A Little Quirky

We’re all human beings, and are mostly the same. Made in the image of God. We have eyes, ears, arms, legs, hair, mouths, etc. Because of DNA we all have familiar traits. Many times in life you can tell people from the same family because the look very similar.

In the family I grew up in we have funny little pinky toes. They’re short and bend toward the big toe, over the toe next to it. It is very obvious in most of us kids. My dad and all the brothers except two have what my dad calls fringe. Bald on top with hair on the sides and back. There’s an old wives tale that says the men/sons go bald if the mother’s father is bald. My Mama’s dad had a full head of hair when he died. So I don’t think that’s true.

In our family, we have two girls and two boys. We hear from many people that our girls look exactly like each other. Some people can’t tell them apart. That is a surprise to me, because I don’t think they look alike much at all. The boys are very different Riley has dark brown hair, and Alex has blonde hair, although the older he gets the darker his hair has gotten. People have said they look alike. Really?

One of the things I would say is a trait that has carried down to our kids, and grandkids is curly hair. Not everyone has it, but some do and I did and do. My maternal grandma and my Mama both had wavy/curly hair. I have always had curly hair. Riley has curly hair. His kids have curly hair. Although his sweet wife Janet has curly hair too. So they get it from both parents. Emily, our Bonus Baby has a sweet little one with really curly hair.

Joy
Grandbaby Monroe

One other physical trait that I think I have from my grandma is short and fluffy. I may not be super fond of the fluffy part, but I have learned to love me, all of me, and I do.

I think physical traits that repeat through the generations are neat! It is one of the many things that bonds us to each other even if they’re a little quirky.

We’re made in the image of God and each other.

Mama

Photo Credit-Larry Hanson

She is a wonderful Mama. She is my friend. I’m grateful she is mine.

These are a few of the things that make my Mom the great gal she is.

She grew up with a Mama and a Daddy and one sister. She learned a lot growing up. Her Daddy was a hard worker, but also an alcoholic. He joined AA when she was 16. She learned respect. Her Mama was a saint, and taught her how to love and be kind. Her sister was spunky and a tease. This taught her patience. She was a good student graduating a year early. She was a good worker, having jobs that were important like a telephone operator. If you don’t know what that is ask someone older than 30.

She is motivated and has gotten a lot accomplished and has done her whole life. She raised 6 kids, then went to college and received a degree in early childhood education. She taught pre-school, Head Start, and an after school program for latch key kids called CARES.

She has been a student of history all her life, having lived for 89 years. She was born during the Depression. She remembers when Pearl Harbor was attacked. Because of her, I love history. She loves teaching even now, she is very wise. A funny thing she says after she’s had an opportunity to teach is, “I’m such a good teacher!” I usually laugh and say, “Yes, you are!” She enjoys teaching too. She teaches Family History Classes, lessons at Church, Group lessons at the place she lives.

She is healthy and comes from good stock, as they say. She once fell down 24 cement stairs and didn’t break any bones. She was 84 years old when this happened. She and my Daddy were in Slovenia traveling and having so much fun with my little brother and his wife, and her parents. What a miracle!

She is very spiritual. She reads her scriptures everyday. She prays and wants to do what God would have her do in life. She doesn’t let the challenges in life bring her down. Some people would call that grounded. Her perspective is always eternal. She lost her sweetheart and love, 2 years ago and doesn’t feel sad all the time. She knows she’ll see him again, and that they will be together forever.

She likes to be by herself. When I was young this bothered me. I wanted her to want to spend time with me. I am the only daughter. I thought we should be shopping or something. At this point in our lives, I’m ok with my Mama not wanting to be with me too much. She’s taught me that to be by myself is a good place. She’s taught me that she is who she is and we don’t always have the same feelings or ideas, and that’s ok too.

Family is very important to her. She loves the ones who came before, and she loves the ones who are living now. She has taught me to love all of these people too. For 30 + years my Mom would have Sunday dinner for the whole family at their home. This was amazing to me. The meal alone is expensive. For many years, my Mom didn’t even have a dish washer. She would hand wash all those dishes Monday morning. We still get together, though not always at her place and not every week. Because she taught me to love my ancestors I have been blessed to know I’ll never alone. They are always there, with their example, their story, their ability to live life even when it was hard. I am connected to them and I love them so much.

Yes, she is a wonderful Mama. She is such a blessing and I’m filled with gratitude to God for blessing me with the perfect parents, and today I’m especially grateful for my sweet Mama!

Family History Friday: Norma & Bill

These are my maternal grandparents. What were their experiences in life? Were they ever worried? They look so young, but they had a lot of weight on their shoulders. Married during the depression, teenage parents, finding their way through life with hope and love. They were married for 49 years. Grandpa was a hard worker, always. He was an amateur boxer, very athletic, then had a stroke at 59. He was paralyzed on his right side for the rest of his life. He died at 79 years old, twenty years after his stoke. Grandma was such a sweetheart. She was always helping Grandpa with all of his daily routines. She loved to watch Lawrence Welk, and go for rides in the car, and have picnics. She got cancer and died at 66. I love them. When life is hard, I remind myself that life has always had challenges. It is the reason we’re here, to learn and grow. To love each other and help each other. When I think about my ancestors and their lives, I know I can do hard things. Life is a gift. Love is the most important.

Cousins!

This cute little family belongs to my cousin Vickie. They are wonderful!Me and my cousin Vickie are only two months apart in age. Our moms are sisters. We have spent lots of time together our whole lives. Many family parties, sleepovers, and fun. She and I are very different, in many ways, but we love each other.

Today is her birthday!

She an a very determined, survivor. She has been through some of the hardest experiences and just keeps going. Maybe she is just stubborn. If she is, she gets it from our grandpa. That’s not a bad thing, sometimes you need to be stubborn to let life know that you can’t be beaten. You might get thrown for a loop, knocked down, but never beaten. She is very loving, a hard worker, widow to her sweetheart, an amazing mom, wonderful nana to sweet grand babies, and has a forever family that is very admirable.

I hope she continues to have a determined heart and to know that she is very important to me and that I’m so grateful for our friendship and love for a life time.

HaPpY bIrThDaY!, Vickie!!!

oxox

Miracles!

I can only speak for myself, but sometimes miracles are both happy and traumatic. Both fill us with incredible gratitude.

Like the time my brother received a liver transplant, or the time we had a car crash and no one was injured. Then there was the time I really needed a job and got one. I am so grateful for these miracles.

Our family was blessed with an amazing miracle recently. This miracle cannot be denied. God was very much aware of the situation and blessed our family.

This is a picture of my parents taking a stroll in Slovenia.

image

They are the rock of our family.

The most loving, supportive, and noble souls I have ever known. 

My youngest brother and his wife blessed the parents with a wonderful trip. They do it every year. It is a trip most treasured by our parents. They traveled to many locations in Europe, starting and ending in Slovenia. My brother served his LDS mission there. On the day the were scheduled to return home, my mom had a fall. She fell down a flight of stairs…24 stairs! Let me just say she is 84 years old. She is a very healthy 84 year old, but everyone knows that a fall by someone who is older in years is usually not a good thing, and sometimes it is tragic. 

This was so scary for my dad. He heard her call to him and saw her falling. They have been married for 61 years and are very attached to each other. 

Now for the miracle! 

My amazing, wonderful, favorite mom in the whole world, escaped that fall with no broken bones, no major injuries, just lots and lots of bruising. They took her to the hospital and had her checked out, and she was released to come home. Ice packs, Ibuprofen, and TLC from my brother, and then she was home. 

When I saw her I cried and cried. It was traumatizing just thinking about my 84 year old mama falling down the stairs. I still have to say that quick so I don’t think about it too much. But, she is safe. She is healthy. She is alive, and not invalid. 

I’ve always felt like my parents were blessed with so many good years, because they are still so involved in blessing others. They both still volunteer at the local Family Search Library, helping others, and actively doing their own genealogy, and my dad spends every Friday afternoon reading, telling jokes, and stories to the “old folks” at the convalescent center. Many of which are younger than him. He has done this for 20+ years.

I am so grateful for a loving Father in Heaven who blesses His children. I am so grateful that my blessed Mama is still here to hug and kiss and tell her how much she means to me. Thank God for Miracles!

My Cold Hot Water Bottle.

 

When I was just twenty-one years old, I served an LDS mission to Texas. I arrived in March.  The temperature was beautiful and mild during the day, and became cold at night. For some reason, while packing to go on my mission I packed a hot water bottle that belonged to my maternal grandma. I don’t remember why I packed it, but at night when things cooled down, I would fill it with hot water and snuggle in bed with it till I fell asleep. Soon, it was summer and quite hot. We didn’t have air conditioning in all of the places I lived on my mission. It was quite difficult to fall asleep when it was so hot. Sometime between filling the hot water bottle to stay warm and summer coming the lid became stuck on the hot water bottle. I could not remove it, no matter how hard I tried. A nice benefit to not being able to remove the lid and summer coming was that now my hot water bottle was a cold hot water bottle. I would fall asleep moving it to various place on my body my, neck, legs, back, until I would finally be able to fall asleep. I was so grateful for my cold hot water bottle.

Family History Friday: A Sad Story

-Grandpa Bill-

Both of my Grandpa’s were alcoholics. My Grandpa Bill’s dad was an alcoholic too.

They say it is in the genes. When my Grandpa Bill was just a young dad, his father, John was kicked out of the house by his mother. She must have been frustrated with him. It was winter and cold. My Grandpa was called by the county hospital and told that his dad was in the hospital, he had pneumonia and it was very serious. She said that if he wanted to see him, he needed to get to the hospital. My Great-Grandpa John was a hard man. He wasn’t always kind when he disciplined his son, but Grandpa loved him. Grandpa got to the hospital, and as he was getting on the elevator, he passed an orderly bringing a deceased person down to the morgue. As he got to his father’s room, they told him he was too late, his father had passed away and they had already taken him. It was his father who was being taken off the elevator when he got on. It was Grandpa’s daddy’s 50th birthday. Grandpa cried and cried. He didn’t get to say good-bye to his father.

That story has always been hard for me to hear. Even when things don’t go just right in a family, they’re still our family. My Grandpa Bill still loved his dad. I’m sure they have had a chance to get know each other, and love each other better in the next life. Families are forever. If I learned anything from this story it is this, love each other, work hard on relationships, spend time with each other, never let an opportunity to say “I love you” pass by. If your relationship with your family wasn’t quite the best, and someone you love is gone, forgive yourself, and do better from now on. I believe my Grandpa’s heart was broken many times because of his family. I feel sad about how things were for Grandpa Bill, but because of him I will never have those same sad experiences, because of what I’ve learned from him. On the positive side, Grandpa married the sweetest Grandma alive and became the daddy to my mom and my aunt, and had a vey wonderful life with his little family. He was a very generous and loving man, and was always trying to do better. I love you Grandpa!

Happy Family History Friday! Love, Joy

Family History Friday: Collectables #4 Grandpa Bill

I have several things in my home from my maternal grandpa, Grandpa Bill. For some reason, maybe it was all the cool jobs he had, or the things he collected, but the things I have from him, I love to display around my home and yard. 

An old skeleton key! When I picture him using it, I have to smile.

Grandpa was a railroad switchman! This old lantern has seen better days, but I still love it. I also have some other things I will post later.  The neat thing about these items is that I think about Grandpa Bill whenever I see them. He passed away about 20 years ago. I miss him, but he is still part of my life, because I have lots of reminders of him. 

Family History Friday: Collectables-#2 Shelves

Shelves from Grandpa!

I love shelves. I have many in my home. Three of the shelves I have at my home are shelves I inherited from my Grandpa Bill. He bought the shelves from someone who was selling the shelves, that came out of the old trolley’s, that used to run through downtown Salt Lake City.

The shelves are a very beautiful and intricate design. The way I use them is different than they would be in the trolley, because they would normally be turned the opposite direction so that men could put their hats and women could put their umbrella’s, etc. on the shelf and they wouldn’t fall off.  Look how darling our little family was. This picture of our family was taken 15 years ago, but will always be my favorite. My kids are so cute and sweet!

I like to hang things from the shelf, so I put them on the wall upside down and put a rod across to hang things on. I love how they look in my home! When I see them I think of Grandpa. What a wonderful thing to have them around to remind me of him.This shelf is down in the toy area of the house. Love it! The shelves have become a favorite of mine in my home!

Happy Family History Friday! Love, Joy

Family History Friday (FHF): Heritage

“In all of us there is a hunger, marrow deep, to know our heritage. To know who we are and where we’ve come from.” -Alex Haley

Of course, many people know Alex Haley as the one who wrote the book “Roots”. It became a television series that I watched as young child. What a powerful story. You and I can see why Alex felt so much love for his ancestors. They went through so much in their lives. I also have a love for my ancestors. In fact, as I learn more about my ancestors, I can see part of them in me. I really wonder, is it because the trait I see in me is in the DNA, or just a coincidence? Really, they were so much more than I am. I think of my Great Great Grandma, Charity James, who had 16 children. Five of them died before she came to America, but the other ten she brought with her. The year before she came, her husband Samson had come to find work and a place for them to live. She brought the children All by herself! What a woman!! I feel so overwhelmed with 4 kids, and I can’t imagine leaving my home and land of my birth for good, knowing I’ll never be back. I might not see some of my family ever again. Wow, I love her so much for coming to this beautiful land of America! Because of her, and others like her, my life is better. Hopefully, those who come after me will be able to see ways that I made life better for them. Happy Family History Friday! Love, Joy