Thursday, April 07, 2011

Holy Ground

My Grandmother passed away last night. She had just turned 101, and was still surprisingly sharp. Her hearing had mostly gone, she couldn't stand on her own, but she could still smile weakly and offer words of wisdom. Most of our conversations lately revolved around how she wanted me to be happy.

I remember a time when I went to LDS General Conference with her. Elder Richard G. Scott, on of the 12 apostles and most senior leaders in my church saw us sitting together and came up to us. He spoke briefly to my grandmother and then turned to me. He said, "I want you to know that I have stayed and your grandmother's house, and because of that I can say that I have slept on Holy Ground." I can think of no finer compliment to pay her, no more apt description of her character, and no grander accomplishment than that. Here a servant of the Lord, a man that I honor as a special witness for Christ, who has traveled the world and sat in sacred ceremony as deep matters of doctrine and church policy was discussed and yet he noticed that the humble home of this fine woman was Holy Ground. Being around her, I just felt loved.

If you knew my Grandmother, Lois Dayton, you probably felt this too. You have felt welcome in her home, you have felt her reverence for love and beauty and for her faith and Savior. My Grandmother was not a very complex woman, but how deep was her simplicity.

So deep that the ground soaked up the simple goodness around her. She wasn't the greatest piano player, but there was always music in her home. She wasn't necessarily the most elegant entertainer, but always a warm hostess. You could probably count the number of times her front door was actually locked. Whether I showed up for a planned visit, or simply stopped by passing through I was met without pomp but with an open door and an offer of whatever was in the fridge. My grandmother came from a place where "storebought" was almost a cuss word and usually followed an apology. "Can I make you a sandwich, I'm sorry all I have is storebought bread". She always offered what she had and never made a big deal of the meagerness of the offering nor the overabundance. Her offers were always simply just that, an offer. There was no pretext, nor expectation.

It's possible for a person to have a bad word to say about Grandma, but you'd have to try pretty hard, and it would probably tell me more about that person than it would about Grandma. She left literally hundreds of progeny behind her, each one recognize their best and most kind traits have roots that stretch back to that holy ground in Cokeville in a little rambler whose door was always open.

9 comments:

Barbaloot said...

That was beautiful---thanks Damian. Made me want to go back to the days when I would stay in Cokeville, enter the red door and sleep in the freezing cold basement.

Damian said...

I miss the eee-eee eee-eee bed

an illdressed foolishwise said...

My gradmother's name is Lois as well. She sounds truly lovely.

Damian said...

thank you.

Rand said...

Hi Damian... I know you don't know me, but I married a daughter of Scott Taylor (George's son). I've shared this with the Taylor family and I'm sure they will all appreciate your kind words.

I live close to your brother here in California and it has been fun for my wife Emily to have 'family' close by!

-Rand

Soleil Kids said...

beautiful.

Damian said...

Thank you all, it is nice to meet new people. Even if we are already "family" how did you find this blog post?

Rich said...

Excellent tribute. You were fortunate to have her around for so long.

Damian said...

Thank you. That means a lot coming from a fine writer like you. We were extremely lucky to have her.