Finally, for my part, as I look back on Mom’s life and what she attempted to teach me as her son, I am profoundly grateful for her sacrifices, energy, and persistence. Because, I know that it’s not easy to be a parent, having already had experience in this regard myself. I am now more aware than ever of her selfless love and conscientious effort in my behalf.
And yet, reflecting further, I suspect that it was not until I was serving as a missioinary that I first came to truly grasp her deep love and concern for me. Through her letters, her shared insights, and her confidentiality, it became clear that she not only deeply cared for me, but for each of us in the family.
Later, I began to more fully sense these same attributes as I experienced her interaction with Barbara and me and our children, as we performed in our various life-roles within our own family unit.
Then, as I observed her while she went through her battle with cancer, I came to know even more fully the depth of her love for the Lord and for the entire family.
However, it has only been while compiling her history that I have come most to know and appreciate Mom and what she stood for. Researching and writing this life story has been a choice experience.
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How can I ever repay her for what she gave and sacrificed for me as her son?
Seeking personally to emulate the good she taught, and then passing it on to my children and grandchildren as best I can is the only way I have to show my gratitude.
Accordingly, I want to be with my eternal partner and our immediate family, as well as with Mom and Dad, my siblings and their kin, and the rest of the greater family as we journey through eternity together. May there be no empty chairs.
And, as far as Mom is concerned, I have no doubt that the promises pronounced in her behalf in her patriarchal blessing are now in effect and will be fully realized:
Then thou shalt rest at the close of the day and lie down and see the sunset in peace. Thine shall be a beautiful morning of resurrection and Celestial Glory, for thy covenants shall sustain thee, and they shall endure time and its testing. And thou shalt be in the way of perfection and endless lives, because thou hast sought the right—because thou hast looked unto Jesus, the Savior of men, and known the powers of the Priesthood and the New Covenant. 178
November 2007,
Provo, Utah
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