Yesterday I gave my Mother's Day gift to my Mama: I was her assistant in cleaning out the upstairs office. I don't know if this room has ever had a real purpose since we moved here 6 years ago. It kind of became the place where we all dumped expired paperwork and broken printers when we didn't have anywhere else to put them. When Grandpa Richardson passed away it became the home to boxes upon boxes of books, photos, more paperwork, and other little tidbits of G'pa & G'ma Richardson's lives.
When Mama asked me to help her with the organization I was ecstatic. I love love LOVE organizing. I wish BYU would create a major called Organization Principles, because I would be all over that. There is something so rewarding about starting with a disaster and ending with nicely labeled shelves, sorted cupboards, and a knowledge of where everything is. Some people look at a messy room and just close the door so they don't have to think about it. I look at a messy room and get really excited about the possibilities.
Anyway, I was very happy to help Mama organize the office. We planned to start at 7:30am after scriptures, but I refused to wake up for scriptures so we started at 10:00am. I made a sign with each family member's name, then put them on the wall to sort everyone's things. Mama sneezed about 50 times in the first hour because of the dust. My drill sergeant side came out each time Mom wanted to take a lunch break. "Uh-uh missy, we're working for another hour, THEN you can take a break. Next box."
Each time we opened a box I felt a tiny bit of anticipation of what we'd find. You must know that my Grandpa and Grandma Richardson were incredible people. My Grandma passed away when I was six so I don't remember anything about her, although I've heard so many wonderful stories that I feel like I know her quite well. My Grandpa passed away two years ago this month. When my Mom cleaned out his condo with her siblings, she ended up with all the genealogy of the Richardson family. Let me tell you...there is a LOT of genealogy.
It was so fun to look through all the pictures with Mom. I loved seeing her as a little girl, with Grandma and Grandpa so young and full of energy. Grandma was stunning, and Grandpa was so handsome. We came across Grandpa's diploma from Standford. Um....cool. He was so so smart! We went through his books and found multiple collections of Shakespeare works, The Odyssey, Homer...you get the picture. Really difficult reads. I hadn't heard of most of the titles, but I could tell they weren't easy.
In one of the boxes we found Grandpa's bird journal. Grandpa loved bird-watching. I'll never forget the clock he had in his kitchen that chirped the sound of a different bird depending on the hour. It drove me nuts when I was a kid, but now I miss it. We found a file labeled "Hermana Zippi" where he'd kept of all the letters he and Elizabeth had sent to each other when she was on her mission. Every single one. There was a cook book exploding with little post it notes, a sure sign that Grandpa had been there. Mom showed me a picture of Grandpa with his third grade class. He was easy to find as he was the only one wearing a tie. I loved looking at Grandpa's scriptures. They were all highlighted with red pen, with neatly written notes placed in the margins. Grandpa loved the Gospel and the Lord so much.
I miss Grandma and Grandpa, and I am grateful that they left such a wonderful legacy. I've never heard a bad thing spoken about either one of them. They were both good people who could not have been more perfect for each other. They loved the Gospel and they loved the Lord. They were kind and thoughtful, and always trying to be better. They showed so much love to me and the rest of our family. I hope to be like them someday...I'm crossing my fingers.
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