Cure for a bad day

Yesterday was a pretty downer day until I found the perfect cure:

1. Sit and talk with your grandmother.
Landon and I sat and talked with my grandmother for about 45minutes. We talked about my grandfather and great grand fathers (both her dad and father in law) experiences during the first and second World Wars. Put my problems in perspective and gave me a greater appreciation for my patriotic and wonderful grandfathers. My great grandpa Knoll (Homer) lived in the United States, came to Canada married his wife Muriel and decided that he wanted to join the war effort. Since the US had not joined the war yet he signed up with the Canadian forces. He endured so much! When he got home he found he had lost his US citizenship because he had fought with the Canadians so he settled down with his wife in Canada. She told of how the scars of war affected him her whole life and how as she got older she was better able to understand why he was the way he was. The only time she ever heard him talk about his experiences was when she brought my grandfather home to meet her parents before they were married. She evesdropped as these two men spoke of there experiences. They stayed up all night. She said it was the only time she heard my grandfather speak candidly. And then she spoke of my grandfather's experiences of being a dental assistant in England, deciding he needed to contribute more and so he joined an infaltry group, and when they needed stretcher bearers he was pulled over because he has "hospital experience" (as a dental assistant!) How he would work bringing in his friends as they were injured and then he would sleep sitting up so that when he heard a call he would rush out to bring someone else in. And that they started tying him down while he slept so that he would get rest because he felt such a powerful responsibility to help out his brothers in arms that he would forfeit his own rest. At the guilt he felt at not being there to identify his best friend's body and so it was reported to the parents he was MIA and not KIA and that the friend's parents kept holding out hope though he knew his friend was gone. And then the treatment of veterns after each war. How sad! I am so grateful for the courageous men who came before me. What a legacy! And what a pattern to follow when life gets a little uncomfortable. At the end of the conversation I thanked her for sharing the stories and taking me out of my pity party. (She never once asked about my day.) She gave me a hug and said that my Auntie Margie had told her the news and figured I wouldn't want to talk about it. I LOVE my grandma. She is such a special person in my life.

2. Dinner and Visit with Wonderful Family
My sister in law heard the news from my brother. She called to tell me she loved me and that she wished she could help me but knew there was nothing she could do. So she invited us over for dinner and to go for a walk after the branch council meeting that she, Landon, and Matt had to attend. We had a beautiful dinner and I had a fabulous time watching the kids outside the church. I love watching the games that kids come up with to play. Ashley and I walked the kids down to SeaFair while the boys finished up with a branch presidency meeting. We had a great time walking around looking at the rides and food. Emily started to get cold so I bought her a sweater from our friend Rosie Fleury. She was selling them at the night market. It is really cute! When the boys showed up Emily and Collin went on the helicopter ride. SO CUTE! The guy operating the ride told Emily to push the red button in her cockpit so the ride would start. He pushed his button when she pushed hers. She was so proud of herself. I wish I had had my camera with me. Matt snapped a couple of pictures on his cell phone. Then we got some popcorn and headed up to Putters for an ice cream. We decided to go and get some Timbits so we walked back to our cars. We were parked in front of the Willingdon Campsite. I noticed a big black animal in one of the campsites across from us. It was a bear. I pointed it out to everyone. Ashley quickly put her kids in the van while mine sat in the stoller as Landon, Matt and I took a closer look. Yep she is the better mom. Emily even joined us in looking at the bear. A man came out of his motor home and asked why we were calling out. Matt told him he had a bear in his campsite. He didn't believe us and started looking around. Luckily the bear had moved two campsites down by then. He was not happy with us because he couldn't see the bear. And then we heard a loud pop and the caretaker yelling at the bear. The bear took off running right across the road. Three cars down from us. A car of teenagers that was driving by had to slam on their brakes not to hit it. The bear disappeared down the trail opposite of us. It was AWESOME! Afterwards we got our Timbits and rented the move The Informant. We went back to Matt and Ashley's house, visited with Elder Wolfgramm and the new Elder (Elder Hall) and then watched the movie. Stupid movie but great company.

By the end of the night I was tired but extremely happy and feeling positive for the future. I am so blessed!