Old Folks

Boston has always been a place of history. From the days of the Colonists through the American Revolution, there were brave people who lived and died there. Now we have seen a new kind of bravery with the bombings that took place during marathon. There were so many heroic people who rushed to the aid of the injured and who ran, not away from, but toward those in need of help. The tragedy played out but the heros among us rose to the occasion, as they always do. I am thankful that there are still selfless good people in the world.

It is actually a good thing that Jim did not want Gramps/Dad to come back down to Needles because he is not getting better very quickly even though the doctor warned him that it might be five to seven days before he felt really well again. I thought that he would bounce back as normal.  (Although, after all of the sinus infections I have had over the years, you would think I might not really expect that.) I always know when he is really sick because he lets me wait on him. Better than that, he actually wanted to go to the doctor. Today he seems quite a bit better but did not go to church. He did read from his scriptures and read the last letters from the missionary grandsons. He had a quiet day which is most unusual for him.

I have a new goal: go to bed before midnight. I seem so antsy to myself that I decided I maybe needed to stop burning the candle at both ends. So I will be brief and then get to bed. My other goal, to enjoy each day as it unfolds has been good for me. I spend too much time worrying about things that I cannot change and not enough worrying about the things I can. So, I reason, I will enjoy each day with gratitude for being alive. I have enjoyed just being with Dad/Gramps and just being thankful that we can still know who we are. Some of the folks I work with at the care center on Sundays are not that lucky. Some of them, for example, have trouble finding the pages of the hymn though they still can sing the words. It worries some of the residents that they do not have the right page  but they have all the words tucked away somewhere at any rate and do not need the page at all. But, I go around and find pages for them so they will be happy. Most of them are only 10 years older than I am.  Really. They are 82 or so and I am 72. I hope that my mind holds out longer than theirs have. Of course, some of the folks I work with at the temple are fine and are in their late 80s. I wonder what really makes the difference?

When President Monson spoke to the young women at their special meeting he said: “Seek heavenly guidance one day at a time. Life by the yard is hard; by the inch it’s a cinch. Each of us can be true for just one day—and then one more, and then one more after that, until we’ve lived a lifetime guided by the Spirit, a lifetime close to the Lord, a lifetime of good deeds and righteousness. The Savior promised: ‘Look unto me, and endure to the end, and ye shall live; for unto him that endureth to the end will I give eternal life’ (3 Nephi 15:9)."

I enjoyed this comment from our lesson in Relief Society today. In my opinion, Lorenzo Snow was a prophet to pay attention to. "Do not expect to become perfect at once. If you do, you will be disappointed. Be better today than you were yesterday, and be better tomorrow than you are today. The temptations that perphaps partially overcome us today, let them not overcome us so far tomorrow. Thus continue to be a little better day by day; and do not let your life wear away without accomplishing good to others as well as to ourselves."

As you get old, you realize how some of the things you have put off will likely never get done. We can wear out lives away, as President Snow said, and not accomplish the good we planned. Soon our opportunity is gone and the plans we made when we were young are not accomplished. Now is the time to do what needs doing.

Lots of love,
Grammy and Gramps