Do-Gooders on a Mission

“What do we live for, if it is not to make life less difficult for each other.”

– George Eliot

What if life could be like this?

Call me a hopeless dreamer, but I think it could.

Like Amélie, we can spread our simple pleasures and all of life's beauties around, even to those who seem like they wouldn't be able to view beauty the way the rest of us do.

I happen to think things are lovely when they're glowing with virtue. What's more virtuous than a generous action?


What if they made it so you could play a certain game like this with a cheat code?

If you don't like excessive YouTube clips, I'm sorry, but isn't it funny that a commercial, for of all things, Coca-Cola, could illustrate a point so well?

"You're gonna be remembered for the things that you say and do."

It's true, you know. By our fruits, or, what we produce, you and I will be remembered.

Life's simple pleasures are a two-way street. We can do simple things, give people simple joys that will make life better. Better for us, and better for others.

How `bout it? Let's be do-gooders on a mission. It takes some creativity, that is, creative self-insertion: "Hmm. What would I want if I were (insert name here)? What if I were sad or scared or apathetic or ______? What if I were emoting what this person is emoting? What would be just the ticket to making my life, or even just my mood more lovely?"


Let's let our virtuous, happy joy in helping people shine through everything we do; let it shine through every sentence we write, every good work we can think up.

They're called good works because it takes work. But like with most work, it pays off and leaves a sense of tired satisfaction.

Spending your days in the company of many different people teaches you something: Some people are hard to reach

They're full of prickles. It's hard to want to help them.

You know what? We should try anyway. Let's be sure to catalog it too, so we don't forget.

(If you'd like, you can report back to me via my comments/email how it goes. This would be splendorous.)

Peace, New Resolve, Lovely Day in Salt Lake City, Kait's Good Reports, Happy Birthday Mom! Coming Soon: Aunt Lavina's Interview

My family has needed each other a lot these past few days.

My Aunt Pam tells it best:

"My son, Ross Richard Werner - born June 25, 1982 died 5:00 p.m (PT) August 14, 2010. Ross slipped away quickly and quietly because he cared so much about his mother and his siblings. He didn't want us to have to see him suffer. The hospice worker was surprised that he went so quickly. But that's Ross' way. He was always thinking about everyone else and their comfort.

"As I said my goodbyes to Ross tonight, I felt him smiling and at peace. He wants us all to be at peace because he is at peace and free from pain. If you want to honor him, be happy and be at peace. He loves us all so much and wants me to communicate it to all of his extended family. We will all miss him so much."

This song brought me peace: Sweet Peace.

Aunt Pam put it so beautifully, I have nothing else to add, except a determination.

I will honor him. I've had a hard time being happy, because I have this aching feeling that won't go away. I wish I had gotten to know Ross better.

This lovely thought gets me through:

Families can be together forever.

Think of the possibilities: The endless amounts of time family and friends would spend together getting to know and love each other. I'm excited to get to know my grandparents, all my ancestors... my wonderful family too. If it is really true, and I believe that it is, it's amazing. If it's not... well, then so what if I choose to believe it? It's a lovely, comforting thought.

The day Ross died, I spent a wonderful day in Salt Lake with my Aunt Lavina. I forgot these past months how much I miss Salt Lake City.

Good Report (with some Lovely Simple Pleasures mixed in):

I missed (pined for, not didn't catch) the bus. I missed Trax. I missed my old routes.

I missed my study spots

My favorite book store

I want to live there.

Or here:

I practically do live here during the school year. It's my study haven.

The kid's section has an ice cave and a wooden playhouse where you can go to be cozy while you read. Little Kaitlin would've been all over that.

I come here too... reading, meditating, and pondering happen along with the studying

I miss the Marriott library

My table on the second floor is calling to me.

I've been wanting to live here for a while now, next to Temple Square.

It would be amazing to study by this

Or this

I loved walking by these things

The majestic beauty,

The quiet grace,

The simple, lovely sights

Temple Square is just meant to be photographed.

I brought my mom's very nice, expensive, precious, new camera (Thank you Mom!) I had to do this right and get some nice photographs. Investigative work needs photos.

Passing through temple square and snapping lovely photos was just an added bonus

I could not have asked for a better interview with my great-aunt. In fact, it exceeded my expectations. This is hard to do, I mean, it's Aunt Lavina. If you don't understand the significance of this, you will, when you read about her. This wonderful woman deserves to have a book written about her. There was so much I could have put in, so much more to be catalogued. Someone in our family truly does need to write her story in book form. She has so much material, you know. Not to mention her personal history is already recorded, just there to be used as a great resource.

Just as I knew she would be, she was so full of pearls of wisdom and gems of knowledge and history. I cannot wait to post her interview! I want it to be perfect... but it's coming soon, I promise.

After the interview, Lavina took me to one of the loveliest lunch spots I've ever been to. She is so good at making each one of her great-nieces and nephews feel special. It was almost as if she knew...

Picture this: Audrey Hepburn homages + I Love Lucy 50's style themes + Retro Antiques + Adorable Cupcakes and Café foods

Bliss...

Even their cups of water were cute!

Those fluffy pillows were silky. Silky!

I've decided if I could jump into a pile of silky pillows, I could thereafter live a full and happy life.

Those cupcakes were so tasty...

Pink is not usually my favorite color, but it fit! It was all pink and happy.

Happy Kait

Mini's in Salt Lake is such a swell hangout, I was jolly. (I even flashed the braces. I usually try not to do this for a camera.)

You should go there too if you want to see the things I just told you about. If it's not your cup of tea, I get it... Me, I was happy as a clam.

Aunt Lavina got the award winning cupcake, the Chocoholic. I got the Diva. (Raspberry and cream cheese! Ooh la la.)

That 50's retro had me grinning. They had 50's aprons! You're talking to the girl who was giddy when she saw these

They're from Shabby Apple.

I think I'd cook every day if I could wear that. Or... I'd just prance around, pretending to be her:

Shabby Apple routinely reads my mind, putting out the lovely vision of fashion I'm dreaming of.

My faves:

Old style, movie-like fashion with French, 1940's and 50's references. This to me, is va va voom. Splendid.

Anyhoo. Now that we're done with that self-indulgent stuff, it's a very wonderful, lovely and virtuous lady's birthday today. I owe her everything, including my life.

I asked her which picture of herself she wanted, and she said she'd like this one:

Little Tammy, Age 6

Happy Birthday Mom!

Thank you for loving me, for listening to me, for doing things that make me feel so special. I hope you have a beautiful day, filled with simple pleasures and the many things that you love.

Smith Family, Cancer Warriors, Memories, and Old Photos

Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family. Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one.

- Jane Howard

We've had a bit of a shock the last couple days in the Smith family. If you read the Cancer Warriors blog which is linked to the side, you'll know what I mean.

My family has come together via technology during this time. We do this since we're spread out in different locations. Being far away from each other doesn't stop us.

Not only have Ross and Janie been bravely and beautifully cataloging Ross's cancer and giving us updates, the rest of the Smith/Werner families have been doing other things to communicate. If you could only read the many comments in text message, the Smith Family email, and even on good old Facebook. I wish everyone were lucky, nay, blessed enough to have a family like mine.

The Smith family has had to face hard times before. Grandma and Grandpa Smith are no longer with us, neither is our Uncle Roger. We've lost our Uncle Don too.

I have a single memory of my Grandpa Smith's funeral that I'd like to share with you:

I am singing with my cousins, standing up on a stage (one that can be found in most LDS cultural halls.) My Aunt Wanda is leading me in singing "Families Can Be Together Forever." I am singing it out, as loudly as my four-year-old lungs will go. I'm getting this happy, warm feeling. I'm having a moment of enlightenment: Families really can be together forever.

I've been thinking a lot about my family lately. Me and Shelby have put together some old photos that have needed to be scanned for a while now. I thought I'd share some of them with you, along with some memories, or if I wasn't born yet, speculations I have of them.

Here are the Smith siblings during the 70's. There's no need to question whether this is the 70's, look at the hair and bell-bottoms!

My Dad is wearing plaid ones. Also, a giant bow-tie.

This picture is one of those that's too good not to share. Aunt Barbara, Aunt Becky, and my dad are shown here:

Why? I don't know. All I know is it makes me laugh really hard.

I first remember meeting the Werner cousins in Kanab, Utah at our family reunion. I can remember jumping on a trampoline in my Jasmine nightgown. (Thankfully, you shall be spared a picture of this. It's funny the weird things we remember though, eh?) I remember all the Werners were there, including Ross and Wayne. I can remember running and playing tag with them. This was probably my first time ever playing night games.

Here is an old picture from that Kanab reunion. This is when the band of girl cousins first got together. (Why is Becca not here? I don't know. Maybe we can photoshop her in somehow.)

Me, Cali, Christy, and Holly

Me and Christy and Becca wrote letters to each other after the reunion. Those two sent me pictures of themselves and their siblings. Here's Timmy:

Here's Christy:

Oh how I wish I could find the other siblings' pictures. Also, I'm sorry for the bend in Timmy's picture. I'm sure there's a way to digitally fix it, so at least it's been scanned!

Christy and Becca lived in Arkansas. They were far away, but the other girl cousins still had some good times together. At cousin Barbara Jean's wedding, there were three rosy-cheeked flower girls who were just happy to be together

Little Manda was there too, looking at a ladybug

Here is Mom holding chubby Baby Shayna. Uncle Don is next to her, borrowing her hair. Holly is here too, being held by Jeff, her daddy

Later on, the girl cousins, including Christy and Becca, got together again for Grandma Smith's funeral. You cannot begin to understand the fun we had. It might sound strange that a funeral could have made us so happy, but just the fact that it brought the girl cousins together again made us joyful. We all camped out on Aunt Wanda's floor late into the night and laughed so hard, we cried. Cali laughed so long and so hard, she could not be stopped. I think she may have broken some kind of record with her laugh. It lasted a good hour.

At a family reunion, the girl cousins made a club. We put the first letters of our names together to form a club name. I do not know what the club name was, only that it existed.

The Smith family has lots of fun at reunions. We hold dances

The girl cousins had a blast at the dances

We learned new dances from our older, wiser girl cousin (or sister in Holly's case.)

Shay and Cali

Holly and Kait

Shelby and Becca (I know it's sideways, but it looks cooler this way.)

Our dances even had DJs

The older boy cousins were always mine and my sisters' heroes.

Nick, David, Paul, Cali holding Shelby, Shayna, Manda, and Kait

Paul, Uncle Blair, David, Nick, and Alan

I can't figure out why we got together on this Sunday, but we did:

David, Ross, Manda, DJ, and Shay

We had no older brothers, so getting teased by older boys cousins was the best!

Ross, Dad holding Shelby, Aunt Wanda, Manda, Shayna, and Kait

You can tell a lot from pictures. They help you to remember things too.

There are many precious ways to remember our families. Besides journals and scrapbooks, there can also be quote books. We're lucky enough to have a quote book from one of our family members who isn't with us anymore.

Uncle Don typed up many of his favorite quotes and compiled them in a binder. My mom, the journalist and resident philosopher, keeps them in her night stand. I'll leave you with one of Uncle Don's quotes, well, actually a poem he chose to record. Oh, and a link to one of my favorite Irish songs to go with it.

Love is the river of life in this world. Think not that ye know it who stand at the little tinklyrill, the first small fountain.

Not until you have gone through the rocky gorges, and not lost the stream; not until you have gone through the meadow, and the stream has widened and deepened until fleets could ride on its bosom; not until beyond the meadow you have come to the unfathomable ocean, and poured your treasures into its depths-- not until then can you know what love is.

- Henry Ward Beecher

Send Me a River