Monday, July 12, 2010

My Mom's Side

Did you know I'm Mormon? Well, I am. My mom wasn't raised Mormon or "LDS". She converted when she was 19.

My maternal grandpa thought our church was a "business". My mom was married to my dad in the Salt Lake City Temple.

Her parents were not there.

My mom's brother, uncle Jim, was around when the first three nieces were born. (Me and my sisters) Shortly after my brother was born my uncle received a pamphlet about overpopulating the Earth.

My mom took his chance of having children by having 5, or so he thought.

That pamphlet put the idea into his head that severed our relationship.

Just before my Grandma died in October, he started coming around and being friendly. We just met in Spokane this last weekend to spread Grandma's ashes.

This is Uncle Jim now. Shown with Erin's first, Eliza.

If anyone can unite a family, it's definitely Eliza!

We chose to spread Grandma's ashes along one of the trails she hiked. She was an avid hiker and her hiking group actually made an award with a pair of her most used hiking shoes. They had holes everywhere.
Grandma had such a reverence for fun. Kids are supposed to have FUN!! I love the stories of my mom's childhood because they include memories of traveling out of the country and floating down rivers. In her memory, I will try to seek tranquil, outdoor freshness and remember that fun memories will always take precedence over sad ones.

Here's to Grandma. Here's to FUN!!

3 comments:

The Anglesey Family said...

I loved this post. Sorry to hear about your grandmother....She seems like and amazing women!

Diana said...

Awww, this was a sweet post Jill. I don't think I ever met this grandma or uncle. But I've heard about both of them from your other sisters.

Diana said...

Also, I like the new background.