Em(meline)

Sometimes it's hard for me to relate to family history. (Who am I kidding? Sometimes is code for 99.9% of the time.) But this makes absolutely no sense. I relish other people's history. I'm getting a degree in the study of history for crying out loud. Why not my own family? People who I should connect to on a deeper level? I have no idea.

But, I have had a breakthrough.

I'm not related to Emmeline B. Wells. But. That's not the point right now. The point is that this famous Mormon woman, when it comes right down to it, was just a hard-working LDS mother. Reading the pages of her diary for one of my history classes, I am overwhelmed by the balance she developed between civic involvement and a total devotion to her faith and her family. I am in awe of what she did and how simple and humble her journal is.

I'm not related to Emmeline B. Wells. But. I am related to many others who came across the plains and shaped modern Utah. Sometimes I take their stories for granted. But, in their own way, my ancestors are just as important as Emmeline because they to lived their religion and were willing to sacrifice whatever was necessary to do so. But, to me, they are more important than Emmeline; because they are related to me.

I may think that I can be a part of the legacy of Emmeline B. Wells because I am an LDS woman who wants to be a good wife and mother, but to also make a difference in the world. But it is more important for me to be a part of the legacy of my ancestors, because I already am a part of their family legacy. I have the responsibility, the obligation, to be worthy of that legacy.

A few years ago it was said that we were going to "raise the bar" on standards. Raise the bar? I can only hope to attain the level of Emmeline or any other early Utah settlers of Utah, including my family, who stand as remarkable examples of power, spirit, and love that I hope one day to emulate.

Sometimes it's hard for me to relate to family history. But not today.

A Day Which Will Live in Infamy

"The attack...on the Hawaiian Islands has caused severe damage to American naval and military forces. Very many American lives have been lost. In addition American ships have been reported torpedoed on the high seas between San Francisco and Honolulu."

"With confidence in our armed forces - with the unbounded determination of our people - we will gain the inevitable triumph - so help us God." 

Seventy years ago today Japanese pilots bombed Pearl Harbor in a surprise attack on the United States Navy that led to the United States entering World War Two. Americans became crucial to the war effort on the European front while also battling in the Pacific theatre. 

VE Day: May 8, 1945

VJ Day: August 15, 1945

God Bless America