It was Mother’s Day and I was sitting in church when my 3
year old granddaughter came over and showed me a crinkled up paper in her hand.
As she unfolded the paper and smoothed it across her grandpa’s hand I noticed it
was the paper to a Luden’s Cherry Cough Drop. In that singular moment I smiled and
teared up as I remembered sitting in church with my grandmother and reaching
into her purse looking for something particular—that white box with the red
cherry on it. I would hand it to her and watch her slender fingers reach inside
the box to hand me a Luden’s Cherry Cough Drop.
At that moment such tender feelings sprang to my heart and
mind as I thought of the treasure that sweet, small woman was to me. Her influence
has permeated every measure of my life. I grew up next door to her and my
siblings and I could always be found in her kitchen chatting about such simple
things. We were always welcome and treated as if the most important part of her
day was being with us. Our conversations ranged from how to cook, her dreams
for us to attend college, how much she loved our grandfather and memories of
her years growing up in Grace, Idaho with her widowed mother and her brothers.
I recognized today that those visits and conversations shaped
my ideals for faith, family and fortitude. She attended church and served in
many callings. She supported her husband as he served as a bishop for nine long
years. She and grandpa looked for the less fortunate and actively worked to
relieve their distress. I remember her
bathing me as a child when my mother was too ill to care for me. I watched her
lovingly prepare meal after meal for her entire family during the cherry
harvest and I never once heard her complain about it. I watched her beautiful hands
care for her aging husband as his body became frail and weak. I cried as her
mind became ravaged by Dementia and finally succumbed at 90 years of age.
Her nourishing light became a link to my future and I believe
to the legacy I hope to pass on to my children and grandchildren as I visit
with them, cook meals for them and care for them when they are downhearted or ill.
My life would be so different had I not been nurtured by someone so selfless. I
hope she looks down on me and recognizes the light of her love in my actions
and life. I love you forever Grandma.
I challenge you to take the time to write in your journal
this month on how family links have nurtured your light. In addition, I encourage
you to reach out to a member of your family and write them a small note about
how their influence and love has nurtured your light. I can’t write grandma a
thank you note but I can thank Heavenly Father for the gift of my dear, sweet grandmother.
#soulfulbsisterhood #familiesareforever #nourishyourlight
