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Sweat If You Need To
“And see that all these things are done in wisdom and order; for it is not requisite that a man should run faster than he has strength. And again, it is expedient that he should be diligent, that thereby he might win the prize; therefore, all things must be done in order.” – Book of Mormon, Mosiah 4:27 Some years ago, I decided to complete a ½ marathon. It’s not because I’m a runner; I’m really not a runner. I thought it would be a healthy challenge. It would make me consistently exercise (so as not to die during the event), and I wanted to be fit. Plus, the race I had…
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Valentines and Vaccinations
Grant had just finished building a cozy little home in Lehi for his wife, Virginia, and their four young boys. It was a labor of love he undertook in the evenings and on weekends. His days were spent working at Geneva Steel, the post-war employer that fed many Utah Valley families headed by returned soldiers. One autumn day, Grant felt ill at work and went to the infirmary. Virginia was notified; her husband had been taken to the hospital. Grant had polio. Grant was in the hospital for months. In February, Virginia, and another wife of a polio patient organized a Valentine’s party for the polio ward. The Salt Lake…
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Sundays, Wednesdays, and Small Miracles
I had a tough time as a young girl understanding…well, girls. I grew up with two older brothers and a lot of neighborhood boys. I didn’t care much about clothes, except for the Cabbage Patch Doll shirt I had that featured 3D yarn braids–so rad. Poofy hair? Didn’t care. I was perplexed when the one girl my age down the street was mean and pouty. It was easier to play with Jeffy, exploring the old pioneer home and fort nearby. The only drama was when we hunkered down in the fort to seek protection from imagined attacks on the homestead. When I turned 12 and joined the Young Women program…
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I get by with a little help from Gary Larson
I need to thank Jen for inspiring one of my better moves at the beginning of quarantine. Her birthday was approaching, and I planned to assemble a 90s-themed gift to celebrate her and the genesis of our friendship. A Lisa Frank notebook, Bubble Tape, MadLibs, Cool Ranch Corn Nuts–it all came together quite nicely. But the best addition? A couple of The Far Side comic books. I ordered a few for myself too, anticipating the need for some extra laughs. I am so glad I did. If you’ve not come to know and love Gary Larson’s The Far Side, please do yourself a favor and check it out now. The…
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Handwritten
“The beauty and nobility, the august mission and destiny, of human handwriting.” – George Bernard Shaw, Pygmalion Have you ever stumbled upon a handwritten something from someone you love who has died? A shopping list, a scrap once used as a bookmark, an envelope? Perhaps it had little to no meaning when written. But once found, doesn’t it feel like an immortalized piece of them? My mother has the most perfect cursive handwriting I’ve ever seen–so perfect that forging it is nigh unto impossible. It is loopy and lovely, and so distinctive. When Mom writes, she takes her time about it. It’s beautiful. I have a mountain of handwritten things…
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Sagebrush
Sometimes, we talk about our funerals. I want the congregation to sing “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing.” Dad prefers “How Great Thou Art,” and Mom’s choice is “I Believe in Christ.” Mom wants sagebrush to be part of the floral spray on her coffin. When she was a young adult, she visited a friend in Washington, D.C. They traveled to New York City and she found herself powerful homesick. She’d never seen roll-up security gates on storefronts, and the amount of people and concrete was overwhelming. On the drive back to Utah, she rejoiced when she could see wide open high mountain desert vistas and smell the sharp, clean…
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I Want to Live Again
This post will make more sense to you if you’ve seen the Frank Capra Christmas classic “It’s a Wonderful Life.” If you haven’t seen it, what exactly have you been doing? I can’t fathom… George Bailey’s life wasn’t glamorous. It was the kind of life you and I live–mostly simple, with moments of miraculous and seasons of struggle. But after George experienced a crisis wherein he found out what it was like to not have that life–to be removed from all he built and loved, he begged his guardian angel to return him to his ordinary existence. “Get me back. I don’t care what happens to me. Get me back…
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If You Decide To…
Did you grow up reading Choose Your Own Adventure books? If not, I’m sorry, because they are amazing. Each book casts you as the protagonist of a thrilling tale, and with every page, you make a choice. “If you decide to hide in the cargo hold, turn to page 16. If you decide to make a run for the hangar, turn to page 23.” You decide to run for it but, hedging your bets, you keep a finger in page 16 just in case your gamble results in capture and game over. Enough turns of the story in, and you’ve resorted to using strips of paper from a Lisa Frank…
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Life’s Game of Seesaw
As promised in a previous post, here is the second of two family narratives I’m sharing. (See the first one here.) I composed this years ago while taking an opportunity to reflect on motherhood. Grandma lived through so much challenge, and she knew what was most important–God, family, service, love. In these things she found her joy. I didn’t get the opportunity as an adult to know Grandma Smith; she died when I was in my first semester of college. I have no memories of heart-to-hearts, no meaning-of-life discussions. What I remember are the songs. One she learned from her mom went like this: “School was just overNo books to…
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Born for Endurance
As promised in my last post, here is the first of two family narratives I’ll be sharing. I composed this in 2016, when my challenge was elective hiking. The piece reads much differently in today’s pandemic context. The underlying message of endurance, helpful then, feels crucial now. This hike is no different. I’ve climbed quickly, and the last stretches are looming and formidable after the exertion. My t-shirt is damp with sweat, my calves are tight, and I’m beginning to think that a break is in order. But in the very next moment, I decide I want this hike to be different. I want to push myself to be better, to…