Mama - Mommy - Mom - Mother

Currently I am serving as a primary teacher to the CTR 7 class. As usual this time of year we practiced during sharing time for our Mother's Day performance. One of the songs we sang is "I Often Go Walking". Honestly, I couldn't get through each and every practice of this song without tears trickling down my face. It didn't matter if we sang it 1 time or 10 times each time we began to sing these words...

O mother, I give you my love with each flower, To give forth sweet fragrance a whole life-

time through; For if I love blossoms and meadows and walking,

I lean how to love them, dear mother, from you.

These words filled me up with Caprece each and every time that we sang them. Hundreds of memories of blossoms, meadows and walking with her and her children filled my heart and mind. If there was ever a woman who understood her role as a mother and rejoiced in it each and every moment of each and every day it was my sister. Oh, she got frustrated with her children when they weren't obedient or were arguing but she never lost site of the work she was performing as their mother. She disciplined her children with love and in a very individual way. She listened to her children and honored their individuality. She didn't expect Lilah to act like Chancey or Livvy to act like Lilah. I remember once Chancey was given an assignment to write about her best friend and she wrote about her mother. It really touched Caprece that Chancey called her not only Mama but friend. Lilah, though she never actually said it, felt the same. Lilah's afterschool ritual was to come home and tell her Mother all about her day. Every little detail. Lilah relished this time with her Mother and Caprece felt the same. Miss Livvy and Abe were at home. While Abe was napping Miss Livvy received special one on one time with her Mama...reading books. Abe, well Caprece couldn't get him out of the kitchen...he loved to cook and she loved having him as her little helper. She was constantly seeking the spirit of discernment as she viewed each of her children praying to be aware of not only the weakness in each child (so as to help them overcome it) but to see the divine, the talents, the gifts. She wanted her children to see themselves as God sees them.

Caprece understood something key about being a mother and that was not only that she love her children but the importance of living her own life as close to the spirit through study, prayer and service as she possibly could. Caprece and I spoke daily throughout her married life and I can honestly say that a week never went by that she wasn't performing some act of service for a neighbor, friend or family member. She delighted in the scriptures and we reveled in our brief but wonderful moments of sharing scriptural insights from our recent studying. I miss these moments. She understood that her service to others would teach her children more about the gospel than anything she could ever say. Even in her weakness she taught her children about her testimony of the Savior as she got on her knees seeking his grace and mercy in overcoming.

Caprece, more than anything else but wife, loved being a mother.

Caprece, as I, have learned how to be a Mommy from our own sweet Mother who loves us both with an unconditional love. She doesn't just love us she likes us...and we too call her not only Mama but friend. Caprece comes from a long lineage of wise and wonderful mothers and she has left her own sweet Mama legacy that I know even now comforts, encourages, and inspires her children.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY CAPRECE!