Memories for February: She Walked!

My mom loved to go on walks.  From the time I was very young, I can remember going on walks.  We had several different routes around our neighborhood depending on how long of a walk we wanted to go on...over to the junior high school, up to the elementary, just around the block...we went in all kinds of weather.  We went on lots of Sunday walks...usually in the late afternoon or evening.  It was just something we did on that day.  Sometimes we would bring a treat along to nibble.  I remember specifically graham crackers or candy bars!  We always talked as we walked...telling stories to each other all the time.  One time when we were teenagers, we went for a Sunday walk.  I remember walking along 400 East (most likely holding hands because we liked to hang on each other!) and we passed a guy from our ward.  I think he was on a motorcycle or maybe walking by too...but he pointed at our family and stated, "I'm jealous!"  We laughed about it for years...and considered it a high compliment, too.

My mom walked almost every weekday morning with her friends...we called them "The Walking Ladies" and the faster they talked, the faster they walked.  They also went out in all kinds of weather which I know was a sacrifice for my mom because she was always cold!  Those ladies were just the best.  They had all the information on everything and everybody, but not in a gossipy way, just in a caring way of making sure people and things were being taken care of.  I never realized how wonderful and therapeutic that must have been for my mom until last summer when I started walking in the evenings with a good friend.  Each day, I would look forward to our walks...a time just to talk and be understood and validated...I'm sure it was the same for my mom.

Now, whenever I go home to see my dad or my siblings, we go on walks.  I love to walk around the Provo neighborhood with my dad and Pat.   And when we vacationed last summer in Park City, we took walks.  I have walked with Katy in Texas, with Mellie in Tooele and when Chris and his family came here, we took a long Sunday walk.  My kids love to go on walks...and often when I go around the block, I think of my mama!  One day, we will walk together again.

(Katy and Sutton on a walk here in Iowa back in 2010)

(On a walk with Mel in 2007)

(Not a walking picture with Chris's family in 2012...but we went on a walk after we went to church!)