Anita's Photos

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Why do you want to go to law school?

I finally found this essay! One of the best things Anta ever wrote, I thought. Dated October 5, 1995, this was an essay answering the question “Why do you want to go to law school?” I remember she sent it to the University of Michigan – and helped win her a full scholarship.

 

Racism. It is [...]

Avoiding negative influences

The most common weakness of all human beings is the habit of leaving their minds open to the negative influence of other people

Going through a stack of note cards, this one jumped out at me. Turns out this is part of a quote from Napoleon Hill in his book Think and Grow Rich (1937). Here’s [...]

Death certificate, coroner’s report

When Anita passed away, they doctor’s told me there seemed to me “nothing physically wrong” with her. But how could someone in seemingly good health and having just had a doctor’s checkup and blood tests four days previous suddenly die?

We had to wait four and a half months for the death certificate because the coroner’s [...]

Accept the situation

(I just found this on Anita’s computer dated 4/26/09. I’m sure she was reading this to reinforce her lessons on acceptance. However, it is from an article about overcoming grief – link at the bottom. Reading this made me shiver.)

2) ACCEPT THE SITUATION
When you truly, deeply accept the situation, and I mean accept it as if you [...]

What is my true purpose in life? v2009

From Anita’s computer dated 2/12/2009 – brainstorm session ending with a new purpose statement.

 

What is my true purpose in life?

To find Christ To follow Christ

To take instructions from God

To obey God

To be free

To help others be free

To be a good daughter

To be a good wife

To be a good mother

Christ

Christ

Christ-like

Strive to be Christ-like

To find the Christ [...]

She saw inside of us

Before I met Anita, I felt like a balloon – shiny and fun on the outside but hollow on the inside. Then I met Anita and she immediately saw inside of me and said, “No, the inside is the best bit.” And I believed her.

Because she believed in me, I believed in myself. I learned [...]

Unlearn something

Wall post late 2005:

It is not true to say that God wants to teach us something in our trials. Through every could He brings our way, He wants us to unlearn something. His purpose in using the cloud is to simplify out beliefs until out relationship with Him is exactly like that of a child [...]

As unto the Lord

Wall post from late 2005:

Service without spirituality is exhausting and hopeless; but in the same respect, spirituality without service is barren and selfish. We need to unite the two and do it all “as unto the Lord”. When we do that, something wonderful happens to out work in the kitchen. Sinks turn into sanctuaries, mops [...]

Meaning is not something you stumble across

This morning I stumbled across a box of more than 60 wall posts and notes that Anita left in a folder called “Personal Bible”. In 1999, I introduced Anita to the idea of a personal bible from a book I was reading called “Secrets of the Great Minds”. This idea was to write down in [...]

A day like no other

This is a longer essay that Anita wrote, most likely for an English class in the fall of her senior year. This was a more in depth version of her college entrance essay that I previously published, “A significant experience“. As I have examined Anita’s writings from high school on, I am more convinced that [...]