Anyway, today, to honor him...I'm going to talk about Iceland a bit. He was very proud of his Icelandic heritage and I have a story to tell, so...
There is a woman in my ward named Pearl. For a lot of years, Mike was her home teacher/minister. Her husband died the first week that I was put in as RS president. She's a very humble woman and I have been blessed to get to know her.
A few weeks ago, she went through the temple for the first time. My friend and neighbor helped her through the whole process and she has been working for months to get ready for the day that she could go to the temple.
The kids were mid-misery with the tonsils, but neither Mike nor I could imagine missing out on seeing Pearl in the temple, so we made it happen.
I have been taking family names to the temple whenever I can. I printed off some for Allie a little while ago and got the name of a woman from Iceland. She is related to me, but it goes back to 1676. Her Dad is Gudmund Gudmundsson. I decided to take her name to the temple with me when I went with Pearl.
It was so neat. When I took her name to the Brigham City temple, the worker commented about it and said she'd never seen an Icelandic name in the temple before. This time, a woman stopped me and said she was related to Gudmund (so we must have been related somehow). She told me about how he had been baptized in Vestmannaeyjar (Westman Islands) and then crossed the plains. He died on the plains and is buried in Sandy (if I remember right). I'm not sure if Helga's father, Gudmund, and the Gudmund that this woman told me about are one and the same, but either way, it was so neat to hear what this woman had to say about Iceland. She talked of going to Iceland (the same time my parents did), and also spoke of going to watch President Hinkley dedicate the monument that is in Spanish Fork.
We talked of Iceland in hushed tones and I could just imagine my dad bursting with pride up in heaven as I connected with my Icelandic roots.
I felt a special connection to Helga and I was so humbled to be able to do her work. Especially on such a special occasion as it was to be with Pearl as she made this important step in her life.
I kept thinking of my dad and wondering what he was up to. I imagine he's with Sam often and that they work together to keep this big family of ours connected and surviving.
That evening in the temple, I felt very close to my dad. He's larger than life and he loved the spotlight. I can't imagine that things are very different in heaven. I'm sure he's dragging Sam around and introducing him to all sorts of people with pride. He used to put his arm around me and introduce me to people who had been strangers to him a minute before. He'd talk about all my accomplishments and challenge them to deny that I was the most beautiful thing they'd ever seen. What a nut!
I miss him. I wish my kids could know him in their lives here on earth.
I can't imagine him being 74. He'll always be strong, rosy cheeked, and smiling in my memories. I am so grateful for the memories that I have. I'm glad he was born and that my amazing Mom married him and put up with him all those years so that we could have him for the time that we did.
Happy birthday in heaven dad! Say hello to Helga for me. :)
Photo from the painstakingly scanned 1994 scrapbook. Thanks Mom!
Dad's 49th birthday.
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