Jordan Anne

I  loved our beautiful baby girl, snuggling in bed with me.  As I got to know her, even in those early weeks and months, she made it clear what she wanted.  Amazingly, when she still was a baby and well before it was time to talk, she made up a WORD.  She was crying and wanted her bottle so between sobs she said, "Gunk, gunk, gunk." Like the sound of swallowing!!  So brilliant and so determined.

At about that same time Dad and I took her to San Carlos so we could attend his class reunion while Daisy watched her.  Way passed her bedtime, she wouldn't go to sleep until we got back.  "She won!" said Daisy, as she handed over our wide-awake baby.

It became a matter of course for us to try and keep her happy, but one kindergarten day I insisted she get on the bus when she didn't feel ready.  Well, the bus could take her to school but couldn't make her go in.  When her teacher called and said she was missing, I drove the streets near the school, praying frantically until I found her sitting on a curb near 700 South with a sad face.  I opened the car door, she got in, and we went back  to school.

She loved creative things.  Towards the end of the family I had slowed down a little, but when I filled an egg carton with colored beans and macaroni so she could glue them on a paper, she happily worked away and sighed a contented sigh.  Later, Joni Christensen told me, "She has a sense of design."

Thanks to Jordan, our lives have been interesting--for us and for others. She totally took initiative on things, in a prophetic way, it turns out: She arranged for Jackie Andrus to do a photo-shoot with the Rodgers girls, she planned birthday parties for friends, she arranged to be in parades, etc..

Always daring, she and a friend or two sluffed 6th grade music or art and hid in the Girls Restroom.  Dad saw them and said, "Jordan, the worst day in art is better than the best day in the Girls Room."

As she got older she took in all of life's opportunities and some of its risks: debating, nature camp, Zion NP, running, hitchhiking, climbing, snow backpacking complete with small avalanches.  She had such a variety of friends that I couldn't keep track of them. She came at a good place in the family, too, because she could take in all that everyone else was doing.  At Girls State, it wasn't that she got elected Lt. Gov., so much as she was the force behind the write-in campaign.

 From a young age, we could see a clear sense of right and wrong, and courage to match.  It was easy to notice the event planning in her life, but some of her best acts were less obvious.  For instance, in the halls of DHS when the cool jocks ridiculed a student in shabby clothing, Jordan challenged them to their faces.  She took flak for it, but dealt with it.

Marathon with Josh, her second.

She had high standards for herself--and for everyone else.  I believe we moved to Green Valley for her sake.  Yes, it was good for all of us who were still at home, but Carolyn McDonald was there--with a pure heart and true integrity.

As a younger sister, Jordan naturally admired her older brother.  Jared accused her of copying him all the time, but to me they had similar taste, the same friends.  After his mission he was in a daze. It seemed right that he go to BYU summer school so he enrolled.  As departure approached, he packed his things in a little sport bag and took it to the front door.  Jordan, suspicious, walked over and unzipped the bag.  She sort of laughed. "Oookay," she said, not unkindly. He had packed a generous handful of ties, a toothbrush, and some T shirts.  She took the bag back to his room and packed for him.  

After I went with Dad to SLC when he was life-flighted, I called home for a list of things to be sent up.  Without my asking, Jordan knew to put in my journal, and scriptures. 

She went to stay with Rachel in Germany at a time when Rachel needed her, and that was good. 

Jordan does hard things.  She had lots of jobs, some more difficult than others.  I remember hurrying into the house one night while an icy wind blew, knowing my daughter was out in the dark desert all night again with little or no shelter, working for her wilderness group.

Jordan's plan to go work in San Francisco was all hers.  She called the Mayor's office and arranged her internship.  It was my job to drive with her to Vegas to buy the SUV (Jeep?) she had found.  Her reports back from the City were amazing, but she still had school to finish.

I was glad for those few semesters when she was taking English classes at USU and would stop by my office with something for us to talk over or laugh about.  She was funny and smart and kind, and a comfort to me at a time when I needed it.

Now, we're all happy for Oh Happy Day.

I love you, Jordan.

Irmã Stanley