June 4, 2008

Today is my mother's birthday. She would have been 86 years old. That's hard for me to imagine, because in my mind she is still in her 60's. I wish I had a picture of her to post; but I've never had any of her photo's digitalized. I want to take just a moment to pay tribute to her.

She was born and raised on the farm in Riverton, Utah. I used to love hearing her tell stories about her childhood. She told me that when she was young they didn't have grass in the yard and so she would sweep the dirt to keep it clean. (I guess that she was a clean freak even then...she sure was for the rest of her life. Clair Workman used to joke that when he would sleep over, he would hear her vacumming at 2:00 a.m.) Mom also told me about cranking the icecream freezer. She was sitting on the sink while cranking and both she and the sink fell to the ground when it broke off the wall. Most everyone that lived on Myers Lane were her cousins and she always said that they were all like brothers and sisters.

Mom was very artistic and her hand sketches were amazing. She also had a great singing voice. Her high school music teacher wanted her to be in an operetta. Mom was very private and quite shy and so she refused. The teacher threatened to fail her if she didn't perform. She still wouldn't do it. Mom used to tell me that people often thought that she was snooty and too good for them. She said that she wasn't that way at all. She was just reserved. Mom worked for a while at the Rolls Save store on the southeast corner of 12600 South and Redwood Road. She said that she always had so many guys asking her on dates that she started wearing a rhinestone ring and telling them that she was engaged.

Mom and dad met at Midvale Harvest Days just prior to the war. They were married in Salt Lake City and then dad headed off to the Pacific. Mom worked at a munitions plant during the war. When dad returned home they lived in Salt Lake, where all three of us kids were born. They solomnized their wedding in the Salt Lake Temple shortly before I was born. Mom and dad built a house in Midvale and moved there when I was just a couple of years old. That is where they lived up until the time that she died.

Mom was a great mother. We all loved and respected her. She was a lot of fun and was always there for us. She was a great example to all. She loved her yard and flowers, and her yard was the neighborhood show place. She always enjoyed a picnic, and I have great memories of good times around a camp fire in the mountains. Her grandchildren adored her. They all remember her sleeping out with them when she had all of the grandkids over for a slumber party.

Mom was diagnosed with cancer in about 1980. She diligently fought it for seven years. I remember talking to her about death about a year before she passed away. She told me that she knew that she wouldn't live to an old age. I asked her to hold on long enough that all of my children would have a well-defined memory of her. She told me that she would try!

I've often wondered how different all of our lives would have been if she had lived. She was the mainstay of the family and was always planning activities to keep us close. I am honored to be her daughter and grateful for the legacy that she left us all.