Over a month since I last made an entry...that must have been a form of "pity party." Partly it was because I was thinking that just because we didn't go anywhere special, or do any great deed, there was nothing to write about that might be of interest to anyone. Mostly it was because I chose not to take the time to chronicle our daily doings or thoughts while I was "in the graveyard,"as my mother used to describe her activities doing family history.

September 13, 1909 was Mother's birthday, and yesterday was the 100th anniversary of that date! In "The Story of My Life" she wrote: In the small farming town of Clearfield, in the county of Davis, and in the state of Utah, I was born on the thirteenth day of September, 1909. Lynn wrote that her grave was decorated with roses, which surely would have made her happy.

Thanks to Victor who did his magic and got my computer unlocked--I'll never put a password on it again--the history project I had worked on was finally finished and sent off to Lynn and Naida, and to their children, Mother's and Daddy's grandchildren. For Naida's daughter Heather this was an opportunity to hear some of the stories of her grandmother's life that she had missed out on, and she wrote a sweet note of appreciation.

Someday I hope to meet my great grandfather William Draper, with his long white beard and his English accent whose "being unable to read or write was not a handicap to him, for he was blessed with a remarkable memory. As his wife Jane would read aloud the passages from the Bible he would remember the quotations and its text." I always enjoyed hearing how my mother's grandparents emigrated to the United States. I hadn't pictured the 5-year-old George Henry Draper, her father, when"Together with his parents he emigrated to America in 1863, crossing the Atlantic Ocean on the ship "Amazon.”, which was the ship Charles Dickens wrote about. Perhaps the story of Leona's "Learning to Pray" will help one of her great-grandchild's parents learn how to teach their children to pray. Future generations may relate to her excitement over a Christmas present when they read: "There was a huge something covered with the black furry lap robe. When I pulled the robe off, there was a cedar chest. I was overwhelmed. I had never even dreamed of such a gift, much less thought of one.

Some of these treasures I hope will give a feeling for the love that their ancestors felt for their posterity. As evidence of that, in his patriarchal blessing my mother's father as a 10-year-old boy was promised "Therefore be of good cheer and let thy faith fail not, thou shalt be numbered among the Fathers in Israel." He had grown up in a home where eternal marriage was seen as a great blessing. His father, Charles Henry John West, wrote of his marriage to Eliza Dangerfield, "...we went to the Endowment House, 23rd day of March, 1864, and was married and sealed together for time and eternity. We felt fully paid for our journey and few trials we had passed through."