November 6, 2008

Tonight at 6:15 p.m., Edward Milton Richardson, my sweet father-in-law, passed away. I am so sad. He was such a wonderful man; I truly love him. I met him before I met his wonderful son, Corky. When I came home from my mission, I went to a Singles' Ward and Bishop Richardson made me feel very welcome. He reminded me so much of my dad, and it was always a comfort to see him smiling at me, along with everyone else, from up on the stand. He was truly the "Father of the Ward."

We got a phone call in the early afternoon that Grandad wasn't doing very well, so I took care of things at home (missing my first day as a new Cub Scout leader), picked up Corky and we went to the VA Nursing Home where Grandad has been a resident for almost two months. We were so lucky to be there with him during his last hours. He was so ready to go. His poor, frail body looked nothing like the man I had known. I could not believe the difference in him from the last time I had seen him. A week ago, Grandad was doing okay. He had fallen out of bed twice in the past week and cut his head open. I think the second time really was what sped things along. He hadn't eaten since about Monday, and his body didn't want to be there any longer.


Corky's brothers Steve (and Kim) and Tim (and Alisha) and I were all there along with Grammy, Andrea Richardson. I am so blessed to have been a part of it. Corky gave his dad a blessing, telling his spirit that it was okay to let go. He had done his work here on earth, and really with Alzheimer's disease, he was gone a long time ago. Corky has said goodbye to his dad more than once, and has missed the dad he had known for quite a few years. I was glad that he got to give this blessing and tell his dad how much he loved him and how much he had meant to all of us.


Even when you are preparing for this moment, and know that it is imminent, I don't think you can ever really be ready. I have never been with a person before when they passed from this life to the next, but it was very sweet. We knew he was gone. And once he took his last breath, the look on his face was actually much more peaceful than it had been for the several hours prior to that fateful moment.


I miss you Grandad. I love you. Thank you for being such a wonderful man. I am so grateful for the Plan of Salvation and the understanding we have of what life and death is all about. Death is just as big a part of living as is birth.


This Wednesday, the kids in our ward are doing baptisms at the Temple. Ed Richardson was the only member of the Church from his family. We have hundreds of names of his ancestors for which we need to do temple work. On Wednesday, we will bury the body of Ed Richardson at just about the same time the kids in the ward will be doing baptisms for his ancestors. Do you think he will be there with them as they watch this event? I hope so. It's because of him that we have these names; because of him that their work will be done.

Again, I am so grateful to have been able to partake of the goodness of this wonderful man. We lived at their home for a few months, and while we were there, I could see that he always wanted peace around him. He did whatever he could to make everyone happy, sacrificing his own wishes. He knew when to stay quiet, but also when to speak up. He was always happy and friendly, kind and well mannered, right to the end. What a blessing he has been to all of us who knew him.

I love you so much.

A couple of pictures

I found a couple of pictures I thought I'd try to add. This is a recent picture with my parents as well as Jake and Dante. We were at a baptism of my niece's daughter, Georgia Williams. It was a great day. Jake was excited because he would be getting baptized before too long after that. Also, here's a picture of my oldest brother, Ron and my youngest brother, Chad.

A day in the park. . .

What a great day! It started out feeling kind of yucky, well at least I did--I suppose the day was fine to start with. After some Motrin, Excedrin, Mucinex, a Dr. Petter and a trip to the park, I started feeling much better. I went with Dante and Jake, Emily and Moira and the wee babe Kella. Snuggling with a baby always makes me feel better. Tossing a softball to my son always makes me feel better. Sitting in a chair talking to my favorite friend always makes me feel better. Feeling the breeze of a soft autumn day always makes me feel better. Doing nothing and not feeling guilty makes me feel great!

We tried to go to a little museum in the park, but it was closed. We did look around the outside and saw some great old farm equipment. It makes me think of my grandparents, even my parents. My mom and dad both grew up as farm kids. My dad's family moved to Montana when Dad was about three years old. I try to think of my sweet daddy when he was just a boy--he tells lots of great stories of his childhood. They really had nothing, but I have never heard him complain. I'll tell more of his stories another day.

Here is a picture with my grandpa and grandma, Ray and Veva Clawson and their first three kids--Orilla, George and Marion. We don't have many pictures of Veva, she died when my dad was 16. That was a rough time for this family, as would be expected. This picture of Grandpa is many years later. I remember him looking like this--the plaid shirt and overalls were common attire.

My mom grew up on a farm, then they moved into town when she was in high school. Last time we were in Idaho, we asked my mom about her farm life. She said the thing she loved best was that she got to follow her dad around--she loved being with him. Then Corky asked if there was a job she particularly disliked. She immediately responded--harvesting the hay. My dad agreed. They both said there were thistles and weeds that got harvested along with the hay. My mom's job was to stand inside the big wagon where it was all tossed. She said all the pieces were in the air all around her and all over her, making it hard to breathe. She specifically commented that the stickers and thistles got stuck in her stockings.

Mom said they had some cows, but she never had to milk them. They had chickens so she gathered eggs, and they had pigs, too. They had a large garden that sustained them, and then the hay fields. They had grain, which she told us you call it grain when you plant it, and then when you harvest it, it is wheat. I didn't know that. They would have the wheat ground into flour. They had enough milk that they could sell some.

I know they lived in a basement house. That must have been cold. She has told me before that all three girls slept in the same bed. They always wanted to sleep on a side because you could turn either way. Funny, Corky's mom said they always wanted to "breathe in the middle." Their rule was that the middle person could turn either way but the outside person had to sleep facing outside. No thanks. Three in a bed is at least one too many!

This is my mom when she was a little girl. She said she had to wear overalls when she worked on the farm. She hated them and couldn't understand why I wanted to wear them when I was in high school. Hmm. I knew a cute boy who wore overalls, so naturally I had to give them a try. Loved them! He didn't last, but the overalls did.

Okay, that's it for my reminiscing for the day.

So, the park really was great. We went to a park with a huge playground--has a castle and digging things and I really don't know what all. Lots of boardwalks and tunnels and stuff. Dante, Jake and Moira played and played. It was even too warm for their jackets. What a beautiful day. Emily, Kella and I just relaxed in the shade and the sun--we took turns being in one or the other. Sun got too hot; shade got too cool. But it all balanced out.

My boys are off track this week and next. I love having them home! We always try to do some fun things while they are out of school. They are in year-round school, which means they go for about 9 weeks and then have 3 weeks off. This time, however, they only have 2 weeks off. I know they make up for it in April with 4 weeks off. That will be good, and I know that 3 weeks is not a whole lot more than 2, but 2 certainly seems short! We have a couple of outings planned--Thursday we're going to the Ogden Children's Treehouse Museum. I love that place. The kids get to dress up and play so many different things. It's great for their imaginations. It also has lots of educational play things for them. They can sit in the "oval office" and be the president. There are just too many things to name. I'll have to post some pictures later this week.

We are getting ready for Halloween--I'm painting bones on black sweats for Jake so he can be a skeleton. I was a tad bit worried about doing the painting, but it is turning out okay. Dante wants to be a mummy, so I've got to get going on a costume for him. Moni wants to be Sally--no, not me. Sally from "A Corpse Bride." We found her a plain tan dress at the DI, so she can turn it into Sally's dress--all patched up. That should work. I'm not sure what Taylor is going to do. He thinks he should still go trick-or-treating, even though he's a senior in high school. It doesn't bother me as long as he has someone to go with, they don't cause trouble and they dress up. That's the rule--no candy unless you wear a costume. So don't forget--come to my house and trick-or-treat, but wear your costume!

My bit of heaven. . .

Well, I have been told I should begin. I feel kind of lame because I see so many very cool blogspots, and mine will never be that cool. However, I have also been lame in my journal-writing, so I figure if I write here, it will all work out in the end, right? Hope so. I'm totally counting on things working out in the end; otherwise, I'm in a heap of trouble.

Today I painted kids' faces in Jake's 2nd grade class at their Halloween party. I know it's a tad bit early for a Halloween festival, but today was their last day of school before going off track. They had several games to play and many munchables to eat, but I sat in a corner and painted. I loved it. I only did very simple things--cat, witch hat, bat (not all of them rhyme--I promise), ghost, pumpkin, Boo!, snake, and I don't remember anything else. The kids really liked it and they were happy, so that's good.

Jake has a wonderful teacher, Mrs. Ligget. She's been teaching for many years and really knows what she's doing. He had a rough year last year, but hasn't at all this year--one time in trouble, not bad! She gets the kids' attention by just saying, "class, class." Then they stop, look at her and respond, "yes, yes." Sometimes she says it three times, sometimes just once. She doesn't raise her voice, but they know to listen for that. Whatever inflection she puts in her voice, they respond the same. So if it's "claaaasss," they say, "yeeesss." Sometimes she'll say, "hands and eyes." They stop, clasp their hands together and open their eyes really wide, staring at her. If someone isn't paying attention, she says, "Oh do we need to do a mighty groan?" Then they all groan. I love being in her class!

Yesterday we had Dante's party. I'm so glad this whole year these two teachers decided to have their parties on different days. That makes it so much easier to be in two places, not at the same time. I didn't have much to do at that party, just be there. The kids all planned what they wanted for treats and had a sign-up sheet. We took a box of Twinkies. Simple. I like it. They played a fun game--each was assigned one of the following: skeleton, ghost, bat, zombie, witch or pumpkin. The person who was "it" called out one of the list and those people had to change chairs. I've played it before with everyone in a big circle, but she had the chairs all mixed up. That made it very crazy. If you said "Halloween" then everyone has to change places. The person who is "it" is trying to get a chair. Whoever is left is now "it."

I love it when the kids go off-track. We don't have to get up early! I don't get to bed until about 1:30 or 2:00, so I end up getting kids off then coming home for a nap. This way, I can just sleep a little longer, and then I have the whole day. Taylor and Simona are still in school, but Corky gets them up. I'm so grateful to him for that. Taylor has to be at school by 6:00 a.m. every other day (for Jazz Band), and 7:00 on the others. Moni goes to Jazz Band at the Jr. High at 6:50. That's so early for me.