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All I Could Say Was…”Hello”

I recently watched part of the movie “Sleepless in Seattle”. The line used was a repeat of a line from the movie “An Affair to Remember”: “All I could say was ‘hello.’” “Hello” is one of my favorite words to hear, especially when it comes as a phone call from one of my grandchildren.

My almost three-year-old grandson has a beautiful sing-song voice. He calls from his mother’s cell phone and so I am not sure who I will speak with when I answer the phone. “Hello, Mormor.” My heart melts. No matter what I am doing, I stop and spend a few minutes to find out what is going on in his world. I enjoy conversations with his mother and now his baby brother can listen in and can hear me tell him that I love him.

My almost two-year-old grandson also calls me to talk. Recently, he started saying “hello” when I answer the phone. I repeat and he repeats. We do this several times before moving on to a conversation.

There aren’t a lot of words in our conversations sometimes, but he listens as I sing or tell him about my day or we remember a shared experience. The most important part of the conversation is when I talk to my grandchildren about loving them. I think that the greatest gift we can give our grandchildren is to let them know that we love them.

Yesterday, I spoke with a grandmother who had travelled a long distance to be with her grandson before he serves a mission for his church. I love to visit with Grace. Each time she comes, I get just a small glimpse into the joy she feels of being a mother and grandmother. She is a role model to me. Yesterday, two of her granddaughters came as we were finishing our visit. They love for her to cook for them. They say to her that she is a “good cooker.” Her grandchildren know that she loves them.

We show our love in so many ways. We speak our love, our actions say our love, and most of all we listen to those beautiful words, especially “Hello.” Can you share a story of how you show your love to with your grandchildren?

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Serving Love, Part 1

I come from a family who shows their love openly. Even though we don’t see each other often in our extended family, I always feel loved by my family. One of the ways we show love is by cooking for each other.

One of my earliest memories is of my grandmother cooking in her kitchen. This may be a normal memory for most, but my grandmother had cancer and did her work with one arm. She died when I was three years old. But I remember sitting in a chair at a small dining table in the kitchen and watching her. We lived with my grandparents for awhile. I don’t remember her reading me to sleep, my mother says that is one of her treasured memories of my grandmother, but I remember her in her kitchen, making biscuits, going to her kitchen sink and turning on the water (the sink was on the opposite wall from me). There was a pantry just off the kitchen. Perhaps that is why I love having a pantry in my homes. I remember going into the pantry as an older child even after my grandmother died and visiting my grandfather.

I remember visiting my Aunt Murlar in her small rural home in Northern Florida. She always had spent hours cooking for us. Aunt Veatrice made her special rolls for every family reunion. Aunt Hazel taught me to make 7-up cake on a visit to their house. Aunt Iretta came to visit my parents and made cinnamon rolls and homemade pizza. She taught me this and taught my daughter just a few years ago. Aunt Mavis always made chicken and dumplings for us. Aunt Gwen always made her apple pies and taught me to sprinkle sugar on the top crust. My maternal grandmother taught me how to make her 1, 2, 3, 4 cake and how to make homemade hot chocolate.

I didn’t realize it as a child, but now I know just how much time and love went into making meals for me all these years. Each meal was a gift of love from my family member.

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Compassion

Today, my husband had a minor surgical procedure. All is well and he is recovering at home. Our grandchildren who live close to us wanted to come by and “check” on their grandfather. They were very quiet as they entered the house and even were tiptoeing into the bedroom. He was awake and showed them the bandage covering his stitches.

I am amazed at how perceptive our grandchildren are. They are so responsive to our requests when someone is sick or recovering. We have dealt with a lot of medical issues in the past few years, and perhaps the experience of dealing with health challenges has helped them to learn how to be kind, considerate and helpful.

Hyrum, our 20 month old grandson, came to the side of the bed to talk to his grandfather. He leaned down to the floor and picked up the bottle of water sitting next to the bed to give it to his grandfather. No one asked him, he just wanted to be helpful.

There are people who don’t understand the compassion that little ones feel. I will never be one of those people ever again. I watch with appreciation the skills of showing love and helpfulness their parents have taught them. No matter how old (or young) we are, we can be kind to those around us.

How will you empower your grandchildren by teaching compassion today?

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Hot Potatoes

Yesterday was Christmas. For lunch we had baked potatoes. Our four year old granddaughter and her 20 month old brother were seated at the table while we were putting all the food on so that we could eat dinner. I warned the children not to touch the potatoes. They reached across and touched them anyway. “Hot!” said the 20 month old. Then I reminded him not to touch the potatoes. My four year old reached across again and the 20 month old followed again saying, “hot.” I moved the bowl of potatoes farther away so that even with reaching, they could not touch the bowl and get burned.

I thought about this exchange we were having as I was setting the table and they touched the potatoes even after being cautioned and having the experience of touching the hot potatoes. Even though their touch was just for a second, they still repeated the unpleasant experience. Perhaps, they wanted to know if the potatoes were still hot or perhaps they were just trying to show me that they had their choice to make and I couldn’t decide for them. I will never know. Four year olds and 20 month olds don’t always understand why they do things, nor can they explain to us. Even sometimes, we, as adults, don’t understand why we do things we do.

Do we ever make the same mistakes over and over again or do we learn from our mistakes and leave the “hot” things alone? During the next week, we will be setting our goals, putting our plans in place for 2010 and evaluating our progress of 2009. What will your progress be? What goals will you set for the coming year? What plans will you put in place so that you achieve those goals? And will you learn from the mistakes of the past and have a more peaceful life in the future?

Setting goals empowers us to move forward in our lives. How will you empower yourself today and in the coming year?

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Christmas is Coming

“Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat
Please to put a penny in the old man’s hat.

If you haven’t got a penny, a ha’penny will do.
If you haven’t got a ha’penny, then God Bless you!
God Bless you!”

I love that Christmas is this week. Last Saturday, we spent the day with our neice and nephew and their family. What a wonderful day! We sang Christmas carols, we shared past Christmas experiences, and we just enjoyed being together.

Being together is what Christmas is about. My husband and I drove down with our grandchildren in our car. It was delightful. Jakob read to us and I worked on a presentation. We talked and enjoyed the journey together. It was a long drive and at the end, everyone was happy to have arrived.

We shared a meal, swam (the brave ones, but not me. It was too cold for me). When it was time to go, it was hard for the children to say goodbye. But, we know that we will have many more glorious days to spend with them while they live so close.

Christmas is about love. Love from our Heavenly Father to send our Savior. Love from our Savior to make it possible for us to repent and return to live with Heavenly Father. Love from family and friends as we share time, talents and gifts with one another.

Christmas is coming…Are you ready?

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Lifelong Learning

I watched a broadcast of a Christmas program by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir with the
Bells of Temple Square and I thought, once again, how I always wanted to play the hand bells. As a child, there was not a place to take lessons. As an adult, taking lessons has not been an easy thing to find either. So, I still don’t know how to play hand bells. I love to watch, however, those who do know how to play.

I love that it takes so many people to work together to play a song, unlike the piano, which can be played alone. Don’t get me wrong, I love that I can sit down at the piano and play when I am happy or sad or excited or mad and do something constructive with my anger or express my joy or sorrow.

But, there is more to this blog than just talking about the beautiful team of music of hand bells. There is a message here somewhere, it may not be easy to find, so here goes: Don’t wait to do the things you want to do, do them now. Otherwise, you may end up a grandmother and not know how to play hand bells. There is no better time.

We feel so busy. Life has many things that keep our time occupied. Learning is something we need to continue to do for a lifetime. Learning keeps our brain active and can slow the progression of degenerative diseases. Learning keeps life exciting. We can share our love of learning with our family and friends. We can take classes together (our family took a sign language class together recently). Our goals may have to change, but learning is always is important.

Because of illness, my hands don’t work as they once did. I do not have the strength or the coordination to play the hand bells (there may be some who would question that I ever had the coordination). Learning, however, is an important aspect of my life. I am learning to write blogs and write courses and I am learning to be consistently learning. I even toy with the idea of going back to school. My Aunt Gwen went back to school and earned her degree after all her children were raised. Perhaps, when my youngest goes away to college, I will go back to college too. Who knows?

What have you learned today? And what will you learn tomorrow?

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Grandparents to All

There is a wonderful gift given to grandparents. We love all grandchildren, whether they belong to us or not. Let me share an experience.

Last night, we attended the Kindergarten and Preschool Holiday Program for the school where our daughter teaches. I didn’t know any of the children, but loved watching them perform for their parents and grandparents. They were precious. (At one point, my husband leaned over to me and asked if I could tell which children were kinesthetic learners. It was obvious by the movement.) They were happy. They were dressed in their best holiday clothes. There was a 4 year old who played the violin. I loved it when he called out to his mom, “How does it start?” Then, his mom called out: “bom, bom, bom, bom.” He started immediately. He knew the code she had given him. She was important to him, not only as nurturer, clothier, feeder, but also as teacher. He recognized that she could help him get where he needed to go.

One child cried. His mom encouraged, even putting him on the stage, but in the end, she sat in his chair and held him. He wasn’t ready to be on that scary stage yet.

And, there was the mother who ran to the stage as she recognized the sign that her daughter needed a quick trip to the ladies’ room.

Some children sang, some danced, some did the hand motions, some did not do any of these things. But, they were there. They were loved by their families and their teachers, which included students learning to be teachers. The children were tall and short, big and small, of many cultures and all were precious souls sent to earth for us to love.

We were proud of the children. We were proud of our daughter, who was very much in the background, letting the children shine. At the end of the program, she was presented with red roses. It was a great experience for all of us!

There is a wonderful gift given to grandparents. We are able to love the whole world. Isn’t that a
great thing? Love is an empowering gift from God. How will you use this gift of love today?

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Blissful Days

This morning, I spent some time with my daughter and grandson. My daughter let me take my twenty month old grandson for a walk. We walked past some fountains and he was so excited! I took him out of the stroller and we climbed down the steps to be closer to the fountain.

The water was going spraying up in an arch. He wanted to touch it, but I told him that was not a good idea. We climbed up the steps and sat on a park bench. He stood and held the back of the bench for support. He walked down the bench and then walked back to me. He was smiling and happy.

A lady walked past and he waved to her. She didn’t notice him and kept walking. His face dropped. I called to her, but she was captured by her thoughts. I called again and he waved again. She kept walking. I called even louder and she turned. He waved and I explained that he wanted to wave at her. She just continued on her journey.

I have thought about how important it is to acknowledge one another. Sure, he’s just a baby, but it was so important to him to share his happiness with her. How often do we get caught up in our thoughts and forget to pay attention to others and the little things in life?

Today, I have felt the love of my Heavenly Father abundantly. I want to pay attention to all those who need my smile and my “hi”. I want to share the love that Heavenly Father gives to us with others. This is one way I can show my love for Him.

We are empowered when we share our love, good wishes and support for our families and friends.

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I Need More Christmas Than Just This

Today, we were at our daughter’s home. We were visiting and some of the children were across the street at a neighbor’s house. The children came back and forth. We watched one come in to take off her shoes. Our twin girl was upset and her dad took her to the garage and they brought out the wreath to put on the door. Eventually, she fell into the pool when she was trying to get a ball and needed a shower. Then, our six year old grandson came running to the door. As he entered the door, he called out, “I need more Christmas than just this!”

How profound! I thought about how I felt. This year, it seems we all need a little Christmas. Even before Thanksgiving, we had neighbors who had put up their Christmas lights. It was hard, but I waited until the traditional Friday after Thanksgiving to turn ours on even though they have been on the house and bushes since last week.

I love driving into our neighborhood where the Christmas lights greet us. Yesterday afternoon, I went back to the office to help my husband with a project and we left after dark. I was in my car. I turned on the radio to the station I knew was playing Christmas carols (they started before Thanksgiving as did DishNetwork radio). I was tired and contemplative as I listened. Then, I noticed as I do each year, how the “street lights, even stop lights blink a bright red and green”* and I thought “It feels like Christmas time.”

Then, I noticed the lights, just a hint from the road, but as I got closer to the turn, I saw them all. They are simple yet elegant, and they brought peace to me.

How many times I think about how we are connected. Just as the lights are connected to one another on each string, we are connected to one another. There are many colors of lights, just as each of us has our own unique characteristics. One light alone is pretty, but when they work together, they are magnificent; when we work together, we are powerful. We bring calm to the chaos going on in the world. We bring peace to one another. And isn’t that what Christmas is all about…”peace, goodwill toward men*”? I hope you have peace in your life.

*song: Silver Bells by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans; scripture is found in Kings James version of the Holy Bible, Luke 2:14

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Thankfulness

Over the river and through the woods,
To grandmother’s house we go.
The horse knows the way to carry the sleigh
Through the white and drifting snow.

Over the river and through the woods,
Oh, how the wind doth blow
It stings the nose and bites the toes
As over the ground we go.

Over the river and through the woods,
To have a first-rate play;
Oh hear the bells ring, “Ting-a-ling, ling”
Hurray for Thanksgiving Day!

Over the river and through the woods,
Trot fast my dapple gray!
Spring over the ground like a hunting hound!
For this is Thanksgiving Day!

Over the river and through the woods,
And straight through the barnyard gate
We seem extremely slow.
It’s oh so hard to wait.

Over the river and through the woods,
It’s Grandmother’s house I spy.
Hurrah for the fun, is the pudding done?
Hurrah for the pumpkin pie.
From the poem “The New England Boy’s Song about Thanksgiving Day” by Lydia Maria Child (1802-1880)

How blessed we are to be a family and to have each other.
Happy Thanksgiving Day to all!