The gift that lives on

Recently, I came across a couple old items that I frankly thought were long gone.

The first was a Stucki Family Fun & Fitness Fair shirt from 1984 (nearly 30 years ago) in Castle Valley. It has a drawing on front of a runner with a flag and a smile compliments of Robyn. I wore it the other day and my children thought it was pretty cool. They were right! It is really cool.

The second was an old plaque kept for years that has apparently been moved from place to place over the last four decades. The date on it is 1974, but let me now and forever share the story behind this memento with you and your posterity to come.

Grandpa made it in his wood shop in the basement of our Salt Lake City home a couple years before we moved to Castle Valley. Times were tough, but Grandpa focused on what really matters and with that token expressed his love for both wife and children.

I admire so many things about Grandpa. I cherish his memory. Perhaps you feel the same way. Of course you do.

One of his characteristics that I have come to treasure is his ability to love what he would do. There are many evidences of this. I remember him working in the hot sun in Castle Valley. Most the rest of us would come in during the hottest part of the day to rest and cool off, but not Grandpa. He would happily continue to work until dusk and often beyond. He frequently secured and positioned flood lights so he could continue working long after dark.

Even when health concerns required that Grandpa and Grandma move to Springville, they took their new little home and yard and turned it into a beautiful place on earth, where we their children and grandchildren loved to regularly visit. But perhaps the most poignant illustration of this quality in Grandpa in my mind was after he contracted cancer and this ravaging disease and the chemotherapy treatment began to take their toll. I remember with admiration and a bit of awe Grandpa moving on hand and knee throughout their Springville yard weeding and cultivating that beautiful little spot on earth. Robyn eloquently captured this quality in Grandpa's eulogy, so I will use her words to describe it: "In the last couple years, if Grandpa couldn’t wield a shovel, he could certainly dig a hole with a trowel and that he did, one small trowel-full at a time. If he couldn’t mow the lawn, he could certainly remove every stubborn weed that dared to poke through the surface of the soil. He seemed to derive life from the soil and gained immense satisfaction from the planting and harvest." Harvest was just the right word. Grandpa never complained. He willingly endured. We are only now beginnning to realize the tremendous harvest from his life, as his influence and example for good is revealed in his posterity that has and will continue to grow in number and influence, brightening our little corner of the world and making it a better, more beautiful place on earth.

When I was a young man, I didn't really understand or appreciate this quality then. I knew that what he did was for his family and in obedience to God, but I didn't fully appreciate the power or realize the message he was teaching us at the time.

I was aware there were trees that he planted and lessons he instilled that he knew he would probably never see the fruit thereof, yet he did it anyway. But it was more than that. He always wanted to give more.

One Christmas when worldly cares were demanding and gifts were few, Grandpa composed an original poem that articulated the feelings of his heart. We made gifts for one another that year because there was no money to purchase them. He therefore typed up copies of his poem and carefully charred the edges of the pieces of paper and meticulously adhered them to a stained board and glazed the paper and frame. He painstakingly made one of these for each of his children and his sweetheart that Christmas. Would you like to read what he said? Of course you do.

W. RICHARD STUCKI TO HIS FAMILY

This Christmas your worldly gifts are few,
And not as much as we'd like for you.

Though each made, through a labor of love,
Presents cherished, as gifts from above.

But, you have other blessings of greater worth,
Like the love of a family and noble birth.

A knowledge of God as He is, and the Savior,
His church and gospel complete in full measure.

A country that's free and blessed above all,
Knowledge of science at your beck and call.

So, as we consider our possessions in '74,
Let's not complain that we should have had more.

Worldly treasures are soon grumbled and gone,
But the blessings mentioned go forever on.

Cherish, use, and keep these at any cost!
They're dearly purchased and so easily lost.

The future, remember, YOU'RE going to decide.
The gifts your children get, you provide.

So if you'll have their earnest adoration,
Pass these blessings on to the new generation.

Grandpa was planning and preparing for each one of you even before you were born. I have told you the story of our first Christmas in Castle Valley. I cherish that time as one of my most memorable Christmases ever.

When times were tough, Grandpa shined. He did his best and humbly allowed others to help and by so doing set an example for his family that will forever be revered and treasured.

Of course, there is Another who expressed his love for all mankind with a token. Grandpa's fondest desire is that we would remember, love, and follow that Giver.

Funny thing, when Grandpa made this small gift nearly 40 years ago, he probably didn't imagine that I would be sharing it with his posterity so many years later. Nor did he realize its impact, and frankly neither did I. But some gifts live on.

Thanks for letting me reminisce.