Kiddos-
It's been far too long since I wrote about your Grandma Adele. I figure that since today is her birthday it is a perfect day to finish up the talk your dad gave at her funeral...
A couple of years after they got married was when Elizabeth was born. 19__. I don’t know. If you were listening when they rattled off the dates you can figure it out. And then, she became a mom. That was her calling, to be a mom. Five years after that she decided maybe she could do better so they had Mark. And then they still weren’t satisfied so a couple of years later they had Suzanne. Suzanne was close to perfection. They thought, well, this is really great. Let’s see if we can get better. So two years later, they finally got it right and they had the perfect child. Apparently I was pretty funny looking when I was born because my mom couldn’t stop laughing. They thought maybe they could duplicate it and four years later they tried again. They had Rozanne, so they gave up! (You guys asked me to speak.) The perfect one also had beautiful brown eyes. 
When she got married she wasn’t that experienced in cooking and cleaning. Dad had a bad experience with pancakes soon after they were married. And a little while after they were married he suggested to Mom that she should talk to my Grandma Atchley and figure out how she used to iron his shirts. So, when we came along, she made sure that all of us did all the chores. We had duties. We had schedules. Sweep the floor on Monday. Set the table on Tuesday. Make dinner on Wednesday. Wash dishes (or load the dishwasher a few years later).
The kids, we all loved Canada. We grew up there. Five years later it was time to move back home but none of us really wanted to. She was ready to come home. She enjoyed Canada but loved her home country.
In 1981 her sister Anne died. I remember visiting Aunt Anne in Logandale. To me she was a very nice lady with about 18 kids, but of course she meant much more to my mom. She loved her dearly and missed her tremendously.
She was very close with all of her family. At one point she was sitting in the room with some of her nieces and nephews and she knew the birthdays of all of them. We were all very impressed. My grandma Christensen sent cards to all her grandchildren on their birthdays each year. When grandma died, mom decided to do that. I think it only lasted for a year or maybe two.
In 1984 was a pivotal moment in her life. Her life was so changed she became a grandmother! If anyone had a conversation with her they knew she was a grandma. That worked out pretty well for her. Grandkids liked to be held and she liked to hold them. Grandkids liked to be read to and she liked to read to them. Grandkids liked games and she liked to play games with them. Grandkids liked cookies, she made cookies.
I decided she probably made cookies twice a week for her whole life. He journal says, "I made cookies today for the High Priest party," "I made cookies today for Relief Society," "I made cookies for the school," "I made cookies for Richard." She would ask me what kind of cookies she should make and I thought that was the stupidest question ever. There is only one kind of cookies, Chocolate Chip Cookies. It says right on the recipe to double it.
I would always know when I came home there would be something. She would make rolls for Thanksgiving and mashed potatoes, enough for Mark.
In 1994, her husband got a call to be the bishop. She was to be a bishop's wife. They received a call to serve, but that was nothing new. She had been a Relief Society president, she'd been a Primary president. She continued to do service. When dad was bishop she decided that she would make blankets for all the new babies born in the ward. She had a sewing machine that printed letters and she put their names around the edges of the blanket. She found out a few weeks ago that fifteen women in the ward were pregnant and she said, "It is a good thing I'm here!"
When my dad was bishop he would council older couples in the ward to go on a mission. He had always planned on going on a mission. He decided that if he counseled people in his ward to go then he should go too. That was something they both wanted to do. They had different ideas of what they wanted to do on a mission, and where they wanted to go. She thought maybe Nauvoo. He thought somewhere out of the country.
So, it got time for their mission. Then they got the call earlier this year to go to the Abidjan Ivory Coast Africa Mission. I came home and she told me where she was going and I laughed and she cried. I was laughing and she was crying and she said it wasn't funny. That one year of French that she took in college had come back to haunt her.
She lived a life of service. She lived a life of obedience. Somebody told me a week ago that if a person dies in the service of the Lord that their mission is secure. She is on a mission. This new mission is in the same language and she won't have to struggle with that now. She will continue on that mission.
She was married in 1957, in the house of the Lord. She was married for all eternity. As part of that covenant the children go on with her. She was able to see all five of her children grow to adulthood. She was able to see with one exception all of her children get married. Now they will continue to go to the temple and serve the Lord and I know that is what she wants.
I know that the Church is true. I know that because she taught me. I know the Book of Mormon is true. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
When she got married she wasn’t that experienced in cooking and cleaning. Dad had a bad experience with pancakes soon after they were married. And a little while after they were married he suggested to Mom that she should talk to my Grandma Atchley and figure out how she used to iron his shirts. So, when we came along, she made sure that all of us did all the chores. We had duties. We had schedules. Sweep the floor on Monday. Set the table on Tuesday. Make dinner on Wednesday. Wash dishes (or load the dishwasher a few years later).
The kids, we all loved Canada. We grew up there. Five years later it was time to move back home but none of us really wanted to. She was ready to come home. She enjoyed Canada but loved her home country.
In 1981 her sister Anne died. I remember visiting Aunt Anne in Logandale. To me she was a very nice lady with about 18 kids, but of course she meant much more to my mom. She loved her dearly and missed her tremendously.
She was very close with all of her family. At one point she was sitting in the room with some of her nieces and nephews and she knew the birthdays of all of them. We were all very impressed. My grandma Christensen sent cards to all her grandchildren on their birthdays each year. When grandma died, mom decided to do that. I think it only lasted for a year or maybe two.
In 1984 was a pivotal moment in her life. Her life was so changed she became a grandmother! If anyone had a conversation with her they knew she was a grandma. That worked out pretty well for her. Grandkids liked to be held and she liked to hold them. Grandkids liked to be read to and she liked to read to them. Grandkids liked games and she liked to play games with them. Grandkids liked cookies, she made cookies.
I decided she probably made cookies twice a week for her whole life. He journal says, "I made cookies today for the High Priest party," "I made cookies today for Relief Society," "I made cookies for the school," "I made cookies for Richard." She would ask me what kind of cookies she should make and I thought that was the stupidest question ever. There is only one kind of cookies, Chocolate Chip Cookies. It says right on the recipe to double it.
I would always know when I came home there would be something. She would make rolls for Thanksgiving and mashed potatoes, enough for Mark.
In 1994, her husband got a call to be the bishop. She was to be a bishop's wife. They received a call to serve, but that was nothing new. She had been a Relief Society president, she'd been a Primary president. She continued to do service. When dad was bishop she decided that she would make blankets for all the new babies born in the ward. She had a sewing machine that printed letters and she put their names around the edges of the blanket. She found out a few weeks ago that fifteen women in the ward were pregnant and she said, "It is a good thing I'm here!"
When my dad was bishop he would council older couples in the ward to go on a mission. He had always planned on going on a mission. He decided that if he counseled people in his ward to go then he should go too. That was something they both wanted to do. They had different ideas of what they wanted to do on a mission, and where they wanted to go. She thought maybe Nauvoo. He thought somewhere out of the country.
So, it got time for their mission. Then they got the call earlier this year to go to the Abidjan Ivory Coast Africa Mission. I came home and she told me where she was going and I laughed and she cried. I was laughing and she was crying and she said it wasn't funny. That one year of French that she took in college had come back to haunt her.
She lived a life of service. She lived a life of obedience. Somebody told me a week ago that if a person dies in the service of the Lord that their mission is secure. She is on a mission. This new mission is in the same language and she won't have to struggle with that now. She will continue on that mission.
She was married in 1957, in the house of the Lord. She was married for all eternity. As part of that covenant the children go on with her. She was able to see all five of her children grow to adulthood. She was able to see with one exception all of her children get married. Now they will continue to go to the temple and serve the Lord and I know that is what she wants.
I know that the Church is true. I know that because she taught me. I know the Book of Mormon is true. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
I'm grateful that she was such a good mother to your dad so that he would be prepared to be such a wonderful husband and father. You all (myself included) really lucked out! Make sure to have daddy tell you more stories so that we will know her better.
I love you!
(Unfortunately, I used up the majority of my pictures in the beginning two. I will have to get more pictures of her from your dad's siblings.)
1 comments:
Thanks for doing this Kim. My mom would have LOVED you! She would have had much less stress in her life if she knew Richard would meet someone wonderful and get married in the temple. I'm sad for our kids who don't know her in this life . . . she really was the perfect grandma.
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