LINE UPON LINE

by Shauna V. Brown 

     I recall well a ritual my mother performed nightly. She would take an white envelope and clip off the sticky part  into long strips and then apply them criss crossing upon her forehead. One looking at her could well her imagine her fitting well into an Indian tribe. Her ultimate desire was to pull her skin tight while she slept. It was her unique and hopeful way of fighting the lines of age, and gravity. I thought she was beautiful as she was. Yet, with hope in her heart she diligently apply them night after night. Mama was determined to fight mother nature, but the lines of aging came, one by one. 

     In her later years we had a professional photographer  take a picture of her. When our picture proofs came back mother gave a serious inspection.  Then with a touch of chagrin she asked the photographer, “Can you fade, airbrush, feather , something and remove my wrinkles?”  He looked at her and quickly countered as he grinned wide, “Why, would you want to remove them, they’re beautiful, and you’ve earned everyone of them.”   Mother seemed so disappointed and clipped back, “Character lines I guess.” 

     To a photographer he saw her distinctive beauty as a masterful work of art and sculpting of the spirit. Even now as I look at that picture I smile, as I realized the photographer had deeper perspective. He saw in fact, ‘between the lines.’ 

     Clearly he couldn’t see  into her life’s story. He was unaware that she had fought the battle of breast cancer, suffered heart attacks, was nearly blind.  A woman who had tenderly cared for her husband who suffered with Parkinsons for twenty years, was a widow, raised six children, was a Bishop’s wife twice. She thrived being a mother, inventor, prize winning candy maker, author, and yet, surprisingly feared failure.   

     Mother was right she had ‘character lines’ which revealed not only that she had been courageous, faithful, devoted, but she had learned to lean on the Lord.  God had allowed the shaping of her life, without any help of sticky tape, nip or tuck or feathering.  

      Mother frequently regarded her trials as ‘compliments,’ compliments from God. He knew she would withstand any degree of testing.  

      She loved learning and was a constant reader. With red pencil in hand she always was underling favorite thoughts. Often she would pin a quote to the kitchen curtains. This was one of my favorites. It always makes me think of Mama. 

      “No pain that we suffer, no trial that we experience is wasted. It ministers to our education to the development of such qualities as patience, faith, fortitude, and humility. All that we suffer and all that we endure, especially when we endure it patiently, builds up our characters, purifies our hearts, expands our soul, and makes us more tender and charitable, more worthy to be called the children of God.” Orson F. Whitney 

     Mother definitely relied on the Lord, and sought diligently to allow her life to be refined, shaped and molded by his loving care.  Mama practiced faith and from that faith came lines of perfection and refinement. You see, mother knew that with God all things are possible. He would shape her to become the very best.    

         I recall well a ritual my mother performed nightly. She would take an white envelope and clip off the sticky part  into long strips and then apply them criss crossing upon her forehead. One looking at her could well her imagine her fitting well into an Indian tribe. Her ultimate desire was to pull her skin tight while she slept. It was her unique and hopeful way of fighting the lines of age, and gravity. I thought she was beautiful just as she was. Yet, with hope in her heart she diligently applied them night after night, determined to fight mother nature, but the lines of aging came, one by one. 

     In her later years we had a professional photographer  take a picture of her. When our picture proofs came back mother gave a serious inspection.  Then with an element of chagrin she asked the photographer, “Can you fade, airbrush, feather, something and remove my wrinkles?”  He looked at her with surprise and quickly countered as he grinned wide, “Why, would you want to remove them, they’re beautiful, and you’ve earned everyone of them.”   Mother seemed so disappointed and clipped back, “Character lines I guess.” 

     Even now as I look at that picture I smile, as I realize the photograper 

perhaps had a deeper perspective. He saw in fact, ‘between the lines.’ 

     Clearly he couldn’t see into her life’s story. He was unaware that she had fought the battle of breast cancer, suffered heart attacks, was nearly blind.  A woman who had tenderly cared for her husband who suffered with Parkinsons for over twenty years. She was a widow, had raised six children, was a Bishop’s wife twice. I’m sure he couldn’t see how she thrived being a mother, inventor, prize winning candy maker, author, and yet, surprisingly feared failure.   

     Mother was right she had ‘character lines’ which revealed not only that she had been courageous, faithful, devoted, but she had learned to lean on the Lord.  Mother frequently regarded her trials as ‘compliments,’ compliments from God. Through thick and thin, line upon line, mother had trusted God to shape her life, without any help of sticky tape, nip or tuck or feathering.  She understood that refining often takes time.

            She loved learning and was a constant reader. With red pencil in hand she always was underlining and sharing favorite thoughts. Often she would scribble a quote and pin it to the kitchen curtains. This was one of my favorites. It always makes me think of Mama. 

      “No pain that we suffer, no trial that we experience is wasted. It ministers to our education to the development of such qualities as patience, faith, fortitude, and humility. All that we suffer and all that we endure, especially when we endure it patiently, builds up our characters, purifies our hearts, expands our soul, and makes us more tender and charitable, more worthy to be called the children of God.”

      ~ Orson F. Whitney 

     Mother definately qualified for being a choice ‘child of God.’  She relied on the Lord, and sought diligently to allow her life to be refined, shaped and molded by his loving care.  Mama practiced faith and from that faith came lines of perfection and refinement. You see, mother knew all along that with God all things are possible.

Stand Tall • Strive Daily • Enjoy the Journey

Love to all Shauna