Smile Bigger


"Smile Bigger" and some "Sweet Torture" is coming soon.  What this will cover is what I can remember of our life with Connor Benjamin Thredgold, and our lives since he left to serve a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Taiwan Taipei Mission.

"Smile Bigger" has always been what I told the boys when I dropped them off at school or when they left for scout camp or whenever they left home.  Its what Connor would say to those he served with... which we did not know until the night before his funeral when Elder Perkins of the Seventy came with his wife to our home to visit with our family.  Many in Taiwan wrote Elder Perkins to say that this was a saying Connor frequently used... this of course made us gasp when Elder Perkins told us, as we had no idea he was using this quote we had used for many years in our family.

The "Sweet Torture" portion is a term I began using to describe the feelings we have as we have attended homecomings and even farewells of Connors friends.  Most of them are home now... then they began getting married and inviting us to their weddings!!  We know they want Connor there and so the next best thing for them is to have Greg and I there.  It is a very sweet blessing to be at homecomings and especially weddings in the Temple... the Spirit totally envelopes us and we are truly comforted... BUT at the same time this is absolute TORTURE!!  Our hearts long for Connor to be at these occasions and we even feel sometimes a glimpse of what the day might look like if it were Connor being "best man" or being "The Groom".  Please don't mis-understand... when I say "Torture", it's not a bad torture... gosh, I don't know how to put into words what I mean... but if you've ever lost someone you love and you're enjoying what you're doing... but wish they were there with you, you probably understand.

Right now I just want to get this blog set up... I'm not quite ready to write much, but I do need to share my thoughts and feelings and although I have a genealogy blog, what I have in mind to do here isn't really genealogy related... but more feelings, thoughts and memories.  In the coming weeks, months and years, I hope to articulate my experiences, insights and testimony of what I know because of what happened to our precious 19 year old Connor!

For right now I want to "Smile Bigger" and reflect on some of the sacred and tender incidents that have been "Sweet Torture" for us... and in the coming days and weeks write about some of those.

In the mean time, thank you for all your love and support as we come up on the 4th anniversary of his death on 22 August 2014.

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