Grandma

I am one of a privilaged few who grew up close to my grandparents.  Sundays included going to grandparent's homes for dessert and spur-of-the-moment piano concerts and reading tucked up close to grandma.  I married a man who didn't have this blessing.  His grandparents lived far away or had passed away by the time he was old enough to know who they were.  He is now so grateful to have joined a family where I have two sets of grandparents that helped to raise me.  My grandparents were at my sports games, my piano recitials and choir concerts.  My grandparents were there for me to talk to when I needed some much needed advice.  I learned from their past and hope to spend more time doing so.

Grandpa Peterson took me to the open house of the Bountiful temple.  I was 8 years old and I remember holding his steady hand walking through that temple and knowing that this was a special place because my grandpa knew it.  He took me to Baskin Robins afterword and let me ask him questions and tell me what I thought about the temple.  I will never forget that.  I chose to get married in that same temple-and there was Grandpa (along with all of my other grandparents) back in this temple we had been to so long ago.  Times like these are special to me.

Today is my Grandma Peterson's birthday.  She has been such a pillar for me during my life.  The majority of my memories include making cookies with her in the kitchen, getting together with all of the in-town cousins for an annual Halloween party every year, going to Marie Calendar's during Priesthood session every conference, snuggling in her lap while she read me story after story, and coloring at her welcoming kitchen table with the tin of crayons beside me-I can smell that wonderful aroma of tin mixed with crayola even now-not because I love coloring-but because that smell is a symbol of my grandma's love for me.

Now I'm grown up and I've moved away and I no longer get to see my Grandma very often.  She still is a beacon of hope and courage to me on the hard days of parenting.  Grandma has told me of the many crazy days of her motherhood (at that very same table I colored at), many days with tears running down her cheeks she was laughing so hard.  I try to tell myself that when I'm struggling, "someday I will laugh and laugh about this, Grandma did it, and so can I!"

Grandma's unwavering faith has shaped me into the person I am.  Her life hasn't been without challenges, but she faces them with the knowledge that her Heavenly Father loves her and that everything always works out in the end.  She continues to leave me a beautiful legacy, one that I can lean on for courage and strength, one that I would be proud to tell any person.  My grandma is Carol Peterson, a beautiful, faithful, loving, patient, perfect grandmother.  And I love her.

Happy Birthday Grandma!  I so wish I could've been there to help you celebrate your 75th birthday!  If only for the love of your children and grandchildren, you must be the most loved woman in all the world.