I am truly grateful for the grandparents in my life - even the ones I never met! My father's mother, Agnes Marietta Busath Clayton, after whom I am named, was a profound influence in my father's life. She died when he was 17, but her influence never left his life. I love the above photo - that I recently found - Agnes, in an apron, sitting on the porch, reading!! Can I identify?? (Yes indeedy!) So grateful that her influence was felt in my life.
My Grandpa Clayton, shown here with Uncle Paul, was a larger-than-life kind of guy - and we all loved him. He was always around, always had a joke or a song or a trick or a silver dollar to give you! Turns out he wasn't all that exemplary, but I'm glad no one felt they had to dampen our enthusiasm for his visits. And frankly, as the years go by and more information emerges, his life makes sense, as the forces that shaped it emerge in more clarity. And I think his heart was right!
My Grandma Stevens was a lovely woman. I was a little intimidated by her as a child, but fortunately for me, she helped me overcome that!! When I was in college and a young mother, she wrote me letters of encouragement - and she sent recipes!! She typed them on her Remington too - she was a stenographer in her younger days!!
Wish she'd lived longer so I could have known her even longer, but we have eternity!!
My Grandpa Stevens was an executive at General Motors - and he was a little intimidating too, but he also helped me overcome that. Funny how that works!! So grateful for the years I knew him - he died when I was in my freshman year at BYU - a good man - even if he didn't have much good to say about Mormons!
My Grandpa Clayton married 3 times - his second wife was Helen Barlow Pratt - and I don't have a photo of her - but the hazy memories I have of her are good ones.
His third wife was our favorite grandma - Grandma Connie - what a wonderful woman she was! She lived into her nineties, so my children got a chance to meet her. She inherited a whole passel of grandkids when she married my grandpa - but she opened her heart to all of them - and kept track of them too. She is the reason I even know some cousins I'm pretty sure I wouldn't know if it hadn't been for her!
Grateful for all my grandparents!!
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