A Celestial Lawn

1. Physical Experience

-the heavy smell of chlorine; cheers, screams crashing against the walls, resounding and echoing in the space accompanied by the churning of water

-harsh sound of my sweatshirt ripping on the metal fence we climbed to get from the church to the playground

-light streaming through windows that spanned the wall, ladybugs gathering, basking on the window frames

-a tall, glass display cabinet filled with perfume bottles all of different colors, shapes but each delicate and unique, sparkling in the morning light filtering in through the blinds

- sharp crash as the glass bottle shattered against the bathroom floor, the soft pink of the razor-sharp shards as the potent flowery smell saturated the air

-the smell of lazy days spent in the bright sun

-music pouring soft and mellow from pool side speakers

-sinking into a dark blue coach, body molding into the soft leather

-staccato pops of heating corn

-I run my hands through the thick, vividly green grass of my grandparents yard--if there is grass in the celestial kingdom, it will look something like this.

-burrowing my toes into the cool, soft dirt of their flower garden

2. Scenes

-I tried to save a seat for someone by sitting in the only unoccupied row—right in front of the sacrament table. The deacons kindly explained why I could not sit there, and I sat instead with my friend in the hard, metal chairs in the back of the room. She talk my how to braid my hair.

- My brother and I sitting on wooden stools up to the countertop of my grandma’s kitchen as she made dinner. We tried to count how many apple decorations she had in her kitchen—making it to about fifty before we lost count.

-My parents and grandparents sitting in folding chairs in the front yard. The mountains surround us and the light slowly seeps away as I cartwheel again and again across the yard. Out of breath, I collapse on the grass—cool and fresh in the air of the summer evening.

3. Speech

-“Your eyes had to have been open during the prayer too to see that her eyes were open.”

-The sinking realization that she asked that question and been answered twice before. I gave the same response with less detail and animation than before.

-‘You dang cat. Those aren’t your Cheetos”

-Laying in bed for a long time thinking about the songs and lines in the play Les Miserables that I had seen for the first time that night before I could fall asleep

-The good-natured smack talk between my uncle, brother and dad as they played basketball together.

-“You know, this is probably the last time we’ll ever come here.”

4. Emotion in the Moment

-The feeling of emptiness as I walked around the house with my cousin. I noted the absence of apples on the kitchen wall or the emptiness of the front room. We walked onto the beautiful lawn and I wondered with sadness if the new owners would keep it that perfect. I felt as though a big part of my childhood had suddenly and painfully come to a close. A door slammed without warning.

-I drifted serenely on my back in the water. The sun beamed down pleasantly on me, complimented by the cool of the water. After the frigid cold of Minnesota winters, being outside in the warmth was bliss.

5. People of Consequence

-I had a Sunday school teacher when I six named Sister Elliot. She pretty much adopted me as her granddaughter and would do all sort of fun things with me, and sometimes, my siblings. I have great memories of her and her house. Although we moved when I was nine, she still keeps in touch with me to.

-My Grandma Thurgood loved to cook. She was always making rolls or some sort of treat for us or for a neighbor or ward member. She was a small woman with short, wispy, white hair and a sweet temperament.