Lynda Ann's tribute to her big brother, Jeffrey Ross Hintze

This was the talk given at Jeff's funeral by his sister Lynda Ann.

"Mindy, thank you for the opportunity to publicly honor my brother.  And thank you for being you, and for making Jeff a great man.  I know with all my heart and mind that we will be with him again, and until then he is happy and at peace.  CJ, Justin, Maddie, Ryan and Grayson, hold tight to your happy memories.  I hold very tightly to mine, sometimes I wondered if it was too much.  I have wondered if it was unhealthy or strange, one time I asked your dad what he thought, and he assured me that it is a good thing.

I felt like I wanted to share my memories of Jeff as a kid, when I knew him best.

Jeff is the quintessential big brother.  He found joy in tormenting me, but would beat up anyone who threatened me.

He made sure I knew how to throw a punch, and a football.

He practiced wrestling moves on me, and let me join him in harassing the neighbor boys.

He pushed me to be competitive.  We raced across our front lawn hundreds of times.  I was sure I could beat him because I wanted to so badly.  I finally did beat him one time... he was recovering from knee surgery.

I wanted more than anything to do things as well as he could.  It never occurred to me until now that this is where I get my fierce competitive drive.

I wanted to run faster, throw farther, and water ski better than my big brother, but never could.

I love that he taught me all about football and from the day he put on #53 that was my favorite number.  That's the number I had to wear every time I played any sport.  I still use 53 every day in passwords.  That's my cool big brothers football number.

I can't talk about our childhood without sharing the Kool Aid stand story . . . (Lynda Ann related the story here so I have added what I remember she said.  Annie saved her money for months so that she could send for a Kool-Aid stand.  The kit came and on a beautiful summer day, Annie and her mom put the Kool-Aid stand together and set it up in front of the house with Kool-Aid ready to sell.  Just as she got settled, around the corner came Jeffrey and Wade Phippen on their bikes and cycled right into her Kool-Aid stand and pretty much destroyed it in one pass.
Annie continued . . . .
A few years ago he did buy e a new Kool-Aid stand . . . and we could finally put the Kool-Aid stand incident of 1979 to rest.

One of his favorite pastimes was to lock me out of the house, and keep me out even if it meant using the hose.  He threw my doll stroller down the stairs, made fun of me during those awkward, sensitive Jr.high years and he loved to try and get me in trouble, and poked at me relentlessly on car rides.

I wouldn't have wanted to grow up any other way.

He is part of who I am.  And, as I would often let him know, I'm pretty great...and he would let me know how awesome he is.  Always a competition.

Before I was married and had kids, I always hoped I would have a boy first.  Every girl needs a big brother, it makes you tough and strong.

There are a few favorite memories I want to share . . .

Christmas mornings lining up in the hallway for the big moment to run into the living room, just the two of us, laughing that, is two kids really a "line"?

Riding our bikes to Cottonwood mall to see Rocky, all summer long.  (Annie mentioned here that they saw that movie five times that summer.)

Playing basketball horse on the driveway.

Building fires in the gutter in front of the house.

Fighting over who got to lie in the back window of our big red Buick.

Playing kick the can.

Navigating our parent's room only by climbing across furniture, just like they did on an episode of Lavern and Shirley.

Motorcycle rides up Millcreek canyon.

And one of our most civilized moments as children who thrived on bugging each other, was naming a stray dog Jeff brought home, AJ, for Ann and Jeff.

Sharing season tickets to BYU football games.  I don't know why he defected and became such a hard core Utah fan, but for the record, a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, Jeff Hintze was a BYU fan.  I have pictures to prove it.

Jeff let me drive a car for the very first time.  He did't explain to me to GENTLY push on the brake, so after I almost put him through the windshield when he said stop, and a few harsh words, my turn was over.  After I had some practice, he did teach me the subtleties of stealing our parent's car.  A big brother must.

Lake Powell, was a very special place for us.  He loved to go underwater and then have me stand on his shoulders to push him down even further.  He was fearless in the water.  He was a beautiful skier.  He even loved to just drag behind the boat by holding on to the ski rope and turn around, then a bubble would form over his head.

And best of all, sitting on the boat or up on the smooth rock and listening to music, just loving life.

And one more, listening to Nik Kershaw.  An artist my husband swears no one has ever heard of, but Jeff and I.

These are small and some silly things, but they are the things that make up an amazing childhood, to build a great life on.

Even as adults we have raced across the pool.  All it took was a glance at each other and it was on.  I don't know how or why it started, but to this day, in classic big brother style he would tell me I stink, and I always returned the compliment.  We both knew it mean, I love you.

We grow up and get busy with our own children, jobs and life, and this week it has become very apparent to me that Jeff had this whole adult life that I was not a part of.  It has been amazing to meet his friends and read so many stories and comments from these people that are such an important part of his world.  He is surely a unique individual' he has touch the lives of so many wonderful people.  It says a lot about the man he is.

And I am proud to be Jeff Hintze's little sister.

Andrew receives his Arrow of Light scouting award

Andrew invited Neal and I out to his Blue and Gold Banquet where he would receive his Arrow of Light award.  I took some fun pictures of the evening.  We had a dinner of hot dogs, fruit, chips and pasta salads along with sugar cookies made by Lynda Ann.  After dinner the awards were handed out and then the three scouts who had earned their Arrow of Light award.  Here are some fun pictures of Andrew Man.

 Andrew saluting the American Flag

 Andrew giving the scout oath.

 Andrew receiving his Arrow of Light Award

 Andrew pinning his mother's pin on her.

 Finally got Andrew to smile!  What a handsome kid when he smiles.

 After the ceremony Andrew had to do three Jedi tests to pass from cub scouts to scouts.  With the help of his dad he made it through all the tests.

 Giving his parents a hug.  One very happy scout and two very happy parents.

Andrew turns 11

Sunday was Andrew's birthday and Neal and I were invited out to their home for Andrew's birthday dinner.  It was a fun evening.  Andrew was excited to have his grandparents there to celebrate his birthday.  Here are some pictures of his evening.  Andrew got a lego set from one of his sisters.  While we were playing a card game he was busy putting it together.

 The BYU shirt and shorts!  Go Cougars!

 This was one of his favorite gifts.  Star Wars lights.  One was blue, one red and one green.  They are significant to Star War buffs.  Andrew new who each color belonged to.  I had no idea.

Fun picture of Neal, Mallory, Emmi (notice her sister is taller), Jeff and Abby.

 Andrew wanted the cookie cake instead of a traditional cake.  Annie and Abby lighting 11 candles.

 Happy birthday Andrew!  We love you!!

Giving me too much credit

I was at a meeting at the 21st South Government Center.  As I was coming down the staircase to the main floor, I opened the door and started out into the hallway that led past the day care center and to the parking lot.  I thought I saw some movement and heard a door shut at the same time.  I glanced at the door and saw a little boy standing in front of the closed door to the day care.  I thought it odd that this little boy was out in the hall by himself and kind of looked around for a parent assuming there was one close by.  There was no one in the entrance hall to the day care.  As I walked past the little boy, I thought I recognized him but wasn't sure and kept walking.  As I neared the door to the parking lot, I stopped in my tracks and my mind suddenly wrapped around the fact that it was a little boy, he was alone and his name was Emmett and belonged to Corinne Nelson who worked in the same building I did.  I turned around and couldn't see him but heard the door to the staircase just close.  I quickly went to the staircase, opened the door and looked up the first flight of stairs.  There was Emmett standing alone, looking frightened and tears welling up in his eyes.  I told him who I was and that I knew his mommy and would he come with me and we would find where he was supposed to be.  I walked up the stairs, took his hand very gently and slowly walked him down the stairs.  As we entered the main hallway, I looked again at the reception area of the day care and there was still no one there.  The door has a key pad on it so I couldn't get in and was a little confused as to just what I should do.  I finally decided that Emmett and I would find a place to sit and I would find Corinne's number and give her a call.  Just as we walked past the main day care door another door down the hall opened and one of the workers poked his head out and said that they realized they were missing Emmett.  I reluctantly handed him over and told the worker to be very gentle with Emmett that he was scared and was a bit traumatized.  The next morning I reported the incident to Corinne.  Needless to say, the day care people had some serious questions to answer.
I was surprised at work on Friday morning with some flowers from Emmett, a hug and a note thanking me for saving his life.

A very happy ending for a little 3 year old and his parents.

Random posts

These are some pictures sent to me from Tucker.  The first one is the menu of a place in California where they actually advertise Mormon Sauce.  Makes one smile, that is for sure.  Can't wait until we go to California in June so that Tucker and Jamie can take us there to eat.

The take couple pictures are of  Peyton, Lexi and Jordyn Lyn at one of their dance competitions.  This is a picture of the rack of costumes that they have to buy and haul with them to their recitals.  I'm sure we are talking thousands of dollars for three girls to dance.  The girls are committed and love it.

 I LOVE this picture of Tucker!  (well his face in the drawing)

Can't wait to see the girls dance in June.

Just having fun

When Tucker and Jamie were here for Jeff's funeral, we had an evening of just relaxing and talking.  We were sitting around the table and Jamie pulled two hair pieces out of her hair.  We were all shocked.  She showed Neal and I how easy it is to lengthen our hair or highlight it.  Probably not something Neal and I would do in the near future.

 Most definitely not for Neal!  

Andrew working on his arrow of light for scouting

While I was out at Annie's and she is frantically working with me to get my 200+ invitations done for my Women's Conference she is also trying to help Andrew complete his projects for his Arrow of Light Scouting Award.  I caught a couple pictures of her and Andrew cooking eggs outside on a little propane fire.  Annie was just called to be the Ward Camp Director, which she was very excited about. This kind of stuff is exactly what she loves.  When I emailed Susan of Annie's new calling, Susan's response was, "I'd kill myself!"  Good laugh.  I might be inclined to agree with Susan :-)

Annie's talents

I can't begin to say how thankful I am for Annie's artistic and creative talents.  All I have to do is suggest what I'm thinking and she is able to pull it together and create it.  I needed invitations for our Women's Conference and called her to help me.  Because of Jeff's passing and funeral we didn't get them done until this morning.  Yesterday afternoon she began working on them and this is what she came up with.  I went out to her house this morning and we had them all done by early afternoon.  285 invitations!  Who would have believed it.  All because of Annie we have invitations!  Thank you!

Some fun pictures in the midst of very sad times

We found through the process of losing a loved one that there were moments of joy and laughter.  Moments that brought us back to the people around us that we loved and needed.  Diane Molten is a life long friend of Lynda Ann and Mindy's.  She spent hours at the hospital filling the waiting hours with reminiscing about pasts high school times.  The funniest thing was when she showed up at the hospital dressed like "Where's Waldo".  Mindy will have to tell you that story.  It was very funny.

 Tucker and Jamie flew in from California.  What very few people knew is that Jamie left her mother who is seriously ill.  But she was here to support and love all of us when she needed the same love and support.  What a strong woman she is.  How I love Jamie.  Her strength gives me strength.

 It was good to see all the grandchildren at the funeral.  It must be hard to define teenage feelings when it comes to the loss of a loved one, whether it be a mother, father, sister, brother, uncle or aunt.

 These two can always find something to tease each other about.  I love them, love their bantering and love their support of each other at such a hard time in our lives.

 It is always a delightful time for the family when we get Jeff's two oldest boys CJ and Justin in town.  We were sorry it had to be for Jeff's funeral but on the happy sad, it was good to be enfolded in the arms and love.  What great kids these two boys are and Jeff is proud of them and so is their grandmother!

Annie loves these two boys.  She was very much a part of their baby years.  CJ lived in our home for the first few months of his life.  Annie has always felt a closeness to both CJ and Justin.  

The people you love here and beyond the veil

I miss Jeffrey.  I think about him every day.  My mind wanders back to the past and I remember.  How grateful I am for the gift of memory.  I heard a song once that really touched me.  You all know that I love music and especially church music.  I find so much solace, comfort and often answers to prayers.  This song was written from grandmother to daughter to grandchild.  But it could easily be written for a son as well.  It is called "The Way of Things by Johanne Perry

Is this what mama felt
When she was young
To see her daugher grow
Then give her up

Wasn't I mam's girl just yesterday
but she is grandma now
and I'm a woman in her place

And that's the way of things of things that grow
We have the destiny we can't control
And how could anyone remain the same
The mark of living things is how they change.

Is this what mama felt when she grew old
If she was ever scared it never showed
And letting mama go was strangely calm
As if she'd finished here and just moved on

Was I a mama;s girl just yesterday
But she has gone away and I am Grandma in her place
And now my little girl is mama too
And one day I know I'll leave my place to you

For that's the way of things
Of things that grow
We bloom and have our day
And then we go

But what I planted here  the seeds remain the same
And those who follow me will be the links in a living chain
Is that what mama felt that made her strong
Is that what mama knew that life goes on.