I just changed the “theme” or background  of this blog from  green succulent plants to Beloved Grandmother.  This divine picture is of my very own Grandmother  holding my  mother as a newborn.  On the back of the picture it says,

” My mother, Delilah Booth Adams

The baby: Me, Mary June Adams, born December 19, 1927″

I have written previous posts about her but this picture came into my hands last year when I was given yet another box of papers from my mother’s estate.  I have  never seen this photo before. I love seeing Lila’s profile, the lace tablecloth in the background, and my mother’s dark head. It is such a tender scene for me, because Grandma Adams, as I called her, was the Original Fierce Mormon Mother in my life. She was called that at her funeral  by Bill Dyer, a long time family friend. She had a fierce, committed testimony, that hardship during the Great Depression didn’t shake. She was fierce about her 5 daughter’s education. She conceived and planned how to pay for their college tuition  when money was scarce. Lilah also cared deeply about her family and made them the center of her life. I love her looking down on these pages as I write. I often feel her presence and imagine how she would respond to this world we live in. She was  practical, thrifty and found humor often in her life experiences. Her patriarchal blessing said,

“Thy name shall be perpetuated and live in honorable remembrance among the people and as a mother in Israel thou shalt be known far and near. For the Lord has heard thy petitions. He is pleased with thine integrity  and thus far thy regard is sure.”

I love that this quiet, humble woman has had such an effect on me.

(The tagline is from an article C. Terry Warner wrote called “Honest, Simple, Solid, True” https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/c-terry-warner_honest-simple-solid-true/)

Who has been an inspiration in your life? A family member, a teacher, a neighbor?