"We Thank Thee..."

Tracy called from his rehearsal with Sandy City Orchestra to ask if the text message from his friend's daughter was true. Gordon B. Hinckley had died. I flipped stations on TV and could find nothing. All the while Tracy was waiting on the line. Finally, just before his rehearsal break was over, I turned on KSL radio. Yes, it was true. I think I have been somewhat numb since then. I did call our family and one of my friends. Everyone was surprised, as we had not heard anything to indicate that his death was imminent. Wasn't he supposed to reach his hundredth birthday at least? It has been big news here, with TV and newspaper stories highlighting his life. Almost always, there is mention of his humor. Now the numbness and denial is beginning to wear off. When I see his face or read the articles, I get teary-eyed, not for him or even his family but for me. It is an understatement to say that I will miss him. And sometimes, I find myself feeling a bit angry, as if my bearings have been disrupted without my permission. (I guess it is obvious that I often dislike change.) During my lifetime there have been Prophets all the way from Heber J. Grant to the present time. I can see, in hindsight, the wisdom of each man's call and of his contribution not only to the church but to my life personally. And I do thank God for each one of them. I have a powerful belief in life after death. So, why is it hard to let go?

Love You Chris

While looking through items on a shelf, I found a print given to me by Sid Crnich. She brought it over shortly after Chris was born. She had framed the picture, gluing it onto cardboard covered with orange burlap. (It looked better than it sounds!) The print was an artistic rendering of a mother holding her baby, was a little abstract and I loved it. Maybe some of you will remember when it was hanging in the hall. Anyway, I have decided it is time to give it a new frame and a place of honor. The reason I am writing about it today is because I am thinking of Chris, just after his 41st birthday. (Yes, I did finally figure out his age.) This particular art print always did remind me of him as a baby. It brings tender feelings to my heart even all these years later. Lucky for me, I found what I consider to be the perfect frame for it at Michael's craft store, on sale! Soon it will be hanging on the wall again for me to enjoy--a nice reminder of my son and all the other babies I held in my arms.

Snowed In

My habit of paying only slight attention to weather reports caught up with me this time. I had made appointments to go visiting teaching today. On getting up and looking outside, I realized that a young mother with 2 little boys and an arthritic ... um...I’m not going to say elderly...woman and this amount of snow don’t exactly make for a good visiting teaching experience. So I had to cancel out. Who knows? Maybe I will actually attempt to write a sonnet today with the info from Scott Ennis’ web site. (Scott is Tim’s middle name which he has chosen to go by.) The thrift store pick-up was also postponed to next Saturday. Snow in the trees looks beautiful--And I am glad to be inside. According to the NEW calendar received in the mail from one of our favorite real estate agents, Monique Keetch, Saturday is January 26th. A day after Chris’ birthday. How old is he? I don’t keep track much anymore. And unlike Chris who can do math in his head, I am number challenged. Is that why I have so many calendars?

Continuing Calendars

Maybe, by the end of January, I will be able to have an accurate count of my calendar collection. Midvale City sent us one through the mail. The main advantage to this one is that it has coupons which don't expire until the last day of December. El Farol, anyone? Or Sweet Tomatoes? Another one came after we paid the bill for a minor repair on the old Cadillac. It was either a twin or close relative to the one given out by Harmon's Pharmacy. We were also given a new hanging tree for the rear view mirror. It is supposed to make the car smell good but happens to be Spice, our least favorite scent. Art picked up one more letter opener to go along with the one he got last year. He gave this one to me and it is identical to his. It is bright red, has a magnet on the back and the name of the repair shop on the front. It works terrifically well! Are all these goodies designed to make the repair bill taste a little sweeter?

What is the date today?

I have a collection of calendars in my home. This year's accumulation began with teaching a lesson on Joseph Smith in November. The thought of using paintings by Liz Lemon Swindle as visual aids appealed to me a great deal. So I went over to my local bookstore and bought her new calendar, 2008 edition. I took it apart and mounted the pages needed on poster paper for the lesson. (Calendar #1) About the same time Harmon's pharmacy put out their yearly offering which is mounted for Tracy to use to keep track of his work schedule. (Calendar #2) My friend Ann Tolman gave us a beautiful calendar. There are exquisite cats illustrating it. (#3) Before the year was out I saw one which looked like scrapbook pages. I bought it so that we could glue on photos and make it personal. Then I forgot I had it for a while. (#4) Kimberly found wonderful small calendars for each member of the family. It was also one designed to be made into a scrapbook. (#5 & 6) Heather and Jake gave us a calendar made from special family photos they had taken. Costco was a little late, but we have it now and it is hanging in our computer room. (#7) Then there is my watch which also tells me the date. Does that count as #8? I may yet discover another way of keeping myself on track, like my organizer or pocket calendar. I love each one for a variety of reasons. Unfortunately, I still have to use these beautiful gifts and I expect that several times during the year someone or other in the family will have to go around and change the month so my calendar collection can remain up-to-date!

I Love to Blog

There are certainly dangers in using the internet, but I have found a new way to communicate with our adult children. It is not that we don’t have time to talk together, because they all live nearby and we do see each other often. But sometimes in the crunch of quick visits, it is not as easy to catch up on activities and some of the deep thinking going on within the family. Enter BLOGGING!
I now have my very own web page and can update it anytime I want. I became interested through some of our very computer literate children. Alyssa began the process of having a blog (short for web log) quite a while ago. There were attempts to get others to join in. I thought it sounded interesting but intimidating and put the idea on file for another time. I also had some concerns about privacy. Finally "another time" came when Heather gave us access to her chronicle as written on her web page. It was delightful and gave a glimpse into her life that I treasured. Then she offered to help as I set up my own. We began on the evening of October’s Priesthood conference. I drove to her apartment and, as I am a morning person, she began the computer work, asking my opinion every step of the way. I gave the page a name, she found a picture on the internet that was free and appropriate and then she began doing the steps to get it ready for me. Heather made her web page using HTML (which I really don’t understand yet) but did mine following an easy format. We just had to select from the options given. I guess I am good at copying because I chose to set up mine with her ideas as a template. It contains a profile of me, a section for a photo of the week, a list of what I am doing in various areas of my life right now and a thought to ponder. These can be changed at anytime. Then I have a main part on which I can post anything I want. Kimberly showed me how to get photos onto the page. One evening Heather came over to show me how to delete photos and change their position. I am waiting for new lessons from one of them on how to make links to other places of interest on the internet. I’m excited about this! I know the internet can be misused, but it is also another way to share thoughtfully, to bear testimony, to practice writing skills and to love.
For me, having a web page and being able to blog is a good thing!

A New Year

This photo of Tracy was taken at Chris and Marsha's home. We were celebrating someone's birthday, possibly Nick's.

Today we got together here to celebrate the new year and Tracy's birthday. I like this picture because I believe it shows Tracy's compassion, kindness and his intelligence and interest in the world about him.

He is our second child and first boy. He was a handsome little guy with lots of dark hair (as least in comparison to our other little ones who were born "bald eagles". according to their dad.)

Having birthdays close to Christmas may not have been what Tracy and Alyssa would have chosen. The holiday season becomes a little hectic and maybe they don't quite get their due attention. Can't help it. The days they were born were good days for our family anyway.

Tracy was born a few days past his due date. Many people told us they thought we should try for the first baby of the year. Art definitely wished for a tax deduction. Tracy obliged by being born on December 31st, early enough in the morning so that Art could still go to the performance of "Messiah" in the Tabernacle on Temple Square. We both belonged to the Oratorio Society of Utah. I loved singing so I kept going to rehearsals even though I had no intention of singing for the performance. I had to tell the women who kept track of the rolls several times, that no, I wasn't going to show up "great with child" on Sunday. Blessedly attitudes about pregnancy have changed a great deal since then. Now I don't think it would be as frowned upon to be pregnant and also sing in a choir. As it turned out, Art was in the Tabernacle singing and I was in the hospital with our new baby boy listening to the concert on KSL radio. The words "For unto us a child is born" had very special significance that year.

Each one of our children were exposed to music in-utero since rehearsals began in the fall and were held every week until Christmas time. I'm glad they (and we) had those experiences with Handel's Messiah.