Remembering

I love my Grandpa Ellsworth.  I spent most of my childhood living next door to him.  I used to race home from the school bus, do my chores and then run next door to visit my grandparents.  I was motivated by both the graham crackers with chocolate frosting and the opportunity to be with my grandparents.  I love spending time with them because I always felt wanted and loved.  When I think of my grandpa, I think of the many times that he told me, "Al, know that you are loved."  I knew it then and I know it now, and that knowledge has been such a blessing in my life.

When I was three, my grandpa and I were photographed (see above) for a newspaper advertisement.  It was my first job.  We were paid $50, or so I was told.  It was put into my savings account and went towards my education.  I love that picture.  It is a favorite of mine and is one that I have up on the mirror in my room.

One of my favorite stories from about my grandpa is one that he told about his days at Mesa High.  The class was assigned to write a submission for a school-wide essay contest on the topic, "What I would leave the world".  As he told it, he talked to a friend for most of the hour, and then, a few minutes before the end of class when the teacher warned them that they would get a zero, he hurriedly wrote down a few words and handed it in.  When the school assembly came around and they announced the winners, he was named as winning second prize.  He reported that all he recalled having written was a single sentence indicating that he would leave a good name.  And he has.

I am so grateful to be an Ellsworth.  It means something to me because it makes me think of him.  I think of his faith, his obedience, his goodness, his leadership and his love.  It helps me want to be a person of character.  There have been times where my choices have been guided by my desire to not dishonor the good name I was given, and to create a name and legacy that my future posterity can take pride in.

I have been blessed with a lifetime of wonderful memories with my Grandpa.  Earlier this evening he passed away.  I am happy to think of him reunited with his mother and many others.  I am grateful for the legacy of faith he left that allows me to know of the reality and divinity of Jesus Christ and of His Atonement and Resurrection.  I am grateful for sacred ordinances made in holy temples that allow our family to be united eternally.  I am inexpressibly grateful for a grandfather who served me, taught me, supported me and loves me.