What Can Grandmothers Do?
Margaret S. Heywood[1] at
age 87
As the
matriarch of the Leland Heywood family, just what can I do to help that family?
Well, I have
written for them and for my brothers and sisters the life stories[2] of
my parents, Alfred Smurthwaite and Margaret Ellen Brown, both estimable,
talented, wonderful people.
I am planning
my life story and that of my husband[3],
hoping that our influence with our extended family might prove beneficial and
inspirational in their lives. In fact, I
hope that we shall never be forgotten.
As an old
woman, lonely and frail in health, I can still do some constructive things if I
will to do so; and I so will it!
I can be
cheerful, not complaining or bitter, not, as my father would have phrased it
“forever belly-aching!” Yes I can smile
and be cheerful.
I desire the
approval of my grandchildren. I can turn
on the charm for them. I can still talk
of optimism and courage with a pair of shining eyes and an optimistic giggle. Over and above that, I can give them
assurance of my approval of them, of my acceptance of them as they are, no
matter what. I might find it difficult
to refrain from pointing out faults and weaknesses; but always, on closer view,
I can find something to praise, to stimulate faith and to awaken courage.
Then we settle
down to a discussion of material needs.
Somehow we manage to meet the semester fees and book needs. We see that those ever-recurring repair
problems with the car are paid for when need arises. Yes, somehow, they must manage to get to and
from. Above all, they must have a
scholastic, technical or mechanical education sufficient to insure fair and
equal competition in our industrial world.
I can keep my
home a pleasant place for my grandchildren to enjoy. They seem to relax here where they find quiet
and order. I can work in the yards
keeping the walks swept, the weeds pulled and flowers planted. I enjoy work.
“Work”, you know, “is love made visible.”
I can make my
small contribution to the Church and the community. I try to support civic projects such as the
Community Chest, the Mesa Symphony and the Mesa Little Theater. I desire my grandchildren to grow up in a
town furnishing much in cultural advantages.
Surely they should know that I do my bit towards making their home city
a desirable place in which to live.
I set my
example before my family in keeping family records. I urge them to begin their accurate records
keeping now.
[1]
Margaret Eleanor Smurthwaite Heywood was born 9 Oct 1895 in Ogden, Utah. She married Leland Heywood 18 Aug 1921 in
Salt Lake City, Utah. She had five
children, Margaret Josephine “Jo”, Barbara Lea, Alfred Leland “Al”, Richard
Neal, and Carol Jayne. She has 27
grandchildren many greats and great-greats.
She taught school for over forty years, including about twenty at Mesa
High School and five at the Church of College of Hawaii. She died at age 96 on 7 Feb 1992 in Mesa,
Arizona.
[2]
These stories are available to the public
via FamilySearch Family Tree https://familysearch.org/tree/#section=pedigree
[3] These
were never written.
Margaret Eleanor Smurthwaite Heywood is the mother of the contributor, Richard Neal Heywood.
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