It was my mother,Hazel Jacobson’s birthday on Saturday, October 13th. If she was she still alive, she would have be 107. In her lifetime, Grandma Hazel enriched the lives of about 1000 school children in elementary school and about 1000 piano students in her home. She was adored by her family and has great granddaughters named after her. Last Saturday darling Hazel Spencer was baptized on her great grandmother’s actual birthday in North Salt Lake. The next day adorable Hazel Shumway was baptized in Boston.
After a speech at a family conference in Taylorsville, on Saturday we dashed out to North Salt Lake to join in the celebration for darling Hazel #1.
An hour later I grabbed a plane to Boston to be a part of the baptism for our darling Hazel #2 the next day.
At the Boston airport at midnight just as Saydi pulled up to pick me up, a crazy little guy kept stumbling into me as I tried to get my bags in her car. He was so weird and I was sure that he was high on drugs.
Well that weird little guy with face totally covered with hair tuned out to be Charity, who had flown in that day to surprise the Shumways and then me.
Needless to say, everyone was totally surprised!
That wasn’t the only surprise. Saydi told me on the way home from the airport that Jeff was going to become the new bishop the next morning at their ward conference. There’s a long story behind that including the fact that they were on the cusp of moving to Salt Lake, but it looks as though they’ll be in Boston for a while. Jeff and Saydi both gave stellar talks in church the next day and even though their lives have been turned upside down (or maybe it’s right side up), Jeff will be a extraordinary Bishop!
The Shumways dramatic day continued to Hazel’s beautiful baptism at 6 p.m. Saydi made sure we got there early enough to take pictures and organize the plethora of food that she and Charity had prepared before I got there. Over a hundred people arrived in time for the big occasion and filled the chapel.
She wore the sweet little baptism outfit that Grandma Ruthie lovingly made for little Rickie’s baptism almost exactly 60 years ago! It’s been used so many times that it’s pretty delicate. Nedra fixed the hole under the arm like a true quilt maker!
Saydi sent me an album of beautiful photos taken with her professional eye on Google+ but apparently google crashed today and I can’t open them so you’ll just have to see them in a few days at bostonshumways.blogspot.com.
Here’s the best I could do with my iPhone:
The Shumways (Karen came up from NYC):
The Eyre contingent:
After the services there was a huge crowd to feed and meet and lots of good food! (Sorry, blurry but youl get the idea.)
The neighbors across the street came and brought a lovely gift. The daughter on the left has been a long-time babysitter for the Shumways.
And several little friends from Hazel’s kindergarten class at the school next door to their house came with their moms.
There was a multitude of gifts including Nedra’s grandmother’s little hymn book and some pretty special goodies:
It was a day we will never forget! Who would have thought last week at this time that Hazel would always be able to remember that her dad became the bishop of the ward on the day she was baptized! No doubt Grandma Hazel looking was down with a smile on her birthday weekend.
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