My world

• Something big:  I stepped off of the plane on an uncomfortably hot and humid afternoon in September of 2015.  I felt the humidity entrenched over my body.  All I had in hand was two small suitcases filled with belongings and photos of my loved ones.  I scanned the view around me to take it all in.  The sky stretched out before my eyes for miles and I witnessed the vast, brightly colored sky that I had only witnessed in movies.  This would be my home for the year and a half of my life. 

• Something broken: I was on the freeway driving home from a long and stressful day at work.  Unfortunately, my week outside of work was also long and stressful.  I sat in my car thinking about how I couldn’t possibly take another thing.   Just then, I felt my car being launched forward several feet in front of me. I pulled over to the side of the road, stepped out of my vehicle, and surveyed the damage that had taken place.  My back fender was completely smashed in.  This event was the icing on the cake of my undesirable and unfortunate week.

• Something artistic or something man made: I can still the voice of my mother in the back of my mind reminding me to practice the piano.  As a child, sitting down to practice the piano was at the very bottom of my "favorite things" list.  I grew up on the east coast, as a nine year old girl, I felt like my time was best spend playing in the forest behind my house and getting dirty rolling around in the leaves.  You can imagine the struggle it was for my mother to get me to sit down and actual practice my songs.  I can't say I appreciated that persistency at the time, but looking back, I am so grateful she stuck to her guns. 

• Something Mysterious: Why was I born into the family that I have?  Why was a born a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints? Why did my life path lead me to BYU? Why have I met the people that I have? Why do I feel strong love from a God I’ve never seen? These questions are pertinent in my mind, and honestly, I don’t think I’ll know the answers to these questions in this life.   

Image: my first photo taken in Oklahoma 

Title: “Are you Snoopy’s Father?”

•   Something Big: Bird’s-eye View

Last summer my son was able to drone my mom’s 260-acre property on Kauai. The first time I saw his drone shots of my mere five acres, I was blown away. As humans, we intellectually realize that we do not see the world as birds do, but I doubt we ever realized what they actually did see. Flying in an airplane is not the same thing; only a drone shot can show us what we’ve all been missing. My mother turned 90 years old this year, and I can honestly say that giving her a drone video of the 260 acres that she has created over a span of 30 years, is nothing short of a miracle.

•   Something Broken: Divorce

You never think it’ll happen to your family. Actually, I didn’t even realize it happened to hardly anyone. It was the ‘70s though: the decade of a very high divorce rate. All things considered, it went well. My parents both remarried, I was almost an adult anyway, and the good times continued; just in a different way. But, let it be said that the effects of divorce never end, moving from generation to generation. It’s not bad; it’s just annoying.

                                                   Image credit: https://flic.kr/p/9mREbe

•   Something Artistic or Man-made: My Peanuts siblings

My dad hated the question, “Are you Snoopy’s father?” He knew what they meant, but he always said, “No.” His poor fans looked perplexed. In essence, he was Snoopy’s father, but he was also mine. The Peanuts comic strip was “born” in 1950, and my siblings and I were all born between 1950 and 1958. Because I was the age of the characters, I have to say that they did feel like siblings to me. I always felt kind of dumb thinking of fictional characters as real human beings, but I did. They were very real to me, and I liked having them around. It’s been over fifty years since I grew up with my dad’s other “kids,” and my feelings are still the same: I like having them around. They bring me security.

•   Something Mysterious: Miracle of Birth

It feels too cliche to discuss the “miracle of birth,” but I must. You have to be there to fully comprehend and absorb the miracle of it. Many mothers say that there is nothing like the miracle of their first-born, but I beg to differ. I began to realize, as I made my way through all nine births of our children, that the more I had, the more miraculous it seemed. It was a mystery as to how these little souls could’ve been growing inside me for nine months and then one day just come into this world as a complete being, ready to start their own life.