A happy home is a constant challenge for all married couples especially with young children who demand immediate attention nearly every minute. I'm sure I had some days as a kid and teenager that were not very happy but I can't really recall them. I guess they have been overshadowed by the happy ones, mostly because Mom and Dad and extended family were always on the job!
On March 10, 1982 Mom wrote this "Recipe For A Happy Home" which made me laugh because of how she portioned the ingredients - (she may have copied it from some magazine or church bulletin she was reading but she didn't say so)
"4 cups of Love
2 cups of Loyalty
3 cups of Forgiveness
1 cup of Friendship
5 spoons of Hope
2 spoons of Tenderness
4 quarts of Faith
1 barrel of Laughter
Take Love and Loyalty and mix thoroughly with Faith.
Blend in Tenderness, Kindness and Understanding
Add Friendship and Hope then sprinkle abundantly with Laughter.
Bake it with lots of sunshine then serve daily with generous helpings."
My Dad wasn't big on writing cards or letters but I found this piece he wrote in one of Mom's journals. I have tried to imagine the conversation that occurred between them before he wrote this because I feel certain Mom kept after him to do it until he finally agreed just to get her to leave him alone. All the family will get this but those of you who didn't know them well may not see behind the scenes. My Dad did many things he didn't really want to just to please Mom and avoid being badgered into it anyway. None of this was ever 'mean-spirited', just their way of dancing around each other. We all do it to some extent.
"Who am I? Nobody really, as far as the world is concerned. There will never be a monument erected in memory of me. But, I am somebody because of many reasons. The number one reason is my beautiful wife Hazel. In my mind she has been the one person who changed me and turned my world upside down by her patience and loving kindness.
On June 6, 1917 I was born Harold Thomas Sutherland to Floyd and Grace Sutherland in the county of Marshall in West Kentucky.
I was one of eight children, four boys and four girls. My mother was a great, strong woman to have raised so many wild, hungry kids. Some of my earliest memories go back a long way. I was the oldest boy and I did NOT think that was a very good thing as far as I was concerned. I was the one called on to do all the chores and there were many."
And that's it. Characteristic of him, Dad just couldn't come up with what else to say so he just quit writing. But, he said what he wanted to say about his Mom and his wife and those few words speak volumes about how he respected both of them.
Amazing Mema loved being in the center of the big Sutherland family and wrote much about the early days of marriage when she and Dad lived with them.
On April 12, 2000, Mom wrote this beneath the above passage written by my Dad -
"I read and re-read all the nice writings of truth in love by our beloved "Frosty". he was our light of life itself. We had him 54+ years to guide us in Christian love and hope. I have hope we will join again in a better world. Half of me went with him (when he died in 1991). I am thankful to still be here in much good memories and not grievous but have happiness in our darling family of 34 people."
Heritage is what one generation leaves behind for the ones who follow. To me the word encompasses qualities, values, beliefs and morals. Monetary inheritance can also be a part of ones heritage but the intangibles are of much greater value. My sister, my brother and I have been made rich by the heritage passed on to us from several generations of ancestors who lived honestly before the world and always in faith in God. I told India Sullivan, my oldest granddaughter, when she was baptized as a young teen, that she is the first of 7 generations in my family who have served God and I praised her for setting that example for the next generation.
Thank you Frosty and Amazing Mema for that everlasting heritage. Your faith in God and love for each other have truly paid off in a big way! Jesus is smiling on you.
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