Happy Heart

I have a happy heart today. We are packing and cleaning and cooking to get ready to go over the river and through the woods to my grandma's house for Thanksgiving.

My greatest source of happiness is my family. I taught Activity Days this week (for 9 year old girls) about forever families and I did a lot of reading in family histories that literally turned my heart toward my fathers. I shared this story with the girls that really touched me:

My Mom's father died when he was 29 years old. He had a congenital heart condition his whole life, but the fall of that year he decided to have a surgery done to improve it by heart surgeon Dr. Russell M. Nelson. He had many blessings, including one from Dr. Nelson and his bishop. In a letter to his sister he wrote, "Dr. Nelson is a religious man and he attributes much of his success to prayers and contact with the Lord. He and his bishop came around to my room a few days after the operation and gave me a blessing. I asked his bishop to do it so he could also bless Dr. Nelson. I'm ashamed to admit that I cried like a baby during a truly wonderful blessing. I apologized afterwards but Dr. Nelson said to have no regrets because they were tears of gratitude and they are the best kind at a time like that. He is truly a wonderful man and the best surgeon there is in my estimation. I'm sure he will help many more people in the future and will become one of the great surgeons to remember. God bless him. I hope he does. He told me that my operation was a great success and is even amazed, himself, at my rapid recovery."

The surgery went well, but a few months later he was diagnosed with a ravaging bacterial infection that caused a hemorrhage in his heart, unrelated to the surgical procedure previously done. He died on December 11, 1961, leaving a young wife and 3 children behind. My mom was only 4 years old. Dr. Nelson wrote my grandma a tender and thoughtful letter giving her more details of the cause of death and expressing sorrow and sympathy.

My grandma had been at her husband's bedside for weeks, and then had to deal with funeral and burial arrangements. Needless to say, she was not prepared to provide a Christmas for the kids that year. She made plans to go to Cedar City to her parents' house for the holiday, and before she left town she visited Low Cost Drug in Logan to buy some gifts. Grandma loaded her cart but when she got to the checkout the salesperson insisted she not pay, but just have items. The owner had known my grandpa in civic affairs (he was the president of the Junior Chamber of Commerce in Logan), and knew of the difficult plight of the family. My mom still remembers that was the year she got her beloved Chatty Cathy doll.

This Christ-like story is tender, but is even more so for me this year as I recognize that I am 29, the same age as my Grandpa Jack was when he was called Home and left his family behind. I also have a 4 year old, my Maddie, and I can imagine how much my mom would have felt the loss of her daddy. Even further, I have 3 kids like my grandma did, and can't imagine facing the holidays, let alone the future, without my sweetheart. This story has renewed my admiration for her strength in moving forward and raising their family on her own. More than anything, I am grateful for the knowledge of forever families, and that we can all be with my Grandpa again in the hereafter.

Whew. On a more lighthearted note, I can't post without pictures of my kids.

Love this double-chinned jolly little elf!

Sweet story time.

Silly sister time.

Fancy flapper time!

And for your entertainment:

Happy Thanksgiving!