Dear Dad and Mo,
Happy 50th anniversary! How can words begin to express what you and your relationship mean to me and my family? It stretches around everything I have ever known from before my earliest memories in the house on Country Mill Court down to having you here in Utah visiting my children’s plays and concerts. It is the relationship that framed my understanding of how to interact and love others, that nourished me when I was at home, and that gave me strength and comfort when I was far from friends and family. You are exemplary and have exceled in each of the roles that you have been given: as parents, leaders, professionals, and grandparents you have done all that you do together with patience, love, and support for each other no matter the circumstances or personal costs. You have a beautiful complicité with each other betrayed in tender demonstrations of affection and quick sidelong glances that witnesses a beautiful love that has matured and grown with time. Thank you for all that you have invested in each other and for the great gift you have given us of two parent to whom we can always look to as role models and go to for love and support. We love you both so very much and are so thankful for the part you play in our lives. Here is to 50 more years and an eternity after that!
Love,
Chip
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Funniest moments:
1. September 1998. Meeting Dad: Texas, Galveston. Chip and I just got engaged and
flew to Texas to meet Mo and Dad. Dad said “Did you know I can speak French?” he
then started reciting the Pledge of Allegiance in English with a French accent and a
straight face! This memory still makes me smile when I think about it!
2. Summer 2017. Driving through Dad’s ancestral land in Sweden now a private free
loving hippy community. The rental van was very big with the letters HERTZ on each
side!! It was obvious we didn’t belong! Mo was not pleased in her gentle loving way
but Dad was tickled!
Memorable experiences:
1. Summer 2010, Västerhaninge, Sweden.
When I realized that Téo (2) had left the house one morning, I ran outside in a panic
knowing instinctively that he headed to the busy street we crossed daily to go to the
train station. My hair was still wet, I was bare feet and the children--Ethan (10),
Mathilde (8) and Linnéa (6)--were right behind me. We all yelled: “Téo! Téo!” Tears
streaming down our cheeks. A couple was coming out of the temple and when they
saw and heard us they said: “I templet, i templet.” As we ran to the temple and
entered the office area we saw Dad clothed in white holding Téo in his arms. I keep
this image in my heart along with another picture that I took of our children visiting
Mo in the same temple that summer. Mo is in white, the children are wearing their
Sunday best. They are sitting on the couch under the picture of Christ. I know that my
children are safe and loved when they are with Mo and Dad.
2. April 2, 2018. The day after Mo was released as Young Women General President,
that Monday after her last conference talk, her “drop the mic talk”, she spent the day
at the Huntsman Cancer Hospital while Chip was going through surgery. Her love
carried me through one of the most challenging days of my life.
3. Summer 2008. Paddling in the canoes to “Blueberry Island” in Sweden and bringing
back wild blueberries in “moss nests” made by Mo with nature’s best materials.
4. When Dad had his heel removed to battle cancer, I knelled down to pray for him and
realized I couldn’t raise my children without his gentle and loving influence. My
pleading to God was to let him know how much I needed Dad in my life. When Mo
had her aneurism and I offered prayers, my pleading was the same: to please keep
Mo on earth because we couldn’t do without her powerful influence in our lives.
Thank you God for Dad and Mo!
Marie-Laure
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Papy and Mo,
You two have always stood as a beacon of support to me. No matter where I found myself at any age or time I have always known that my grandpa and grandma were never more than a text or call away. This knowledge has given me an incredible safety net from which I am able to grow. You have also been there at key points in my life to deliver inspiring messages and guidance. You both stand as sources of knowledge, support, and inspiration for me.
I will always remember our trip to the East Coast and the time we were able to spend together. The lessons and experiences I have had in your company are truly a foundation that I will be able to build on for the rest of my life. You both have incredible stories that have inspired my siblings and me alike. Your company has always been a joy to me and my family and I look forward to all the times to come.
Love,
Ethan
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Love, Teo
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