Footless and Fancy Free Verse

Quick updates/thoughts.

Older children might remember my friend Keith Stearman. We spent a night at Beck Locey's Bear Lake Cabin once with Beck's family, and Keith and his wife, and my previous boss Ken. Keith is a large man. His wife is from Italy. I remember we sang for the group the evening we were there. Keith owns a software consulting business, and has been leading and assisting us at work. 

Over a year ago (um ... I think it was even before the pandemic shut down) his foot became infected. He doesn't talk about it much, but I believe the infection is resistant to antibiotics, and flesh-eating. Having Type II Diabetes (like me!) and poor circulation in his feet makes it worse. He's been visiting a doctor twice a week to fight this infection: cleaning, trimming away dead material ... .

Until today. He had his foot amputated. Say a little prayer for this good man, if you get a chance.

Ship Shape

 Lookin' good:

Staying Dry (and Out of Jail)

Some reporting for today to share with Elder Benge and everyone.

Our stake president shared this TED talk by the late Clayton Christensen, and I recommend it for two main reasons: 1) it contains remarkable thoughts on what success really is and it is measured, and 2) I think it is an excellent example of how to incorporate the Gospel in our everyday lives, sharing messages of salvation to the world on a level they understand. Elder Christensen was a brilliant professor at Harvard. He spoke to my department at work a few years ago, and it was the most career enlightening talk I have ever heard.

Susan's great uncle, Grant Keeler, passed away this week at the age 103. We attended his funeral in Layton. I don't know if any of you older children remember when we visited him. (He lived near the "Surf-n-Swim" water tower near highway 89.) His son spoke and mentioned some of what was in the aforementioned video, and said that at the end of his class, he would ask his students three questions:

Ancestor Stories in "Saints"

I am posting this for family that may be reading the blog.

My ancestors, William Holmes Walker and Nicholas Paul, are part of the story starting in chapter 12 volume 2 of Saints. For anyone wanting to learn a bit of their family story, check it out!

William Walker is my great-great grandfather. My great-great grandmother is William's fourth wife, Harriet Paul, daughter of Nicholas and Harriet Paul.

There are likely other ancestors and relatives that are or will be mentioned.

City Called Heaven

The Central Davis Junior High choirs concert was March 8th, and Mr. Campbell had the students in District Honor Choir and State Honor Choir perform some of their numbers as quartets or octets.

Rachel had the solo for City of Heaven. She tried out for it with the District choir, but wasn't selected. (The selected soloist was really, really good, as I'm sure you would assume based on Rachel's fine version.) I thought this number was the highlight of the concert -- although Joshua sang with the boy's choir and did a fantastic job.

Indiana Will Be Blessed

It happened. We dropped Elder Benge off at the Missionary Training Center in Provo today. The drive was fine until we came to Orem, and then it started to snow. We had lunch with Grandma and Grandpa Benge and then crawled up the icy road to the MTC where Elder Abney (heading to Ecuador soon) greeted us and escorted Andrew into the building.

Two Fine Young Missionaries

I am very grateful for these two wonderful young men.

Monday, Elder Nielson is leaving for Dallas, Texas, as a full-time missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. On his heels, Elder Benge will enter the Provo Missionary Training Center on Wednesday and then head out to Indianapolis Indiana to serve.

I love these good men!

A Fasting Idea for This Coming Fast Sunday

There are plenty of people to pray for. (Including you, Regan!) But, I thought I would add one to your list!

Lucy just got back from an Ear, Nose and Throat specialist, as she is still very hoarse. The doctor told her that one of her vocal cords is paralyzed, and it appears to be the result of nerve damage from the cold she had. She needs voice therapy and will not be able to sing for 6 to 8 months. 100% is possible, but not guaranteed.

I think I am a little extra melancholy about this, as I think she has one of the prettiest voices the world has ever known, and yet I am grateful it isn't much, much worse. But, a prayer or two in her behalf would be appreciated.

2019 Pinewood Derby

A couple of years ago I posted about praiseworthy things, and it was right before the Pinewood Derby. Enoch had a great idea for a BYU themed car, and Joshua was permitted to enter his Beaver-On-A-Log car again. We had some last minute wheel troubles, but still ran pretty fast and had a lot of fun. I thought some pictures would be fun here. Enjoy!

Rachel Loves Play Rehearsal

Performed at the Central Davis Junior High choir concert, December 7th, 2021. Well done!

"Tonight, Andrew Read His Call to Serve a Mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" or "Hoosier Son Gonna Serve?"

I am excited for this fine son of mine!

It took a long time to get the evaluations and medical history done. But, Andrew persevered and did whatever was asked. 

Yelling 'Fire' In A Crowded Theatre

 Rachel did a lovely job on her solo in "I Am Not Alone", performed by Central Singers.

I love the child's surprise around the 1:11 mark!

Oh And Nine

The winless Blue Jays lost in the first round of the tournament, 26-0. Only 26. Twenty-six! I thought that was pretty neat. Enoch had something like 5 flag pulls and a couple of other good defensive plays.

Check out the attached photos of what the parents did for me, though! Did a winless coach ever get treated so well?

Stat of the Day

I have had a hard time posting to my blog because I have wanted to add a lot of pictures, and the blog makes that awkward and I never seem to finish. Fortunately, however, I have no pictures for this one.

I have been coaching Enoch's fifth grade flag football team. We dubbed ourselves the Blue Jays. The city kind of begged for coaches, and I work from home more often than not now, so I thought I'd help out. But, I didn't realize how awful we would be. It is bad enough I feel I must post the results for historical purposes.  I know I'm not a great coach, but ... well .. let's get to the Stat of the Day!

Obituary for Devin

I was asked to write the obituary for my dear brother, Devin. My parents and brother, Kirk, had some good suggestions for me. I even called his former spouse, Racheal, to see if she wanted to be included in the "survived by" section. She did, but not if Katy objected ... and when I contacted Katy she felt like Devin would have preferred that not be included.

Anyway, here is my brief obituary, along with photos that Kirk sent to possibly included in the slideshow on the mortuary web site:

Brief Thoughts on This Side of the Veil

I lost a dear friend today: my little brother, Devin James Benge.

I think I am still in a bit of a state of shock after getting the news early this morning, so I don't feel like sharing a massive amount of cathartic information right now. Most of my thoughts have been on how we might serve his sweet wife, Katy, and help his young son and soon-to-be-born child. 

Esther As Both Hermione Granger and MLK (October 2020)

 Esther gives a book report of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone as Hermione Granger:

"Go To Bed Better Than When You Woke Up"

NY Jets head coach Robert Saleh said something like that in the middle of an interview I heard today. Terrific! I think I may cheer for the Jets for the first time this year, with Zach Wilson and Tristan Hoge on the roster.

Other thoughts:

Remembering the Springville Art Museum Performance

I bumped into this today, and thought I should put it on the blog.

About 9 years ago, my mother asked us to perform at the Springville Museum of Art. As a family, we sang "Good and Kindly Parents". Miriam, Gideon, Isaac, Hannah, Susie and I sang "Lullabye", I believe, which is still one of my favorites. Lucy and up sang "Dynamite". Miriam played something on the violin. Did we sing anything else?

The Daily Herald photographer didn't make it to our little show, but came to Mom & Dad's clubhouse afterward, did a quick interview and took a couple of pictures. 

I have PDF files of the article and the photo and captions. I can't share the PDF on the blog, so I am taking images of the 5 pages and posting them here, which include some brief notes I added. 

Rachel's Latest Idea ...

... was to dress up Esther like Cindy Lou Who. I like the results!