Reflections Of Me In 1980

In October of 1980, Mom wrote about each of her children for a Family Home Evening project.  She recorded her reflections in her journal.  I was nine when she wrote the following, complete with her original grammar and spelling.  It's still amazingly accurate:

We waited, waited seven years for you to join our family chain and then when you decided to come you rushed in two months early on Sat March...1971 early and had health problems when you arrived with hylan membrane in which your lungs were not fully developed.  You survived those first few days but as I went in Sunday to see your small body concave in each time you took a breath of life my heart ached and I whispered "I’m your Mama.  Please live – Please be alright.”

You did live and you were a happy child.

You are an intense child.  You will sit and intently watch Sesame Street.  You loved to learn, to read, and you would pull out the “Let’s Travel books and look at the pictures for hours.  You loved to hear stories.  You learned fast.  You could read before you went to school.  As a toddler you read the high chair letters at Arctic Circle and people were amazed.

You also talked and soon got the handle of “motor mouth” as you questioned everyone about everything.

You are very spiritual and you know the power of prayer and get disgusted when I don’t use it immediately as you fall on your knees in the middle of Yellowstone to find part of our missing family or pray in the car that we will make it home and when things work out you say, “I told you we should do it.”  and you are a peacemaker, always sticking up for your siblings so they don’t get in trouble.  “[Kayla] didn’t mean to pee her pants”  [Patrick] drove the car but it was a long -------------------------------- time ago.

You don’t like fighting.

You are optimistic, always seeing the good side and whistling around the house.

And always asking questions say “I just wanted to wonder”

You to are a good example to your sister & friends.

You have musical talent, singing often for church and learning to play the piano and composing your own introductions but you don’t want to complete things & you try to get out of doing work.

You are lazy.

You love to help your mom make visual aids for primary.  You love to draw and would get a pen & paper with money you earned and go through it in one week and you go through stacks of computer paper drawing whatever you are intensely interested in, Bugs Bunny, Sesame Street, Star Wars ect making cartoons.

You also have a great love for old people, probably developed when we used to visit Grandma...at the rest home when everyone was your Grandma.  You have a real love for older people and really like to show affection.

You are also a con-artist and nag even once nagging [our bishop] out of a BoM.

You need to set goals and follow through and continue to be happy and pass your spirit to others.  You are an important link in our family chain."