Love to Sarah from her family:

From Sarah's Brother Ernie:                                           

Sarah Jane Dinsmore

First I want to thank everyone in this room that has been a friend to Sarah since she has been in Portland and for all of those people that came to visit her every day while she was in the hospital.  Your friendship and love of Sarah was felt and appreciated while Susan, Buck, and I were there and we now know that Sarah had been had been in very good hands while in Portland.

As many of you may or may not know, Sarah and I were always very close.  From the time we were small children we just really loved each other.  Of course many families have their ups and downs and ours was no exception.  We endured some very painful moments, but through all of that Sarah and I loved and supported each other knowing that things would always improve for the better.  Which is a perfect opportunity for me to talk about my sister’s optimism.  Sarah was always positive.  She looked at the glass half full, not empty.  She would always try to turn any situation around to see what positive lessons could be learned and try and make the most of them.  I am going to miss her encouraging words because she was one of my greatest cheerleaders as she is for everyone.  I could of told Sarah I was joining the circus as a sword swallower and she would have told me to go for it and give me all kinds of advice of how to become one.  And then she would of asked when I would be performing so she could be in the front row to clap for me.  Yes, I am going to miss that.

Which brings me to my next thought about Sarah.  Her incredible love of people.  She loved people.  They gave her amazing energy and she would light up and treat everyone like they were the only person in the world.  She encouraged people, she complimented them, she accepted them unconditionally, she never judged anyone, no matter what their background.  All she saw was a unique person that she wanted to share her love and story with.  There is the story in our family about my mother, who grew up in Wash., DC,  sitting down at a park bench with other people and within 15 minutes she knew everyone and their life story.  That was Sarah, a collector and lover of people.   

And of course there was the crazy, colorful, quirky Sarah which was my favorite part.  We would have these amazing conversations about so many different subjects it was hard to keep track of and I would get off the phone thinking what was that all about – Sarah has lost her mind.  Sometimes she would call our house when our two boys were younger and I wouldn’t be there, so Sarah would end up having a long conversation with them and they would say “Papa, crazy Aunt Sarah called and we talked for a really long time about all kinds of stuff that didn’t make sense but I really enjoyed talking to her”.    Of course I would ask Sarah later about her conversations with the boys and asked what she had talked about and she would say “oh you know all kinds of things”.  My boys are going to miss their crazy Aunt Sarah.

And of course that leads to me to her love of children, particularly babies.  If there was a baby in the room Sarah couldn’t keep her hands off them.  She just loved all children and they loved her.  Sarah knew and loved children like no one.

Finally I want to say how much family meant to Sarah.  She was one of the most dedicated and loving family members.  She was always the first one to call if she knew something was amiss and if need be, she was the first one on a plane to fly home and help out.  I would receive these random cards from her and she would include these pictures of me that I had never seen before and she would write a little special note telling me how cute I was and how much she loved me.  A number of years ago, she bought one of those framed family name history documents for our Dad that documents the history of the Dinsmore name from Scotland because she was interested in where our family came from.  When Dad passed away I inherited it and it has started me on this ancestral hunt to document our family.  Only Sarah would of thought to do something like this because she cared so much about family.

I don’t even have to tell you about her love of her girls.

I could on and on about Sarah but I want to share my last email I sent to Sarah on the Friday after Thanksgiving.

 

Hey Big Sister,

 

You know I was thinking this morning about how much I respect you for how you are handling everything.  You really are amazing and set an example for us all.  You touch many people - family, friend, and foe.  I just wanted you to know this because you really are a great sister and I am eternally blessed to have you in my life.

 

With much love, peace, and eternal respect,

 

Me

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From Sarah's Sister Sue:

To all of Sarah's friends who stood by her side, in her most difficult moments. Friendship like yours

is priceless. Thank you all for your boundless energy,

and love. Ernie , Buck and I will never forget you.

 

   Sarah... may these words find your soul and follow

you in your  journey onward,  keep them close to your heart. 

   For now we shall be drawn together in our dreams, but we shall be together again.

      Love always.........Your Sister Sue