HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TAYLOR!

Becoming your grandmother is wonderful. One moment you're just a mother. The next you are all-wise and prehistoric!

Taylor recently had an assignment for school whereby she was to ask Grandparents about what life was like when they were her age. As I sat down to do my part of the assignment, I realized how vastly different it was for me than for her.

I didn’t have a Mother…. and my Dad was almost as old as your Grandpa! Taylor, you have a loving Mom and Dad, who do everything within their abilities to make sure that you and your brother are taken care of and provided for.

I lived very close to the school, so all I had to do was venture across the street and through my friend’s yard, then through the playground before I would reach the door of my classroom. Your school is too far away to walk to, but not close enough for a bus, so you carpool with other kids from your neighborhood.

Our lunches were very much different than the lunches at school today. We always had a fresh cooked meal prepared by an Army of Cafeteria workers. I do remember that it was always good and we were expected to eat everything on our plate! NO fast-food choices for us!

We were always expected to dress nice. I think there was one day a week when we could wear pants; but all the other days, I was in a dress. It was that way until I graduated from High School. You, on the other hand, hardly ever wear a dress to school!

I loved going to school, and knowing that I would be learning some new concept each week. It started out with the Alphabet, then reading, then math, then a specific area of history, and learning about the proper way to write and speak. I loved all the friends that I made; I loved having a crush on a different boy every week. I remember having terrible sore throats often, and having to walk across Gentile Street to the old Tanner Clinic to get penicillin shots. Finally I had my tonsils out, just like you just did, and I didn’t have to do that any more! I remember walking to school in the fog, and wondering if I would get lost. I remember lying in a spearmint lined ditch that surrounded the tennis courts, and smelling so sweet and minty after recesses. As we got older, we would play touch football, Red Rover, Freeze Tag, Dodge Ball, baseball, basketball, and in 5th and 6th Grade, we took a record player out to the tennis courts on the side of the school, and learned how to dance. We also played our share of 'Kiss Tag'. (Don't ever admit to this to a grandchild that has the memory of an elephant!)

I hope that you will always enjoy your school years, and try to find something in each year that is a favorite. A favorite teacher, a favorite friend, a favorite book, a favorite lesson….

Today, you turn 8 years old. You have grown into such a wonderful, excitable, smart, funny girl.

Such a special day for a Special little girl
Turning eight years old has put you in a Whirl!
"Granma, I'm gonna be baptized", you say
How wonderful that this is the highlight of your day.

Choose the Right will be your motto
What would Jesus Do?
If you follow the baptismal covenants
and are quiet enough to hear the Spirit whisper
You'll know how to stay true.

Hope you have a wonderful day......I love you so much.