The book of love

I had the privilege of living with my mother for the last few weeks of her life. She needed someone there 24/7 at the end and I was available.

She slept a lot those last few weeks and I started going through her papers to pass the time and to prepare for the inevitable.

I stumbled on a book she had kept. The title was “A History of Our Country,” by David Muzzey. The copyright was from 1936. It turned out to be her high school textbook from 1940-41, her senior year.

I was struck by the serious nature of this high school text. It was over 800 pages long. And they were packed pages! Not much white space at all. It bears no resemblance to the “magazine style” textbooks of today. It was a serious study of U S history.

I thought this would be an interesting book since the final chapter had to do with the New Deal. World War II wasn’t even mentioned. Hitler isn’t in the index.

But it turned out to be a book of love. Mother had written in the margins all sorts of hints about what was going on in her life. She was being courted by my father and planning a wedding right after graduation!

There were even a couple of flowers pressed between the pages. And a note from a class mate stuck between pages 708 and 709:Think of it, a 17-year-old tackling the issue of romance and marriage.

So here are some of the verses she scribbled in the side margins. She’d write one line on one page, then the next two pages ahead, so you could flip through the pages and recite the entire love song.

New San Antonio Rose
With lips so soft and tender
Like petals falling apart
So you’re the one
The one I’ve always dreamed about
The one I cannot live without
I don’t know where you came from
But I’m awfully glad you’re here
Just like that I love you
You’re the one, My Dear-

A few pages later she writes the words to “When you wish upon a star”
And ends with:
When you wish upon a star
Your dreams come true! Hope hope

Here’s another one:
“Faithful Forever”
Forever I’ll be
Faithful to you
I’ll be faithful
Faithful to you
Forever and ever Dear
I can’t love you any more
Any more than I do
For if I loved you any more
I would have to be two
I love you with my heart
I love you with my mind
I love you, love you, love you
All there is I find
So, I can’t love you any more
Any more than “I do”

Then there is the guest list, but if you turn it sideways, it’s notes from history class.

Dad's name must be written in that book a hundred times, usually next to her own.

And she had a sense of humor, too! But here she distills down the dream:
What a precious glimpse into her life as a young woman.

She was married a few weeks after graduation on June 24, 1941. They were sealed in the Salt Lake Temple on June 24, 1977. (Let’s just say she was ready a loooong time before Dad was!)