This summer Grandma G. and Grandma H. passed away. These two wonderful ladies were such a big part of our lives. We have all felt such a heavy loss to our families. Before I can continue to post I must share some of our words about our mothers. Below are the talks Lynne and I gave at our mothers funerals.
LaRae Hawkins passed away on June 26, 2011
Lynne's talk at her mothers funeral
“What Can I do to Help”
Six little words that my mom would always say. When ever mom would come over, the first thing she would say would be “What can I do to help?” This is how my mom lived her life, not only did she always ask us how she could help, she showed us to help others in her actions. I Want to share some of those moments that have influenced my life. In my talk I will refer to her as mom and grandma--she magnified both of these callings with such great honor!When I think of my Mom, I think of a loving and accepting woman who wanted to make people happy.
I have always thought of my mother as larger than life, super hero, indestructible. As a child I watched my Mom spend her free time making crafts. I would often find her making candles o
ut my crayons, decorating cakes and giving me graham crackers covered with frosting, or drying flowers from the sand at the great Salt Lake.
I remember riding my bike to the BYU Marriott Center to spend time with her in the office. This was my second home. She always had a bowl of candy at her desk, and more candy hidden in drawers. She had a way with people, her laugh was contagious and friendly and she was so genuine. She befriended all who dropped by to say Hi. I have always been so proud that I am one of LaRae’s daughters.
When I was 15 years old, I broke my leg very servery and she did everything she could to make me as comfortable as possible. She moved my up room next to her, bought me a wheel chair, got me a TV in my room with an Atari game machine on it so I could play pong, and even rented a hospital bed for me. I was in a cast for over 6 months, and she was always there for my every need. I felt like a princess!
When I was 15 years old, I broke my leg very servery and she did everything she could to make me as comfortable as possible. She moved my up room next to her, bought me a wheel chair, got me a TV in my room with an Atari game machine on it so I could play pong, and even rented a hospital bed for me. I was in a cast for over 6 months, and she was always there for my every need. I felt like a princess!
Mom’s job came with quite a few perks. I remember going to many concerts at the Marriott center, where she would walk me down to the floor and introduce me to many of the artists, or being able to sit on the front rows of most of the concerts and ball games. Her enthusiasm was contagious and as a result We were all huge fans of the BYU, and we got to go on quite a few trips with the teams. My two favorite vacations were the Holiday Bowl trips and our trip to Hawaii with the basketball team.
I was also fortunate to work with her in the ticket office for a short period of time. I was able to watch her first hand, work her magic. It was so much more that just a job to her--she truly cared about everyone she served : athletes, the coaches, the customers even the refs. She wanted everyone to be happy and enjoy their experience and she would do everything she could to help.
Once again, her moto: “what can I do to help?”
I think my mom loved working with the athletes the most. In fact, I fondly remember as a teenager, she was so close with the many of the basketball players, that we would have at least 4 to 5 really tall young men over every Sunday for dinner. Boy could they eat a lot of tacos and BBQ hamburgers.
Some of you do not know where she got the fascination with rubber ducks. A few years before she retired, my mom got a cute rubber duck with three little ducks as a set. She really liked this little set because she said that it reminded her of us three girls. Well she started putting them in different places throughout the house, and every time I would come by, they would be either in the bedroom, or kitchen, or even outside to get some fresh air...some where new every day. Well one day my daughter and I thought that we would play a little joke on her, so we kidnapped her little toy ducks and left the first of many ransom notes demanding a silly ransom, if she ever wanted to see her little duckies again she would have to pay up. Every day we would leave notes, clues and pictures indicating the where abouts of her little ducks. Quickly LaRae was on a mission to save her little ducks. She was investigating everyone at work, and all family members and friends trying to find out who was holding her little ducks hostage. Her little ducks went on quite an adventure...almost being run over, hanging of bridges, almost be turned into duck-la-range... After a week or two, we had her go on a scavenger hunt all throughout Orem and Provo until she meet all the requirements to have her little ducks safely returned. The final ransom was 100 nickles, no more no less. She always enjoyed mystery and problem solving and she was true detective on this case. So this was the beginning of a Duck collection that continued for many years to come.
My Mom was always willing to try anything we were doing. Early in our marriage, Rich wanted to go fishing and wanted to go worm hunting in her yard, mom jumped right in and said she knew just how to catch worms! She told us that you had to be really quiet and use a red flashlight or you could not catch them. She was in charge of the light and Rich was on the ground ready to grab the big worms. Rich knelt down on what he thought was a rock to snatch a large earthworm. After he caught it, Mom finally cried out in some pain telling him that he was kneeling on her toe.....not a rock. He broke mom's toe that night and her toe has been crooked ever since that worm hunting adventure.
When ever we were sick or ran out of groceries..... she showed up with bags of food or Kentucky Fried chicken... Out of no where Mom would show up with a hug, smile or something to brighten your day. Her example of compassionate service is paid forward to our children as we follow grandma Hawkins’ example.
We loved going to the nursery with grandma. She loved having beautiful baskets all over her yard, and in her later years she enjoyed our daylilies in her garden. When she came over during the summer months she would go off on little walks with Rich around the yard looking at all the new and different lilies and asking all kinds of questions. I think Rich reminded her of her Dad, a farmer. a photographer, and teacher.
Mom was a naturalist at heart....she loved plants and animals.
She loved spending time at the Cabin sharing experiences with family and guests. We spent hours watching the humming birds jostle for position around her many feeders surrounding the cabin. No one could attract as many hummers as mom. This is the reason I have such a fascination for humming birds.
When the kids were young we all went to the cabin as a family. We had wonderful conversations on the porch, cooking over the outside griddle or just going for long walks. We spend hours walking and looking at the flowers.
Grandma supported her grandkid’s in many ways. We enjoyed having her come to Heather, Rachel and Angie’s volleyball games and Richie’s soccer games. She might not have been able to keep track of where Richie was running around on the field but she was one of his biggest fans.
I few years ago, Angie and Rachel were playing Volleyball in Reno, Nevada and she and I decided to just take off on a road trip with Jessica. It was spontaneous and fun to just get away, we laughed so much and just got to relax with her. She did have to pull a few slots while in Reno. I don’t think she ever lost money when she played the slots. She had a touch that I definitely don’t! She loved watching all my girls play volleyball!
One summer, Richie had a soccer tournament in Southern Calif. Grandma , Kim, Greg and the kids joined us on the Journey. We had many wonderful conversations as we drove through the hot desolate desert. Family, faith, adventure, plants and animals were at the top of her conversation list. We look back on this trip fondly. Grandma even came deep sea fishing with us. She definitely had a sense of adventure.
Mom had our back.... she was one of my biggest supporters and she helped give us confidence so that we could be successful. She always wanted us each to know that we were loved and thought of. She is a very big part of all our families success.
The quick little phone calls: “ just thinking about you” or “is there any thing I can do to help you?
* *what made grandma happy was having her family around her.
**I feel that the best memory and gift that we could all give my mother would be to pay if forward. At home, in the workplace and everywhere in-between. Do what ever we can to make others happy. Be there for our children the way she has always been there for us. Make this world a happier, friendlier, brighter place to be.
~ What can we do to help? ~
I Love you Mom, and I miss you, Thank you being such a wonderful example to me.
Luanne Glassford passed away on July 9, 2011
Rich's talk at his mothers funeral
My earliest memories of my mother are from about the age of 4........ she was rocking me in her chair as she was preparing me for a nap or bed time. I remember feeling loved, and safe. A gentle touch and soft melody was comforting to me, and the many children blessed enough to have this experience. Very early in life I knew my mother was on my side. Not only did she provide for me physically and mentally, but spiritually as well. I never once questioned her faith and her firm belief in the Gospel of Christ. She backed up her words with action. Throughout all my life she encouraged me to actively live the gospel. She motivated me to do good with not only her words.....but facial expressions, tone of voice, and most importantly her actions. I wanted to be good because of her goodness. I never wanted to let her down.
She was my friend and continually taught me about the wonders of life. She is the sole reason I love creepy crawly things. As a young impressionable kid she helped me catch spiders and bugs and place them in jars.... we put them in the window seal of my room. We watched them feed, grow and interact. She was not afraid to get dirty or chase down a little bug for her son. As a young boy I wanted all kinds of animals.... Mom helped me get chickens, pigeons, turkeys, ducks, dogs, rabbits, rats, hamsters, Camen (allogator-like), turtles etc...... She cultivated my interested in living things. Thank you Mom for sharing with me God’s handy work.
Grandma would have us out in the garden at a very early age. We did more harm then good but she recognized the value of teaching cooperation and hard work. She taught us how to plant, weed and harvest the crops. I have continued to follow in her foot steps and have had a garden ever sense. At least once a day I will talk to Mom about how the garden is doing. During the winter we had conversations over the phone about what seeds we are going to buy and new garden strategies for the following year. I will greatly miss coming in from the garden and showing her a mutant tomato or telling her what treatment we gave her squash and pumpkin plants. Since her passing I have wanted to share garden experiences with her. In my heart I will continue to do this my entire life. I hope to pass her love of plants to my children. It is part of my heritage that seems as much spiritual as it is a physical..... even more so now.
Grandma loved our daylilies. For a few years we competed in the Utah Daylily Show and Mom always came to support me. She fondly talked about these daylily competitions many times. Grandpa and I will be introducing a line of daylillies in her name soon. She always made me feel good about myself. Even if I did not do as good as I expected.
Last summer we had a hugely successful garden. Grandma and Grandpa were active participants in the entire process. From planting seeds to harvesting and canning our crops, she has not afraid of doing the hard and dirty work. We have great memories gathering and cooking the abundant fruits and vegetables. Last year we preserved a lot of the harvest and grandma taught us how to make spaghetti sauce, tomato paste, salsa, peach and plum jam, apple sauce, peach and apple pie filling. Every step of the way Grandma was there teaching and helping. I would get home from school and Grandma and Grandpa would have the fruits and vegetables picked and ready for processing. She had a passion and loved to share her knowledge with all of us.
Family get togethers were very important to Grandma. Just a few weeks ago she taught Rachel and I how to cut a whole chicken and prepare it for the family barbecue. We could never have enough family get togethers for grandma. We have had many friendly cooking competitions among family members. One I will always remember was called the fall festival. Grandma made awesome chili and a wonderful dessert and was so happy to have everyone over. After our meals, mom loved playing games. It did not matter what the game was as long as we were together. As a kid my favorite family game with grandma was blinds man bluff.
Grandpa and I have gone on many early morning fishing trips. Grandma would wake us up…. Fix breakfast…. Pack us a lunch…..wish us luck….. tell me grandpa is going to catch the biggest fish….. give us a kiss good bye….. stand on the porch and send us off with a wave. When we arrived home she would help us clean the fish. She masterfully cooked the fish and serve them with her famous cubed fried potatoes.
When my wife and I moved to Lindon we had four children. We talked about having one more child but worried about how that would affect Lynne. Pregnancy was getting difficult for her and the doctors did not recommend her having anymore children. If we were to get pregnant with our 5th child, Lynne would be essentially bed ridden during the pregnancy. I talked with my Mom and Dad and they agreed to come up from San Diego and take care of Lynne and the rest of the family while Lynne was assembling little Richie’s physical body. Grandma did everything for us: cooked, cleaned, fixed boo boos, counseled and broke up arguments…..she is the peace maker. She never complained once. We could not have had Richie without Grandma. Grandma has blessed my family in so many ways, and has taught us what it truly means to give of yourself.
Having Mom and Dad live with us has blessed me with some very tender moments that I will never forget. Before falling asleep at night grandma and grandpa would take each other’s hands and verbalize their love for one another.
Our entire family is forever thankful to Grandma for her tireless service. May we all follow her example and have our actions speak louder than words. This is not the end..... just a new beginning..... I love you Mom
Having Mom and Dad live with us has blessed me with some very tender moments that I will never forget. Before falling asleep at night grandma and grandpa would take each other’s hands and verbalize their love for one another.
Our entire family is forever thankful to Grandma for her tireless service. May we all follow her example and have our actions speak louder than words. This is not the end..... just a new beginning..... I love you Mom
