Posted by Marcia Nelson Jarrett on December 14, 2001 at 17:55:36:

My thoughts again today are on Ann & her family. The last 3 months still are so unbelieveable. It is truely a sad & tragic time for all o f us who know & loved Ann, as well as for our country.

I am a cousin of Ann's. There were 20 cousins on the Nelson side of the family and I am the oldest and Ann was my youngest cousin. Her father, Gary, is my uncle, but we grew up together & he is like a "brother" to me, as we lived only a block apart & were childhood playmates. Ga;ry, Jenette, & I were all in high school together. Jenette & I became good friends when she was dating Gary. Jenette & I share many interests, including playing the piano, homemaking, and creative artistic interests. After I married John and Gary & Jenette were married, we continued to develop our friendship and made trips to visit each other when they lived in Wisconsin and we lived in Chicago and then Milwaukee.

We each had 2 children who were close in age. Scott is a year and a half older than John Morris and Jenn;y is a year older than Ann. We shared a many fun times together back in ND when we would come home to visit from Oregon where we eventually settled. I remember once Gary bundling up all 4 kids and taking them skiing somewhere up in northern ND. It was a typical cold ND day, but they all had a great time. Later, Jenette, Gary & the kids took the train out to Oregon where we went skiing at Mt. Bachelor and stayed at our cabin at Black Butte. I remember so well playing games with the kids in front of the fireplace after a full day of skiing. We then drove back to Eugene, and then over to the Oregon coast so we could show them the Pacific Ocean. We could hardly see the ocean because of a severe Oregon rain storm that day, but we were determined to give them the "Oregon Tour". I remember another time when Gar;y put Ann on a plane by herself to come out & visit us. We had such a good time with her. I always wished that our families could have had more times together! We treasured our time together. We will always
remember Ann & the wonderful person she was.

Love, Marcia