Sunday, March 20, 2011: I am writing this talk at my father’s hospital bedside. We are in the final phase of his life, though we don’t know how much sand remains in the hourglass neck.When Dad was in the ER on Saturday, I sat at his bedside, a few feet from my mother. Mom gave family news, and smiled and laughed as though we were at the dining room table, not in the ER. I kept my eyes on Dad. I watched him curl into fetal position. He moved his hand between the bars of the hospital bed … [Read more...]
Reconciliation: My Presidential Address to the Association for Mormon Letters, 2011
June 23, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Birthday Thoughts
June 10, 2016 by Leave a Comment
On June 7, I turned sixty-one. My two best friends, Jackie Selck Clegg and Elizabeth (Buffy) Cannon Wright, both died in their forties, Jackie of cancer and Buffy in a car crash. My aunt Carolyn also died in her forties. A heart attack took her. Two of my husband's sisters died at age forty-five, one of cancer and one of multiple sclerosis. I look back over the twenty years which I got and they did not and contemplate what that time has meant. I did write some important books, but others are … [Read more...]
Salvador: The Truth Behind the Fiction, Part 7
June 5, 2016 by Leave a Comment
“Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel." (Psalms 2:9) I did not learn of the bulldozing of the LDS chapel at Dale's finca until a decade after it had happened. Because I had agreed to teach full time at BYU-Hawaii (I usually teach part-time at BYU-Provo), I had an interview by a general authority. After a few minutes, we both learned that we had something in common--our association with Dale at different points in his lif … [Read more...]
Salvador: The Truth Behind the Fiction, Part 6
May 25, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Blessed be the name of my God, for his Spirit hath not altogether withdrawn from me, or else where is thy glory, for it is darkness unto me? And I can judge between thee and God; for God said unto me: Worship God, for him only shalt thou serve. (Moses 1:15) The basics were revealed. Dale was living a double life, and had persuaded himself that his illicit relationship with another woman was justifiable because she would replace his wife, who, he was convinced (and had told her) … [Read more...]
Resilience: The Bobby Blair Story, Part 4
May 23, 2016 by Leave a Comment
This is the concluding part of my interview with my indomitable brother, Robert Groberg Blair. I recommend the entire interview (all four parts total less than an hour) for anyone who is facing loss. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0k-14gX7kQQ&feature=youtu.be … [Read more...]
Resilience: The Bobby Blair Story, Part 3
May 22, 2016 by Leave a Comment
The last segment of my interview with my brother, Robert Groberg Blair, lasted twenty-five minutes, so I decided to divide it into two episodes.Here is Part 3 of the series, to be followed by the concluding segment. Thank you, Bobby, for this wonderful interview. Your insights and your life inspire me! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hn1S7x5kTrI … [Read more...]
Resilience: The Bobby Blair Story, Part 2
May 21, 2016 by Leave a Comment
I posted this on Facebook but neglected to put it on my blog.In this interview, Bobby talks about finally accepting a different future than what he had planned and how he came to be at peace with a changed future. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KciIzTigfaQ … [Read more...]
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