Sunday, September 28, 2008

Titi Isa

This week my husband and I had the privilege of doing temple work for his grandfather and his grandfather's sister. This is the first time that I have done temple work for an ancestor I actually knew. Although his Aunt Isabel had halting English, we were still able to communicate with her, and we enjoyed being with her. One thing I will always remember about her is that she was the best Dominoes partner you could ask for. She taught me how to play by saying, "You watch what I play. You play same as me." It never failed, whoever was her partner would win the game.

I have another memory of her when she came to visit the mainland. She was getting old and having trouble with her eyesight. She asked me to clip her toenails for her. At the time I was a little surprised that she asked me because we didn't know each other very well. But being able to serve her that day is a fond memory to me.

When we went to Puerto Rico to visit her, she welcomed us in to her home and cooked Puerto Rican food for us. She was a magnificent seamstress and made beautiful clothing for our children. She accompanied us as we toured Puerto Rico. She never had children of her own, which may have attributed to her good health. She lived in to her upper 90s, and even at that age had beautiful skin and legs. She didn't have much gray hair, even in her late 90's.

Although I can't say that I've had many conversations with her, I have spent alot of time with her and could feel of her personality. I enjoyed being with her and miss her now. I'm so glad I was able to act in her behalf to help her receive the temple ordinances.

5 comments:

Lindsay Logic said...

That's really neat that you got to do that for her!

Becky said...

As part of our stake's "Spirit of Elijah" emphasis, last week we had a ward family baptism. Although it was only a few families, we had fathers baptizing and confirming sons and daughters for their ancestors. The temple president commented that that's the way it ought to happen. The names we took were ones that had "fallen through the cracks" so didn't really involve original research, and we didn't really know their personal stories, but it was still a wonderful experience - and kind of fun watching Wayne try to pronounce those German names!

That's great that you had such a terrific experience as well.

deputymomof6 said...

I have cleared 46 names of my own family, and I am excited to do the temple work for them. It is motivating me to go. However, I had to cancel an appointment to do all of the baptisms this morning because my husband realized his temple recommend had expired. :( I have to reschedule. What a bummer, I want to get started.

Inklings said...

I have never been able to find anyone in our family history who needed the work done, so that is a neat experience for you all.
It also supports my theory that it's kids who cause gray hair. :0)

Max Coutinho said...

Hey D,

Oooh, that is so nice!! The way you described Titi Isa, it made me like her already: may God Light her soul!
It sounds like she was really a very nice lady (and smart too), generous and amicable: you were lucky!

It's an honour to pay tribute to ancestors, so may God bless you!

Cheers