Grandma LeNila

Tomorrow, we're taking my grandma into an assisted living home. I've had a hard time with this but here is a little tribute I gave to her in sacrament meeting today...


When I think of “courageous people” I think of people such as Queen Vashti from the story of Esther, Joseph Smith, and Barack Obama; people who make bold statements in their lives and who do things that are recognizable and hard things to accomplish. As I contemplate “having courage,” I realized there is another type of courage, which may seem somewhat timid in comparison to what we normally think of. This courage is demonstrated by those who have the courage to get out of bed each morning, even when they’ve seen tragedy; those who adapt to change not necessarily because they want to, but because they have to.
An excellent example of both of these types of courage is my grandma LeNila. Even if it was just the courage to let the grand kids come over and destroy the house, you can bet Grandma Homer exercised courage through every bit of her life that I’ve known her and still does today. When she attended college at Utah State University, working towards a major in music, her dad called her up and said “sweetie, you’re coming home and going to pharmacy school at the U.” And that was that. She returned to the U and as a result, grandma became one of the first female pharmacists in the state. She also became one of the best pharmacists period! A few years ago my family and I drove down to St. George to witness her receiving the highest award for a pharmacist in the state of Utah. She’s also been recognized at a national level, again receiving the highest award possible. And just think, all these awards and accomplishments because she had the courage to sit in a musty classroom with a group of smelly boys all day and study harder than Albert Einstein? Sounds like a pretty good deal to me!
When I think of grandma and the second type of courage, too many memories fill my mind to replay to you now. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen her laughing and having a good time even when her sweet husband of over fifty years made his transition to the other side. After over fifty years of hearing “whatever you say dear,” probably hourly, and, “well hello there beautiful, how are you this morning.” As they woke up every day, grandma has the courage to face the days after he’s gone. Grandma loves her independence, but she knows she can not do it without our savior. Her humility radiates through everything she does. I know that because of this humility weak things have been made strong unto her and that this is how she maintains her courage as the days pass by. Her courage in all aspects helps me have courage for the little high school things I face each day.