Wednesday, April 20

Quote of the Day:  My candle burns at both ends; it will not last the night; but ah, my foes, and oh, my friends- it give a lovely light!     Edna St. Vincent Millay

Exercise Log:  Walked 5.73 miles- gut-buster near East Millcreek Elementary- w/ Sue B.  (-1.48)  Sue B. is an angel- she makes sure that I get out the door everyday and I know that I do not have the motivation to do this by myself.  She goes even after she has run for an hour.  She really is amazingly self-less, always serving others without complaint.  Thank you, Sue, I’m sure I will always be indebted to you!

Thanks Lori Hogue for bringing over the most delicious dinner- fruit salad, rolls, asparagus, pasta with chicken and spinach, wow!  Incredible!  Thanks Peter Foss for flowers, visit and trying to contact Taylor in Guatemala.  Thanks mostly to Dad and Linda for visit today.  I loved hearing touching stories of my Dad’s childhood.  He really must record them, they need to be preserved.

I was thinking about my paternal Grandmother, “Tink”, and how hard life was for her and that I judged her too rashly the other day in my blog.  My dad pointed out that she lived during the depression and when she knew she was having trouble in her marriage, she would leave my dad with his grandmother, Jim’s Mother, Ida Lee who lived across from Holladay Elementary and go down to the diner Jim owned, to watch over him and try to save her marriage.  My dad has very sweet memories of his grandmother Lee.   “Tink” never got over losing Jim to another woman and loved Jim as long as she lived.  I think alcohol was her way of dealing with those issues.  She had a passion for fishing, took us to Lagoon every year and was so proud of us as we competed in the running races, but our favorite event was traveling to Lava Hot Springs and playing in the pools all day long, and after dinner eating Neopolitan ice-cream.  I know that I expect a lot from other people, and get discouraged when they disappoint me.  One other thing about “Tink”, she had dark auburn red hair, and was beautiful.  I love the pictures, one that I will include, of her when she was younger- I love the way she stood and held herself with pride.

But here’s more of the story.  So Jim went on to marry Helyne and had four children, two boys and two girls, Christine and Jami.  So my Dad has 4 half-siblings.  Christine is a lay-minister for the Lutheran Church in Salt Lake and talked w/ my Dad and stepmom, Linda, a few days ago and offered a prayer of hope that was so touching.  I also received a sweet e-mail from both Christine and Jami.  It’s funny how turns in life lead us to make connections that wouldn’t happen otherwise.  So Jami also tested BRCA 1 gene positive and had cancer 7 years ago, Christine is negative for the gene but also had early stages of breast cancer.  A lot like Lynne and I testing negative and positive, respectfully, to the BRCA 1.  Interesting.  So Jami is going to look at her test results and if our mutations match, we’ll know that our connection is her father and my grandfather, Jim.

You’re probably thinking with all these family lines, how do you keep it straight.  My brilliant little sister, Mikelle, tried to explain to our German visitor, Karin, about our family with all the full, half, and step siblings, when she was only about 7.  She finally tried to draw it out for her and then in desperation said, “it’s very complicated, you’ll never understand it.”   Joe and I thought that was so funny.  We loved Mikelle’s perspective.

Thilda “Tink”

Grandpa Jim w/ Boyd (Dad)

I’m also including pic of my favorite candy right now- they are one of the only things that taste really good!  Laurie sent me my first pack-  how did you know?