MY REMARKABLE MOTHER

My mother was only married for 14 years before she was widowed in 1931. She had had bad health in her earlier years and so her family had been especially helpful to her. Then my dad was so capable in taking care of her that she continued the habit of depending upon others to make decisions. Suddenly in the midst of the great depression she was a single mother with 4 little children. Everything fell upon her to take care of.

For many years she had been on the church’s general board and that calling continued for many years after dad’s death. On top of her responsibilities for her family, she had to leave for a day or two at a time, accompanying a general authority to various conferences. My little sister, Alice, had to be our little mother during my mother’s absences. As I think back of all the events, it seems almost unbelievable what mother accomplished. She would pack a picnic lunch and take all four of us on the bus to town to get on the train to Saltair, where we would have a picnic, go on some rides, and swim in the lake, then bundle us up and retrace the steps to get us back home safely. There were other occasional  wonderful trips to the canyon.

My dad would just be established in a job or business and would lose it when he was called again on a mission. As a result, he left very little to support us. Mother would scan the food ads every week and make a list of things on special price and Alice and I would take our little red wagon and make a tour of the various markets to buy the specials. My brother Dean remembers being sent to the local market to get a ½ pound of hamburger. He thought that would be too skimpy and bought a pound, but our menus had to be cut short because we were exceeding our food budget. Mother, on top of all her duties, became a magazine agent and would spend long hours on the phone soliciting subscriptions. That continued into her 80’s. She used to say that she looked forward to when she could retire and sit comfortably reading. When she hit 80 I asked if it wasn’t time for that and she said, “I hope soon.” When she hit 90, I asked the same question, but her eyesight was getting so bad that she was being forced to give up her job and her reading.

She passed away after several miserable years at 98.