Families

Families – “There are no perfect families … but there are many good families. …In the healthy family, first and best, we can learn to listen, forgive, praise, and to rejoice in the achievements of others. There also we can learn to tame our egos, work, repent, and love. In families with spiritual perspective, yesterday need not hold tomorrow hostage. If we sometimes act the fool, loving families know this is not our last act; the curtain is not rung down.” Neal Maxwell

Around Town

Seasons are different here than in Ohio. The leaves on the maple trees on our street started turning red in midAugust. Roses bloom all summer. Many rose bushes are still full of blossoms the end of September. 

Kirkland has an Oktoberfest every fall. It's held at Marina Park in downtown Kirkland. It was all set up when we were at the park recently.

This picture is a great example of the diversity in this area. We'd just had dinner at Alanya, a small cafe owned by a couple from Turkey. We walked across the street to have Italian gelato at Sirena's. On our way the owner of Cafe Happy walked past us, recognized us and said hello. She and her family came here from Taiwan. The German oompah band from Oktoberfest played in front of Sirena's. Several families from India stopped so their children could dance to the music. This is America Kirkland-style.

We do love this community!

Sunset

I love living by the water and watching the way the light plays on the water. The colors of the sunset across the lake are often amazing. The other night we were driving home and noticed the vivid colors in the sky. We drove to Houghton Beach Park to watch. The pictures are taken from the parking lot, midway to the "Winter" sculpture and then through the sculpture. 

 sculpture - bottom left

Check out this picture for another awesome sunset.

Found on the Internet - Caryl Holton

Recently I participated in a webinar about online libraries. While listening, I experimented by doing a search using Grandpa's name. I often use "Caryl Holton" for test searches because it is a fairly unique name. Imagine my surprise when this was in the search results. 

Grandpa's thesis from the University of Illinois - He was in the Class of 1913 and majored in civil engineering. You can download the entire thesis from several sites including Internet Archive. Here you can have a copy made from a print on demand service; cost just $10+

What a time we live in. A few key strokes brings up our grandfather's college thesis which we can then download, for free, and have on our computers or print ourselves. Or - we can use a print on demand service, which appears to be owned by someone in Delhi, India to get a hardback copy of the thesis - for about $10. I wonder where it's printed. Amazing!

Here's Grandpa's senior photo from the University of Illinois Yearbook

Children & Holes

In the picture - Caryl & Celia Holton's "boys" and their wives at Christmas 1959. Grandpa always referred to them as "my boys." I count them as Florence's boys too since she was the one who was there for them after Celia's death. Dorothy is pregnant with Ruth and John. I wonder if she knew she was going to have twins four months later? This was before routine ultrasounds. 

We had many good times around this table in the breakfast nook at Grandpa and Grandma's at First Street in London. Grandpa's snacks of milk and crackers come to mind as do warm potato chips that Grandma served when we went there for lunch on a school day. That seemed like a treat to us. Only later did we realize they were warm because Grandma put them in the oven to remove some of the staleness in old, perhaps soggy chips. :)

In this picture I also see the bright blue vinyl covered seat that wraps around the corner. Not long after Grandma had the bench recovered in the bright blue vinyl, I was sitting there with Mom, Grandma, and I don't know who else. I was very young. None of the adults noticed that I had a sharp pencil and was quietly poking holes in the brand new seat - perhaps 6 or 8 holes! Decades later, after Grandpa died, and Grandma sold the house to move into an apartment, the holes were still there. That covering was very sturdy. 

Again, like the tulips story related back here, I don't recall Grandma getting upset with me. I remember the happening only because Mom love to tell the story. Thank you Grandma for your kindness and gentleness. 

We know the family who bought the First Street house. They were very kind about letting us take cousins through the house when they visited. The blue bench - with holes - was still there. 

As I recount this story, some instances with our children come to my mind. I wish I had reacted more like Grandma. Children, I'm sorry when I didn't. I have improved with maturity and experience. 

This brings to mind Marjorie Pay Hinckley's counsel about tense situations - "Always save the relationship." Grandma did that. 

Julia 1950

Caryl & Florence Holton ca 1960

Seeds - Planting & Harvesting

"But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully." 2 Corinthians 9:6

“… for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap….And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap …” (Galatians 6:7–9).

A story – A woman was disappointed when the seeds she bought didn’t produce. She didn’t plant the seeds because she didn’t want to get her hands dirty. She wanted the result without the work.

Another person planted the seeds as directed and watered them but complained because they didn’t “work.” She expected the fruit within a week of planting the seeds.

Yet another person planted and cared for the seeds and then was very disappointed when she got zucchini instead of pumpkins that she wanted. It was pointed out that she couldn’t get pumpkins because she planted zucchini seeds.

So it is with us. There is a law of the harvest. We have to be careful what we plant. We have to put in the work. We have to nourish. We have to be patient. 

  

“God’s harvest is unimaginably glorious. To those who honor Him, His bountiful blessings come in “good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over. … ” (Luke 6:38).” Dieter Uchtdorf

To harvest things of God we have to plant those seeds and nourish them. That takes learning Christ's gospel, living it, desire, prayer, scripture study, worship, and more.

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Read Alma 32 for a beautiful description of planting seeds of faith and reaping a bountiful harvest. 

Read more about God’s Harvest in this talk by Dieter Uchtdorf.  

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Tulips and Children

What do you notice when you look at this picture? You probably see a shy little boy who's not sure he wants to meet his uncles. April 1952 - Mom, Tom, Uncle Dick & Uncle David outside Grandpa and Grandma's at the back door of the house on First Street 

See that row of tulips? There's a story there. 

Grandma and Grandpa cared for the yard but it was not actively landscaped or gardened. Grandma took pride in a beautiful Peace rose that bloomed on the west side of the house near the front porch. I remember several outings to a nursery on Route 40 between London and Springfield. The trips were probably in conjunction with visits to see Grandma's mother who was in a nursing home somewhere along that route. 

Anyway, back to the story about the tulips - Mom loved to tell this story. Grandma decided to plant a flowerbed in the little strip of dirt by the back door. This was a big deal garden in her mind. In the fall she planted tulips and eagerly watched them emerge and blossom the next spring. One day we were at Grandpa and Grandma's. The adults were talking inside and looked with amazement when I came into the house and presented Grandma a bouquet of ALL her tulips! Her garden was gone! 

I don't remember the incident except through Mom's delight in retelling it over the years. I don't recall that Grandma got upset with me. I don't think I ever saw Grandma get angry or even a bit peeved. Grandma valued the child over the tulips. Thank you Grandma. 

Julia about 4 years old in 1950

July 1955 - Grandma & Grandpa with our cousins

Julia 1948               tulips 2014

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I thought about Grandma and the tulips when I read this story. 

That Our Children May Know

"... we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know ..."   2 Nephi 25: 26

Changing the World

Pure Christlike love flowing from true righteousness can change the world.

Jeffrey Holland

Caring for Each Other

In our letters you read about the visits we make and the visits we receive. Watchcare is the word often used to describe our stewardship for each other. It's all about ministering to each other - doing what Christ would do. This scripture beautifully describes what we do and why.

"... that they might be remembered and nourished by the good word of God, to keep them in the right way, to keep them continually watchful unto prayer, relying alone upon the merits of Christ, who was the author and the finisher of their faith. And the church did meet together oft, to fast and to pray, and to speak one with another concerning the welfare of their souls."  Moroni 6: 4-5

Disciple

“Your religion is not just about showing up for church on Sunday. It is about showing up as a true disciple from Sunday morning through Saturday night—24/7. There is no such thing as a part-time disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ.”

A strong character is necessary for discipleship—for disciples will be put to the test."  Russell M. Nelson 

Cats

December 1979

"When I play with my cat, who knows if I am not a pastime to her 

more than she is to me?"

(Montaigne, quoted in TheGuardian.com*)

December 1983

My parents always had at least one cat and often two.

*from The Week, September 12, 2014

Hope - Anchor For The Soul

“Wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with surety hope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which hope cometh of faith, maketh an anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works, being led to glorify God.” Ether 12:4

Hope, faith, anchor to the soul – When times are difficult or when we don’t know why our lives have taken a certain turn, our faith in God will anchor us and keep us from drifting into doubt, deeper troubles, and despair. 

"We can do much to establish habits of hope. Hope is the anchor for the soul, the sail for our dreams, and the balm for our pains." Vaughn Worthen.

Click here to read Worthen's article on hope.

Dad - Reflections on Family

Bill & Mary - Christmas 1982

Dad's weekly letters were usually filled with accounts of projects around the house, weather reports, and family news from our phone calls and letters. Every once in a while he went beyond the every day and shared some of his thoughts and feelings about what was important to him. 

The following is from his first letter of 1982. 

"Our Christmas tree is down and the porch again all tidied up – – all that's left are the memories and a lot of fine presents we’ll be enjoying for a long time to come. But the best present of all is that you all feel very much a part of the family, and that we can all be close in spirit and love even though we may be physically separated by many miles.

We have been thrilled, too, by the fact that those who have married into the family and who have been born in have come to feel this close bond. My wish for 1982 would be that this can continue to grow and that, as we all grow in our separate ways and directions, we may also grow together in appreciation, love, and concern."

Keepsake - Sewing Kit - Idah Bowman Browne

Idah Bowman Browne, my maternal Great-Grandmother made this sewing kit for me. There's a cloth thimble that goes with it. 

When I was growing up, Grandma Idah  lived in Michigan and we lived in Ohio. We didn’t see her very often. One time we were in Arlington Heights, Illinois visiting Gram and Poppie (Harry and Mildred Browne Floyd), when Idah was there. That's when Grandma Idah gave this sewing kit to me.  

Susan's sewing kit

While visiting my Boston sister in October 2013, I noticed she had a similar sewing kit. She thought another grandmother, Florence Clark Holton, made it. My guess is that Grandma Idah made both of them. 

Grandma Idah did a lot of sewing. Mom said said Idah earned money through her sewing after her husband died.  

Idah’s father, John Boman, spelled the family name without the “‘w”. He came to the United States from Germany. Her husband’s family name (and her married name) was sometimes spelled Brown and sometimes with an “e”, Browne. Sometimes Idah was spelled without the "h."

Idah Alice Bowman Browne April 9, 1869 - March 31, 1966

Harry Fulton Browne December 20, 1866 - May 7, 1927

Idah & Harry Browne - If this is their wedding photo, 

it was taken in 1890

Idah in June 1956

June 1956

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-Flowers appliqued on front; fabric "thimble" inside 
-Felt

- 7.5 x 4" closed

Heart of Family Life

“Some of our greatest opportunities to demonstrate our love will be within the walls of our own homes. Love should be the very heart of family life.” Thomas Monson