Grandma Sommerfeld passed away early this morning. I'm taking some time to blog at work, it's true... but today is the day (once every two weeks) that I am allowed two hours for personal family history, so this is how I am using it.
I keep seeing "R.I.P." as siblings and cousins are posting about Grandma's passing. While her body is at rest, I don't believe that her spirit is resting. I think she has probably done a jig, like she said she would. And I'm certain she has been greeted by many family members who have gone before: her parents, her half siblings, two of her children (Ed and Kathy), a grandson (Robby), and others.
I feel truly blessed to have had Grandma in my life for so many years. I am so grateful for her strength, for her exemplary life, for her love of family and especially of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I am especially grateful for time I have had with her in the past few years--most particularly the time I was able to spend interviewing her and learning more about her. I will treasure that time, and I will always be grateful for those recordings that will allow me to hear her voice again and again.
I am grateful for the woman who at 16 made the decision to join the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and who left her home and country at 18 to make a new life for herself. She worked hard in those first months to repay her Uncle Billy, who had loaned her the money to come to America.
She continued to work hard throughout her life. She raised seven children. She helped Grandpa in running his business. She attended university as a non-traditional (older) student, graduating summa cum laude in Russian, with a minor in German. She then taught high school Russian for several years. With Grandpa, she served three missions. In between, and continuing after the third mission (into her 70s), she would still substitute in the schools.
I am grateful for her example of love and loyalty. Grandma and Grandpa just celebrated their 61st wedding anniversary this summer. They have loved and supported each other for many years. They have also always been loyal to the gospel. In addition to three missions, they both served many years in the temple.
We wanted to do something special for Grandma's 80th birthday, two years ago. She didn't want a big party or open house, like we had done for Grandpa. She kept telling us, "I just want to go to the zoo. I haven't been for years." That was a fun day, as the children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren who were able to go went to the zoo together to celebrate Grandma's birthday.
I'm also very grateful for the qualities I know I have inherited from Grandma. Even when I was very small, I heard often how much I was like her. I only hope that throughout my life, I can live with the same grace and poise that she always showed.
I'm grateful that she was able to be part of my wedding day. It meant so much to me to have her there in the temple. And it meant soooo much that she and Grandpa were willing to share their backyard for our reception. It was wonderful to see her happiness that day. I wish I had seen her dance with Josh; I had already gone inside to change. I know she was blessed with extra energy and strength that day, and I am so glad.
It makes me a little sad that my future children will not meet Grandma in mortality. But I hope that through my mom and through me, they will know her, too. I hope I can instill in them the values that were so important to Grandma--especially the love of the gospel of Jesus Christ and of family. I hope to share with them stories and memories that will help them know their great-grandma and want to live up to the heritage left them by her and by others who have gone before.
Dear Grandma, I am so glad to know that you are no longer suffering. Your spirit is free to dance a jig, while your body is at rest until resurrection day. I look forward to that great day, when we shall meet again, when "God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away." (New Testament, Revelation 21:4) I love you, Grandma! Thank you, thank you for everything--for the person you have been and for all you have taught me.
Thursday, October 29, 2015
Tuesday, February 17, 2015
Anxiously engaged ;)
I probably should clarify that I'm not really "anxious" -- just very excited. :) Since I know there are those who want the story, here goes.
Josh and I met probably 5 or so years ago (I've been close friends with his sister, Christel, for a while), but we didn't really have much contact after that first meeting. Neither one of us can remember exactly when that was. For the first couple of years, I saw him again at Christel's wedding and at a couple of other family gatherings after that.
People have asked whether we were set up. The answer is, no; he was interested on his own. A year ago last October, I got a text from Christel asking whether it was okay for her to give Josh my phone number. I said sure... but I didn't end up hearing from him. Around that time, though, we both started hanging out at Christel's a lot more often. Halloween of 2013, for example. That wasn't deliberately planned. Christel invited me to join them to take Hannah trick-or-treating, and Chris invited Josh. No coordination on their parts at all. But it put us in the same place at the same time--something that happened more and more over the next year or so.
Hannah's birthday is in January. So a year ago, when friends and family were gathered for her party, it came up that someone else had been to the zoo that day. I mentioned something about having a zoo pass, and Josh said he would like to go... and we made plans for the next morning. Technically that was our first official date, though it was a lonnnng time before the next one. (That is also still the only time that I've covered the entire zoo in a single day. There's something to be said for going without kids!)
Over the course of last year, we often ended up at Christel's. We discovered that "veggie parties" were a great way to introduce Hannah to some new (and healthful) foods, so we had dinner followed by a movie probably at least once a month throughout the year. Christel and I planned these for Hannah, but Josh was often invited as well. I think the only time he called me, though (other than if Christel asked him to give me a ride to her place) was to invite me to his birthday party.
In the November-December time frame, it seems the timing was finally right for both of us... the stars aligned, if you will. Josh did need a little nudge. I messaged Christel and told her I knew Josh was still interested and it was starting to drive me crazy. She suggested maybe we could double, but he had to call and ask me. That worked! That Friday night (December 5), we got dinner and went to a movie. Josh and I held hands in the movie for the first time. I think we would both agree that that date marks when we officially started dating.
Even though it was only a matter of weeks between then and Christmas, we both went to each others' extended family Christmas parties... and both of us survived meeting families. :) In fact, the first time he told me he loved me was after his family Christmas party.
I think I sensed pretty early on that Josh was definitely moving toward marriage, even if we didn't discuss it right away. The first that I was fairly certain, though, was a few weeks ago as he was driving me home. As we approached Temple Square, he started singing "I love to see the temple." (Can I just say how much I love that he likes to sing and will just break out in song at times, especially the hymns and Primary songs! That wasn't the first time we'd sung something in the car.) By this time, we were also seeing each other 4-5 times each week, even if it wasn't always an official date.
It still was a little unexpected, though certainly not unwelcome, when Josh brought up marriage on Friday evening, February 6. Our conversation in the car was a little awkward, to be honest; I don't think either of us really had the words to express ourselves right then. He did say that he intended to propose officially on Valentine's Day. And we did then spend the rest of the evening looking at rings and picked out one we both liked.
What I did learn that night is that Josh wanted to give a Claddagh ring. It's probably not something I would have looked at otherwise, but I really loved that he had given it thought already, When we first started looking, I saw one with a green stone and liked that, so that was mostly what we looked at, But it took a while to find one where we both liked the style and where the hands were just right. The funny thing is, his grandparents were in the room the entire time and had no idea what we were doing,
Over that weekend, Josh also called and talked to both of my parents, This meant that my mom and I were both struggling with not being able to tell anyone else for a full week! That was tough, As my mom said, my Facebook statuses all week were definitely hints--if anyone had been looking. It was just so hard not to say anything!!! To compensate, I started looking at dresses instead. Turns out little girl dresses are the easiest, so I did pick out flower girl dresses for our nieces and sent the link to my mom. She went to get them right away and also found a suit for my nephew. I guess the kids are covered, anyway! There's still plenty of planning to do. But it occupied my mind at least briefly.
When Josh and I got together on Friday the 13th for dinner, I was happy to find out that he planned to come and get me early on Saturday. I think he had a hard time not telling one all week, as well.
So, Valentine's Day... Josh came at 9 am, along with his dog, Savannah. We went for a walk in Memory Grove, letting Savannah enjoy the off-leash area. For those familiar with the trail, there's a spot that looks like it is the foundation of a house--or maybe just of a wall surrounding a smaller building--with a couple of steps leading up to the enclosure. That's where Josh got down on his knees and asked, "Cathy, will you marry me?" And of course I said yes. He told me shortly thereafter that he had planned on proposing later, on top of the Conference Center, but that he couldn't wait any longer. I'm glad. I think he chose a good spot. :)
Once we'd grabbed Savannah again, we sat on a bench near the trail. Josh took a selfie of us--showing off the ring. We texted it to our parents and called his mom (and my mom called, as well). Then we also texted our siblings and a handful of other people--before I posted to Facebook.
The rest of Valentine's Day was also very nice--including a visit to the Great Salt Lake, a quick stop at the cemetery where Josh's dad is buried, dinner at Sweet Tomatoes (thanks, John and Megan, for the gift card--even if it took me six months to use it!), and watching The Princess Bride. It was a long but wonderful and very happy day.
I think that about covers it. And for those still wondering, we're planning on getting married in the middle of July--hopefully the 17th, possibly the 18th.
Josh and I met probably 5 or so years ago (I've been close friends with his sister, Christel, for a while), but we didn't really have much contact after that first meeting. Neither one of us can remember exactly when that was. For the first couple of years, I saw him again at Christel's wedding and at a couple of other family gatherings after that.
People have asked whether we were set up. The answer is, no; he was interested on his own. A year ago last October, I got a text from Christel asking whether it was okay for her to give Josh my phone number. I said sure... but I didn't end up hearing from him. Around that time, though, we both started hanging out at Christel's a lot more often. Halloween of 2013, for example. That wasn't deliberately planned. Christel invited me to join them to take Hannah trick-or-treating, and Chris invited Josh. No coordination on their parts at all. But it put us in the same place at the same time--something that happened more and more over the next year or so.
Hannah's birthday is in January. So a year ago, when friends and family were gathered for her party, it came up that someone else had been to the zoo that day. I mentioned something about having a zoo pass, and Josh said he would like to go... and we made plans for the next morning. Technically that was our first official date, though it was a lonnnng time before the next one. (That is also still the only time that I've covered the entire zoo in a single day. There's something to be said for going without kids!)
Over the course of last year, we often ended up at Christel's. We discovered that "veggie parties" were a great way to introduce Hannah to some new (and healthful) foods, so we had dinner followed by a movie probably at least once a month throughout the year. Christel and I planned these for Hannah, but Josh was often invited as well. I think the only time he called me, though (other than if Christel asked him to give me a ride to her place) was to invite me to his birthday party.
In the November-December time frame, it seems the timing was finally right for both of us... the stars aligned, if you will. Josh did need a little nudge. I messaged Christel and told her I knew Josh was still interested and it was starting to drive me crazy. She suggested maybe we could double, but he had to call and ask me. That worked! That Friday night (December 5), we got dinner and went to a movie. Josh and I held hands in the movie for the first time. I think we would both agree that that date marks when we officially started dating.
Even though it was only a matter of weeks between then and Christmas, we both went to each others' extended family Christmas parties... and both of us survived meeting families. :) In fact, the first time he told me he loved me was after his family Christmas party.
I think I sensed pretty early on that Josh was definitely moving toward marriage, even if we didn't discuss it right away. The first that I was fairly certain, though, was a few weeks ago as he was driving me home. As we approached Temple Square, he started singing "I love to see the temple." (Can I just say how much I love that he likes to sing and will just break out in song at times, especially the hymns and Primary songs! That wasn't the first time we'd sung something in the car.) By this time, we were also seeing each other 4-5 times each week, even if it wasn't always an official date.
It still was a little unexpected, though certainly not unwelcome, when Josh brought up marriage on Friday evening, February 6. Our conversation in the car was a little awkward, to be honest; I don't think either of us really had the words to express ourselves right then. He did say that he intended to propose officially on Valentine's Day. And we did then spend the rest of the evening looking at rings and picked out one we both liked.
What I did learn that night is that Josh wanted to give a Claddagh ring. It's probably not something I would have looked at otherwise, but I really loved that he had given it thought already, When we first started looking, I saw one with a green stone and liked that, so that was mostly what we looked at, But it took a while to find one where we both liked the style and where the hands were just right. The funny thing is, his grandparents were in the room the entire time and had no idea what we were doing,
Over that weekend, Josh also called and talked to both of my parents, This meant that my mom and I were both struggling with not being able to tell anyone else for a full week! That was tough, As my mom said, my Facebook statuses all week were definitely hints--if anyone had been looking. It was just so hard not to say anything!!! To compensate, I started looking at dresses instead. Turns out little girl dresses are the easiest, so I did pick out flower girl dresses for our nieces and sent the link to my mom. She went to get them right away and also found a suit for my nephew. I guess the kids are covered, anyway! There's still plenty of planning to do. But it occupied my mind at least briefly.
When Josh and I got together on Friday the 13th for dinner, I was happy to find out that he planned to come and get me early on Saturday. I think he had a hard time not telling one all week, as well.
So, Valentine's Day... Josh came at 9 am, along with his dog, Savannah. We went for a walk in Memory Grove, letting Savannah enjoy the off-leash area. For those familiar with the trail, there's a spot that looks like it is the foundation of a house--or maybe just of a wall surrounding a smaller building--with a couple of steps leading up to the enclosure. That's where Josh got down on his knees and asked, "Cathy, will you marry me?" And of course I said yes. He told me shortly thereafter that he had planned on proposing later, on top of the Conference Center, but that he couldn't wait any longer. I'm glad. I think he chose a good spot. :)
Once we'd grabbed Savannah again, we sat on a bench near the trail. Josh took a selfie of us--showing off the ring. We texted it to our parents and called his mom (and my mom called, as well). Then we also texted our siblings and a handful of other people--before I posted to Facebook.
The rest of Valentine's Day was also very nice--including a visit to the Great Salt Lake, a quick stop at the cemetery where Josh's dad is buried, dinner at Sweet Tomatoes (thanks, John and Megan, for the gift card--even if it took me six months to use it!), and watching The Princess Bride. It was a long but wonderful and very happy day.
I think that about covers it. And for those still wondering, we're planning on getting married in the middle of July--hopefully the 17th, possibly the 18th.
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