RaNae

I want everyone to know what a sweet, caring person my wife RaNae is. During the 53 years we have been married, she has always put her family first. We have three great sons who owe their position in life to a mother who was dedicated to availing their every need while growing to manhood. My chosen career took me away from home much of the time but when I came home, she would always bring me up to date as to the family progress. I missed being with my family and we made up for it by seeing that our boys had every opportunity to participate in school events, sports, scouting and being involved in current events when it improved them as well as making religion a major event in their lives. Largely because of her, all three boys are Eagle Scouts and filled honorable missions. It was her influence that accomplished this. I had some influence on their growing up but it was their mother who was and is always there for t hem. During my thirty first year of life, I contracted life threatening health problems that are still with me today. RaNae has stood by me during surgical operations and at times nursed me back to health. Her concern for my well being is evident in that she is always reminding me to take my medications, reminding me of doctor appointments and things we have planned. RaNae graduated from BYU before we were married. During our marriage, she has worked most of the time except when on maternity leave. She retired in the late 90’s but when it became evident that I could not work anymore, she again went to work for a company as Office Manager. I recently received an e-mail about motherhood that I’d like to insert here:

Mommy to Mom to Mother

MOTHERS

Real Mothers don't eat quiche; they don't have time to make it.

Real Mothers know that their kitchen utensils are probably in
the sandbox.

Real Mothers often have sticky floors, filthy ovens and happy kids.

Real Mothers know that dried play dough doesn't come out of carpets.

Real Mothers don't want to know what the vacuum just sucked up.

Real Mothers sometimes ask "Why me?" and get their answer when
a little voice says, "Because I love you best."

Real Mothers know that a child's growth is not measured by
height or years or grade...It is marked by the progression of Mommy to
Mom to Mother...

The Images of Mother
4 YEARS OF AGE - My Mommy can do anything!

8 YEARS OF AGE - My Mom knows a lot! A whole lot!

12 YEARS OF AGE - My Mother doesn't really know quite everything.

14 YEARS OF AGE - Naturally, Mother doesn't know that, either.

16 YEARS OF AGE - Mother? She's hopelessly old-fashioned.

18 YEARS OF AGE - That old woman? She's way out of date!

25 YEARS OF AGE - Well, she might know a little bit about it.

35 YEARS OF AGE - Before we decide, let's get Mom' s opinion.

45 YEARS OF AGE - Wonder what Mom would have thought about it?

65 YEARS OF AGE - Wish I could talk it over with Mom.

The beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she’ll wear, the
figure that she carries, or the way she combs her hair ...
The beauty of a woman must be seen from in her eyes, because that is the doorway
to her heart, the place where love resides ...
The beauty of a woman is not in a facial mole, but true beauty in a woman is reflected in her soul ...
It is the caring that she lovingly gives, the passion that
she shows, and the beauty of a woman with passing years only grows
This e-mail is so typical of the way our sons have related to their mother. As I read it I can see the stages of their lives as it says and remember each as they made the transition from “Mommy to Mom to Mother.”

West Coast Cruise

Last month RaNae and I went on a week long cruise. It originated in Vancouver, B.C. with ports of call at Victoria, B.C., Astoria, OR, San Francisco CA and finally, Los Angeles, CA. WE were in a tour group of about 70 people. We flew to Seattle, WA and then were bussed to Vancouver. The bus trip took about 3 hours. Our first port of call was Victoria, B.C. where we went on a tour of the "Butchart Gardens." There isn't room here to tell of how the gardens originated, only to say that they were planted in and around an old lime quarry that Mr. Butchart owned and mined. His wife was the one who did the flower garden thing to cover up the quarry scars. Needless to say, it was beautiful with flowers from, I think, most countries of the world. My favorite flower collection was the rose garden. There were 1300 different varieties of roses there. Several countries were represented individually. The next day we stopped at Astoria, OR. Of course, we had to do a Customs thing on the ship before we got off in the USA. Astoria is at the mouth of the Columbia River. We were there for a whole day and toured the small city and the Mariners Museum. When we left there we were a whole day and night at sea. There were, that night, 3 foot swails in the ocean and though the ship was huge, it still rocked a little from side to side. RaNae felt a little seasick and opted to go to bed at about 9:00 PM. Our room had a balcony and so the rocking was more graphic as we sailed along. There were 9 restaurants on board and the food was all free except the drinks - all soft drinks and all mixed drinks were charged to your on board ship account. Of the 9 restaurants on board, four of the more up-class one's had a cover charge. We ate at two of those. The food was excellent and there were a couple of restaurants open 24 - 7, one of which was a buffet. There was a variety of evening shows that we enjoyed. One of the auditoriums was as big as an I Max theater. After Astoria, we were at sea again for a whole day and night, arriving at the Golden Gate bridge at 6:00 am. We were in San Francisco a day and a half. We had reserved a tour to Sausilito and Muir Woods. It was a nice tour that took about 4 hours. Muir woods is a part of the California Redwood forest and was awe inspiring with the huge redwoods. Sausilito was a typical tourist town. We also spent time at Fisherman's Wharf and Ghiridelli Square We left 'Frisco the next morning at 10:00 am and were at sea again for a day and night arriving in Los Angeles on Saturday. After de boarding and collecting our luggage, our bus took us to Long Beach where the Queen Mary is docked. We just sat around for six hours instead of sitting at LAX. We arrived home at 7;55 PM that night. It was a great trip and well worth the price.