What Easter Means to Me

     One of my favorite songs is "I Believe in Christ."  I love my Savior and this song, by Bruce R. McConkie, for me is an expression of that love.  I especially love the last verse and, as I sang it in the MTC one day, it really hit me that this song is true.  The part that brought tears to my eyes and gratitude to my heart was when it says, "From him I'll gain my fondest dream."  For me, my fondest dream is that returning to my Heavenly Father and spending eternity with him and my family.  The problem is, I can't do that on my own.  I make mistakes and I become unclean in the process.  The scriptures say no unclean thing can be in the presence of God.  Because of Jesus Christ's sacrifice, and through his grace, I can be clean again and I can become perfect when I repent and do the best I can to follow Jesus Christ.  My weaknesses will become strengths.
     The other part of Christ's Easter gift was that, just as he rose again on the third day, we can, too.  During my last year of college, I started to get sick.  I felt lightheaded all the time and my body always hurt.  I felt nauseated all the time and it was so bad I couldn't read my school books.  I had no energy and I had constant headaches.  I finally went to the doctor and was diagnosed with fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome.  This was about 13 years ago.  Back then, doctors didn't really know what caused it and there was no cure.  I was facing a lifetime of pain and illness.  As the years have gone on I have found things that help and if I take care of myself things are pretty much ok.  I have flare-ups from time to time, but most of the time I can almost forget.  I have to lead a pretty quiet life, though.  On those days when I can't do what I want without pain I remember that, because of Jesus' resurrection, I will once again be able to do things without pain.  Not only that, I will be able to associate once again with those I love who have passed on before me.  I will be able to meet my sister, Sarah, and my niece, Graycee, who passed on before I even got to know them.
     All of these things are possible because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ.  It is because of him that I can sing:

I believe in Christ; he stands supreme!

From him I'll gain my fondest dream;

And while I strive through grief and pain,

His voice is heard: "Ye shall obtain."

I believe in Christ, so come what may,

With him I'll stand in that great day

When on this earth he comes again

To rule among the sons of men.

Over the River and Through the Woods

My sister, Ashley and our cousin, Jason.

My cousins and I in the sandbox.

My brother, Wade, and our cousin, Jonathan.

Outdoor Games.  Cousins.  Flowers.  Conversation.  Food.

     This is what I think of when my Grandma Aldridge's home comes to mind.  As a child I spent a lot of time there.  We would go visit just about every Sunday evening and we'd always watch Lawrence Welk and Hee Haw. 
      In the summer we played for hours with cousins.  We played games like Fox and Eggs and Starlight, Moonlight (our version of Ghosts in the Graveyard).  I also liked hanging out with the adults.  I would play hard with the kids and, when I was hot and tired, I would run inside where it was cool and listen to my dad and his family reminisce about their childhoods.  I remember driving home, squished between my brother and sisters, exhausted and happy.
     Grandma always had cookies and Popsicles for us when we came.  She still has cookies: sandwich cookies (my favorites are the lemon ones) and those fudge striped ones.
     I also loved the quiet times there.  Many times the whole family would be outside eating or sitting and talking in Aunt Janeal's back yard.  I would sneak in when I needed some quiet and sit in the living room.  Grandma had a big old swamp cooler in the back of her house and she put some wind chimes right where the air would blow.  I loved to sit there and just be quiet, enjoying the cool air and the sound of tinkling chimes. 
     Grandma always has flowers everywhere at her house: petunias, pansies, marigolds, violets, bleeding hearts, tulips, columbines, poppies, and probably more I can't think of right now.  I learned to love flowers from her.  It's fun to see how her flowers take over her driveway in the summer.  Someday, we'll probably have to wade through a field of flowers to get inside.

Nooks and Crannies.  Hills.  Zoo.  The Space Needle.  Green.


     I only had the opportunity to visit my Grandma and Grandpa Barnes' house a handful of times.  They lived in Seattle so it was a long trip.  They lived in a two-story house near the Seattle Zoo.  Their home was so close to the zoo, in fact, that we could hear the animals at night.  I remember on our first visit there my brother was up all night because he thought he heard a woman being murdered.  In the morning he found out that it was just the peacocks.  :)
     I loved Grandpa and Grandma's house because it had an attic bedroom where we children got to stay.  (I was fascinated by attic bedrooms as a child.  I always had the hope that I would find an old trunk with old-fashioned clothes and other things from the olden days.)  There were some old dolls there and for some reason I was terrified of them at night.
     I loved all the hills in Seattle.  One time, an uncle showed us how to ride down Grandpa's hill on a box.  I don't think Grandpa was too happy when we got home. We tore up his lawn a bit.
     I love how green it is in Seattle.  There are trees everywhere.  Grandpa and Grandma had a little tiny back yard with trees and grass.  I would sometimes go back there just to enjoy the plants.

Gardens.  Weeping Willows.  Attic Bedroom.  Quiet. Horses.

Grandma and Grandpa Harrison

      My Great-Grandpa Harrison lived to be 95 so he was around until I was about 18 years old.  I feel blessed to have known him.  He was one of those people who stayed active until the end.  My Grandpa Aldridge passed away when I was just three and Grandpa Harrison tried to always be there for us so we would still have the presence of a grandfather in our lives.  I loved going to his house.  It was usually a quiet visit because the big family gatherings were most often held at Grandma Aldridge's house. Their yard had several huge weeping willows.  I loved to go play under them.
     My cousin, Kristi, and I got to stay the night at their house once.  We got to sleep in the attic bedroom.  I never found any trunks (although I was always on the lookout), but there was a huge old bed that was so high that I had to get a running start to jump in.  There was also a vanity and a little tiny window that I loved to look through.  As Anne of Green Gables would say, there was lots of "scope for the imagination" up there.  I remember that Grandma Harrison made us some french toast and she blended up the eggs with banana in them.  I thought that was amazing.
     Grandpa had a pasture out behind his garden and there were often horses there (Grandpa would let people use it from time to time).  He would take us out to look at them all the time.  I was fascinated by the fact that there were huge chunks of the fence missing because the horses would eat it.
     When Grandpa was 95 he got cancer.  My dad and I would go over to help out and give Grandma a break.  Dad would mow the lawn and I would sit with Grandpa to help him if he needed anything.  Grandpa was really too sick to talk, but I loved sitting there with him, just being quiet.  What a great privilege it was to spend those last few weeks with him.