Cowboy Up, Cupcake

I'm in a really bad mood, so I decided I needed to sit down and really think about something positive. When I do that, my thoughts always turn to my grandmother. Her name is Joyce and she is absolutely amazing. She's in her mid-70's and a total firecracker!

I was able to spend last weekend with her. Doug had to work, so I took my kids up there on Saturday, in between conference sessions, and spent the night with her. She totally spoils us when we go visit. She made yummy meals and planned fun activities for my kids. It was completely relaxing. One of my new favorite memories of her will be cleaning up dinner with her whole listening to the beginning of the last session of conference.

Let me tell you a little about my grandma. She's a beautiful woman who has accomplished many great things. I watched her tackle some enormous situations with strength and grace that most people could never pull off. On Christmas day of 1994, my grandpa passed away from a heart attack. He was 65. Two years later my uncle (her youngest son) died at a wedding from a major heart attack. He died 5 days before his 40th birthday. She was there when he collapsed on the dance floor and she watched him die. About two years after that, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She underwent a masectomy which was extremely difficult on her because she does not deal well with anesthesia. However, her doctors discovered they didn't get all the cancer and had to remove her other breast. To make matters worse, when she underwent reconstructive surgery, she came down with a nasty infection and had to be hospitalized for that. She did this while still grieving for her husband and son and she had completely uprooted her life, moving to Layton, UT. She had sold some property and her business that she had built from the ground up, and left her home of almost 30 years in Jackson, WY.

My grandma had many experiences before all this tragedy that I think prepared her to deal with these events. She not only raised 3 children, but she always worked full time in an era when most women stayed home. She did this so my grandpa could go back to school. She served cheerfully and willingly in the church, and their home was ALWAYS the site for major church parties.

Later she helped my grandpa acheive his childhood dream of starting a "western adventure" business in Jackson Hole, a place where my grandpa had spent his summers when he was growing up. They purchased my grandpa's family homestead and started a chuckwagon dinner show, a 7 day packtrip adventure and a 4 day wagon train. They built their first covered wagon in their driveway in Provo. By the time my dad bought the business from my grandma, they were running 10 wagons twice a night for their dinner show. My grandma was featured in tons of magazine articles, including County Woman and Family Circle.

When I was in middle school, my grandma brought her father home to live with them. At the same time, my great-grandmother on my grandpa's side had passed away and he had brought his father to live with them as well. Her father had alzheimers. I watched her care for these two aging men while she was running a business and serving in the stake relief society presidency. She eventually had to put her father in a nursing home because he became too volital. At the time, the decision was so hard because she couldn't afford the nursing home in Jackson so they had to send him to Rexburg which was about an hour and a half away.

She has had a full life and I love to hear her stories. And she keeps on living her life. She has traveled all over the world and continues to do so. She has volunteered at the hospital and she now serves a mission at Temple Square in SLC. She has always been a central figure in my life. We lived right next door to her on the same property until I was 16. She is one of my best friends and one of the best examples to me. My memories of her are sweet and strong.

In Conference, Elaine S. Dalton stated that she has a plaque that says she can do hard things. When I forget that I can do hard things, I think of my grandma who has done more than her fair share of hard things and I simple have to tell myself to "Cowboy up Cupcake" and get on with it. I was raised by incredibly strong women, my mother, my aunt and my grandmother have given me peices of themselves and because of them I know I can do anything.