Grandma Harmon and the Moon

When I was a little girl we traveled to San Pedro, California nearly every year to visit my Grandpa and Grandma Harmon--my mother's parents. I always enjoyed spending time with them. There house smelled of bananas and their backyard seemed like a paradise with wooden walkways and many plants and flowers. My Grandma Harmon wasn't in the best of health, but she was always so kind. My favorite memory of her was her love of the moon.

I remember many evenings she would take my small hand and we would go outside in the backyard to look at the moon. Her love of the moon passed off on me and I always feel a small thrill whenever I view the moon. I'll frequently point out the moon to other family members. "Now look at that moon! Isn't it beautiful?" It doesn't matter what phase the moon is in, I just love looking at it and am grateful for not only this beautiful world Heavenly Father created for us, but for the heavenly bodies he placed in our sky.

A few weeks our family was returning from a boating trip on the Delta. The full moon was just rising and it was so large. I pointed it out to Emily and she began taking pictures.


The moon helps me feel connected to family members in a strange kind of way. When Ron, Christie, and I lived in Texas many years ago, I sometimes felt homesick for family back in California. As I looked at the moon in Texas I thought, "My family is able to see the same moon that I do." I know it sounds strange, but suddenly they didn't seem as far away and my homesickness lessened.

Thank you Grandma for the wonderful gift you gave me. You never knew how those quiet moments gazing at the moon would bless my life.