Transcribed & Discarded

As assigned by Sister Johnson in personal history class at FamilySearch Center 2/28/24, I wrote a memory of school activity.  Discarding the handwritten scrap today, I decided to transcribe and post it for future digital reference.  ( I’ve done that with a few other scraps of paper since 2010.)

Lowell Elementary, where my father began his education, had huge playgrounds.  As a student there, I joined small groups of friends playing hopscotch, marbles, and baseball.  Bryant Junior High School and East High School were different.  I don’t recall seeing any playgrounds or sports at Bryant.  At East High, of course, I watched the amazing athletes and cheerleaders on the football field and basketball court.  I was lucky to count some of them as friends.

As a serious student, I was more into math and music — another story to write. 

Family history for Pi Day

As you know, the popular number pi is “… the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter.”  — PiDay.org

Kay’s legendary fresh peach pie!

Grandmother Cannon’s gooseberry pie with plenty of sugar. 

Variety of pies at Hinckley Family Thanksgiving dinners.

( I could go on about my favorite pies.)

Our Kanab kids always celebrate special occasions including Pi Day … with its corresponding sweet treat.

Enjoy!

A Matter of Momentum

My favorite, like magic for my old age: running up and down stairs, two steps at a time.  Keeping up momentum that way since my youth.  Power walking — same effect.  My senior kick scooter, a Razor purchased three years ago, carefully going downhill, with momentum from gravity.  A new habit of rollerblading every Monday — my senior balance exercise, as I call it.

In junior high school, I did well in classes, but keeping up momentum for homework after walking miles uphill was a challenge for me.  My neighbor cousin, who walked home with me, wanted to get his done immediately.  David couldn’t relate to my procrastination.  Lingering at my house on his way home, he encouraged me to get started.  I’m grateful for his sacrificing some momentum to help a close friend improve.

The process of becoming a minimalist is served by momentum.  As I’ve previously confessed, overcoming OC collecting is a constant battle for me since a turnaround ten years ago.  I am happy to be blessed now with visible progress in this matter of momentum.

Listening to Love Too

A year ago on that special day, Tuesday the 14th, I was imagining how many love songs are repeated for Valentine’s Day.  Then I suggested imagining the sound of silence while “listening” to the love in your heart.  I still like to think one owns that music as something purely personal.

A favorite quote i often share:

“Music has power to provide spiritual nourishment. It has healing power.”

Daily Joy, p.31, c.2020, by Russell M. Nelson

A memory cherished today as in years past: my sweetheart Kay & I enjoyed many moments of silence while listening to love together.  We are blessed to own that ongoing experience ... without end.

Lifestyle Change

Everyone goes through it — maybe getting older, moving to a new place, changing jobs, getting married, or focusing on service to others.  Lifestyle change is likely evident in your journal and personal history I hope you are writing. 

My lifestyle changed dramatically when I moved from The HR “independent living” last fall to a younger community downtown.  I became much more independent, lost 10 lbs, worked more, walked less, slept more, ate less, read more, talked less, and took up rollerblading.  Having made the change, I can devote more time to family and writing my book this year.  

Loving life.

Then there is life after death … without a physical body until resurrection; free from pain; possessing all intelligence gained during earthly life; together again with loved ones who have passed on.  That is a lifestyle change my wife Kay is enjoying, to which we can all look forward.

Her Enduring Influence

There is no end to my eternal wife’s loving influence on our family, friends, and this older man.  At age 18 my neighbor, Kay Hinckley, had served a three-year mission in Canada.  She was an officer at East High School, held a job at the University of Utah, and enjoyed a calling in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  Outgoing Kay had unforgettable, positive influence on her amazing circles of friends, family, neighbors, and strangers.  Being the youngest of eight children, she helped her parents stay young (sometimes adding to their gray hairs).  A life filled with adventure!

Also a returned missionary, I was years older than Kay, but years behind her socially and in other ways.  However, she must have seen potential in me for improvement when we started dating as classmates in Music Appreciation at the “U”.  I was privileged to experience Kay’s love for life and her love for all that God offers to His children.  Her students in English classes were blessed by that, many continuing to be so inspired.  Sister Cannon also made long-lasting impressions where we served in the Michigan Detroit Mission.  The lives of our five children clearly reflect their mother’s positive influence.  And Kay’s beauty, famously with her engaging smile, also has me … “let me count the ways” .… forever falling in love.  

When the personal history of Kay Hinckley Cannon is written, a main theme throughout will be her loving, enduring influence on us all.  It will be a history influenced by Kay … with no end. 

Spanish Copies

Speeding up and slowing down — I see improvement in both when reading a Spanish copy of the Book of Mormon, an ancient record Joseph Smith translated by the gift and power of God.  Having read the book in English many times since my youth, I find the Spanish easy to understand now as I pick up the pace.  However, slowing down is more important to me in my old age, so I can receive new impressions about repeated truths and take precious moments to ponder.  Slowing down also helps me look up unfamiliar words and increase my vocabulary.  In particular, my study of Spanish verb conjugations in Argentina continues to pay back.  And just like that, it came to pass (y así aconteció); I am grateful (estoy agradecido).

Reading magazines published in Spanish by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints also helps me learn and retain.  (The pictures are still my favorite part.)  And I see more bilingual, English-Spanish signage and printed material everywhere — educational for me and helpful for the Hispanic population of Ogden.  (My iPhone photo album set apart for that is filling up.)

I love the language — even better when combined with a little fast food.