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Colleen Terry

Courtesy

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Colleen Terry

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The facial mask Colleen Terry wore when receiving treatments for cancer.

Courtesy photo

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Colleen Terry at the top of Mt. Timpanogos.

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Paula Noble Fellingham

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It is truly an honor to introduce you to Colleen Terry. She is one of my heroes! Terry has been blessed with a multitude of talents, and yet she has endured some of the most difficult challenges a woman can possibly endure. And through it all, she radiates love. Terry has taught at the university level for 22 years, and so her magnificent teachings have touched many thousands of young people’s lives. As you read about her, pay close attention to this woman’s heartfelt messages.

Paula Fellingham: What was your life like growing up?

Colleen Terry: I grew up in the Cottonwood area in Salt Lake City in the perfect family for me. My parents were very strict and taught us to be obedient and to work hard. My mother was the perfect example of how to truly love with all your heart for which I will be forever grateful. I had a fun and wonderful childhood climbing trees, playing house, riding bikes, playing whatever sport was in season, taking the challenge to run to my friend’s house carrying a Barbie camper without being spotted by the boys I played sports with and enjoying neighborhood water fights and night games. I have always had amazing friends throughout my life including my family. Local hikes became our summer vacations. Our two favorite hikes were Lake Desolation (where I learned to shoot a rifle at age eight) and the Timpanogos Summit (early enough in the summer so we could get a good slide down the glacier). The Timp hike is still a family tradition.

My 20s I call my “Disneyland Years.” I served an LDS mission in the Lansing, Michigan area and subsequently taught at the MTC for four years. While attending BYU, I was a member of the Folk Dance and Ballroom Dance teams, taught Sharing the Gospel Workshops for the Religion Department, worked as a counselor at Aspen Grove Family Camp and as an EFY counselor. I went on to speak for EFY and BYU’s Youth and Family Programs for 20 years. I was also hired as a full-time seminary teacher in the Church Education System. Female full-time teachers were not very common at the time. When I was hired, I was the only young, single female teacher among 70 male teachers in my area.

PF: What is your life like now?

CT: I am about to reach the end of my 22nd full-time year teaching for Seminaries and Institutes, which has been a great blessing in my life. It is not common for a woman to teach this long and it was never my plan to do so; but here I am and I am grateful. I have taught with the finest women and men, and have been blessed by thousands of students throughout the years. After teaching seminary for 10 years in the Salt Lake West Area, I was assigned to the Orem Institute at Utah Valley University in 2004, where I still teach today. Two days before teaching my first Institute class, I was told I had cancer (Hodgkin’s Lymphoma). This resulted in four months of chemotherapy, followed by 20 radiation treatments. I have enjoyed remission (and hair growth) ever since. I am forever grateful for the refining that took place and the lessons learned.

Recently I told a friend, “I’m really just the neighbor next door who will give you a hug and make you a treat.” I also enjoy racquetball and am currently writing my first book.

PF: What are your biggest challenges?

CT: First, unfulfilled righteous expectations. We all have them. To not have a family of my own at this time in my life is something I never foresaw as a youth who expected to marry in her early 20s and have eight children. However, I have no doubt that I will marry and am always preparing to be the best wife and mother I can be.

Second, deceased parents. My parents, who I love with all my heart, have been gone for five and six years now. I took care of my mother daily for a year and a half as she courageously dealt with a broken hip followed by her third and fourth battles with recurring ovarian cancer until one day when she died in my arms. My father died a year later on the anniversary of her funeral. No matter how old you are, it is difficult to lose a parent. So, without parents and a family of my own, there is always the challenge of loneliness. I do believe that loneliness is one of the highest forms of suffering and there needs to be deliberate and conscious efforts to combat it.

PF: What are your biggest successes?

CT: First, when I have helped a student see themselves for who they truly are — a literal child of God who loves them and has a plan for them; and then seeing the power and confidence that particular knowledge and belief brings into their life independent of me or anyone else.

Second, my motherhood. I believe that all women are mothers even though they may not experience maternity. I have always had a strong love for children and youth. I want them to feel that there is one more adult in their corner who believes in them, loves them and always has a hug for them. I’m so grateful to those who have shared their children with me, especially my siblings. I always say that my nieces and nephews are “the victims of my need to nurture.” Through the years, I have absolutely loved loving them!

PF: What is your advice to other women?

CT: When I went through radiation treatment for my cancer, they made a mask of my face. This mask held my face in the same position for each treatment so the lasers from the ceiling and the walls would line up with the markings on the mask and the tattoos on my body. One day as I watched someone retrieve my mask from the cupboard, I saw three other masks belonging to other patients. I thought that even though we were being radiated in relatively the same area, we could not wear each other’s masks. Our treatment was customized to our needs hoping for the collective goal of a cancer-free body.

In our collective quest for a happy life, we all have different blessings, trials, deficits and gifts that will mold us into the best person we can become. We can’t wear each other’s masks. Therefore, comparison is fruitless. As you love and own your mask/life, you have everything you need to live your best life.