be one of the first people to greet me on the other side, and I look forward to giving her the biggest hug ever. I love you, Brenda. You still are and will always be my “Person.”
~Cyndi Hooks
When Brenda Laurel and myself were children we were visiting relatives in Utah that year. We were enjoying the outdoors and all of sudden a hail storm hit and we ran like crazy cuz the hail storm they were big ice chunks. We were being pelled pretty good. We ran back to our relatives house to get out of the storm. If I remember right it was to Aunt Juanita's house.
~Grace Sessions