Beverly: Smiley Baby and Train Rides
Dear Beverly,
There is only one week left until school starts; I spent this last week doing my best to enjoy the last few lazy days of summer.
Each morning you wake up around 6am. You are quite fussy even after I feed you so Daddy brings you into our room and lays you in our bed between us. This is my favorite time of day because we are all together and nothing else really matters. Around 7am Daddy gets up and starts to get ready to go to work. Often I stay in bed with you until 8:30, 9ish when you wake up and want to eat again. After you are done eating I lay you across my chest to burp you and you usually fall asleep. I love these precious moments with my little girl :)
There is only one week left until school starts; I spent this last week doing my best to enjoy the last few lazy days of summer.
Each morning you wake up around 6am. You are quite fussy even after I feed you so Daddy brings you into our room and lays you in our bed between us. This is my favorite time of day because we are all together and nothing else really matters. Around 7am Daddy gets up and starts to get ready to go to work. Often I stay in bed with you until 8:30, 9ish when you wake up and want to eat again. After you are done eating I lay you across my chest to burp you and you usually fall asleep. I love these precious moments with my little girl :)
This past week Daddy made breakfast for me twice! On Monday he made me German pancakes and we ate them with fresh strawberries and raspberries. And today (Sunday) he made crepes. I am very spoiled :) I think the extra sugar in the morning has also made you happy! You have really started to smile this week and not just from gas! Your favorite part of the day (and mine) is when Daddy comes home from work. As soon as he picks you up you crack a huge smile! We got a couple of your smiles on camera! (We are a little obsessed with taking pictures of you if you can’t tell).
Grandma Strong has been pretty sick all week and was staying at Great Grandma and Grandpa Whiting’s in Brigham City. On Saturday I decided to take the train up to visit them. It was really fun to see them and to see my mom. She is doing much better. While there I was able to pick some peaches and blackberries to bring home to Daddy.
On the train ride back to Provo I had an interesting experience that I have been thinking a lot about. Since it was late at night I decided to ride in the very front car of the train where the train hosts sit in between walking up and down the train. At the Roy stop a teenage girl got on the train. She sat down two rows in front of me, you had already fallen asleep at this time. She shyly asked the train host if he knew what stop she had to get off at to get to the JRC. He looked it up and told her she would have to get off at Salt Lake Central and then take the TRAX to South Salt Lake where one of the TRAX stops would get her close to the JRC. Out of curiosity I looked up what the JRC was and found that JRC stood for Juvenile Receiving Center, a place were teens can go to get help. I looked up where it was in relation to the TRAX stop the Train Host had talked about and saw that it might be a little confusing for the girl to find it without a phone. I began to worry about the girl and wonder if I should offer to help. Yet, I had no idea what I could do to help and I was feeling really shy and awkward. I sat there for a while until I realized that we were getting closer to the Salt Lake Central stop and that I needed to act soon if I was going to. So I wheeled your stroller up to the front of the train across from her and began to talk to her. She told me her name and I learned that she was 16 and from Salt Lake. Her dad was hitting her so she went to see her older sister in Ogden hoping that she would take her in but her sister was living with a boyfriend and didn’t want to house a run away teen so she told her to go the JRC in Salt Lake. I asked her if she had a phone, she said she didn’t so I showed her on google maps how to get to the JRC once she got off the train and wrote down the address and phone number to the place. I then called the JRC to let them know she was coming. The lady from the JRC said that because the girl is a minor they have to call her parents as soon as she gets to the place. In cases of abuse they have to contact the State who will do an investigation and take her into custody. They gave me the number to call the state and told me that I should call them. The girl didn’t want me to so I didn’t, she said she would rather go to the JRC and see what happens. She then asked me to also give her directions to the Youth Homless shelter. At this point my heart went out for the girl and I started to really worry for her. But I still didn’t know what more I could do so I wrote down the address and phone number for that place as well and showed her how to get there on my phone, according to the internet it was closed for the night. As we got closer to her stop I quickly wrote down my phone number for her as well and gave her an old Trader Joe’s gift card that only had $8 left on it. As she was getting of the train I overheard a young lady and her friends talking about getting on TRAX so I ran over to them and asked if they would help the girl get on TRAX and find her stop. They happily agreed and escorted the girl off the train. The rest of the way to Provo I continued to think what else I could have done and wondered if I should have told her to come home with me, but seeing as she was only 16 and underage there could be some legal issues with that. I just felt a little helpless as to how I could help her. I am not sure what happened to her and she hasn’t contacted me. I just hope she found a safe place to stay last night.
Your daddy and I talked about my train experience afterwards and we both felt very grateful to have grown up in good homes where we never had to worry about where we were going to sleep. Your dad, in an attempt to comfort me over the whole situation, told me that one of the best things we could do was to make sure to be the best parents possible and provide a good and safe home for you. That comforted me a little but I still feel sad. I wish there was a way to help kids in those kind of situations. I will keep looking for an answer to this conundrum and let you if I ever figure out how to help them all.
Today at church the bishops wife spoke and shared a super cool experience that she had while attending a ward in a severely handicapped facility. I could tell that her experience had not only strengthened her testimony but helped her become more converted to the gospel of Jesus Christ. I couldn’t help but think how it is our experiences that converted us to the gospel. I think that is part of the reason why we had to come to earth and gain a body. When I hear spiritual experiences of others my testimony is strengthened but only through my own personal experiences have I felt myself becoming converted, or in other words becoming more like Christ. I guess I am mentioning this because I hope that my experience on the train somehow makes me a better person, it has definitely softened my heart and maybe will help me in the future as teacher. I am sure I will have students struggling with similar things so maybe I will know how to better respond and help.
Well this letter is long enough and I am afraid I am mostly rambling but i often find that writing things out helps me to better understand them. We love you sweet girl!!
Love, Mom
Grandma Strong has been pretty sick all week and was staying at Great Grandma and Grandpa Whiting’s in Brigham City. On Saturday I decided to take the train up to visit them. It was really fun to see them and to see my mom. She is doing much better. While there I was able to pick some peaches and blackberries to bring home to Daddy.
On the train ride back to Provo I had an interesting experience that I have been thinking a lot about. Since it was late at night I decided to ride in the very front car of the train where the train hosts sit in between walking up and down the train. At the Roy stop a teenage girl got on the train. She sat down two rows in front of me, you had already fallen asleep at this time. She shyly asked the train host if he knew what stop she had to get off at to get to the JRC. He looked it up and told her she would have to get off at Salt Lake Central and then take the TRAX to South Salt Lake where one of the TRAX stops would get her close to the JRC. Out of curiosity I looked up what the JRC was and found that JRC stood for Juvenile Receiving Center, a place were teens can go to get help. I looked up where it was in relation to the TRAX stop the Train Host had talked about and saw that it might be a little confusing for the girl to find it without a phone. I began to worry about the girl and wonder if I should offer to help. Yet, I had no idea what I could do to help and I was feeling really shy and awkward. I sat there for a while until I realized that we were getting closer to the Salt Lake Central stop and that I needed to act soon if I was going to. So I wheeled your stroller up to the front of the train across from her and began to talk to her. She told me her name and I learned that she was 16 and from Salt Lake. Her dad was hitting her so she went to see her older sister in Ogden hoping that she would take her in but her sister was living with a boyfriend and didn’t want to house a run away teen so she told her to go the JRC in Salt Lake. I asked her if she had a phone, she said she didn’t so I showed her on google maps how to get to the JRC once she got off the train and wrote down the address and phone number to the place. I then called the JRC to let them know she was coming. The lady from the JRC said that because the girl is a minor they have to call her parents as soon as she gets to the place. In cases of abuse they have to contact the State who will do an investigation and take her into custody. They gave me the number to call the state and told me that I should call them. The girl didn’t want me to so I didn’t, she said she would rather go to the JRC and see what happens. She then asked me to also give her directions to the Youth Homless shelter. At this point my heart went out for the girl and I started to really worry for her. But I still didn’t know what more I could do so I wrote down the address and phone number for that place as well and showed her how to get there on my phone, according to the internet it was closed for the night. As we got closer to her stop I quickly wrote down my phone number for her as well and gave her an old Trader Joe’s gift card that only had $8 left on it. As she was getting of the train I overheard a young lady and her friends talking about getting on TRAX so I ran over to them and asked if they would help the girl get on TRAX and find her stop. They happily agreed and escorted the girl off the train. The rest of the way to Provo I continued to think what else I could have done and wondered if I should have told her to come home with me, but seeing as she was only 16 and underage there could be some legal issues with that. I just felt a little helpless as to how I could help her. I am not sure what happened to her and she hasn’t contacted me. I just hope she found a safe place to stay last night.
Your daddy and I talked about my train experience afterwards and we both felt very grateful to have grown up in good homes where we never had to worry about where we were going to sleep. Your dad, in an attempt to comfort me over the whole situation, told me that one of the best things we could do was to make sure to be the best parents possible and provide a good and safe home for you. That comforted me a little but I still feel sad. I wish there was a way to help kids in those kind of situations. I will keep looking for an answer to this conundrum and let you if I ever figure out how to help them all.
Today at church the bishops wife spoke and shared a super cool experience that she had while attending a ward in a severely handicapped facility. I could tell that her experience had not only strengthened her testimony but helped her become more converted to the gospel of Jesus Christ. I couldn’t help but think how it is our experiences that converted us to the gospel. I think that is part of the reason why we had to come to earth and gain a body. When I hear spiritual experiences of others my testimony is strengthened but only through my own personal experiences have I felt myself becoming converted, or in other words becoming more like Christ. I guess I am mentioning this because I hope that my experience on the train somehow makes me a better person, it has definitely softened my heart and maybe will help me in the future as teacher. I am sure I will have students struggling with similar things so maybe I will know how to better respond and help.
Well this letter is long enough and I am afraid I am mostly rambling but i often find that writing things out helps me to better understand them. We love you sweet girl!!
Love, Mom
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