A Special Dedication

This last Thursday something pretty cool happened! My Grandpa Chapman, who passed away Oct. 2007, was honored by the school that he worked for. They were going to dedicate a tree to him and there was going to be a special program that the whole student body was going to be there for. My grandma, who is a librarian at the school, asked my dad and my uncle to say a tribute about him. I was excited about this. I was so close to my grandpa and I just thought it was so neat that his school was doing this for him.

There was also another tree to be dedicated which was for a boy that had gone to their school just a couple years before, went in to the Marines, and had died in Iraq just a few months ago. They had asked one of his teachers and his brother, who is also in the armed forces, to say some words in his behalf as well.

The program was laid out well. There was a choir who sang an old song, "The Embraceable You", and then my dad got up first. My dad is an excellent public speaker and can pretty much pull anything out off the cuff which I think is so awesome! Anyway, he talked about the man that my grandpa was and that he served as an example to everyone he came in contact with. It was a really neat tribute, very heartfelt and completely how I felt about him. Then my uncle got up and shared some funny memories he had about my grandpa.

After they were done, the choir sang another song called, "A Song For Unsung Heroes". Then the tribute for the boy at their school who had died, Juan, was given. His teacher said some neat things about him, but then his brother got up to say some things and he couldn't think of anything to say. He tried to say some things but nothing was coming to his mind and he just said that he really didn't know him that well and then invited one of his brother's friends to come up and say some words about him. I was so saddened by that. It shocked me that he didn't have anything to say about his brother. As I started thinking about that I started thinking about if I were put in that situation, would I be able to say some things about my brother? I know I would be able to. I know each of my brothers really well, we are so close to each other. I am so grateful for the relationship that I have with each one of them! I can never imagine not having that close of a bond with them!

The more I thought about it the more I also began to realize how blessed I am to have the gospel in my life! I could tell that Juan's brother was having not only a hard time in finding the right words to say, but also in finding peace. The tribute given to my grandpa and the one given for Juan were completely different in nature. The one for my Grandpa was uplifting and full of happiness with the memories we had of him, and that the kids at the school had of him. I couldn't really say the same of the other. It was just full of sorrow, and it was hard to listen to. I am so grateful for the blessing that the gospel is! It is a huge source of comfort to me and I am so grateful for the happiness that it brings into our lives. It's wonderful!

My uncle and my Dad right before they spoke


The plaque in front of the tree


All of us by Grandpa's tree