The Grandma Jar

Question of the day: what are some lessons you learned from your parents? I've learned so many lessons from my parents but I'll mention a few. I learned service from both of my parents. Mother was always baking or cooking something to take to a sick or sorrowful neighbor. As a kid I was a bit of a smart alek and when I came home to a house full of delicious aroma's I'd ask, "who is that for!" Whenever there was a Ward welfare assignment Russell Black and his brood of (I was going to say willing children but that would be lying) children would be there to hoe beets, pick beans, move headgates--you name it we did it. I remember being reluctant then--I'm incredibly grateful now. One time one of the men in our ward (Russ Gerber) was really sick and they transferred him to LDS hospital in Salt Lake. At that time Russ's wife JoAnn didn't drive and dad would pick her up and take her to the hospital to see her husband every single night. It seems like th...

Giving someone or something a name imposes a great deal of power. Johnny Cashe's 1996 hit song " A Boy Named Sue " explores the power and consequences we parents have on our child just by the name we give them. My niece Stephanie once told me that she learned in her psychology class that if you name your daughters names that end with the sound "ie." you doom them to grow up to be cocktail waitresses (I'd like to clarify that we have Chellie, Stephanie, Stacy, Maggie, Abby, Rylee, and Whitney--and NONE of them are cocktail waitresses--so much for psychology). In October 2011 Conference Elder Ballard reminded us "Each has received a special name chosen by his or her parents, a name to be known by throughout his or her lifetime, distinguishing him or her from anyone else." When we chose names for our children we really didn't consider the magnitude of this responsibility. Both of our boys carry names that originally belonged to their grandfathe...

I am the daughter of Russell and Eyvonne Porter Black. Dad was named for his grandfather Russell Warner. Grandpa Warner drowned when Grandma Nina Black was just three years old (see below) so it's not surprising that she wanted to name her first son after the father she never got to know. Grandpa Mark Black's middle name is Chase. I'm not sure why Grandpa and Grandma didn't use Chase as Dad's middle name but they decided that they wanted to find a different "C" name. Aviator Charles Limbergh was extremely popular in the early 30's having just completed the first solo non-stop transatlantic flight so Grandma and Grandpa named Dad "Russell Charles" after Charles Limbergh. The surname Black was English or Irish and was often a nickname for a swarthy or black haired man. Dad says that as a little boy some of the "mean" kids in Kanosh would call him "Rusty Blackrock." Oh, how he hated that nickname. As an adult, Dad...

Sandra Cisnero's classic short story My Name explores her name through origin, sound, and feel. If I wrote a story about my name it would be happy, quirky, inquisitive, and fun--just like my name. Suffice it to say I really like my name. I like that it's short and sassy; it rolls easily off the tongue, and it's easy to spell:). I was born on Easter morning and legend has it that Grandpa Porter wanted to name me Bunny (Easter . . . Bunny . . . I would never live that name down). Dad was in the Army when I was born and he was stationed at Fort Ord California. He didn't find out that I had arrived until he called to wish Mom a Happy Birthday (Mom's birthday is two days before mine). According to Dad (and he ought to know), he chose my name just because he liked it--that makes two of us. According to name.com  “The name Jill originated as a shortened or pet version of the names Gillian or Jillian, which derive from the name the Latin Julian meaning “downy-bea...

I love General Conference. It always inspires me to want to be an better me. My goal (one of them) is to get back to (or start) journalling . Jenny posted this site on Pinterest and it is right up my alley. My goal is to answer one question each day. Wish me luck:)