May 8, 2016 - Sunday - Mother's Day! In Nauvoo

This was an extra special treat to celebrate Mother's Day, and to have the entire day, without a site assignment.  We were up early this morning for our prayers and devotional.  Then, we left our home at around 7:00am for our Sacrament meeting at the Stake Center.  This was the first day that we were all gathered together with the young single missionaries from the mission, the band, and the performers.  

The enthusiasm was felt, and appreciated, from these young performing missionaries.  In all, there are about 50 young performing missionaries added to the 24 young single sister missionaries, and the approximately 220 senior missionaries.  The Elder's from this group of young missionaries will now take over the responsibilities of the preparing, blessing, and passing of the Sacrament, until the middle of August when they return back to their homes and schools.

After our meetings at the Visitor's Center, mom and I went home and got ready to enjoy our "breakfast for lunch" meal.  We had the Ramsey's come over for this meal, and enjoyed an afternoon of food and conversation.  They are from Burley, Idaho, and will be heading back home in September, two months before we leave.  We have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know them this past year.  They are also part of our Emma Hale Cast so we see them for Rendezvous and Sunset.

The Ramsey's!

Today was Mother's Day and a wonderful opportunity for our children to remember their mom.  Mom got to talk with all her precious children and as I watched her face, the pure love of motherhood for these precious children was quite evident...

And, as they remembered their mom, I could not help but remember mine.  Many of you already know that my dad passed away when I was about 30 months old.  He was 29 when he died, on the job, as a Fresno, California, Fireman.  I can only imagine the heartache this must have brought, to my mom, when he left our home on Good Friday, 1953, and went to the firehouse for his 48 hour shift on duty.  He was to return home on Easter Sunday 1953.  Mom had begun preparing the Easter meal, on that Sunday afternoon, when she got the terrible call that he had had a heart attack and could not be revived.

Some things in life just don't seem fair.  My mom had to make arrangements for his funeral services and his final resting place at the Belmont Memorial Park in Fresno.  I have visited his grave site many times over the years and I have reflected just how much courage that must have taken for a 27 year old widow to make these arrangements, and then wonder about how she would be able to provide, now, for two young children.

I am sure, (and I know this to be true), she had a lot of support from my mom and dad's sides of the family, but I just can't imagine the feelings she must have had, each night, as she went to bed.  I wonder how many times, over the first few years, she must have gotten up with my sister and me when we felt the sadness of missing our "Daddy Jack".  In my estimation, she was our rock and our polar star.  

Having grown up without a dad, and with the loving support of our angel mom, it was electrifying when I heard about the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and the fundamental principle of families being together forever!  My mom and sister embraced the Gospel first and helped me to make that commitment six months later.  Probably one of my most cherished memories, that involve my mother, was my weekly calls to her the last year of her life.  

Then, in 1995, on her 70th birthday, I took a road trip to Fresno, from Fremont, California, with 70 long stem roses, to pay her a birthday visit.  We went out to dinner that night and we had a fun time together with my sister, Jackie.  That was June 9th.  I got a call on August 8, 1995, from my sister Jackie, to come immediately to Fresno.  My mom had a heart attack and was not expected to live through the day.  I got there at the St. Agnus Hospital at around 5:00pm, and met with my sister, and went in to see mom.  She was still alive but just barely.  I gave her a Priesthood Blessing and released her back to her Heavenly Father and a grand reunion with my dad. 

What is interesting in this love story about my mom and my dad, was the events that took place in the following days.  I went to the Belmont Memorial Park and made the arrangements for her burial with my sister.  We then went to the mortuary and made the final arrangements for her services.  In both places, my sister and I performed the same services she must have performed some 42 years earlier.  Love for our mother and our father really has no boundaries.  I am looking forward to seeing them both again!  

A Mother's Love

There are times when only a mother's love
Can understand our tears,
Can soothe our disappoints
And calm all of our fears.

There are times when only a mother's love
Can share the joy we feel
When something we've dreamed about
Quite suddenly is real.

There are times when only a mother's faith
Can help us on life's way
And inspire in us the confidence
We need from day to day.

For a mother's heart and a mother's faith
And a mother's steadfast love
Were fashioned by the angels
And sent from God above.

--Author Unknown

 Happy Mother's Day, mom!  And thank you for the love and the courage you had to continue with life, after dad had to leave so suddenly, in this frail existence.... I owe so much to my angel mother....