The Grandparent Chronicles

  ALWAYS REMEMBER   When Julie and Janeece were born, we lived in Wellsville, Utah next to a dear old sister named Margaret Maughan. Margaret lived alone in the house next to ours. Every Sunday we drove Margaret to church as it was too far for her to walk. On the Sunday morning Julie and Janeece were to be blessed in church we had a house full of family all there for the big event. With all we had to do to get the babies and other kids ready, we barely made it to church on time. The blessing went well, the meeting was very spiritual. It was a perfect day- until driving home and seeing Margaret’s house, I realized that I had forgotten to pick Margaret up! I’ll never forget how sick to my stomach and how embarrassed I was when I knocked on her door to apologize. Margaret was deeply hurt, and it took both of us several months to heal.           I’m sure you’ve forgotten something very important in your life. If not, no doubt you ...

  OBEY THE LAW… (AS TAXING AS THAT MIGHT BE!)   TAX DAY IN THE GOOD OL’ USA THIS YEAR IS APRIL 18 TH .   THAT’S THE TAX FILING DEADLINE TO PAY UNCLE SAM HIS “FAIR SHARE.” IN 1862, THEN PRESIDENT ABRAHAM LINCOLN SIGNED INTO LAW THE FIRST-EVER INCOME TAX DURING THE ONGOING CIVIL WAR. SINCE THEN, WE’VE BEEN OBSERVING THIS “NATIONAL FINANCIAL HEADACHE DAY” EVERY YEAR! AMAZINGLY, 7% OF AMERICANS CLAIM THEY ENJOY FILING THEIR TAXES (THEY’RE PROBABLY GETTING A REFUND!) 9% SAY THEY ABSOLUTELY HATE IT (UNDERSTANDABLY) AND 11% SAY IT STRESSES THEM OUT! (PRETTY SURPRISED IT’S ONLY 11%!)    (SOURCE: National Today survey) PAYING TAXES IS NOT UNIQUE TO OUR COUNTRY OR TIME. JESUS WAS ASKED ABOUT PAYING TAXES BY THE PHARISEES- “IS IT LAWFUL TO GIVE TRIBUTE UNTO CAESAR OR NOT?” TO WHICH HE REPLIED, “RENDER THEREFORE UNTO CAESAR THE THINGS WHICH ARE CAESAR’S; AND UNTO GOD THE THINGS THAT ARE GOD’S.” (MATT 22:17,21) JESUS TAUGHT THAT WE SHOULD KEEP THE LAWS OF THE LAND AN...

  M O V I N G     D A Y   Most all of us who have lived more than a few decades have experienced “Moving Day” from time to time in our lives. We move for a lot of reasons: school, work, and life events like a mission or marriage. Sometimes we need more space as our family grows, or we need to down size as our children move away. Whatever the reason for our move, most all moves involve a lot of work and we find ourselves donating or discarding items we have worn out or no longer need.   These past few weeks Annette and I have been helping our daughter Cami get ready to move to Bakersfield to be closer to her sister Janeece. The workers at Deseret Industries and Goodwill are now on a first name basis with us! The dumpster guy is wondering where all this stuff is coming from, and Lowe’s had to place a special order of boxes just to keep up with our demand!   Our moves can help us declutter our lives and despite all the effort, it feels good as...

  NEW BEGINNINGS   January is a good month to think about new beginnings. With the dawn of a brand-new year come new opportunities and exciting anticipation of new ventures and new challenges. New phases of our lives don’t always wait until January to begin. On Christmas day 2022, Allysen and Thabian Carpenter blessed us with our 1 st great-granddaughter, Valentine! At that moment we became new great-grandparents and Blake and Michelle became grandparents! (Yes, we now have a grandpa for a son!) This December 21 st we greeted Valentine’s baby sister, Zelda!   This New Year,on January 2 nd , Janelle and Zack blessed our family with another great-granddaughter, Rowen! As we are just getting a good start at being great-grandparents, Blake and Michelle are experiencing the new beginning of being grandparents and the Carpenters and Wademans are starting a new fun beginning called parenting! With new beginnings come new responsibilities. What does society expect of ...

             A GREAT GRANDCHILD’S TRIBUTE On December 5, 2022, family members and friends of Donna Lou McAllister Wade (those who could) gathered to pay tribute to her and her amazing life. Wonderful tributes were given from each of her five children as well as a beautiful remembrance from Stacey Lopez, representing her 19 grandchildren. Because of time constraints, none of her 72 great grandchildren had that opportunity. So- we thought it only fitting that we share with you a beautiful tribute paid to her by one of those great grandchildren. When Blake and Michelle’s Spencer was in 2 nd grade, he had a school assignment to report about a grandparent. Spencer chose to write about his great grandmother.   Not many kids still had one of those to talk about, much less a special one like his! Here’s what Spencer said, “My Great Grandma Donna   - I know many things about my Grandma Donna. She was born in Mesa, Arizona on September 20,1928...

                    PRECIOUS   MOMENTS When Annette’s father passed away, her mother decided to that she would like the family to remember him in a special way. On the anniversary of his passing, she would gather, with as many of her children as could, at the Precious Moments chapel in Carthage, Missouri. There we would each write a memory or fond thought of Dennis and record them for posterity in the journals there provided for that purpose.   So, on November 6, 2022, we were there on the anniversary of his passing. Those who couldn’t make the trip sent letters to read. As we recorded our thoughts and read the letters, not a dry eye was to be found. All there experienced a very “precious moment” while at the Precious Moments chapel.   The following thought that came forcefully to my mind and heart that day is the topic for this month’s   Grandparent Chronicles.     “Precious moments can and should be ...