Family Time - Remembering Fathers

The following are two posts I shared on facebook this week. The point I stressed most in my talk today was writing about our Fathers and sharing their history with our children. Recording our experiences with our parents is important as the next generation does not really know them. Familysearch.org makes it easy to post memories and pictures. I utilize my blog for this purpose and will eventually transition the posts to familysearch.org.

June 17
We had a very nice Father's Day and there is more celebrating next weekend. Our oldest daughter and partner Charles made us dinner on Saturday. It was fantastic and we had a very nice visit. Then today the two older sons made us a wonderful dinner. We had visits with our other son and daughter's family who live here. Then David had a nice visit with our daughter's family who live in Wyoming. The highlight of the day was speaking in church. We both chose to focus on the most recent conference talk by President Nelson. When we realized this I chose to just use a small part and let David have the rest. The focus of this talk was on personal revelation. I also used the poem, I Am A Child of Royal Birth, sharing some about the author. I also shared a blog post about my father I wrote several years ago. Somehow I managed to speak without too much emotion. My father passed away thirty years ago and my mother five years ago. Going through their things now is very healing for me.

June 8
Had a wonderful day yesterday. For some time I have been wanting to sort through the things of my mother. My niece Stephanie came out for lunch and then we worked for about two hours on the totes in the garage. We made it through all of them. There were a few treasures she took home, three totes and some other things went to Good Will and a few totes went back to the garage. I so appreciate that she was willing to help me. This was the beginning of the process to condense what I have. It has been five years since my mother passed and it was great to review some of her life.

Father's Day Week 2012

For our family this has been a very interesting week leading up to Father's Day. For my husband this week probably seems surreal. On Monday he had surgery and spent the night in the hospital, which was a first for him since birth. No matter who is having surgery, or what type it is there is always a sense of apprehension about the outcome. I am very happy to say he was home early the next day and is having a very good recovery. He slept a good part of the day. We are grateful for very nice recliner chairs and a sleep number bed, which makes it very comfortable for him to rest. The refrigerator and cupboards are stocked with food, so he pretty much has everything he needs for the next week.

Father's Day Honors - Part 2

When our mother remarried after the death of our father it was a huge adjustment for my siblings and me. We don't really use the term stepfather, which I have never really liked the sound of. While he did step into a role in meeting the needs of our mother, we were not quite ready to have someone fill the role of our father. His twenty-one years of patiently guiding our lives has won him over to all of us, some more than others. For me this is kind of a turning point. I want to call him something more than the husband of my mother. Do you have any suggestions for such a title?

Father's Day Honors

My Father Roger Stanley Olsen

In honor of Father's Day I want to share a letter I wrote to my mother, brothers and sister three years ago (2008) on what would have been our father’s seventy-third birthday. I wrote the original and then sent it to my family asking them to add their thoughts. They added their personal thoughts, and then I resent it out as the collection of our thoughts. It is something that we need to continue.