Mom’s Book

Shortly before Mom’s 75th birthday in 2007, I decided to make her a book, containing short thoughts from all her family and friends. That was before the days of Facebook or Instagram, so I had to send out written letters and emails, requesting memories and thoughts about mom. I envisioned typing up the responses on note cards and having them spiral bound. About that time, I attended a craft show in Vernal and stopped at a booth advertising online scrapbooks created from digital photos and text. I loved what I saw and decided I should make mom's book using this program. I went home and worked for a solid week, trying to learn the program. But, at the end of the week, I did not have even one picture on one page to show for all my efforts.  I tried so hard. Finally, after going to bed at 2:30 one night (morning) I told Mike I had decided to scrap my plans for the Heritage Makers book. I'd have to be satisfied with the way I had originally planned it on card stock and wire bound.
That afternoon, Mike and I went to the temple. During our session, an unexpected thought came to me that, to this day, I still remember clearly. “You will find a way to make this book using the Heritage Makers program. Years from now, you will be glad you did.” On the way home from the temple, another thought popped into my mind, “Your daughters and your nieces can help with this. They are far more computer savvy than you are.” So I went home and sent them all an email. Cindy e-mailed me back almost immediately, saying she would be delighted to help. Throughout the night, it continued. Annie and Russ got online and were immediately able to format pages. Diana e-mailed me several times that night, and Kristi called and uploaded pictures to the site. Jamie got Rob to upload a huge file of pictures as well, and Sasha came up and spent several hours learning how the program works. We created the book in eight days. It will always be one of the best memories of my life. It was satisfying and humbling to see these grandkids bond together, spending hours on a project in honor of the grandmother they all loved. It became their gift to her! Many of us gathered in Salt Lake to present the book to mom on her birthday. As she began to read it, mom looked up at us and said, “I want to be buried with this book!” (she was!) I assumed that the thought I had, “Years from now you will be happy that you did” meant that the book would be a nice keepsake, but it became much more than that.  

In just a few short years, mom’s memory was gone and she had become anxious and easily agitated. One of the very few things that could calm her down was when we would sit and read from her book. It was amazing and delightful for us to have her read comments over and over again, always reacting as if she was hearing them for the first time! “Years from now you will be glad you did” had taken on a whole new meaning.  

And then last summer, something very special happened. It was mom's last visit to our home in St. George.  We realized that her Alzheimer's had progressed to the point where it was no longer safe for mom and dad to travel.  After a long night, and a particularly stressful morning, all of us were exhausted. I had reached the point where I had begun to forget what it was like before Alzheimer's.

I got out mom's book. Mom and I took turns reading. (Fortunately, mom's ability to read was never taken from her) As she sat and read stories and memories of her past, I was suddenly overwhelmed with deep gratitude. For a brief moment, I had my mom back. And the words, “Years from now, you will be glad you did.” came to my mind.

In that instant, I realized that the "you" who would be glad was me! A loving Heavenly Father who knew the end from the beginning had planned and provided a way, not only for mom to have some comfort during her illness, but to provide a grief stricken daughter some comfort as well. What a sweet and tender mercy that was!