Tuesday, July 17, 2018

Our Four-Generation Photos

From the time she was little, our daughter wished for a daughter of her own, a wish that found fulfillment this spring. Along with that wish came her desire for a four-generation picture. She wanted to get her beloved Grammie (my mother, Anonna Hubbard), in a photo with me, herself, and her daughter.

When Macy was born in April, our daughter began planning for that picture she had always wanted, but she was living in Washington, my mother was living in northern Utah, and I was in Arizona, serving a full-time Mormon mission. The picture seemed unlikely.

Last month, a series of unexpected (and frequently unfortunate) events sent my husband and me to northern Utah on medical leave. He needed a procedure to correct an irregular heart rhythm. That gave me the opportunity to visit my 93-year-old mother, an opportunity I hadn't expected to have for another year.

Elder Aylworth had his heart procedure, but a series of unexpected complications kept us in the area for a week longer than we anticipated. That week became a huge blessing. 

Two days before we left on our Utah trip, my mother fell and broke her arm. Because it could not be immobilized (and, at 93, she was not a candidate for surgery), every motion was agonizing. A week later, and the day before my husband's surgery, my mother went on hospice. Again, it seemed unlikely that a four-generation picture would ever happen.

In a coincidence of timing that can only be considered providential, our son-in-law accepted a new job within 40 minutes' drive of where my mother was living. On Sunday, July 1, my daughter and her daughter arrived at my mother's apartment. Mom was in a hospital gown with her arm in a sling, but the four-generation pictures finally happened.


On that Sunday, my mother was clear and cogent. Blinded by macular degeneration, she couldn't see us, but she could hold the baby, touch her, comment on her long, strong fingers and long, thin toes, and share the wonder of new life with all of us. Only two days later, my mother was gone.

These last two pictures show our daughter crying happy tears, grateful for the small miracles that made her visit and these pictures possible, and my mother, enjoying holding her great-granddaughter.



I will forever be grateful to my daughter for the effort she made to arrive "on time," to my mother for hanging on the way she did, and to my sweet sister, who took these precious pictures. Our four-generation photos may not be ideal, but we will treasure them as we treasure the memories of this last four-generation visit.

6 comments:

  1. Awww that is just so precious! I lost my mother a couple of years ago to diabetes related dementia. I'm so grateful she was able to enjoy her grandchildren (my brother's sons) for as long as she did. God gave you and your daughter such a precious gift!

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  2. A precious memory for your family. So glad the picture was able to be taken.

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  3. Susan--
    Such beautiful pictures! I'm so sorry for your loss, it is wonderful you all got together so Grammie could meet Macy. Hugs to you.
    Victoria--

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  4. What a wonderful story, Susan! I'm so glad everything came together so you could get that picture! I'm sure you'll treasure it. I have a five-generation picture on my shelf that I prize. It includes my grandmother, my mother, myself, my daughter, and my granddaughter. We were so very lucky to get that picture.

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  5. What a lovely story to share. I'm so glad your daughter got her wish and that you now have that photo to treasure.

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  6. How lucky you are to have this chance for such a photo! We have a new baby this year, my first grandchild, but our parents are gone so we'll never have that opportunity. Beautiful picture by the way. You all look so happy.

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