Dear Jackie

Glen and Jackie Campbell

A wonderful and valiant woman has left mortality.  My good friend Jackie passed away early (1 a.m.) this Sunday morning, the 11th. 

It's funny, but I woke up on Sunday knowing she had passed.  It was a calm feeling.  I'm so glad she is free from her broken body and at peace.

Jackie was one of those ladies I just loved from first meeting her.  She was passionate about her husband, her boys, her grandkids, football and the gospel.

Jackie was not shy and retiring.  She was intelligent and engaging and outspoken when it counted.  She taught Seminary, Sunday School, and Relief Society, for many years.  She was a real champion of the Restored Gospel and loved by all who knew her.

A series of strokes over 10 years ago, left her incapacitated and a shell of her former self.  It was hard to see this vibrant women silent and in a wheelchair.

Her kind and loving husband, Glen, took care of her daily needs with cheerfulness and gentleness.  He would get up and bear his testimony on Fast Sunday and proclaim, "We've had a great month", even when I knew the difficulties he had in being a caregiver.

Glen read the Book of Mormon to Jackie every day and has found comfort in its pages throughout the past 10 years.  I'm so blessed that he has been my Home Teacher for many, many years, too.  He always has a smile for me and asks me how I'm doing, and he's always been there for me when I needed it, in spite of his circumstances.

This next little while will be tough for him, I'm sure.

Jackie will be sorely missed by many.  It will be hard to see that vacant space in the back pew at church.