Leaving a Legacy...Thelma Carpenter (my great grandma)

My Great Grandma, Thelma Carpenter passed away on March 24th, 2009. She live a healthy, full, memorable life for 100 years! Great Grandma outlived all but 1 of her children, and 1 brother. I remember when her son, Jerald (my grandpa) died, she said: "You aren't suppose to outlive your children". Can you imagine the reunion that greeted her just beyond the veil. Her husband, Jim who died in 1990, 3 children, her parents & grandparents, and many others who had gone before! What a sweet experience to have been there when she greeted those she loved!

Great Grandma grew up without the frivolities we enjoy now. She had NO electricity, running water, straw in her matresses for a bed, NO hot water, or a vacuum cleaner, and the list could go on. She learned to sew, and made her first dress at age 12. She also made lots of quilts.

Great Grandma applied Pres. Kimballs qoute of "Use it up, Wear it out, Make it do, or Do with out" long before that saying was given. She would use water in a bucket to wash her hair, mop the floor, then water the grape vines. She didn't like paper towels because you couldn't reuse them.

Great Grandma LOVED to go to the temple. In her 80's she bought a condo across the street from the Mesa, Az Temple. She would walk there everyday and attend 4 or so sessions. They estimated she did 5000-7000 endowments during that time.

When she was 95 years old she sewed 100 baby outfits for the humanitarian project in her stake. After she was finished she said,"Now what shall I do?"

I always remember when she was in Mesa visiting and she came to my Grandma Carpenters house to see everyone. She had curlers in her hair, and all the kids(my girls, nieces & nephews) wanted to take a picture with her. She chuckled a little, and said she had curlers in her hair. We all laughed a little and then she said "I am going to be SOOO beautiful, YOU JUST WAIT AND SEE"! She was 100 years old then! How sweet! Our kids go around saying that phrase ALL the time.

At the funeral all the great grandchildren got to sing "There is Sunshine in my Soul Today" as a tribute to her. A cousin told of how a few days before she died, they were visiting grandma and asked if they could sing some hymns with her. Grandma said she didn't feel like singing, but would love to listen. After they started singing, Grandma titled her head back and sung all 3 verses of the song. I will always think of her funeral, and my great grandma when I hear this song. It so reminds me of Great Grandma and the life she lived...she always found the Sunshine in life!

As said at her funeral, We honor her today for her legacy of faith and love and for her endurance to the end. Her faith is evident when she wrote, "I do believe the Lord will bless me if I am the kind of person I can be (the person I should be)."

I love the heritage that I have. I am grateful for the blessings I have been given. Many wonderful things have happened in my life, and I am truly blessed to have known this Great Grandma, Thelma Carpenter and many other relatives who have already gone beyond the veil!