Linking generations

I just had a sweet moment with Lige before he went to bed. I asked him what his favorite part of today was, and he said it was probably Brother Wardle's Sunday School class. (High-five, Bro. W!) They talked a bit about being multi-lingual, and what that meant to each of them. Lige then started to tell me how much ASL meant to him because it helped him with his dream to be like his Great-Grandpa Turner. We usually call him Great-Grandpa Norman, so our son Samuel Norman will recognize which grandpa we're talking about. Great-Grandpa Norman loves languages. And, one of the things in life I'm most grateful for, he wrote an autobiography that my kids love reading.

If you haven't written an autobiography, you're really making a mistake. One of my greatest wishes in life is that I had a book like that for all my grandparents. But for some reason, they all think their lives were boring. I'm here to tell you all: your life isn't boring to your grandkids. They think it's FASCINATING.

Ok, soap box over.

Great-Grandpa Norman was a normal country-bumpkin from rural Utah until he decided to serve a mission. He was called to serve in France. He loved it. He convinced his mother (who knows how) to let him stay in Europe and study a bit before he came home. So he went to Spain and learned Spanish, then (seriously) hitch-hiked across Northern Africa with a girl he barely knew to get to Italy and learn Italian. When he got home, he was drafted and ended up in Germany doing background checks for the Army, and picked up German. You know, because why not?

He came home and got a PhD in French and became a professor. Years later, he was called as a mission president in Catania, Italy. Then he was a missionary in Romania. He struggled with Romanian - I remember him saying, "Whoever said Romanian is a romance language was full of baloney!" But hey, he was probably in his 70's, and it was the first time a language had been hard for him in his life.

Lige wants to grow up to be like his great grandpa. I hadn't realize quite how much until I talked to him tonight! So last week when I was listing immediate blessings for our family - add this to the list. Lige gets to be like his hero.

Our family with Great-grandma and Great-grandpa Turner, July 2018.