Putting into words who my Grandma Bonnie is really isn’t possible. Her own words are probably the biggest testament to who she is and was. My grandpa passed away suddenly on the day before Thanksgiving 20 years ago. In a stolen moment at her home on that Thanksgiving day, the very next day after his passing, I pulled her aside and looked right into her face and asked her if she was doing ok. Her response has guided my life ever since. She said “When I feel like my plate is getting too full, I just ask God to send me a platter.”
I think in the last 20 years, she’s even gone above and beyond asking God for a platter, asking him for a proverbial cookie sheet and perhaps even a large serving tray to hold all the things that she has going on. She has taken countless opportunities to help her 12 children, and the generations that came after, showing us all love through our lives. She tried to attend our special moments: graduations, weddings, recitals, times we spoke, baby blessings, baptisms, and she made each birthday special by calling and sending out a hand written card and a $2 bill. She always bore her testimony in each one, and she lived her own words. It is frequent that she reminded me through words like “attend the temple often” “love each other and pray together” or “go to the Lord often in prayer, He loves you”. “Be well and safe.” Again, her own words are a testament to who she was, as she did all those things herself.
Everyone who knew her knows how talented she is. She truly has achieved “domestic goddess” status in my opinion, she could sew, clean, cook, bake like a master (REALLY she can bake, she knows how much and what to put in every recipe by simply taking handfuls or cupfuls of ingredients until it looks right. The amount of pure instinct that drives her baking often drove me crazy as I tried to replicate her recipes with her instructions, because how do you know how much is a “handful of salt” or “enough flour until it looks right”?) I loved seeing and enjoying her beautiful creations including my wedding dress, the tiny white tuxedo that my Gideon was buried in,
and a blessing dress I was able to use for two of my daughters, as well as amazing food and desserts—cookies, candies, and caramels galore over the years.
Elder Ciro Schmeil said “Jesus Christ is the perfect example of fulfilling the most important commandments. Because He loved God, His Father, He obeyed Him. And because He loved His neighbors, He served them throughout His life. He showed to us that love is not just a feeling, but it is action. Loving through service helps us to achieve our full potential and to become more like our Savior Jesus Christ.” I believe my Grandma Bonnie understood this completely and lived it fully.
She was one of the most selfless people I have ever known, and it seems like no matter how many things she had going on or people she already was helping, she tried to carve extra time out to help someone else if she learned there was a need or something special she wanted them to do. She asked God for a bigger platter and fit it in somehow.
One of the greatest hopes I have for my life is that I can dedicate my time and energy to good things like she did. I love you Grandma! Thank you for blessing so many lives. 💕
