Tajamar
171
Los Vilos (Coquimbo Región)
CHILE 1940000
April 15, 2014 (yes, we did our taxes!)
Dear Kids (and Grandbabies!),
I am writing this in the style of an old-fashioned
letter. First I want to say
thank-you for sending all the photos and little video clips of the Spring Break
Schrammily Reunion! It looked like
so much fun. I loved that you did
all the normal things. Charlie did
an awesome job with a Treasure Hunt; a cake was made in behalf of Teddy Bears
Picnic; lots of Pig-out parties (those M&M cookies looked especially
good.) You watched What About Bob
& even managed to get the Bartlett Bug!! Wow! You went
all out! Did everyone get
sick? Did you send texts to each
other all night long with updated statuses on who was in which bathroom
etc.? Also, the painting job on
the deck stairs looks awesome! The
trip to Wilmington’s boardwalk and visit to Kilwins Ice-cream parlor absolutely
made my mouth water! I didn’t hear
if you made it to Max’s but I’m sure you didn’t lack for food! The pictures of
the ocean and clear blue skies are solace to my soul!
Today was a tough day. I guess really we had two hard days.
We’ve been waiting for the perfect P-day (Monday) to go to a ‘big-city’ and do
some shopping. Dad needs new jeans as his only pair is wearing out and he
didn’t bring any ‘work-out’ clothes for our morning walks. I wanted some shoes
but they didn’t carry any in wide widths. At any rate, we set out early in the
morning to go to the mall in La Serena and Jumbo (Walmart). About half-way there we got a phone
call from the district president informing us that a baby in our branch had
passed away. It was hard to have
any fun after that phone call.
Everywhere I looked I was reminded of babies. Your dad had to leave and
go back to the car and get out his computer. He spent some time helping the new
branch president learn about funerals (Manual 2). The shopping trip was somber
and we went straight back home to the church to grieve with others.
We knew the baby was sick and had gone to the hospital. Her
name was Emily. She was born Dec 2, 2013. Just 4 months old. I was particularly
attached to her because all last fall I was watching Jocelyn (mom) grow her
baby and I was thinking of my own daughters back home in like manner. They have an older son, Sebastian,
about 4 years old. I attended the
baby shower. I even won a game! We were each blindfolded and give a piece of
paper and pencil. Then we were to draw a picture of a baby. Sebastian chose the
best drawing. Well, having watched
a blind person draw (maybe in a movie or on TV?) I understood that if I used my
other hand to mark positions on the paper for instance, where I had begun the
circle for the head or eyes, I could complete the circles properly. I did draw a pretty good looking baby
complete with pacifier and other accessories!
One day at church I wore my dress with the red shrug.
Jocelyn loved it and I told her I liked her skirt. So as it happened we ended
up trading. I came out ahead on
the deal as I was happy to receive 2 skirts in the trade! Well, where her little Emily arrived
she was the cutest baby ever (next to our grand-daughters of course!) Everything was good and the baby was
growing well. Last month I was
sitting in Relief Society and glanced over at a woman nursing baby Emily (and I
knew it wasn’t her mom). Turns out Jocelyn had to go to work and so her sister
(member but less-active) came and was feeding baby Emily. She has a baby of her
own just a few weeks younger and evidently had plenty of milk to spare.
Every week the sisters meet in the church to visit and knit
(Tuesday nights). Last week Jocelyn brought the refreshments. She baked apples
and filled them with a type of cream filling. She learned how to knit last fall (okay so it was ‘spring’
here but somehow October just isn’t spring in my mind…) The next week she came with all these
cute baby hats, booties and dresses she had knitted. Last Tuesday she brought a
pastel pink dress she had made (for Easter?) and another sister (Bernarda) was
crocheting flowers to attach to it.
Everything changed so fast. As I understand it Emily got sick (developed
into pneumonia) and when they took her in to the hospital they found that she
had an enlarged heart. It was too
late and the illness had been too much for her tiny body and so she succumbed.
I remember all too well the feeling we had when we learned
baby Gemma had a heart problem. We are so thankful for the wonderful doctors
who took their time and followed proper procedures in a timely manner. The government healthcare here is a
total disaster. We’ve been to the hospitals. We know how it is. So many of our
dear members have health issues left unattended. At best they are diagnosed and
then told to go somewhere else to a specialist and maybe they are seen in 6
months or a year. Our RS president
lives in constant pain. I know she needs a knee replacement. She always has extreme pain in her
chest and her left arm. I have
told her and she knows how serious it is. She has been to the doctor but was
put off and then needed papers to see another doctor etc…. It doesn’t surprise me any longer to
see blind, maimed or crippled bodies shuffling down the streets. And let’s not talk about the extremely
high rates of cancer. It’s just scary.
Back to Emily, yesterday the little body was in the tiniest
casket. It was satin, all-white with a big bow. They had hung up white, gauzy
ribbons and pink and white balloons and had some Xerox pictures of her put here
and there in the flowers. There were lots of very beautiful floral
arrangements. It was one of the
hardest things I’ve had to do when it was time for me to go look at her lying
in her casket. I’m not trying to make this letter really sad but I know you
will all understand how precious this (and all) little baby was. She was
fortunate to belong to a very, very large family. There were hundreds of people at the church to offer love
and support. Yesterday the dynamics of the cultural hall shifted and changed as
people came and went. Hymns were sung, words spoken and love was shared along
with many tears. I’m so very proud
of Jocelyn. She wanted to speak at the funeral today and she did an awesome
job. She was a pillar of strength even though I understood her to say she had
no strength any longer. Dad says that she spoke of knowing that their daughter
would be taken someday. She was just totally surprised that it happened so soon
and so quickly. She understood that Emily had fulfilled her purpose and she was
too good to have to spend any more time on this earth and be contaminated from
it. Yes, she broke down many times
and cried into many a shoulders saying “Mi nina, mi princesa,,,,” She spoke of her arm always
reaching out for her baby and now it falls empty to her side. (I’m remembering
it as I understood it) I can still
see the tears on her cheeks as she spoke from the pulpit. They honestly looked
like diamonds sparkling. She wore a white dress and looked heavenly. Maybe someday I will be able to tell
her how proud I was of her and how she looked like a true mother in Zion,
enduring hardship and being refined from it. I would tell her that someday her children could be as
numerous as her tears were these past few days. But there is much work to do first….like getting them to the
temple and sealed forever. They
are both active in the church and he is a return missionary.
People always procrastinate and none of us really sees the
beginning from the end of life. We don’t know how long or short life will be.
But we do know what is most important.
FAMILY. That is what it
boils down to. FAMILY. We think
there are so many things in this life but if you don’t have someone to share it
with then it’s nothing. Not now or in the eternities. When I was young I used
to worry about getting to see my father again (he passed when I was 7 yrs old)
and my brothers and sisters and living together in heaven. Later, it got a bit
more complicated when I my mother remarried and I gained a step-dad and also
step (and half) brothers and sisters. Then when your Dad and I began our own
family all I wanted was to have our 5 children in heaven with us. Now we have
an additional 5 (may I mention they are all fantastic?) kid-in-laws (&
their families whom we consider family too) 10+ grandbabies and of course more
to come J So, in our ‘older’ age we are seeing a
bigger picture of eternity. It
doesn’t matter too much what type of family we have at the moment because it
will always be changing. As long as we are with family we will be happy. I love
Heavenly Fathers plan of happiness. I love being a representative of Jesus
Christ and sharing the good news of the restored gospel. Of course I don’t
always do it very well in Spanish.
I have had to learn better how to communicate through the spirit and
right to the heart since I don’t have the words for it. I really love these people here in
Chile. I know I would love the people anywhere we were called to serve, because
the love comes from the Holy Ghost who is my constant companion.
Well time to sign off.
This was much easier to type than it would have been to write it in
long-hand as they did back in the olden days. Have you guys started teaching
our grand-children about the ‘olden days’? Do they know about hard work? (Like
hauling buckets of water (or rocks or you name it) all over the place?) Do you
share your testimonies with them? Don’t leave it up to the primary or Sunday
school classes or it won’t happen! One thing that never changes is the Gospel
so please be sure and instill this precious gift in them while they are young.
They will need every bit of spiritual strength they have to have peace and live
in a world where so much wickedness abounds. I hope you can feel our love and
prayers are with you constantly. We feel yours!
Sincerely and with much love!
Mama, Schramma, Paw Shaw etc
