Marilyn Mickelson

How do you adequately write about someone you love so dearly?  I hope this post will do justice.

While we were in Peru we got the devastating news that Brad's grandma had passed away. I'll never forget.  We had just got back to our hotel after hiking the Inca Trail.  I had taken a nice hot bath and got out of the tub and finally looked at my phone after being disconnected with the world for the past 4 days and noticed a message from a family member of her passing.  I then had to give Brad the news.  It took us both completely by surprise.  We knew that she was just given a year to live, but it was still very sudden.  We both felt so strongly that we would see her one last time this summer and get a chance to say our goodbyes.  It was devastating.  She passed away the first night on our Inca Trail so by the time we found out it had been a few days and the funeral was to be held in only one more day.  There was no way for Brad and I to make it, and that was just as hard.  Brad was really close to her, and she was like my own Grandma to me.  She made me and everyone feel so special and so loved.

Fortunately even though we were on the other side of the world, Brad's cousin Tom was amazing to us.  He was giving the talk at her funeral and was collecting 5-6 memories from all the grandchildren and their spouses about Grandma for his talk.  He really tried hard to make us feel apart of the process even though we couldn't be there.  He sent us her obituary, and the talk he was going to give at the funeral, and also told us the story of how she passed.  It was a really sweet story, Marilyn had been in some pain that day and asked Grandpa to give her a back rub.  Reed is not usually a physically intimate person, but he stayed up late into the night holding her and rubbing her back.  She passed away in his arms at about 2 in the morning.

Here are the memories that Brad wrote in honor of his Grandma to send to Tom.  It was real tender laying in our hotel bed thinking of her and remembering her as we wrote these.  A few tears were shed.

1. When in UT last summer and had family pictures with everyone in Logan we were the first to arrive along with Grandma and Grandpa. Grandma spent most of the time playing a "road trip game" with our kids using the alphabet and thinking of words that start with each letter and repeating them back. Watching her spend time with with our kids like that meant a lot, especially living far away.


2. Growing up she would always make me feel important/special and I was always grateful that she would support every milestone in my life, whether big or small. She cheered us on and was always there for graduations, baptisms, weddings, missions, sports, etc. I've always felt nothing but love from Grandma.


3. Of course, whenever we visit she rolls out the red carpet with a multi-course meal for all, and tops it off with ice cream and her famous chocolate syrup. She first serves everyone and is the last one to sit and join everyone else. Again, her love for her family and/or guests shines bright.


4. Always took us out to dinner/lunch for any occasion when we'd stop by to visit. When we were poor newlyweds she'd treat us to some the best restaurants and made sure we'd get the most expensive item on the menu.


5. She always loved to see pictures of our family and would ask to buy some of the books, albums, or calendars that Emily put together. Also, she liked to default to her dependable disposable cameras. She loved to see memories captured in an image.


*6. At baby blessings she would write down all the words that were said in the prayer helping everyone remember the words and thoughts conveyed.

Emily's memories:

1.  I'll always remember her with her disposable camera in hand.  Even when someone bought her a brand new, nice digital one she would always go back to her trusty disposable one.  She was always wanting to capture the family moments, even if the moment didn't warrant pictures.  She and I had that in common.  She always told me how much she loved that I made books, calendars, and had my blog.  I always mail her a card with with family and school pictures of us and the kids. Since we lived most of our married life away from Utah, this was our way of trying to still be close.

2.  We spent one Christmas with the Mickelson's.  We were living in Arizona at the time and drove up to enjoy the holidays with family.  All of the Clark family slept over Christmas Eve night.  We sang Christmas carols around Grandma's beautiful Christmas tree.  On Christmas morning our oldest son Carson (almost age 2 at the time) got a tricycle and rode it all around their house.  It was a wonderful Christmas.

3.  She always remember you. Every year when we first married she would make these heart shaped rice Krispy treats every Valentine's Day.  Brad said she had made them for Valentine's his whole life and would even mail them to him on his mission.  Sure enough when we moved to Arizona we got a package on Valentine's with those rise Krispy treats.  I don't think anyone even liked eating them (except for the chocolate she placed in the middle), but it was the thought and love put behind them.  She always remembers birthdays and special occasions.  Even though I know her health had been declining, she still sent our oldest son a birthday card with some money in it just two months before she passed.

4.  Her German pancakes always came out perfect.  I asked her for her recipe, her secret tips, and would watch her make it so I could replicate it, but my German pancakes still always shrivel up after being taken out of the oven.  I don't know how she made hers stay perfectly fluffy.

5.  She was so proper.  Her dinner table always perfectly set with China.  Her hair never out of place.

*6.When I was going through my battle with cancer, she told me she put my name in the temple every single time.

7.  But what I'll always cherish is her relationship with Reed.  He was such a jokester and she would just give him this look and say "Oh Reed!"  With this little laugh of hers.  It always made me smile.


(the starred memories are the memories that Tom included in his talk.)

Grandma with her infamous dinners.  For this picture, Brad flew into town for a business trip and spent a few extra days so he could visit family.  Grandma made sure to roll out the red carpet for him! 

We were in town for memorial day one year and she took us to her parents and Reed's grave sites and told us stories about them.

Even though we did see Marilyn one more time after this.  In my mind, I consider this moment the last memory I will have of her.  It was last summer and we were in Logan for some Mickelson family pictures.  We arrived 30 minutes early and it was just us and grandma and grandpa alone for half an hour before the rest of the family showed up.  She played road games with the kids (as mentioned in Brad's memory) and begged us to come up to Logan the next day for a more official visit.  

Going to Marilyn's house (because of course, it's always Grandma's house, not Grandpa's) you never ring the doorbell, because the door is always open.  Her house was always so welcoming and inviting for everyone.  She made us a wonderful dinner and on this occasion, we ate it outside on her patio overlooking the Logan Valley.  We sat on her porch and talked while eating Creamies and watching the sunset.

This was officially the last time we saw her.  Thanksgiving of last year when we were in town for Daniel's wedding.  I gave her, her own copy of the Clark family cookbook as a Christmas present.  Marilyn loved the one I gave Kae and she was always asking to buy one from me.  To see her open it and loving all the family pictures I included in it is something I'll always cherish.  I'm so glad I got to give her that gift shortly before she died.  It would have haunted me forever if I never got that chance. 

A surprising number of us wore plaid that night and we had to document it.

Although we didn't get to say a formal goodbye.  I sure hope she knows how very much loved she was by us.  We will miss her dearly.

Peru: Salt Mine

The day after we returned back from the Inca Trail we took a rest day to relax and to just do some sight seeing in Cusco.  After all we did it was nice to sleep in and take it slow. (this part is a little out of order since this was the day before we did the Skylodge, but I decided to combine this day with our last day since they were both smaller posts)

Saw this cute little lady outside our hotel and I just had too.  Look how tiny she is!  She makes me look tall!  The average Peruvian is 5 ft tall.  My kind of people!

Saw the 12 sided stone.  The most famous Inca stone due to its many edges.

We went to this cute little market where they were selling crafts and paintings.

We went to a couple museums that were on our city pass.  They were disappointing.  The "art" museum that we went to was more like an office building with a few pictures next to their offices.  Another museum that was at least decent had more artifacts from the Spanish conquest.

The last museum we went to was right by our hotel; the Koricanacha Museum. It showed the chronological evolution of civilization in Cusco. 

the only thing exciting about the museum.  The mummies.  Peru and Egypt were extremely similar in lots of ways, the obvious one is that they both used mummification. Peruvians were mummifying a thousand years before the Egyptians. Although unlike Egypt mummification was used for all members of society.

 these mummies were kept in pots and traveled on peoples backs from place to place

Peruvians also used the children as human sacrifices.  The children were messengers that would travel long distances (like to Ecuador) and then when they reached their destination the host would give them a hallucinogen and then bury them alive (while in a very relaxed state) however this mummy looks like the hallucinogen wore off and they realized they were buried alive.

one of the most popular places in Cusco was actually a French restaurant.  We got a meat, cheese, and potato platter.  You took the cheese, melted it and poured it over the potatoes and wrapped it in meat.  Yum! 

and then to cap off the night we got some much needed massages.  Although Brad and I were much more sore from getting our massages then from the Inca Trail. She really worked on those knots!

Walking the streets at night back to our hotel.

On our final day in Cusco we decided to see the salt mines, 4-wheeling style!  We drove through some beautiful scenery and some old Peruvian villages.  Brad and I were definitely glad that we did the 4-wheeling  vs. taking a bus because although the sites themselves were cool to see, there wasn't much else to do so the 4-wheeling added some adventure.

Never driven a 4-wheeler before.  Been the passenger lots of times, just never the driver.  It was loads of fun.

Our first stop was Moray Inca Ruins.

So cool!

The purpose of these are uncertain, but it is believed that the Inca's used this as an agricultural experiment station with their crops.

On the way to the salt mine we drove through the coolest little Peruvian village with an old catholic church that looked like it came straight from a movie.  I would have loved to have taken a picture, but we were riding in a group and I couldn't just stop.  Thankfully there is google and I was able to find a picture:

The Moras Salt Mine:

Taken from Wikipedia: Since pre-Inca times, salt has been obtained in Maras by evaporating salty water from a local subterranean stream. The highly salty water emerges at a spring, a natural outlet of the underground stream. The flow is directed into an intricate system of tiny channels constructed so that the water runs gradually down onto the several hundred ancient terraced ponds. It is agreed among local residents and pond workers that the cooperative system was established during the time of the Incas, if not earlier. As water evaporates from the sun-warmed ponds, the water becomes supersaturated and salt precipitates as various size crystals onto the inner surfaces of a pond's earthen walls and on the pond's earthen floor. The pond's keeper then closes the water-feeder notch and allows the pond to go dry. Within a few days the keeper carefully scrapes the dry salt from the sides and bottom, puts it into a suitable vessel, reopens the water-supply notch, and carries away the salt. Color of the salt varies from white to a light reddish or brownish tan, depending on the skill of an individual worker. Some salt is sold at a gift store nearby.

The salt mines traditionally have been available to any person wishing to harvest salt. The owners of the salt ponds must be members of the community, and families that are new to the community wishing to propitiate a salt pond get the one farthest from the community. The size of the salt pond assigned to a family depends on the family's size.

the little stream of salt water that flows to the pods.

It was only a half a day excursion, but it was a fun way to end our trip.  

Peru was absolutely amazing!  I'm so glad that Brad and I got to go.  It really was a once and a lifetime experience.  We ate the most yummy food, saw gorgeous and breathtaking views, hiking along an ancient trail to see one of the most fascinating ancient civilizations to ever walk the planet, and sleeping under the stars.  We  faced physical and mental challenges, made some fun friends and witnessed unreal beauty.  All with my most favorite person.  Couldn't have asked for a more perfect trip.

Flying home. It was so great to get away  with my love and to just have some fun!