Letters from Home – Page 162 – A blog by Angela Ross

O Magnum Mysterium and an Old Friend

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKGBuwISjCg

(Play this while you read this post.)

I had a pen pal for a couple of years in high school. I met Karl at a music camp and he played the trombone. I can’t remember details about our meeting or what started our conversation that lasted so many years. He lived in Washington and we saw each other at summer music camps and during a few visits he made to family in the area. There were long walks and sad goodbyes, one at a train station where his sister placed coins on the tracks for a keepsake to give to me. The bulk of our friendship was built with ink, paper and stamps. We wrote long letters, but eventually I stopped writing. He came to BYU and we met several times during our years there.

Karl is an accomplished musician and has been a member of the President’s Own Marine Band for 14 years. The band came on tour to our high school last week and I was able to talk to him for a while during intermission. This is the song they played right after we talked, and it was the perfect accompaniment to the bright light I felt about my youth and this friendship I made through music. I am grateful for this friend who was a real gentleman to me.

I hope my children find (and be) good and decent people like this to fill their memories in their high school years. No one seems to write letters anymore, which is a shame. Some of my favorite relationships have been held together by writing.

Do you want to see a picture?

1-Karl Johnson — Richard surprised me and took this picture after I left the concert. Thankfully he had Daniel pose beside Karl because that would just be awkward to see a selfie of my husband and my old high school crush posing together. 😀

The Homecoming Dance and Dress

I went out of town for the weekend to visit my grandmother and I missed seeing Paige’s homecoming date. Richard took pictures for me. The dress looks so much pinker in natural light. In the store and in the house, it is a lot more muted in tone.

Paige and I found the dress on a clearance rack after shopping at 10 stores. It was only 12 or 14 sizes too big and it lacked sleeves, but it was the right length and the beads were gorgeous!

It had pockets, too, and I knew we could make some cap sleeves with these.

It was a very nice dress and fully lined, which meant I had a lot of reconstruction and hand sewing to do. The finished dress had about 8 inches less fabric around the waist and the cap sleeves went on very easily, thanks to an online tutorial. I watched episodes of The Paradise while I hand stitched the lining back into place. I probably ate chocolate while doing all of this, so really, it was pretty fun, although time consuming.

Daniel’s Day

Daniel joined our family in the early evening, a perfect baby after a difficult pregnancy which included major abdominal surgery. I was ecstatic that my little Daniel had made it through the lion’s den of my health issues. Prayer, faith, and a priesthood blessing were important elements in that miracle. (You can read about that here.)

He has always been resilient and strong. It’s a blessing that I don’t have much to worry about with Daniel. His independence, height, resourcefulness, and encyclopedic memory set him apart. He is great company in the car because he always has something interesting on his mind. You could come and hear him play a piano concerto on October 17th if you are in town.

Today we celebrate with homemade pizza, cheesecake, and presents, but the best celebrations are in my heart for a son who constantly amazes me. How thankful we are for Daniel.

Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner Take 2

We hosted another Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner party last week. This time there were 21 people at our house. I set 3 lovely tables in autumn colors but didn’t take pictures. We served pasta and played “Heads Up” on my mom’s iPad. If you haven’t tried this game, you should.

Mark’s Bobcat

Uh oh. This picture reminds me that I left the mother’s pin on that blouse and it’s been through the wash. I hope it’s still there. Mark is working hard in Cub Scouts and is well on his way to earning his Wolf!

Daniel’s Bike Ride

I think these pictures that Daniel took on his bike ride are very nice. I am grateful for mountain views like this that are just a few steps away. I am grateful for children who appreciate beauty.

A Funeral Today

They sat on the back row of the chapel, feet crossed neatly in the aisle where people walked into sacrament meeting in my parents’ ward. They were a long line of widows and a few elderly couples. Their well-set hair and brightly-colored tailored jackets were predictable parts of the scenery at church. They may have sat at the back of the chapel to distance themselves from perfumes, infants throwing Cheerios, or just because that is where they always sat. I think they sat there for the view.

Every week I knew that they were watching me and everyone else who walked into church. They were the silent cheerleaders in my life, and a smile was their greeting. I was surprised at how they knew my name or occasionally singled me out to talk about something, even years later when I would visit my parents’ ward during college or after I was married and living out of state. In retrospect, I shouldn’t have been surprised. Of course they knew me! They had watched me walk into church my whole life. They were my in-town grandmothers that I saw every week, unlike my own grandmothers that I would see only a few times a year.

My parents live in the same house they bought when I was two. They haven’t been to church in their ward in seven years because of missionary assignments. Eventually when their missionary service is over, they will go back to a ward that no longer has a long line of elderly women on the back row. I think that will be difficult for them. Their mentors and friends are almost all gone now.

We lost another of our grandmothers from the back row last week. Her name was Pat and instead of working on my “to do list” today, I decided to attend her funeral. She is one of the last of a beautiful group of friends who raised children together, served in the Relief Society together, and grew old together. I just had to go today so I could see a few of their faces again.

It was the right thing to do. I wanted to honor the steady influence she and the others have had in my life. Although this sister was unwell and unable to attend the temple for years, she renewed her temple recommend faithfully. The last temple recommend interview was just a few weeks before her death and she asked that they place her recommend in her hand before her burial.

This is the caliber of women with whom I attended church in my childhood. I was influenced by them when I was young, and memories of them make me want to be a better person now. They are angels to me because they watched over me… Sister Dunford, Sister Axelgard, Sister Asay, Sister Christensen, Sister Whittle, Sister Carter, Sister Hanna, Sister Stone, Sister Holcomb, Sister Davies, Sister Peterson, and more… (Only one from this list is still living.) Thank you for being my in-town grandmothers, steady, beautiful, and true to the faith.

Spring Lake update

Have you wondered how my parents’ new place is coming along? We took some pictures on Saturday. It’s getting close to completion and it’s very exciting. My parents and siblings have worked so hard on this. Richard and Daniel have worked hard as often as they can. I’ve only helped to paint a couple of rooms. It’s not a round house anymore, but my dad’s design is full of nods to the previous architecture, such as stone work, rounded staircases, and a rounded turret room with a view of the Payson temple. The house is full of windows and lots of natural light. It will be a great family gathering place.

1-DSC_2235 — The stone mason did a nice job.

1-DSC_2237 — This is from the back corner of the kitchen looking through the great room. My mom and Susan did the tile work.

1-DSC_2238 — looking toward the kitchen from the east front door

1-DSC_2242 — Room beneath the turret… soon there will be a spiral staircase built to the upper level.

1-DSC_2243 — Going to the upper level of the turret room is a scary climb without stairs.

1-DSC_2244 — More of my mom’s tile handiwork

1-DSC_2247 — My dad in heaven, painting and painting and painting. I didn’t take pictures of all of the bedrooms. There are a lot of them and they’re all being painted.

1-DSC_2248 — Another view of the great room from the master bedroom hall

Let the shopping commence.

Earlier this week we discovered that someone is “dying to go to homecoming” with Paige. The crime scene has since become a little disheveled, but it makes me smile every time I walk outside.

A Summary

Where have you been during my absence online? I hope you’ve seen something beautiful or read something good or eaten a delicious meal without having to do the dishes afterwards.

We have been inside the house, at parks, in our schools, church, and work. It’s a full life. Richard works very long hours and on Saturdays. It is stressful for him. I am used to having him gone on weekdays, but those desolate Saturdays without him are just no fun.

The tepee is finished and looks so fun in Mark’s room.

Mark continues to pass through the gate behind our house to his friend’s house to play each day. There are kittens! There is a puppy! Our house lacks these things, but we do have Legos to make up for it, and I have been told that our food is good and I’ve been enlisted to sew a couple of projects for the little boy.

Paige completed the first two applications for awards and scholarships that she will submit this semester. What a task that is! Here is a collage of some of her art.

Paige spoke in Stake Conference on Sunday. We are so proud of her. She was calm, confident, and her talk about the Book of Mormon was beautiful. I wish you could have been there. Someone took this picture from another building where her message was being viewed on a screen.

Timothy made some great plays as catcher and first baseman last week and he tells me that he’s not ready to play the trombone for me yet.

Mark is good at hitting baseballs in his red helmet.

Daniel travels in a pack of friends that I really like. There are movie nights and Frisbee games at the park, game nights in our basement, and lunchtime ball games at school. Hooray for good friends!

1-Cumorah's Hill boys 2-001 — Photo by K. Trounce

The new violin had two debut performances this weekend at Stake Conference. I have been given so much praise. At first it made me feel shiny to get all of the attention. Now I feel a little dulled by it. I can’t explain it. Perhaps it’s just too much for me to take in. I do like hearing that people were touched by the music and that some people have translated the music to an expression of my testimony. Because it is.

1-Cumorah's Hill girls — Photo by K. Trounce

The weekend of music and speaking at Stake Conference made me feel like we’re accepted here. It’s not easy to integrate into a new place with people who have lived here a long time. The kindness of our neighbors has always made the transition softer, but to be invited to share thoughts and music makes me feel like people accept our version of contribution.

Richard made lemon ice cream to celebrate everything. All is well.