Shared Strength

The supervisor of the crew operated the large compactor with a degree of control that can only be obtained with much practice.  Dressed in uniforms reminiscent of long ago, their dark green pants and light green shirts made me think of how Grandpa probably looked when he was a young man working a shovel in San Diego.  The crew worked and operated in a sense of reverent efficiency that would have made my Aunt proud.  As I stood there watching the operator compacting this dirt I could not help but think of my Aunt standing in this same spot as a 34 year old mother of four watching this same dirt be placed over her first love.  Staring at the beautifully etched stone chosen with the image of the Los Angeles Temple where they made promises to live eternally together.  The pain that she must have experienced as she looked at the blank side of that stone. Returning alone to the life they had built together, to a pillow that once held his head and to step forward as a ...

I wrote this in honor of my Aunt, on Wednesday, on a flight down to San Jose.  I will miss her forever and hope that her life can be remember for what it was, a great success story.  Further proof of the power of the human spirit. --- Wednesday I awoke at 3:30am to catch a flight to San Jose to meet a customer.  As I sat in the airport waiting for my flight I learned that my Aunt Eva had passed away earlier that morning.  She had heart issues yesterday and was rushed to the hospital after her heart suddenly stopped on a trip to take my Grandmother to a Doctors appointment.  On Tuesday they said she should be fine and that it was fortunate that it happened at a medical office, but shortly after midnight her beautiful heart beat one last beat.  One last brush stroke on one of Heavenly Father's great masterpieces.  My Aunt Eva was a special woman, with a heart and mind turned towards kindness and compassion.  She was pregnant very young and wa...