Thoughts and stories, by Pal

This article has great ideas on family stories, and how to make them interesting to the family! Bringing Family History to Life By  Wallace Goddard  · September 16, 2019 Sign up for Meridian’s Free Newsletter, please  CLICK HERE Our usual ways of telling family stories could put anyone in the grave. “Ben was born July 27, 1851 to good parents in Huddersfield, Yorkshire, England. He became a Methodist circuit preacher who followed his girlfriend to the United States. They settled in central Utah where he taught school and sold books.” Not much there to inspire.  Years ago, Nancy and I started gathering photos and papers from our ancestors. We organized them. We evaluated them. Then we copied the best and put them in binders for descendants. We made hundreds of binders which included important documents, written histories, vital pictures, and a chronology of our grandparents’ lives.  Years passed. We gathered at reunion...

This is truly an amazing story!  You just know it wasn't an accident that this young kidnapped child in India ended up in a loving LDS family.  I am so impressed with what his adoptive parents did to help him remember his native language, etc., and how they were so happy he found his birth parents! How a Boy Kidnapped in India and Raised LDS in America Miraculously Found His Way Home After Nearly 20 Years by Jamie Armstrong  | Dec. 14, 2016 Makes You Think Mormon Life Comments Kidnapped from his village in India and sold to a Christian orphanage. Adopted and raised in Utah by a loving LDS couple who was told his parents were dead.  Taj Rowland’s incredible journey  is filled with twists and turns that would rival a blockbuster movie. And just when he had given up hope of ever seeing his birth family again, the Lord led him down a path that would defy all odds and guide him back home. On a snowy night in...

Just a week ago today, we were honored by our family, about our 60th Wedding Anniversary, which will officially be on September 24th.  We were married Sept. 24, 1955, in the St. George Temple.  This post tells some about the celebration on Sept. 5, 2015, last weekend, on the Labor Day weekend when all could come.  Most of the following is from an e mail I sent to family and friends, together with an update on my husband Wayne's health.  From left to right, Wayne M., Delsy, Anita, Allen, McKay, Pal, Wayne, Angie, Tacy, Pam, and Jeremy.  We are wearing the shirts they gave us 10 years ago on our Golden Wedding.  They have a picture of us when we were married and the inscription: September 24th 1955-2005, and also "The world is ours, we have each other".  That last phrase is from a song that Delsy and I wrote almost 40 years ago, when we lived in Sandy.  This is our "family song", in SATB.  If any of you would like a copy, I have a PDF ...

This was originally blog # 120, published on March 25, 2014.  I will update it some at the end, and leave the first as originally written. I guess from time to time I should tell some about our own lives, Pal and Wayne Eckman.   Actually my full name is Paralee Miles (maiden name) Eckman, and Wayne's is Wayne D Eckman.   I was born Oct. 6, 1934, in St. George, Utah and Wayne was born Sept. 18th, 1930, in Murray, Utah, just south of Salt Lake City, in the same valley.  I have noticed some of our readers live in foreign countries, and that is fascinating to me!  How small our wonderful world is!   And I truly feel love and friendship for each one of you, whether we have met or not.  That seems to be something that comes with membership in the true Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints!      This photo was on our wedding day, Sept. 24, 1955.  Since then we now have nine children, 29 grandchildren, and 14 great grandchi...

This is an amazing true story!  From LDS Church News. Son shares story of miraculous reunion with mother after 12 years of separation By Lila Bringhurst For the LDS Church News Published: Thursday, May 28 2015 1:40 p.m. MDT Elder Chun Chen speaks to other missionaries at the baptism of a recent convert. He serves in the California San Jose Mission. Because of Chun Chen's interest in the message of the gospel, he was miraculously reunited with the family he had been separated from many years before. Elder Chen now serves as a missionary in the California San Jose Mission. LDS Church New Chun Chen was just a little boy, not yet four years old, when his parents took him to a playground. He wandered off and found an arcade where people put coins in machines and played video games. He was mesmerized, but suddenly he realized his parents had disappeared. His tears brought people who tried to help him, offering him food and comfort. They as...