Exactly one
month ago, I called my dad and asked him if I could come for a visit. The Dallas Temple is closed for it’s annual
maintenance and so my Fridays were free for a few weeks, and I could leave
town. I was surprised by my dad’s answer
of, you don’t need to come. Since my
mother passed away 3 ½ years ago, my dad has been so lonesome that I thought he
would welcome my visit. I guess what he
was really saying was that he is alright and that he didn’t need me to come and
do things for him that he can do for himself.
At the encouragement of my dear husband, we booked airline tickets and I made plans to go for nine days. The Sunrise on Thursday morning was gorgeous shades of pink. I always think when the Sunrise is so pretty that my sweet mom had something to do with it. I knew she was pleased I was coming for a visit.
Aunt Marie has had a rough time since her husband passed away ten years ago and we both agreed she could use some cheering up and this sounded perfect. We called her and she was available and headed to dad’s home in Sandy from her home up in Salt Lake on 8th Avenue reminding me that she needed to be back home by 3:00 when her daughter Michele would return from her workshop.
We made the
30 minute drive to Lehi with the help of my google maps on my phone and it took
us right to where we could park and we walked into where you purchase your
tickets. When I had looked on line
earlier in the day, I saw that for an additional charge, you could rent a golf
cart to take you to the gardens. My dad is 89 years old and his sister is 84
years old. They both can still walk
fine, but distances wear them out quickly.
This option seemed like a winning idea for us as the Statue Garden is at
the back of the beautiful acreage.
It took a
bit of a leap of faith for me to hop into the drivers seat and maneuver around the many children at the garden who
were there for the annual scarecrow display.
I stopped more than once to seek heavenly help in driving that little
cart.
It was all
worth it when the majesty of the garden came into site and we spent some very sacred time surrounded by the
beauty of those statues depicting the life of Jesus Christ. I will never forget the peace, the feeling of
love as I looked into the eyes of Angela Johnson’s sculptures. What a labor of love they are and how
grateful I am for taking my dad and Marie on an adventure to see them.
I’m sure you
are thinking, but what does your title of “Are we going swimming?” have to do
with the Statue Garden? I know, I’m
getting there.
Back to my list, have a sibling dinner with dad. I have one older sister, and one younger sister and two younger brothers who all live in the Salt Lake area. I am the only member of the family who lives more than 20 minutes away from where we grew up. I had planned a date for when we could all be together for a holiday meal while I was in town. We divided up what to bring and on Monday evening we met at Dad’s home and enjoyed a lovely meal around his dining room table. I could even feel my mom close by while we were together. It was not only delicious food, but the company made it taste even better. Before dinner, Kathy snapped some pictures for Dad's Christmas card. We played a crazy game that my mom loved called Druthers. You read a question and it gives you 4 possible answers if you had your druthers. You choose the one that is closest to correct for you and everyone else guesses which answer you will choose. Then you score points by how many people match your answer. It was really fun to see how well we could guess what others would answer. I loved that sweet time together.
Something else I had put on my list as a possibility was take a trip to St. George. My Dad told me that he had invited Aunt Marie and her daughter Michelle to go to St. George for the week to get away and have a nice time there. Dad has a condo or a cottage as mom loved to call it in St. George and dad hadn’t been there to check up on things since February. It’s a four and a half hour drive and I offered to drive us down for a few days. We checked with Marie and she was able to arrange her schedule so we could go.
We packed up a few things and filled the cooler with yummy leftovers from our family dinner and we were off. Michelle sat in the copilot seat next to me and my dad and his sister Marie were in the back seat. It didn’t take long before I realized Marie was sitting on the wrong side of dad, so we stopped and swapped places so she could sit by his good ear and he could hear her better. Now we were set.
Michelle is
a great partner. She just looks out the
window, sits quietly and watches for horses and cows to be in the fields. Michelle is 48 years old but is still a little
girl in her mind. She is fun and her
words are few but repeated over and over and over again. Her judgment of time is short. She can’t
really tell how long it will be until it’s six o’clock when the swimming pool
will open, and so she asks multiple times, “Are we going swimming?”
After our
Walmart run, it was almost six and we jumped into our swimming suits and were
off for a swim in the pool. Michelle
LOVED it, it’s not very deep and she loved paddling about and when we uncovered
the hot tub, it was simple divine. Oh
all four of us sat in the hot tub and just smiled at how great it felt. It was like a little bit of heaven right
there on earth.
On our way to St. George, I had noticed the turn off to go to Zions National Park. I asked Dad how far it was the next morning and he thought about an hour’s drive. I googled some information and learned that there is a free shuttle you can take through the park and if one of your party is a senior, you can get into the park for 20 dollars for all of you. That sounded doable. We packed a lunch and were off. What a majestic site we were in for. Marie hadn’t been since she was a newlywed, dad I hadn’t been in years and Michelle had never been.
The four of us had a marvelous day together. We had fun shuttle drivers who told us about the formations and explained the hikes and we were all just thrilled. We got of the shuttle three times to explore. Once to see the beautiful Virgin River up closer and see where the Narrows were, once at the museum to watch the beautiful film they’ve made of how they think the canyon was formed and then to go back to our car. At that point my sweet dad was about spent. We had to stop and rest a few times, but the promise of stopping for a Bumbleberry Pie kept everyone interested in finishing up our hike to the car. That pie did not disappoint!
As soon as we got home, Michelle was asking about the pool and as soon as six rolled around, guess what, we were back in the pool.
We spent the next day trimming the bushes that were overgrown on the patio which turned into a whole day job. I had asked dad if we couldn’t hire it done and he assured me that he could do it. I don’t. It was a lot more work than even he had remembered it to be, or perhaps he had never been 89 years old when he had done it before. Anyway, we goterdone. We all have a few scars from being scratched and poked but it did feel good to work together and accomplish our goal.
While Dad was supposed to be resting, the girls took a trip to the beautiful St. George Temple grounds and to walk through the visitors center. What a beautiful temple the first completed temple in Utah is. We all three loved it and were so glad we had gone. The missionaries in the visitors center were so kind and loving to us. We loved being there.
I bet you can guess where we were at six. I dropped Marie, Dad and Michelle at the pool and headed off to Whipple Court in search of a friend of mine who I had not seen in 20 years. We taught school together for two years and I dearly love her. We have become what we call Christmas Card friends, meaning we catch up with each other once a year. I love her and was so hoping and praying that she might be home, just long enough for a quick visit and a tight hug. As I drove, I prayed. I had tried to call but her home phone had been disconnected. What a delight it was for me to have her answer her door with her car keys in hand just ready to leave when I arrived. It’s funny how it seemed as not one day had passed since I had seen her. I loved her warm hug and getting to spend 20 minutes with her. It was perfect. I returned just in time to pick up our swimmers and Michelle and I did a hot fudge sundae run for a treat. SO fun!
At 1:15 am, we had a guest arrive in the condo. My brother Ric had towed his VW Bus to have some work done on it by a buddy in town, and it was sure fun to have him as our breakfast guest. I loved getting to see him again too.
All too soon, it was time to pack up, clean up and get back on the road again. Friday morning, October 27 began the first day of the brand new Cedar City Temple for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Tickets to go were not available, we hadn’t brought Sunday clothes to wear to such a special event, but we all felt like we would like to go if even to just walk around the sacred temple grounds. When we arrived, they were so welcoming and told us we were invited to come as stand by guests and it did not matter if we were wearing traveling cloths to come. What a sweet and sacred experience we all had there in the House of the Lord feasting on the sweet spirit there. So glad we had felt prompted to go and that we followed that prompting.
I’m so
grateful that my husband encouraged me to go for a visit, even when Dad didn’t
act too excited to have me come. I will forever be grateful that Dad, Aunt
Marie and Michelle would come with me for a wonderful time together in St.
George. Forever memories were made in my
heart. Bye the way, Are we going swimming?
Saturday Dad had tickets to the BYU vs San Jose Football Game. His neighbor Lance was available to go with him and Lani and I drove them to the game and then Cousin Matt brought them back to American Fork where Lani picked them up.
On our way to the airport, Lani and I stopped by the cemetery to bring the family dinner mum to mom's grave. I knew she would love it and the cemetery was beautiful wrapped in autumn leaves. Such a beautiful and peacefilled place. It was the perfect ending to my wonderful time in Utah! I loved getting to spend time with my dad.
