My Mother-in-law

 Mothers’ Day wouldn’t be complete without a tribute to my mother-in-law. She was born and raised in a small town in central Utah. She was an amazing student and an incredibly hard worker. She helped in her parents’ dairy every day. She met and married her husband when she was in her early 20s. He was more than 20 years older than her and a World War II vet with plenty of combat experience. Together they raised 6 children, my sweetie being the second oldest. I asked my sweetie to tell me some fun stories about her and for some reason, they all seemed to involve the TV! 

One night when he was standing outside talking to a friend, the front door opened, the TV flew unceremoniously onto the porch, took a nice bounce and landed in the flowerbed. No words were spoken as the door slammed shut. Another time they were all working in their huge and amazingly productive garden when the kids sneaked inside because they didn’t want to miss Gilligan’s Island. After about 20 minutes, she noticed that her helpers were missing, so she gathered her gardening shovel and headed for the house. When she discovered them all gathered around the TV, she took a swing at it with the shovel. But those were the good old days when a TV needed more that a shovel to break it. 

Mother and son

I was 17 when I met her for the first time. I convinced my sweetie that it was time for him to go back to church. He was sure that if he stepped foot in the building that it might crumble, but by then I had him wrapped around my little finger. So together we showed up at Sacrament meeting in his parents’ ward. His mother nearly passed out! She could hardly believe that he would randomly show up at church after 5 years, especially not with a girl she knew nothing about. Happily, she was kind to me from that very first day. 

Rolling eggs.

I only remember her yelling at me one time during the last 28 years and I probably deserved it. We were engaged by then and my sweetie had invited me to spend the night at his house. I don’t remember exactly why, but I stayed in the girls’ room with his little sisters and he slept in his own bed in a room at the top of the stairs. It was a room that everyone had to pass through so it was open and very public. I had an early class the following morning and he was supposed to get up early so I wasn’t late. I did my part, but when I walked into his room to go down the stairs, he was still snoozing in his bed. Apparently he hadn’t heard his alarm. 

Now first of all I want to point out that I was fully dressed in shorts and a t-shirt for my aerobics class! I even had my shoes on! But when he invited me to climb beneath the blanket and cuddle with him…well, I just couldn’t resist. Since he was in his pjs, I kept the sheet between us, but that didn’t stop his mom from coming totally unglued when she found us a few minutes later! She was finally appeased when we proved that we were both completely clothed and not even next to each other, but it was a mistake I was very careful not to repeat. 

With Gym Rat

 Over the years she has been very good to me, treating me mostly like one of her own children. When I was pregnant with Bossy, I was selling Tupperware to make a little extra money. My MIL, who is extremely shy, had told me over and over that she would hate a job like that. Then, when my water broke and I was suddenly in the hospital having a baby nearly a month early, my sweet MIL took over not one, but two parties for me. She demonstrated the products, took orders, visited with the guests, and then promptly gave me all the profits. She was always willing to share her recipes, her garden produce, her son, and her heart. Happy Mothers’ Day, Euvonna. 

At Bossy's high school graduation.