Chapter 14 - Closing

Life in Sandy, UT and My Blessing

                                                                             

In the Fall of 2003, John and Leslie suggested that they would like us to live closer to them (which would also make us closer to Reid and Eve.)  John theorized that since were getting older, and if we ever needed help, it would be better for us to live closer to them than living in Holladay. They had done this with Leslie’s parents (who had been living in Orem.)   They found a condo for them not far from their home in Sandy and hoped we would consider doing something similar.  We were so happy in our home on Evening Star Drive that the last thing we had thought of was to move.  But considering the reasoning behind the request we told Leslie we would at least be willing to look.  After looking at several condominiums, Jeanné wasn’t happy with any of them.  Upon returning home, we talked it over and decided we would just stay where we were.

 

Leslie called later that evening and said there was a condo that we hadn’t been able to see (the owner had been away.)  She had called them, and after looking it over, she thought it was something we might like.  So we looked at it, and it was just what we had been looking for!   All we had to do then was to sell our home where we had lived for 47 years.  Leslie put it on the market. Within a short time we got three offers - all on the same day.  Our Evening Star home ended up selling for $5000 more than we had asked.   All the paperwork closed just in time for us to move into our new home - at 645 Stone Fly Dr.. Sandy - one day before we left for our Pacific Islands Area mission!  We moved the furniture and things into our new home, and left the car parked in the garage.  John was kind enough to watch our place (and car) for us and when we did return, it was like Christmas all over as we opened all our unpacked boxes.  We gave a lot of our things to family members, as we no longer would have to worry much about our lawn – or shoveling the snow. 

 

We have resided in Sandy since 1 September 2003 – a year and a half of those years being spent in New Zealand on a Pacific Islands Area mission.  We have learned to love our new home and the Fairoaks Ward that we now live in.  Having a swimming pool has been nice, too.  It has been nice to be able to have our children and grandchildren enjoy the pool.  One problem with living in a condo is that you are subject to rules and regulations that you don’t always go along with, but we have felt them not too constricting.  We have also found that living in a condominium is much like living in an apartment -- you never really get to know all your neighbors.   The longer we have lived here, the better we have become acquainted. It is also interesting how a couple of our neighbors can afford to live in their condos only part time.  What a way to live!   

 

This is 2013.  I will turn 87 this year.  Jeanné will be 84 this month, 25 January 2013.  We spend a lot of time now attending funerals, as our friends and relatives pass on.  We realize only too well that our turn is approaching –– as it seems the weeks move by almost as fast as days use to.   Unlike my sister, Vera, who passed away in 2010, I am not anxious for my life to finish.  Vera decided she had lived long enough.  She stopped taking her medications and limited her eating.  She died in about 5 weeks at age 95.  It wasn’t without pain and discomfort, but was what she wanted.  I think I will be happy to let the Lord decide when my time is up.

 

With the VPAP and oxygen that I now use at night (mentioned in previous chapter) it has restricted my travels, and therefore Jeanné’s, somewhat.  Dr. Lara Hardman, my pulmonary physician, told me that I could get along without the oxygen at sea-level, so we have thought perhaps we might try a vacation by or on the sea sometime but we are quite  happy in our home.  John and Leslie planned a vacation for their family at Bear Lake in 2010 that we attended because it was not too far away.  However if you read chapter thirteen, you will have seen that the year, 2011, was a different story.

 

As you get older, you start thinking more about others than yourself.   Yesterday as we were singing the closing song in church, “Faith in Every Footstep”, the third verse struck me as the sort of thought I couldn’t leave more succinctly with my children, grandchildren and great grandchildren:

 

“If we now desire to assist in this work and thrust in our sickle with might,

   If we will embark in the service of God to harvest in fields that are white;

             Our souls may receive the salvation of God – the fullness of His light,

             That we may stand, free of sin and blame, God’s glory in our sight.”

 

As of this year (2014) I have 13 grandchildren and 26 great grandchildren – the last, named Delila, was born 21 December 2012, and two more are on the way (Jennifer & Katie.)  What a heavenly family I have been blessed with.  I don’t think the Lord could have made me happier than I am with my sweet eternal wife and my eternal family – my posterity.  Oh, they are not all perfect – nor am I.  A few are struggling with their testimonies and some have yet to join the Church – but I have faith that they will all come together as a family and enjoy the great reunion we all will have in the Celestial Kingdom.  I love them all dearly.

 

            May Heavenly Father and the Lord, Jesus Christ, watch over each of you.