Strong Women

Throughout my life, I have been surrounded by strong women.  By strong, I mean they have been not only physically strong, but strong in spirit, strong in their love of their mates and children, and strong in their love of the Lord.  They have been great examples to me of what a woman should be.  For example:

My great great-grandmother, Sophia

 

She had 14 children!  While my great great-grandfather was helping with the colonization of several areas in Idaho and Utah, Sophia worked hard to keep up the daily chores.  She would feed and milk the cows and make the butter, tend to the chickens, gather the eggs to sell at market, help with the planting and the harvesting.  Additionally, the family had a large herd of sheep and when it was sheep shearing time, Sophia could shear as many as 30 sheep in a day.  She, also, did a lot of spinning, dyeing, and soap making.  An interesting note:  She and the children gave water to an army regiment who was traveling over to Wyoming.  The grateful soldiers tossed the boys a dime for their troubles.  Unbeknownst to them, these men were under the command of Lt. Colonel George A. Custer, and they were sadly marching off to the fated Battle at Little Big Horn.

Anna Cecilia and Josephine

My great great grandmother Josephine sailed alone with her mother, Anna Cecilia, from Sweden to come to America after they joined the Mormon Church in Sweden.  It took eight, long dreary weeks to cross the ocean.  After traveling by rail to Wyoming, they still had to cross the 1000 miles in order to reach the Salt Lake Valley.  However, they were willing to do this because they knew the Church was what they wanted in their life, and my great, great, great grandmother was willing to give up everything, even leaving her husband behind because he didn't care to have the Lord in his life.

Mary

My great grandmother Mary's husband (my great grandfather) was called on a two year mission for the Mormon Church.  This left Mary with five children under the age of 11 to care for, in addition to the farm to take care of.  (They had a total of eight children eventually.)  Her brother came to help her, but during those two years, Mary saved enough above the expenses to clear the debts and keep the farm running.  Later, her husband would be called as a Bishop for 23 years, and during that time she took care of the people in their ward, plus she boarded many of the school teachers in the area.  The young and old were welcome in her home where they were greeted with mountains of bread, cakes, and pies.  They say her fried chicken, once tasted, was never forgotten!

Hattie

My grandma Hattie, the grandma that lived only about a mile away while I was growing up, was the one I got to know the best.  She was one of ten daughters.  She could do anything!  Even though she was tiny, she could plant a garden, bottle every vegetable and fruit there was, kill a chicken, have it plucked, and in the pot for dinner a couple of hours later.  She and her husband served a three-year mission for the Mormon Church in the Samoan Islands shortly after they were married.  Their first son was born there, and she nearly lost both him and her husband to illnesses while they were in Samoa.  So she made a promise to the Lord that if He would just allow her to bring them home to bury them, she would serve him the rest of her life.  Both her son and husband lived to a good old age, and she did as she promised--served her family and the Lord the rest of her life.

My mother, Lola

What can I say!  I could go on and on about the selfless life my mother lived.  She wasn't out front where many could see what she did--but the countless hours of service that she did for the people in the community as well as the seven children, their spouses, and their children, will never truly be known by any of us.  We are still discovering many things that the others didn't know that she was doing for them.  There was no grey area in her life--right was right, and wrong was wrong.  You could count on her word as gold.  And always, she showed her love of the Lord in her daily life.

My four sisters: Beverly, Joyce, Beth, and Natalie

To this very day, we still love to be with each other and know that we can always count on each other, no matter what.  Although we live on opposite sides of the country, we keep in touch almost weekly.  They are all fantastic wives and mothers (and some are grandmothers, too), strong in their communities, and there is no doubt of their testimonies of the Lord.  We seriously are like little kids when we get together--we just spent three days in Disney World with our 88 year old Dad, and had the time of our lives! 

 

My mother-in-law, Ruby 

Very fortunately, I was able to marry into a family with a strong mother.  George's mother, Ruby, was one of the hardest working women I have ever known.

She would have her wash out on the line by 7:00 a.m.  (She liked the fresh, clean smell of the outdoors, rather than putting them in the dryer.)  She was the epitome of organization.  She had all the cakes, pies, cookies, roast beef, ham, potatoes, vegetables, everything started by 2:00 p.m. in the afternoon for dinner--and everything was always ready on Saturday so she didn't have to do all of the arrangements on Sunday.  She loved the Lord and helped my husband to love and to serve Him, as well.

I have only mentioned a few in my past--there are so many more in my ancestral line.  I salute all of them for the wonderful mothers and women they were.  But today, I want to tell seven other women how much I love and appreciate them--my fantastic daughters and "daughters" in-law.  They are truly strong women in every sense of the word.  They, too, teach me so much.  I feel welcome in any of their beautiful and tidy homes, I know that every Sunday they will have all of our grandchildren all scrubbed up and attending church, I know they love their spouses, and I know that even through difficulties in life, they will always support one another. 

Angie

Alison

Kim

Amy

Anne

Natalie

Cassie

Thanks so much for all you do.  George and I truly love all of you!  Happy Mothers' Day! 

Thanks, Kevin, for the beautiful Mother's Day flowers.  They were a wonderful surprise on my doorstep!