Beneath the Wraps

     I’ve always been an advocate of journal writing – but especially now that mom has passed.        After we put my mom into assisted living and were cleaning out her house in order to sell it, my brother, Corey, took mom’s journals with him to Las Vegas and has been transcribing them ever since.   He also took a couple of boxes of photographs. There have been several parts of her journal which have corresponded with unlabeled photos or have provided memories that have had us thinking, “Oh, yea.”      Other passages have given us more insight to our overly quiet dad.   And lately – mom’s emotions about caring for dad mirroring our own with caring for her.   It’s been a rather interesting journey.        Some journal entries often seem boring and it feels pointless to even write about.   Journal entries written by teens can often sound funny or dishea...

After two weeks my head is full of thoughts again.   Granted they are different thoughts but still enough swimming through my mind and it’s overflowing with new thoughts new ideas unlike the ones before this month started.   Thoughts about my mom’s farewell departure and about the change in song and why and how happy I was that Joh got to sing “Smile” instead of “Embraceable You” which evidently was mom’s favorite, but I like “Smile” better and I love Joh’s voice and he gave such an awesome introduction as to why he was singing it.   He didn’t say that   “Embraceable You” is not acceptable music to sing in the chapel. I think Corey was upset, but I quite enjoyed it.   I’m certain that my mom did too.

-->   I recently   took out my pocket tape player in order to listen to a talk I had recorded.   Apparently I never put it away as Jenna discovered it this morning.   I gave her a tape that could be used for a blank and she has been singing and playing and laughing.   Not expensive entertainment.   It’s fun listening to her enjoy herself.     Reminds me of when Corey used to do it.   He could keep himself occupied for hours.   I suppose I enjoyed it too.   But the reel-to-reel was not something I could just pull off the shelf and take control.   That was a heavy beast – and we didn’t have blank reels at hand like we had with cassette players.   

--> If the school should call while school is still in session, I’ll answer ASAP but if the school calls after school hours, I usually just let it ring until it goes to voice mail.   There have been a few times I’ve answered, but had wished I would have had the voice mail recording so that I could listen to the message again.   Usually it is either the principal or her secretary who leave the message.   Both have made announcements as though they mean it.   But yesterday I got the final message of this season.               The voice was less than enthusiastic.   Somewhat monotone and robotic sounding. It sounded like a school marm who had just been dismissed from teaching and at the last second had been asked, “Oh, could you do one final announcement before you go?”    It also had the feel of a spliced recording made from the 60’s on one of those old reel-to-reels. T...

          Saying good-bye is not always a bad thing.  Especially when it only invites clutter and chaos.  In 1985 I was on my mission.   It was my second Christmas in the mission field and my family decided to send me a tape and king size card with greetings from various friends and neighbors from my home ward.             A 22X25 poster paper was purchased and folded in half.  My family decorated the front with pictures which represented my personality – a picture of Baloo and Mowgli from Jungle Book (I love Disney’s animated version of that show) Ziggy ,   a picture of ceramic nativity set, trees and flower in bloom, dance shoes, real mountains ( Utah mountains ,    not the hills of Virginia where I served) the Salt Lake Temple, dolls, golden plates , scripture  paintings  , and musical icons.     ...

It will be a while before my next post – as I have TONS of photos and scrapbooking to go through.  I just simply don’t have the room for storing them – at least not the hard bound books (and there are many) but do have room on some drives to insert in the computer. Blessed are they who can discard without sentimental attachment – for they don’t have to dejunk later on.  Their lives are made easier because they don’t save every little item.  They don’t have decades of clutter. As Corey had mentioned in a previous post     Ellen and Nate have decided to throw out a bunch of mom’s junk.   And granted, it does look nicer than I think it has ever looked – and seems inviting.   But at the exact same time, it’s not           I haven’t lived in mom’s house for over 11 years  but had always felt at home there.  I paid for the microwave that is in the kitchen.  I paid for the over-the-to...

          My mom said that when she was baptized, she wore a white slip and panties.  She said it was embarrassing. She was almost nine.           I find it odd that mom has no such records of the baptisms of her own children.  I don’t recall having seen a single photograph of any of us.  And yet it seems like it would have been important enough to get at least the two younger of my sibs.             I remember what I was wearing.  How pertinent – huh?  Mom had made a pair of white culottes – they were short, not the standard length they have today.  She might have made them because she didn’t appreciate having only worn a slip and panties herself.           She also made a yellow gingham maxi dress which I wore to Church the next day. That is the sum of all...

I once attended a Relief Society enrichment meeting where we made “journal jars”.  What is a “journal jar”? you may ask.  It is a jar containing questions that will hopefully provoke thought to get written answers one may record in his or her journal.  Questions like: “Do you remember your grandparents?  What special memories do you have?”           “Did you have a favorite radio or TV show as a child?”           “Tell about the changes you have seen in your lifetime: society in general, technology, fashion, politics, laws, inventions, etc.”           Jenna absolutely LOVES to explore these questions – or my answers rather.  Often she can answer for herself, but many ask for detail on things that she hasn’t experienced yet such as marriage, parenting, high school, dating, etc.    ...

          When I was twelve I took a family history class – only it wasn’t actually called Family History.   At that time it was referred to a genealogy. (Boring name; must be why they changed it) I was the only youth in the class.   The instructor was early 40s – possibly late 30s.   The rest of the class members were all over the age of 50. Things were done on legal size paper.   There were Xerox machines (photocopiers) and pens.   No PAF, Ancestry.com, Google, etc.   I would imagine doing family research is so much easier now than back then. My instructor had been raised in a foster care system and had always had a strong sense of getting to know and understand her family.   It was a very long process. I understand why family history is so important to her.   To have a connection.   And when she did find connections, the discoveries were great.   As an adult she learned that she h...