"I Know .... I Will"

Memorial Day was always a special day in the family I grew up in. We would take a picnic and visit all the family graves in the area, putting pretty flowers on each one, flowers that mom had painstakingly put together, carefully making sure that each arrangement matched the person. We would stop at each grave and talk about that person, and what he or she meant to my parents. After we all left home, and dad passed away, we would sometimes take turns taking mom around to the cemeteries to deliver her flowers. Finally, it became impossible for mom to go at all, so she would give me money to buy flowers and take them myself. I was pretty careful to match the flower with the person, like she did, then report back to her when it was done. One particular day, about 5 or 6 years ago, I dutifully delivered flowers to the Sugar City cemetery where my grandma had bought a big plot when her husband (dad's dad) died of appendicitis in 1923, leaving her with 7 children to raise on her own. He is buried there, along with Aunt Amy, brother Verle, sister Marilyn, and baby niece, Monica, and several other cousins and relatives over the years. I turned to walk back to my car, and just before I got in, I suddenly turned around, and looked back at the graves, and said, "I know .... I will." It was as if my spirit had heard them pleading for help in getting more temple work done. If ever I need to be motivated to keep searching for family names to take to the temple, I think back on that day, and the phrase that unexpectedly left my lips, "I know .... I will."

Grandpa Skidmore

Aunt Amy

Sister Marilyn

Brother Verle