The Joy of Life

November 17, 2019

The past two weeks we’ve put a lot of miles on the Escape, driving back and forth to Utah Valley. Our daughter, Megan, flew in from Anchorage for a week to tend her daughter Challis after ACL surgery. Rough for Challis and for Megan, but nice for us to have some time with Megan. It was a hard farewell at the end of the week, Megan wondering if Challis could manage on her own—and Challis wondering the same thing.

We’ve seen Challis since and she is doing it!

With Lindsey and Brent, we went to the Timpview musical, “The Drowsy Chaperone,” which Lindsey choreographed. My cousin, Grant, and his wife, Tessa, met us there. It was nice to connect with them and applaud Lindsey’s success. Even though she’s not teaching fulltime, she still has her toe in the dance world.

More miles on the car were added with three trips to Riverton. The first was to the Loveland Living Aquarium where we met Jaynie’s family. We found out that Hal is fascinated by fish and doesn’t want to have anything to do with snakes. The second was to attend a funeral and the third to attend a wedding reception. Both were for friends we knew years ago in Olathe. Comforting hugs and happy hugs.

One evening, after our library shift, we drove to Park City to have dinner with some of Elder Challis’ siblings. They had been there for the week enjoying hiking, pickleball, and each other. “Ahh, that’s the life.” The blessings of the mission are family history and family get-togethers.

We had an especially fun get together at Christopher and Melissa’s to celebrate my birthday—four of my seven children there. Growing up, I always liked 11-11 because my mother made it special. I still miss getting a card from her.

On our “temple day,” we drove to Manti (more miles on the Escape) and met our friends, Pam and Gaylin Thomas at the temple. The Thomases have been our friends since almost day-one in Olathe. Even though they moved to Manti years ago, we’ve kept in touch and can “pick up where we left off.” When I saw Pam in the dressing room, I was not surprised to see that we were wearing the same dress.

“Beautiful” is certainly inadequate to describe the Manti Temple. Maybe I can just say that I was awestruck. And I wanted all of my children to be there with me to feel the spirit that is there. I think the murals by Minerva Tichert, CCA Christensen, and others are even more captivating than in the SLC Temple. No folding chairs, but smooth wooden benches, painted glossy white. Ornate door handles and even hinges. The spiral staircase circling up and up. I’ve heard the phrase, “Everything speaks.” In the Manti Temple, everything speaks of history, sacrifice, and reaching.

We had a dinner party at the apartment last Friday night. That doesn’t happen often. Gary Aller, Rick and Marilee Page joined us. Again, old friends from Olathe who have moved away. Gary provided his famous dutch oven potatoes and pumpkin pie—which should have made him the winner in the card game. No so. The joy of life is in relationships.