Heather has inspired me. Through the years I've often thought of different women and the effect they had on my life. They have been YW leaders, teachers, and neighbors. I haven't seen them in many years. I thought about sending a graduation announcement to my first grade teacher, but chickened out thinking she wouldn't remember me and I would be embarrassed. Etc. etc.
So. My friend google gave me three addresses. I wasn't able to find two that I looked for. I'm going to send cards to these three women. I'm not going to worry about a reply or (crap!) if it gets to the wrong person.
I grew up in California. My first grade teacher was so incredible. She found out that I was LDS and she was excited because she was too. Here in Utah it might be common but I can think of only 3 LDS teachers I ever had. She invited me home with her to swim in her apartment complex pool. She came to my house and watched The Wizard of Oz and ate popcorn with me. She got engaged and borrowed my dad's RX7 to show her fiance the new car she got (April Fool!) She got married and moved to Utah. All these years later I've ended up here as well. It would be interesting to see if we ever see each other again!
Another person I think of is a neighbor I had. I babysat for them and spent time in their house. I was probably in my early teens when I went there once and saw her breastfeeding a (gasp!) toddler. I was thinking - this kid can talk! She has teeth! What?! Truthfully I had no concept of baby feeding in general. I hadn't even begun to think about those things. It left me with no impression. Now that I'm Super Granola Mom (or something like that) I've thought back to other mothers that I've been around growing up. I can't remember birth or feeding ever really coming up. I wish I had known more about the women that surrounded me. This memory came back to me and now that I know better I think of this woman and her parenting and I understand that she was/is a great mother. I'm thankful for her not being shy about nursing her toddler in front of the neighbor kid.
The last person is a YW leader that I had. She was always kind. Always soft spoken. Always, always. I babysat for them quite a bit as well. I'm so impressed with her patience, her love for her kids, her attentiveness to them, and her optimism and kindness. She is one of those beautiful easy people to love.
There were a couple other YW leaders I had that I would love to send cards to also. I'm sure through other past ward members I can track them down so I'll be trying to do that. In the meantime - wish me luck!
