My Day

Monday through Friday, this is my day's schedule: I get up, shower, go to Spring Creek Middle School and accompany the choir from eight o'clock to eight-forty-five. (There are two choirs; it's a different one each day.) Then I go walking for an hour. I head home, take care of things that need to be done (I've got some projects I'm slowly making progress on, plus I do my cleaning, piano lesson preparation, etc. during this time.) I drive back to the high school at 11:10 a.m. to accompany first the Select Choir, and every-other-day I also accompany the Chorus (all girls this year). Once home I begin supper if I have decided on the menu and shortly piano students begin showing up. I finish teaching in time for supper. Unless I have meetings in the evening (rare, but this week it so happens I have something every night except Monday!) I get to relax a bit, read my scriptures, write in my journal, say my prayer and go to bed to get sufficient rest to do the same thing again the next day.

I was sitting in the Salt Lake Temple yesterday and looked at my hands and felt a surge of gratitude for all I have been able to do in my life because of my hands. I am very glad I can play the piano, that these fingers listen to the directives from my brain, and that because I have this talent I have had so many opportunities to serve and to get to know very many wonderful people!

I was pondering my purpose in life recently and came upon the realization that I don't need to wait for God to tell me what my purpose is. I need to decide for myself what reason I have to get up every morning. I determined that my purpose is to touch as many lives as possible with my music abilities. Music reaches the heart in ways nothing else can. It is healing, it teaches, it soothes, it excites, it calms, it provides enjoyment, and in many cases it leads one to Christ. That is my purpose. I recall reading that Beethoven's brothers found a letter he had written to them in which he explained that he had contemplated committing suicide as a result of his deafness. But he realized he could not end his life because God had given him a gift which he needed to use until God said it was time to stop. I am certain I didn't explain that adequately but you get the idea. Everyone needs a reason to live. I have mine.

I probably ought to explain to my family that I do count them as a reason to continue living. They have been my life. But something changes when your children marry and have families of their own. Mothers don't play the same role they used to. It is very satisfying to me to see my daughters being taken care of by wonderful husbands, and watching them take such good care of their own terrific children. I am also pleased that my sons have such special, angelic wives who satisfy their needs and are raising such beautiful children. We all have such a terrific relationship but I am not needed to solve problems or do the things that I was needed for as they were growing up. I need to be needed daily, and my students and those choirs fulfill that need for me. Whereas my family used to need me, now I need my family. I couldn't live without them. They are my world and always have been. I love them with all my heart. I am thankful to know that we can all be together forever. If that couldn't be I'd give up trying completely. Heaven wouldn't be heaven without those people who have made me who and what I am, those who love me and whom I love.

Now I'm going to bed so I can get up and start "My Day."

Things I've Learned

Things I've learned:

If you cry with your glasses on, you get salt spots all over the glass.

Elko, Nevada, is not like Las Vegas, Nevada. It is much, much colder!

Seeing your grandchildren in photos is nice but it's not as nice as being able to hold them and hug them and dance with them and read to them while they're sitting on your lap.

It gets harder and harder to maintain your weight the older and older you get.

If you leave your weights in the car too long they are too cold to hold in your hands.

Just because you get older it doesn't mean your problems are fewer or easier.

But when you get older you do find there are more things to be thankful for. Like hair dye, orthotics, bifocals, hearing aids, large-print, and grandchildren.

Having friends is life-saving. Sometimes for you, sometimes for them. It works both ways.

Grown-up kids show a parent how effective their parenting was.

Sunlight is nice any time we can get it in the winter time.

Home is a good place to be.

When you fly Southwest, be certain to do the online check-in twenty-four hours before your flight so you can be in the first group of boarders.

Southwest still lets you check the first two bags for FREE!

You are supposed to take your thyroid medicine a half hour before you eat something and four hours before you eat or drink anything with calcium or iron. That messes with my breakfast routine.

Early church meetings are better. For me, anyway. I like having my afternoon free to write letters and read.

Writing in my journal and crocheting are therapeutic for me.

Things that feel good are clean sheets, clean teeth, clean rooms, clean dishes, clean hair, clean cars.

And I'm done for tonight. But since I'm over fifty years old I have learned many more things than I can possible remember.