Gratitude Day #16 - Modern Technology -- 16 Nov 2017

Today I am grateful for technology.

Sometimes I like to think about what my parents saw during their lifetime. They were both born during the days of mules and buckboards, yet lived to see men walk on the moon.

And then, I look at my own lifetime, only to see even more rapid advancements than they did!

It doesn't seem all that long ago that I was listening in on a party line, waiting for neighbors to finish so I could call my best friend Alice Graves.

It wasn't that long ago that my father, a wonderful amateur photographer, had my sisters stepping back a little bit further, a little bit further, right into a riptide...so he could get a better shot, having no telephoto lens.

I thought only rich people had "car phones". They looked so important as they lugged an extra briefcase with them that housed their "car phone".

Our first VCR cost over $400! Again, I thought only rich people had those. We rented one off and on for $12/weekend until we could buy our own with a tax refund.

Now, I can talk to grandchildren, and see them while we're talking!

Now, I can immediately look at photos I have just taken! If it doesn't look right, I can take it again...all without having to wait to have it developed.

I can teach using LDS-produced videos made especially for that purpose. I can even make my own videos. I can make my own slides.

I can send an email in seconds, and include pictures!

I can research any subject without leaving my home.

I can look at old records that were written in the 1200's, and be taken back in history. I can also see scientists' studies about the future, and I am taken there, too.

I can teach a class that will be heard around the world in a closet in a hotel in Ontario, CA.

I can take 450 books with me when I travel.

I can see news as it is happening. I can mourn with those experiencing tragedies.

I can write a blog, and it will be there for my posterity to find...and, perhaps a relative, too!

I'm telling you...I can do almost anything!!!

Occasionally, I whine. Only occasionally. But, when I look at all of the modern devices that are here for me to enjoy, I hang my head in embarrassment, for I am living a better life than many kings and queens of this world have lived.

I can only imagine what is yet to come in my future.

Peggy speaking at OGS 2015 Conference

Peggy giving a webinar heard around the world...all from my living room.

Peggy using computer and PowerPoint technology.

Gratitude Day #15 - My Nieces and Nephews - 15 Nov 2017

Today I am grateful for nieces and nephews.

And, I do have a bunch of them.

In my own family, sister Jean had two sons, and Betty had two sons and a daughter. They all have families now.

In Kerry's family, I have nearly lost count. I believe at the time of Kerry's parents' death, the county might have been up to 43 grandchildren. It is certainly more than that, and when you factor in their spouses and children, we may be going into infinity!

Everyone is scattered around the United States, so it's nearly impossible to stay in touch. But, through the power of Facebook, and annual Christmas letters, they have included me in their lives.

I have been able to see brand new additions to their families when the babies are just a few hours old, and rejoiced with them.

I have been able to see new homes they have purchased, and rejoiced with them.

I have been able to see their many travels and excursions, and rejoiced with them.

I have been able to see their photos moments after their graduations, and have rejoiced with them.

I have seen them get good jobs, publish books, run for office, get advanced degrees, recuperate from surgeries, run marathons, get married, buy and operate a successful business, serve our country, and turn their lives around...and have rejoiced with them.

I am grateful that I know each of their names, and have seen them grow up. I am grateful that they have chosen to stay in touch with Aunt Peggy, and that I matter in their lives.

Gratitude Day #14 - Good Foods, Medicines, and Waters - 14 Nov 2017

Today I am grateful for good foods, waters, and medicines.

I love food. And, I've had plenty of it.

I am grateful that I live in a time that lets me sample food from all over the country and all over the world...without ever leaving Mansfield.

I grew up with plenty of southern cookin'. Mom's kitchen was a place where many gathered, and food would begin rolling out -- chicken, pork chops, rice and gravy, green beans, biscuits and apple butter, peach cobbler...all made from scratch with no recipes.

She made her own apple butter and ketchup. Strings of leatherbritches would be drying in the attic. And, hundreds of jars would be put up during the summer harvest to get us through the winter.

In my adult life, I married someone who grew up in southern California, so I was introduced to Mexican food. (Mom and dad weren't quite into Mexican food, and didn't know what to do with an avocado Kerry brought them.)

But, I've had the opportunity to travel across the country and various places in the world and taste of their cuisine. Jordan's wife is Filipino, so I've had some of their delicious dishes. And, I've had a new experience with Vietnamese food at Erik and Jason's.

I'm especially grateful that if I want to eat a good dinner, it doesn't have to come from something I've grown or something I've butchered. I can do it, and have done it. But, it's nice to not have to rely on my skills for that.

I'm grateful for good clean water. Our well produces the best water we've ever tasted from an underground river 110 feet under the surface. We can hardly stand bottled water or water in a restaurant.

And medicines, along with good medical care have extended my life and the life of my children on more than one occasion.

Our babies were born in good, clean hospitals, and were gently brought into this world by a good medical team -- not in a warn torn area by the side of the road.

My mishaps and illnesses have been quickly taken care of.

A condition that nearly took my life nine years ago was handled with careful surgery, and I was brought back from the brink. In years past, two cousins died from the same condition I had.

I had two very premature grandchildren born -- one at 27 weeks, the other at 28 weeks. They were so tiny I was afraid to hold them for fear of them slipping through my elbow. But, good medical care brought them into the thriving childhood they are experiencing now.

All I have to do is look through my family's history to see where relatives died from being burned by a pot of bean spilling on them, several dying from the 1918 flu epidemic, others from whooping cough and diptheria, juvenile diabetes, and a three-week old baby dying from syphilis.

I am so grateful that I live in modern times where the chances for living are higher than at any point in history; where food can be used as a vital medicine, and where clean and clear water can be bought or pumped up from our well to keep us hydrated.

I hope I never take these for granted; the fact that I can open the cupboard or refrigerator door and find basically anything I want, or pick it up at the store. And, may I always be grateful that just a few miles away are the doctors and hospital that can fix me, and save me.

Gratitude Day #13 - Good Clothing and Fabrics - 13 Nov 2017

Today I am grateful for good clothing that I don't have to make.

My own mom and my sisters were not afforded the luxury of store-bought, factory-made clothing. From the hands of my grandmother, mom had learned how to make pretty little dresses from flour sacks so my sisters could each have at least have something new from time to time.

My mother and her mother worked outside in bonnets. I ran across my mother's bonnet patterns not long ago, and recalled the day she tried to teach me to make one. Being a little smarty-pants, I didn't think I would ever be wearing one, so I didn't pay close attention.

I let history slip by me.

Both of my parents sewed by hand and on a treadle sewing machine. I don't have the one that belonged to them anymore, for it burned up in a house fire a couple of years after mom passed. But, I found one at a garage sale and had to have it.

My dad was also quite the talent behind some of my maternity clothing. He made my dresses and my tops. The only thing that would have been different was the absence of darts. He was too embarrassed to put in darts for me. He also never needed a pattern.

When raising my children, I didn't have to worry about raising the sheep to shear the wool to spin and make their clothing. I didn't have to grow the cotton to run through a gin to turn into thread to sew.

Just before my parents' housefire that took nearly everything (mom had passed the year before), I was going through a trunk that contained a lot of quilts. Dad and I sorted through them, but wouldn't let me take any of them for the fear that my sisters would be jealous.

However, there were four unfinished quilt tops that he did let me take. I put them in a garbage bag and brought them home, hoping to someday finish them.

Years of raising children went by, and I forgot about them.

Then, one day I ran across them in the attic. I brought them out and looked them over, making necessary repairs in the stitching. I then gently washed them up.

I can recall my mom and grandmother sitting by the fireplace putting these tops together with fabric they already had on hand. There is a mixture of calico dress material, dish towels, flannel, and even some of my dad's ties. All of these were cut into various shapes for quilt pieces.

Friend Vicki Taylor had a long-arm quilting machine, and quilted the four of them up into the most beautiful quilts ever. Soon, I took three of them, rolled them up, and put them into smaller garbage bags to present to my sisters for Christmas.

They were the last presents of the day. I brought each one out, and as they opened them up, the exclamations could have been heard into the heavens! They ran their fingers over the fabrics, remembering so many of them.

It was a final present to them from mom.

Today, I am fortunate that clothing is such a no-care material that I can wad it up, throw it in a suitcase, and travel across the country to brink it out wrinkle-free.

I am fortunate to buy coats that can withstand sub-zero temperatures, all while keeping me warm.

I am fortunate that my shoes are not made from things I had to grow or kill, and that there is a left foot and right foot with varying widths.

I have coats that protect me from rain and from the wind piercing through me.

I am able to sew and create clothing, as well as mend them. But, I'm very grateful that it's not something I have to do. I have the skills, but appreciate others' more.

Gratitude Day #12 - Kerry's Parents - 12 Nov 2017

Today I am grateful for Kerry's parents.

Orson and Shirley Lauritzen were two of the finest people I have ever known in my life. Plus, they were my in-laws.

Shirley was only seventeen years old when she married her 25-year old Sunday School teacher, Orson. Their love sparkled their entire married life, and when she passed away before him, he seemed so lost.

I can recall being at their home in central Utah one summer. I was in one of the upstairs bedrooms when I heard some quiet voices outside. I went over to see who it was, and I saw Shirley and her daughter, Gay (died of ALS) talking about colors and fabrics. She was asking her daughter what her opinion was on certain materials for a project she was involved in.

I have always loved that beautiful scene, of an adult asking a child for advice.

Years later, I mentioned to Shirley how meaningful it was to me. She just told me that at one point, your children become your peers. She valued what they had to say.

I think our marriage was a bit of a stretch for her, for she had imagined her children marrying and living in the west. Kerry was going to be living clear across the country!

But, I believe she and Orson saw that Kerry and I were a pretty good fit. Both of them were pleased on our wedding day, and let us know it through the years.

I can only imagine the anguish that must have been in her heart when she learned of her oldest son's passing in Germany. Kerry remembers it so vividly, for suddenly members of the family were being pulled from church meetings. Shirley, eventually lost the baby she was carrying. But, they would have one more, bringing their family to eleven children.

There were many times when Kerry would call home to talk over something with his father (CPA) and get some good advice. Whether it was about taxes and finances, or a gospel topic, Orson had the answer for his children.

Several times Shirley would call just to talk to me, knowing that Kerry was at work. Once, a particular situation had come up, and she was amazed that I talked with the person to help them along. She crowned me "queen of the family".

They're gone now. I think of them often, and ask Kerry questions all the time about his childhood, or certain memories he has of them. I want to know how they would have handled things.

Sometimes, you just don't want to give people up. These were two good people that I mourned deeply for when they passed less than two years apart. But, I will always cherish the two people who raised the little boy who would become the man that I would marry.

God bless them both. I miss them...

Gratitude Day #11 - My Military Family - 11 Nov 2017

Today I am grateful for the men and women in my own family who have served in our military.

Some served because they were drafted, and maybe didn't necessarily want to go.

But, they went.

Some served because they felt it was their duty as an American.

And, they did.

Some actually saw battle. Some were serving in other capacities and didn't see battle.

And, some never had war during their service, but were willing and ready if their unit was called up.

I have relatives and ancestors that have served in every war we have ever been involved in clear back to the French and Indian War. As a matter of fact, I was beginning to lose count of them, so I asked Kerry to bring me a list of every war, including the years, that America had involvement in. I listed those wars across the top of a spreadsheet, with names going down the left side.

That list now contains 194 individuals.

So, today I honor them. I revere them for their service. I understand the fear they probably had. I understand having a difference of allegiance within one's own family, and possibly facing your own father or brother on the battlefield.

A few years ago, a friend from Europe asked me what is with the fascination that Americans have with soldiers? In her country, they fear their soldiers.

In our country, we shake their hand and thank them.

Thank you to all of my friends and loved ones who are so willing to stand up for what we enjoy today.

Orson William Lauritzen

Harmony Rebekah Lauritzen

Jordan Christopher Lauritzen

Erik Joseph Lauritzen

Orson William Lauritzen, Jr.

Stephen Rhoades Lauritzen

Christopher Smith Lauritzen and Kelly Sterling Lauritzen

Charm Lauritzen

Gratitude Day #10 - Tender Mercies - 10 Nov 2017

Today I am grateful for tender mercies.

I don't believe in coincidence. It's a subject that really isn't up for discussion, other than to state that I have an unfailing belief in God.

And, I feel he has watched over me throughout my life. And, has protected me from my own self.

We had a tragedy on our road this week. A young couple that lives just down the road from us was found dead from carbon monoxide poisoning in their home. It has shocked our comunity. Kerry and I were running into town when we saw rescue squads, fire trucks, and several cars at their home.

A breaking news alert on my phone broke the news to us.

Now, let me tell you why this has impacted my thinking this month. Because, it could have easily been us.

If you recall, I grew up being the daughter of a man who owned his own heating/air conditioning/ refrigeration repair business. I went on several business calls with him as a teenager, and had my hand in replacing gaskets, oiling machines, and getting furnaces started. I was pretty well trained.

We have spent the past 33 years living in the coldest part of the state. That's why there is a ski resort out my window! We've had some pretty cold snaps out here, and a few frozen fuel oil lines that needed heat wrap, and a restart.

I know how to do this. I have bled the lines to free them of air and hit that restart button many times, waiting for the oil to be primed up into the furnace.

A few years ago, on a bitterly cold day, the fuel oil truck came to fill our tank...and when I turned the thermostat up, nothing came on.

Down to the basement I went, ready to bleed the lines and get it going. I spent the next hour trying everything I could to get it going. It went into the early afternoon, and I was getting frustrated. Our children would be home from school, and it was Friday.

I broke down and called for help.

When the repairman came into the basement, he happened to check the flue, and told me that it's a darn good thing I couldn't get it started, for we would have probably all died. It was filled with sediment that needed to be cleaned out.

And, that's what he did.

So, you see that I truly don't believe in coincidence. I have worked on the furnace many times since and started it with no problem. The one time when it would have been a danger, and perhaps death, was the one time I couldn't get it started.

We pray daily for protection for ourselves and our children, and are often surprised when those prayers are answered...

Each and every day.

So, today I am grateful for those tender mercies...