Happy Mother's Day

Mother’s Day 2009 -

”For if I love flowers and meadows and walking, I learn how to love them dear Mother from you.”


Memories of MOM


Bread - Mom baked bread on Saturdays. She used a bowl about this big and a gallon jug filled about 2/3 with warm water then the yeast was added powdered milk honey salt and oil. In the bowl would be a ten pound bag of flour and we made a well and poured in the ... The result was heavenly. It yielded 10 loaves.
We very rarely ate all 10 loaves of bread. Mom would send me or Spence or Max with a loaf still warm and in a brown paper sack to the neighbor with the new baby, to brother so and so for his kindness and checking up on the boys, to Brother Hilton, our home teacher, to the guy on the ball team that hit a home run or to the guy on the ball team that didn’t hit the home run. We watched her feed hungry stomachs and nourish hungry hearts. She taught service and sharing one another’s burdens by example. John 6:35 “And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life; he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth in me shall never thirst.” She taught us her love of the Savior or the Bread Of Life with a simple loaf of bread.

Love - Mother was a great friend. She was very close to her sisters and they were best friends. Mom had friends wherever she went. It was because she loved people. She engaged in conversation easily and knew how to put people at ease. It was amazing to me. Her sister Helen once said that she loved being with mom because that’s where the fun was. everyone wanted to be with my mother Norma, you could feel her love when you were near. Ye are my disciples if ye have love one to another, John 13: 35. Mosiah 4:15: “Ye will teach [children] to walk in the ways of truth and soberness; ye will teach them to love one another, and to serve one another.”

Prayer- I never knew anyone who prayed like my mom. It was inspirational. We knew Mom said her prayers because every night she knelt by her bed the very same way with a space big enough for Dad next to her. She was asked by one of her new daughter in laws how she managed to get through losing her husband and she responded, Well I spent a lot ot time on my knees. I can remember morning and evening prayers as a family growing up. Mom’s prayers were memorable. She prayed for everybody and everything. You knew who was having difficulties by who got prayed for. A few weeks before mom’s passing she had a night where she said her prayers and then couldn’t get up off her knees and spent the night there. The next evening I asked her if she would say her prayers sitting on the edge of her bed this time. Mom agreed and proceeded to pray for everyone she knew. She prayed for each of her children and their family concerns. She prayed for her brothers and sisters and their families. She prayed for her Bishop and Bishopric, for the leaders of the church, The Prophet for her stake president for missionaries throughout the church and for her grandson’s serving at the time, for the youth of the church. For members of her ward, for government leaders. At the end of the prayer Mom asked Me if there was anyone she had left out. I assured her there wasn’t. Sweet memory to me. Someone once gave Mom some unsolicited advice on raising one of her children and she responded confidently that she was praying to know how to raise that child and that she was likely to be the one to get the inspiration. Mom also acknowledged when her prayers were answered by thanking Heavenly Father often. Prayer is the souls sincere desire, Uttered or unexpressed

Music - Mom taught herself to play the piano on a cardboard keyboard on the kitchen table. She took her first official piano lesson when she was in High School. Mr. Santee the music teacher @ Duncan High School taught Mom to read music and understand how notes and chords and rhythms all went together. Her piano served her well and others. It was a great source of comfort to her. Many night s when struggling with her family alone, mom would get up and play the piano, mostly show tunes. Could be where I got the love of show tunes. If she was frustrated she might start with Give me some men who are stout hearted men and finish with something mellow like some enchanted evening. I bonded with mom during these times and often sat at the piano and sang as she played. She loved to sing and sang harmony with her friends and sisters. She loved Harmony. All of us took piano lessons and then learned other instruments, I think we counted 13 different ones if you count the accordion and all the ukuleles. Nothing made mom happier that to have her kids around her playing and singing in harmony to tunes like the Crawdad song or That good ‘old Mountain Dew! She taught piano for over 40 years. Her last recital was two months before she passed away.
We had a family hymns that was called to serve and before it was not appropriate for families to participate in “farewell” our family would sing that song at the farewells of the missionaries in our family. The Gale family’s hymn is Love at Home and we were raised to know that song by heart. I have a personal love of that hymn. After dad passed away, I was young and felt that dad was watching from on high so I said Oh there’s two who smile on high. Then after mom passed away it was three.
Mom loved Music and loved us to sing in harmony. But more than singing in harmony she wanted us to live in Harmony. She wanted harmony in the home. She wanted harmony in the ward. She wanted Harmony in the world. The kind we sing and the kind we live.

I Love You MOM!

(Thoughts from Her children and Talk given by Peg)