Lindsey was born right after Becky's grandfather passed away. Grandpa Parkinson would always give us a $50 bill when we came to visit him and Grandma Parkinson in Idaho Falls. We were almost shocked to find that Grandpa P. hadn't tucked a $50 bill in her hand to bring with her on the day she was born. Not so ironically, a couple of weeks later we were at Becky's Aunt Roma's house and Harvey tucked a $50 bill in Lindsey's diaper, which Becky found when she picked up Lindsey......so maybe there was a roundabout connection to Grandpa after all. We picked the name Jo as Lindsey's middle name in memory of Grandpa Joe Parkinson.
As a toddler, Lindsey's true nature didn't always shine through. She was a bit feisty and strong willed. As she grew past the terrific two's, her loving and kind nature began to shine through. She quickly became a very kind and thoughtful child - often she would be most sensitive to others needs and wanted to help make others feel better. She loved small children and was the first to volunteer to babysit whenever she could. She was also quick to listen and to think deeply about the things she was taught and was willing to act upon them. One time when we were living in Clovis, NM we pulled into Sonic Drive Inn (our favorite place to eat was Poor Boys), but this was a Sonic day. After getting the car hop delivered meal, we were ready to return home but our car would not start. We sat puzzled at what to do after trying several things to get it started. Lindsey, calmly said, I think we should pray. Well, we did and sure enough after the prayer, the car started and we were able to return home. Another time we spoke to Lindsey about her mood swings. She did not dispute our counsel, simply listened and really worked hard to over come it and did. She has always been determined when she sets her mind on achieving something and sticks with it until she conquers or completes what she sets out to do.
Through all of her years of school...grade school through high school....Lindsey made friends very easily. In fact, Whitney would hesitate to bring her friends over to the house for fear that Lindsey would steal them away. She also had a very fun and sometimes silly streak in her, especially when you put her in front of a video camera. The actress in her really came out. I still like the commercials that she, Whitney and Alaina Tegland produced in the family room of our home in Copley.
As a child Lindsey had a great love for animals. She loved to go to Grandma Crandall's house to play with bunnies. She was also heart broken when Kelsey accidently smothered "Hammie" in the blankets. (I think she lost a bit of her love for animals after that traumatic experience). Her cousins always loved it when we would come to Idaho Falls to visit. They would be waiting on the front porch for her and Whitney and played long and hard until the minute we had to return back home. The departures were always sad as the cousins would be standing in tears as we would drive away.
Lindsey had a bit of tomboy side to her, yet she has always been very feminine and lady like. She had interest in softball, so we gave that a whirl but she go never make the over the shoulder catch or could drive the ball much beyond the infield, but she tried hard. In high school, however, she picked up the lacrosse stick and in a short one season of playing became one of the better players on the team. I always felt bad that Revere didn't allow the Copley girls to play after that season. I think Lindsey would have been a really great player had she been able to continue.
After high school, we were pleased with Lindsey's desire to attend BYU-Idaho. Okay, maybe it wasn't a very intense desire as she really preferred to attend the Southern Virginia University, yet we were glad she followed our counsel. After just a few short weeks, we were very pleased when she called to report, with a lilt in her voice, how much she loved BYU-Idaho. Given her self-proclaimed "I am not interested in boys" position, it was quite a shocker to learn that after just a few short months that she was seriously dating Stu (some cowboy guy from Washington). We met Stu for the first time at Smitty's in Idaho Falls, now Stu's favorite restaurant, and loved him from the very beginning. Happily they were soon married and we really enjoyed having them and Stu's family come to Ohio so we could share in their excitement with all of our wonderful Ohio friends. Later, when we decided to move back to Rexburg, the most exciting part for us was to be able to be close to Lindsey and Stu and their wonderful kids. We love that they come and see us everyday. We love the way Lindsey and Stu are teaching and raising them to be great kids. We are very happy and grateful grandparents and very blessed parents to have Lindsey as our daughter. We love her and her family very much!
Love Dad
Isn't Lindsey amazing? The best thing that ever happened to me was meeting her.
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