Jennifer Lynn Hardin

Of Our Precious Daughter, Beautiful Sister, and Wonderful Mother

Jennifer Lynn Dagher-Hardin

August 27th, 1982 – December 3oth, 2010

As newlyweds, we were so excited about the birth of our baby. Not having an ultrasound, but knowing God had laid it on our hearts, she would be a girl and that her name would be, Jennifer Lynn Dagher. Jennifer was in such a hurry to come into this world that we were not surprised when she made her glorious entrance on her due date Friday August 27th, 1982 at 10:00pm (on the dot) as Jennifer liked to say. She was born at Central DuPage Hospital in Winfield Illinois. She came out with a smile on her face and her beautiful blue eyes were sparkling with curiosity, excitement, and wonder. She lit up our hearts and we knew right from that moment she was special. She was funny, she had an incredible sense of humor, as anyone who knew her would agree. No matter what the occasion, she was always ready to make you smile. She loved story time before bed and her favorite book was “Barney Beagle and the Cat”. Her Dad and I would read this over and over to her, and one day to our amazement, when she was 2 ½ years old she said “I’m going to read it to you.” As she read the entire book word for word, we almost fell over thinking she had learned to read at such a young age. We realized later to our astonishment she couldn’t read just yet, but had memorized the entire book. She did things like this throughout her whole life. She was very independent, “I do it.” Was something we heard all day every day. From riding her bike, to rollerblading, ice skating, and eventually her passion, Equestrian Horseback Riding. Which she became excellent at, she won countless ribbons in show jumping and enjoyed working and caring for horses as well.

During her school years, where she attended Calvary Christian School. Which was also our church, where Jennifer was dedicated on October 17th 1982. She was an excellent student, she won many scholastic awards, such as The Timothy Award (for being the most Christ-like student in her class), she was on the Honor Roll every year, and attended many Speech Meets. She made life-long friends so easily, that many of you reading this now already know.

Jennifer loved her family. She couldn’t wait to have a sister. Unfortunately she contracted Salmonella and was very sick, and had to spend the first two weeks of her sisters life one floor below in the same hospital, but when she came home on that beautiful Spring morning she was so excited, her eyes were filled with tears of happiness and joy. From the time she held her sister Kristen they were inseparable. They weren’t just sisters, they were best friends. On their birthdays, they would decorate each other’s lockers, they would make sure they hugged and kissed each other before going to their classrooms in the morning, and at the end of the day, you would see them walking hand in hand out to the car. At bedtime every evening, Kristen would crawl up on Jennifer’s bed, during which time, we would say their bedtime prayers and sing “Amazing Grace” and “Jesus Loves Me” and would finish with the dancing cat. Jennifer and Kristen loved animals so much, that they hatched a plan to convince us to get a dog, so we did. We got Tammy a Doberman pinscher, who became a horse, reindeer, and a dress-up doll, for our girls. But the family was not yet complete. On December 12th, 1991, Nicholas came into this world and the “Three Musketeers” were born. As Nicholas grew, they did everything together including, dressing up in their dad’s underwear, socks, and ties just to make their mom laugh when she was sad or not feeling well. Jennifer loved being the big sister, always watching over and protecting them.

Jennifer liked to travel and as a family we took many vacations and saw many things. This was a tremendous help when we moved to Colorado where she discovered her love for the outdoors, she fell in love with the mountains. She liked to fish, climb rocks, go on picnics, and four-wheeling. There was a canyon by our house, and whenever Jeff or I needed to find them, the canyon was always the first place to look. Several years later, Jennifer was working at a tanning salon in Parker, where her co-worker introduced her to a young man named Ryan, who was to become her future husband. They were married February 1st 2003, and within a few months in May, Jennifer became the mother of a beautiful, precious baby boy, Zachary Ryan Hardin. Her heart was overflowing with joy, love, and tranquility. She loved being a mother and she was very good at it. From the time he was born they adored one another. She was a wonderful mom and God truly blessed her with the greatest gift of all, her son. Her and Ryan took Zachary camping, fishing, swimming, and went to the park. She loved teaching Zachary to ride his bike, dressing up for Halloween, Watching movies, or rolling on the floor just laughing and being together. She loved her childhood Christmas memories so much that she continued the tradition for Zachary, of letters to Santa, cookies and milk, notes with special writing, and most of all, the magic snow from Santa at the North Pole. She loved family and traditions and wanted to pass them on to her son. Her last Christmas with Zachary was so special, he woke up early in the morning whispering, “Mommy, Mommy, Santa brought me a bike!” She took him out and watched him ride all day.

On December 30th, our Lord decided it was time for her to come home. As parents we have selfish thoughts of wanting to keep her here, even though we know our beloved Jennifer is with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We will miss her beautiful voice, her incredible laugh, her sparkling blue eyes, her love, and warmth as I’m sure you will as well. She leaves a piece of herself behind in each one of us. We were truly blessed that God allowed her to be a part of our lives, even though the time with her was far too short. We will always be honored to be Jennifer’s Mom and Dad. She leaves a void in all of us that can never be filled; we will miss and think of her every single day, until we meet again in heaven. She leaves behind her precious baby and will continue to live on through him.

Daddy loves you Peanut, Mommy loves you Penny Head, Jen you’re my best friend and sister and I love you, Nicholas loves you and misses you Banana Head.