A Life of Streiff

May 2010
Mother’s day May 9
It was a hard Mother’s day for me because I heard that my mother was in a coma and they didn’t think she would make it through the night.
When I was in church I kept reflecting on my mother and how she was such a blessing to me. She always had such a great sense of humor and was so totally dedicated to my father.
Pam told me a funny story about when she was rubbing her back and mom reached around and grabbed Pam’s nose and then tooted. She said that she had wanted to do that for a long time but didn’t want Pam to suffer.
She also responded to the nurse when asked “How did you sleep last night?” she said “With my eyes closed. How do you sleep?”
When she had a brain scan because of a fall she was told that her brain looked really good and she responded “Well, it should I've never used it.”

This is my homemade card and flowers. Paul also made me waffles with our George Forman Grill but they turned out a little flat but tasted great. Monday 10
It was a really special day for me. I called Carole on skype to see how mom was doing. All of my sister’s were there and we were having a great conversation when Pam said “Guess who just pulled up? It’s President Monson. I told them to keep me on skype so that I could be part of the visit.

We set up the recorder and the camera just in case Pres. Monson talked to us. He went in Mom’s room and chatted with my sisters and Vern. He told them stories and also told them that I was where I was supposed to be. He then came in and sat down and said “Talofa Lava”

I always knew that the Lords answers prayers but I never could imagine that the Prophet, himself, would answer my prayers and would take the time to tell me that I was where I was needed. It was a wonderful spiritual experience for me.

Tuesday May 11, my cute Mother passed away. When Carole called to tell the Juanita that Mom had passed away she said “Oh Dear, President Monson was going to see her that day” Carole told her that he had been there the day before and gave her a blessing. Juanita was so surprised that he had already been there. I guess that is just like a prophet to show us when he should and not a day late.

Wednesday 12, Natalie, Jared, Micah, Sophie and Nellie came for a visit. It was so timely for me because I was so excited about having family around at this time for me. When I hugged Natalie I felt such an out pouring of love for her and so grateful for the love of a daughter. I then knew how much my mother had loved me.

I made crepes and then we let them all stretch out and take a nap while we went to work for a while. Then we took off to sliding rock. It was so fun to see them all going down the slides screaming and laughing.
Jared would climb up the side of the mountain and jump off. I was a little nervous but then I usually am when it comes to craziness. The girls were having a great time going underwater for the camera poses. We spent a couple of hours there and then Paul told Micah to do a back flip off the rocks and when she did, she cut back too far and hit her head with a great head wound. Of course head wounds bled like crazy so off we were to go home. Nat and I cleaned up the wound and decided to super glue it. It went together really well. What a brave girl.

Micah to the left

Under water shot of the girls

Nellie and Sophie

Natalie and Jared at the top of the second fall.

Paul Jared and the girls at the top of the first fall.

The whole family at the bottom of the falls.



We went to a Primary school for a program and we were able to see some fun dances and drink fresh coconut milk.

Thursday we took everyone to Palolo Deep at low tide. We walked out to the edge of the reef and then the girls all put on their masks and away they went. Nellie cracked me up. She would talk through her snorkel say “Grandpa, look at this” She was so excited over everything and about drowned Paul. She would get on his back and pull her mask off and trying telling everyone what she had seen.

Friday we went to Return to Paradise beach. It’s a fun place to just relax and sit on the beach. The water is so warm that you can stay in it forever. We walked over to the reef because it was low tide and walked all along it.

We decided to see the waterfalls at the Park on the way home. I went down to take the pictures and Paul gave everyone their instructions on jumping off.

Minutes before the accident

The girls did great and then last but not least Nat did a great big jump with her knees bent , for the camera and landed too far out and hit the rocks that were just under the surface. She broke her knee cap in eight pieces and then all of our concerns where how to get her out of the first waterfall down to the next one.
Our brave Natalie with out a complaint.

Out side the Apia Temple. Nellie Micah and Sophie

We said our goodbyes which were so difficult for me because I wanted to get on that plane go home with them and take care of her. Poor Micah had started to cry on the way to the airport, she is so tender hearted that it killed me to say goodbye to her.
I cried all the way home from the airport worrying about how she was going to switch planes and terminals in LA. How was she going to take care of six children with her leg immobilized? How was she going to move into her new house?
Each of the girls had written us notes, Sophie’s was of course a darling poem and Micah had left us 20 Tala to help pay for our electricity because they had used the AC in their bedroom. We never did find Nellie’s but I knew she wrote one. What darling girls. Natalie and Jared have done a really good job raising such wonderful girls.

May 19
Now we had 9 days to pack up our home and office for our move to New Zealand. It was a hassle with our airline tickets because we couldn’t take all our suitcases back because of the restrictions of baggage. We finally got it sorted out the day before we left.

At FHE at the end they always have the couples say goodbye so we stood up to say our goodbyes and Paul (bless his little heart) told them that he was probably going to get in trouble for this but that they should see me perform the crooked mouth story. I could have killed him. So after some persuasion I had to do it. Needless to say it wasn’t a great spiritual experience for them but I think they were entertained. The next day every time I saw someone they would try to move their mouths like me and talk to me.

Reed and Deb Tolman Pat and Fayebell

At the end of our Sunday school class we took pictures of all of our class and then they sang the good bye song to us. What darling kids we loved them. They did toilet paper our house and wrote all over our sidewalks that they loved us with chalk so I guess they loved us too. We never did get to see it because it rained and the guards cleaned it up.

On Monday we took all the PA committee to lunch at Treasure Gardens and it turned out to be such a great goodbye. Molisha, Oliver, Molika, Viiaga, Sapele, Alema and George.

April 2010
Patty and I went to Tonga a week ago today. I wasn't too excited about the trip because I was still nursing a big Carbuncle on my back that I got three weeks earlier. For those who don't know, a carbuncle is like a boil but it has multiple chambers and can have several openings. Mine all funneled into one big opening that had lots of little openings inside.

I quickly decided that boils are the most painful thing that I have experience especially on the back where they form under almost an inch of flesh and are very hard to get out. Anyway, I was worried about the trip to Tonga because it would require me to sit in a chair for two or more hours with my back pressing against the seat. On Saturday, the other senior couples invited us to go to a little island about a 1/4 mile off shore to snorkel and play on the beach. They didn't have to ask twice. We really had fun and the little cantina on the island had excellent food. We thoroughly enjoyed the day and the chance to get to know the other couples that serve in Tonga When we arrived, the sweet member that had promised to pick us up was faithfully there waiting and gave us some very sad news on the way to the apartment. A nursing instructor from BYU Idaho had fallen off a cliff and into the sea earlier in the day and they had not been able to recover her body. She was there with her husband and 23 nursing students that were doing two weeks of service in Tonga.
Her poor husband scrambled down the cliff as fast as he could to try and get to her and almost lost his life in the process. When we met him, he was really banged up with a broken tailbone and many scrapes and bruises. He said, the waves kept pounding him against the cliff while at the same time pulling her out to sea. Eventually, he couldn't see her anymore and others pulled him out to safety. The police boat arrived three hours later and searched for three days to no avail.
We were able to spend one evening with him at a dinner held at the mission home and then attended a memorial for her the next day. We were amazed at how strong he was when he got up and bore a testimony of their trip and his love for her. The prayers and love of our father in heaven were really evident in this man. The teachers name was Gaye Lee, she was just 59 years old.

Paul and I at 500 year old rock bridge in Tonga.