A few months ago, many of my cousins, siblings, and I gathered with two of our aunts, ages 89 and 97, at the site of our grandparents’ home to spend an evening with Grandpa and Grandma. In the September twilight, we read from Grandpa’s and Grandma’s journals and shared our wonderful memories of them, their seven children, and their house and yard, where as children we had all spent time visiting and exploring. We also had our picture taken with them, standing next to giant blow-up photos of them—like a celebrity photo op! (We had these enlarged photos, called engineering prints, made at bargain prices at a local copy store.)
Grandpa died at their house over 90 years ago, in his forties, before any of his grandchildren were born. And Grandma, who didn’t re-marry, died nearly 50 years ago, in her eighties, after living in the house for over 55 years. A few years after she died, the house was torn down to make way for a small parking lot. That’s where we gathered that September night for an evening with Grandpa and Grandma, to hear their written voices and to reminisce, laugh, cry, and pay tribute to them.
What a great pleasure, education, and blessing to read Grandma’s and Grandpa’s journals and to do it with loved ones on the very site where much of the material was written and where much of their lives were lived—“hallowed ground,” as one of my cousins called it.
Compiling and scanning their journals
About 30 years ago, several of the cousins transcribed Grandpa’s many journals. The final typescript transcription of his journals, plus photos, letters, and certificates, is over 350 pages. This year we scanned the typescript of Grandpa’s journals and also over 400 pages of Grandma’s Treasures of Truth, which includes her typed transcriptions from her diaries, plus her personal history and many letters, poems, photos, and newspaper clippings. In the opening pages of her Treasures of Truth, Grandma had this well-known scripture:
“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord; and he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite earth with a curse” (Malachi 4:5–6).
Here are a few excerpts that give a flavor of Grandpa’s and Grandma’s writings and their lives:
GRANDPA: Family prayer, Pioneer Parade, looking back
“June 29, 1912. Weather sultry. At home for breakfast. It may be well to state here that we have our family prayers before breakfast. We are trying to teach ourselves and the children to serve the Lord. I spent the day at my office. Nothing special happened. I think I went with [name] to take an affidavit and made 25 cents. He is a real good-natured fellow.”
“July 24th, 1912. P
ioneer Day, pleasant. [My oldest son] and I went to Liberty Park to see the Pioneer Parade. He said he thought it was a fine parade. He did enjoy the handcart company, the Indians, the Ox team, the woman with a stick standing over her boy making him churn butter. The Parade was splendid. I was much impressed with it all and particularly the Boy Scouts, who had just completed a 3 days’ jaunt over part of the trail which the Pioneers followed when they came into the Valley.”
“Sept. 18th, 1912. Weather clear, cool. Let my children remember that their father was once a humble shepherd; that I cut peaches when a boy all day for 50 cents per day; the I caught gophers from which I secured 5 cents per head; that I tended bees, for which I made a little money; that I pulled weeds for 50 cents per day; that I worked on the thrashing machine for wheat; that I worked when a boy on pipe lines in the mountains as a water carrier; that I ploughed and stacked hay and grain and did all kinds of farm work for small wages; . . .that while going to school I was obliged to work my way along under hardship and sacrifice . . . ”
GRANDMA: Horse-drawn sleighs, priesthood blessings, prayer
“We skated on the ditches; built snow houses, snow men; did lots of sleigh riding, etc. As we rode over the hard, frozen ground in one of these [horse-drawn sleighs], it gave a sensation I cannot describe. Almost a sensation of flying. Horses could go about as fast as they cared to go. There was practically no weight, and on cold, brisk nights they too were in high spirits, so it was awesome—sort of scary and altogether delightful.”
“I recall a time when [my father] sat by my sick bed with tears running down his cheeks and said, ‘My dear, I wish so much I might suffer this for you. I would gladly do so if it were possible.’ He had great faith, and his ministrations [of priesthood blessings] were comforting and very effective. He was sought after far and wide. Many could have testified of miraculous results.”
“The thought of prayer was the first thing that entered my mind when in distress. If I lost anything of value I always went and prayed, and I testify to you that seldom if ever did I fail to get relief. If it were fright, my nerves would calm down; if it were something lost, my mind would recall where I left it; etc. Always prayer has been a solace to me, and I advocate its frequent use to you each and all, and teach your children how important it is.”
Happy 110th Wedding Anniversary
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To celebrate our grandparents’ 110th Wedding Anniversary next February, we’re inviting all of their adult descendants to gather on Valentine’s Day to do an endowment session in the same temple where Grandpa and Grandma were married. With the help of our Stake Family History Consultants, who are experts in “descendancy research,” we’ve found the names of some of our distant cousins—born in the 19th century—to take with us to the temple that day.
Dear Grandpa and Grandma: Thank you . . .
. . . for your work and sacrifice and for sharing your abundant treasures—your life, genes, love, faith, challenges, joys, mirth, talents, and wisdom—with your many, many descendants! Our hearts turn once again to you and to other family members in love, gratitude, and hope: We rejoice with you in Christ’s covenant promise that he, through his atonement and our faithfulness, can ultimately make us fully one and equal with him and each other, thus fulfilling our equal, divine, genetic heritage and potential as the offspring of God: “He makes them equal . . . equal with [Christ]” (D&C 76: 95; 88: 107).
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