Sophie's Story

   Sacrament meeting at the Church of Jesus-Christ of Latter-day Saints is much different  than worship services in other denominations. On most Sundays the service starts with an opening hymn followed by announcements. Then another hymn is sung and after that the Sacrament is blessed and passed. (This would be like Communion or the Eucharist in other churches.) Once this is done the ward listens to talks which are given by members who have been contacted during the week and asked to speak.   When C said that Brother Wise had called and wanted to speak with me a week and a half ago, I knew what was coming. I was going to be asked to give a talk. Being asked to give a talk tends to strike fear into the hearts of most church members. I am not one of those. I actually welcome the chance to give a talk. Most of my speeches are presented to the Toastmasters group. I know my group well and I get to choose the topic. Talks for Sacrament meeting are assigned. I know most of the people in ou

  One of the things I like to do on my Sunday mornings off is to watch a TV show called CBS Sunday Morning. It has all different segments of music, the arts, and current events among other things. Many times I learn something from watching this program. Yesterday I learned about something called Veteran's Treatment Court.   This is a specialized type of court that serves veterans with mental and substance abuse issues who have committed a non violent crime. It is modeled after drug and mental health courts. The goal is to give veterans who are suffering from the effects of their combat service and give them a chance to turn their lives around. The atmosphere is much like the military. The judge receives a salute and the veteran defendant stands at parade rest.   The judges in these courts hear only cases involving veterans. They work with a team of people to find the resources so a veteran defendant has a chance to receive needed medical and mental health treatment,housing, cou

   I had the opportunity to have dinner last night with my Uncle JP and Aunt Wanda. I hadn't seen them in nearly 20 years. I knew that their visit here was going to be busy. The last time my uncle came out here it was for the funeral of his father, my grandfather. There were a lot of people they wanted to see and lots of places to visit. They made time for me and I was touched.   I also wanted to find out the truth about something I remembered from childhood. One year, over Christmas, my grandparents flew to Virginia to see Uncle JP and his family. My family stayed at the farm to tend to the livestock. At some point during while we were there I remember that my mother had sent a certain package and a note to my uncle. I always wondered if this really happened or if it was something I managed to make up.   The way I remembered it was that Uncle JP called Mom to complain about the weather in Virginia. It was freezing there, everyone was so cold. It was 40 degrees and miserable. M

   I gritted my teeth and got ready for church on Mother's Day. I really wanted to stay home, but I only get to go to church every other week due to my work schedule. I really didn't want to stay home. I knew it was going to be tough. Listening to talks on happy homes and benevolent,caring mothers was going to be difficult. I decided to wear a large hat. I figured that if I had a serious crying jag I could put my head down and the hat would shield my face. I put extra tissues in my bag with my Scriptures. I was as ready as I could be.   We got to church and walked toward the chapel. President Campbell was in the outside lobby with his wife Susan. It was good to see both of them. Susan told me that she had read my column on how Mother's Day was not my holiday and it made her a little sad that I felt that way. I knew it wasn't the most cheerful of columns, but I had to be honest. She and her husband were on their way home. Their daughter who is serving a mission in Ger

   At my Toastmaster's meeting on Thursday, the Table Topics master asked many good questions. My friend, Helen, was asked what her favourite flower is. Helen is an avid gardener. I was looking forward to her answer. She didn't really answer the question because she loves all flowers. Her Table Topic turned into a short talk about flowers and the wonders of spring in Wisconsin.   I heartily agree with Helen. There is nothing like spring in the north. Spring in the north is enough to make you believe in miracles especially after a long, snowy, cold winter. When the snow is a foot deep and the temperature is down to waaayyyy below freezing, it's easy to think that it will stay cold forever. You start to wonder if anything can survive being that cold for that long. During the winter months when I'm at work, I will get calls from pharmacies in the south asking for transfers of prescriptions for my customers that run to warmer climates for the season. I like to taunt the

   I've always thought that God has a fine sense of humour. I'm certain He occasionally smiles or even laughs at the things He sees here sometimes. One of the things that causes me to think this is the fact that Mother's Day usually falls on my weekend off. It's the only holiday where the rotation works like that.   I'm sure that Heavenly Father knows how I feel about Mother's Day. I think it is a fine idea. It's a good thing to celebrate those women who contribute so much to our society and yet are not recognized for this.     As a childless woman who has been disowned by her mother, it is not my holiday to celebrate.  I have been told that as a stepmother, I have a right to celebrate Mother's Day. I disagree, I don't think it is fair to mother of my stepchildren to take a holiday that belongs to her. I also don't think it is fair to my stepchildren to make them divide their attention between us. There is in fact a separate Stepmother's