I Love Family!

I have family all over the world, from Texas to England to Thailand to Luxembourg to Utah. We are a unique blend of different talents, passions, cultures and languages. The best times of the year for me are being surrounded by family and the more of us we can get together the better!

One of the most special things for me about being with my family is hearing stories of those who have gone on before us. To hear of their courage and their strengths, they struggles and trials. Where and how they lived and the circumstances and convictions that drove their decisions.

We learn a lot from our ancestors. For me, this is one of my biggest draws to genealogy. It is just not finding names and dates but truly finding out exactly who our ancestors were and why. One of my ancestors that I admire greatly was my great grandmother Elizabeth Mary Buck. She was born in 1902 in Ireland where her father was stationed in the army. He passed away one year later. She was very intelligent and did well in school. After she had completed her education she worked as a maid in a hotel which is where she met her husband. She married my great grandfather Sydney Norman Vardy in 1923 and they went on to have 5 children.

Her life was neither glamorous or easy. My Great Grandfather worked first in the merchant navy and then in a factory.  To help support the family Elizabeth would take on sewing jobs. She was talented and took pride in her work. She was also very frugal. She kept all the extra buttons from garments she altered or added new buttons onto in case they could be used again. I now have a large collection of buttons from the early 1900's. She grew her own food and during the WWII turned her entire garden into a vegetable patch . She worked hard. She would wash and cook for 7 people without any help from modern conveniences.  On Mondays my grandmother (Lesley) would come home to find Elizabeth scrubbing the floor and the steps on her hands and knees.  She took pride in her home and in caring for her family and did it well. She lived through both world wars and saw the world change drastically through her almost 100 years of life. The best thing about my Great grandmother was  that she was always happy and shared that happiness through her smile and laughter. She passed away when I was 9 years old in 1997 in Hampshire, England. I wish I would have been able to spend more time with her.

My Great grandmother and grandfather lived a good life and loved the Savior. They always helped others and were Christ like. Married for over 70 years they loved and treasured each other. As Sydney aged he would memorize poems that he loved to help keep his memory sharp. One in particular reminded him of his beautiful wife. He would recite it to her so much she would get fed up.  But this poem came to mean a lot, especially to my mother, as it reminds her of their sweet relationship

A red rose in my garden,

 A sky lark on the wing,

 A cottage small, 'neath larches tall,

 And you my love within

A white cloth on my table,

 A jar of honey sweet,

 A baby in a cradle rocked,

To make our joys complete

A bright star in the heavens,

An angels loving care,

What more is there in all this world,

For us dear heart to share.

My great grandparents' temple work was started in 2001 and completed in 2004. In addition to receiving saving ordinances such as baptism and their endowment they were also sealed to each other for time and all eternity. I am so grateful for the temple and the work that is performed in them. I love knowing that my great grandparents can be together forever. That eventually their posterity can be sealed to them and that the relationships that mean so much to us here on earth reach further and last longer, not ending with death but stretching into the eternities. 

Authored by LLHappyEternal Writer: GUEST