My sweet boy

 Braeden texted this the other night:

There is a sort of increasing distance between each generation of a family. But the distance is not a diluting of love so much as a distilling.  There is less familiarity between a great-grandmother and her great-grandson than there is with her daughter or granddaughter. But with out the distraction of day to day intimacy all you have left is the love. So it perhaps becomes even more clear and apparent than it is between closer generations.

I could probably tally up the number of days I’ve spent with my Great-Grandma to less than 50. But the love is still clear. And I know my daughter can tally the days up to less than 5. But 5 generations and less than 5 days do nothing to obscure the perfect bond of love that ties a Great-Great-Grandmother to her Great-Great-Granddaughter. That love is apparent not from knowing intimacy but from acts of simple love. From cards in shaky handwriting. From gifts of money for cute outfits her college student parents can’t afford. From smiles and excitement at pictures received and visits made. It is apparent from holding her on her lap and bragging that she is her first great-great-grandchild.

That love is especially apparent from the gift of a legacy of discipleship. From a life of faith and service. From an example of temple worship and prayer. From the temple covenants she made over three quarters of a century ago that make sure that those 5 generations are bound together.

I have not known my great-grandmother as much as my mother has, or her mother. And my daughter will know her even less. But that does nothing to hide the love she has for us and the love we have for her. And that love will continue with us when we are reunited in the life to come, when we and all our generations can know and love each other perfectly. Jesus Christ will gather us to himself and we will all be with our grandfathers and grandmothers again.

This was taken the day Braeden and Anna virtually graduated from BYU.  And yes, my grandma always looked classy.