Things I like, Love, and Appreciate
About my wife
Claudia
Mother’s Day, 1995
Hon—
You are a good person. Your attitude toward life and other people reflects respect, love, and caring for others. You do not seem to ever do those things that “Creepy Erika” (reference to a soap opera character) does to keep her world turning.
You are a committed person. When we were married, you listed about a dozen things you committed to do during our marriage. I don’t remember them all, but you have. Among them, I recall:
· You would not gain weight
· You would keep a clean house, and
· You would not let us run out of toilet paper
You have kept your promises.
You work hard. You look at your responsibilities as your main job—and you do it! The children’s health and safety, the cleanliness of our home, your person appearance—you actually work at these things with study, books, time, and even classes. You treat this as your job, not just a sidelight to your life.
You willingly accepted motherhood. You didn’t have to, but you did. Three (four? Five?) times. Some will not do this, but you did.
You experience emotions I know nothing about. Joy, sorrow, love, peace, contentment—all taken to heights I will never know. One of the main reasons you are fun to have around is because you experience things to a greater level than I do. It brings to me a greater enjoyment of life.
You are beautiful, and your beauty brings great joy to me. Your face, your hair, your small graceful shape—your smile—the quickness of your step—the way a long skirt flows and swings as you walk. Your small wrists and arms, the motions you make with your hands—your eyes, your smallness. I delight in it all.
You are clean. You can laugh. You love children, and you love your family. You try hard to improve yourself and be a good person. You are especially kind to older people. You can feel spiritual things. You can speak well in public.
Hon, we have both learned a lot this past 25 years, and there is no one else I would rather spend the next 25, or 50 years with, than you.
I love you.
- Harold
Claudia Lee (Jones) Ethington
Claudia Lee (Jones) Ethington took her leave from us early in the morning of Friday, April 24, 2009. She was sixty years old.
Born June 18, 1948 in San Francisco California, Claudia was raised in the Bay Area living in San Francisco, Palo Alto and later in Menlo Park. Her father is Calvin Meyerhoffer Jones formerly of Salt Lake City Utah, and her mother is Mary Daniloff who was born near Rostov, Russia. Claudia was the oldest of three children, with a brother Barry and a sister Lisa.
Claudia attended Brigham Young University in Provo Utah (graduated 1971, B.A. education), where she met and married Harold Dean Ethington, of Yuba City California in 1969. The couple was married in the Oakland California LDS Temple and are the parents of three sons (Justin Croft, Jared Price, and Jon-David Ethington), have five grandchildren (Grace, Maya, Olivia, Avery and Kyle), and have lived in Sandy, Utah since 1978. She is the first of her family to pass to the other side, and is survived by all those mentioned here.
The focus of Claudia’s life was service to others, particularly her family. She served in many church positions, including that of President of the Relief Society in her ward for six years. Although permanently wheelchair bound from a stroke in 1998, she continued to find creative ways to cook and carry food, notes, blankets and other thoughtful gifts to others. One cold winter day, while delivering to neighbors, she noted a young police officer directing traffic near her home. She stopped, and handed him too, a hot cinnamon roll.
Claudia’s beauty was often noted, her presence always a delight, and we will miss her greatly. But she has left behind a wonderful legacy of service, love, and humor. Where else would we find doctors who had somberly arrived with terrible news, now leaving her bedside with tears of laughter in their eyes. She did it right, and will be remembered always exactly as she would want: A good friend, a devoted daughter, a loving wife, and most important to her, a great Mom.
A viewing for Claudia will be held on Tuesday April 28th between 6 and 8 in the evening at the LDS Chapel located at 2675 East Mt. Jordan Road in Sandy Utah. Services will be held Wednesday April 29 at 11 a.m. at the same location, with a viewing beginning at 10 a.m. Funeral preparation by Larkin Mortuary. Burial in the Salt Lake City Cemetery.
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