Ma's Place: Many Thoughts of Kay This Week

I have friends and family who have lost their spouses and they tell me that they often dream about their loved one, or see them, or feel them. I actually sensed Kay's presence with me twice soon after he died, but I feel him, or maybe remember him, on a daily basis. This week for some reason, he has been in my thoughts more than usual. For example, as I crossed the bridge over the train tracks on our walk Tuesday morning, it was cold and the lady going down the steps ahead of me had her hands in her pockets, as did I. I distinctly heard Kay's voice in my mind saying "Get your hands out of your pockets. If you fall, you won't be able to get them out fast enough to catch yourself." He has said that so many times as we walked across the ice or down the embankment while fishing or at other times walking across fields hunting pheasants or in the mountains deer hunting. I loved those times and the advice!!

Someone gave me a piece of chewing gum the other day. My go-to flavor is peppermint. Kay's was spearmint. The gum I was offered was spearmint. Instantly Kay was with me. I was rummaging through the car console looking for something and found a wintergreen lifesaver. Wintergreen lifesavers are synonymous with Kay. The grandchildren used to come into our bedroom to Grandpa sitting in his chair asking for candy (wintergreen lifesavers). I hope they will always think of Grandpa when they see or smell wintergreen.

Wednesday morning I went to an area of Queens across the river from Manhattan to see if I could help a missionary with an insurance problem. While there I walked passed a high school. No football field. No parking lot. No outside area. Just one big building in the middle of the city surrounded by a 6 foot fence. As I stood on the corner across the street about to take a picture of it, a man told me that he worked there. He informed me that it was the Aviation High School and if I walked down the street I could see a WWII plane and a jet fighter behind the fence. Interesting place. I walked all the way around it. Had to Google it when I got home.

Aviation High School looking across the street.

Jet engines behind the fence.

More school pics.

Art on the outside of the building. Looks like wings to me.

Wall art

More wall art

Wall murals

"Aviation High School, official name Aviation Career & Technical Education High School, is public high school #Q610 owned and operated by the New York City Department of Education. Formerly known as the School of Aviation Trades (SAT), Aviation High School has operated since 1936. It is ranked by US News and World Report as a 2013 Best High School in the Bronze Category.
It is located in Long Island City, which is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens. As of the 2013-14 school year, the school has an enrollment of 2,244 students. It also received an "A" rating for the seventh time in a row in the 2012-13 school year.

Educational Emphasis

Aviation High School is certified by the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for the training of Aircraft Maintenance Technicians (AMTs). Students who successfully complete the school's rigorous technical programs are allowed to take their FAA certification examinations without further qualification.

In order to achieve this, students at the school spend about three to four periods every day in "shop," technology related classes that concentrate on every aspect of an aircraft's structure, systems, and components, as well as more general aviation subjects such as aerodynamics and Federal Aviation Regulations. These specialized classes are taught by FAA-certificated AMTs, many of whom are themselves alumni of the school.

School Property

Aviation High School is one of the largest high schools in the city of New York. The school occupies a whole block right next to the 7 train and Queens Blvd. It is composed of six floors, as well as a basement, a hangar with multiple general aviation and World War II aircraft, a gymnasium, a cafeteria, and a dedicated ROTC area. The school is divided into two parts, the main part where most administration offices and academic classrooms are located, while a separate wing is dedicated to shop classes that runs from the first floor up to the sixth. An elevator and escalator also runs throughout the six floors of the building."
I was interested to note that the school has an extracurricular activities list just like most other high schools:

After School Activities

1.    Science Leadership and Robotics
2.    National Honor Society
3.    Student Government & Leadership
4.    Pegasus Society
5.    Color Guard Drill Team
6.    Skills USA
7.    Muslim Student Association
8.    Christian Club
9.    Mural Club
10.    Journalism Club
11.    Photography and Arts club
12.    Aviation Bhangra Team
13.    Health Corps
14.    Computer Technology Club
15.    Key Club
16.    Anime and Comic Book Club
17.    Yearbook

Kay would have wanted to go in and visit the school and "hang out" with the students. He enjoyed that. I think I may have mentioned in a previous blog that I accompanied Kay and others in 1991 or 1992 to visit a high school in Brooklyn as we escorted several Academy of Finance students from East, Highland, and West. The host high school escorted us into Manhattan where we visited the Stock Exchange and the markets in the World Trade Center. We went to the top of one of the towers but I don't remember which tower it was. That was a memorable experience.

As Kay and I traveled though out the states, Kay was always ready to tour a school at every opportunity and to talk to the students. We visited schools in several states from Arizona to Washington and across the country. I'll never forget his astonishment at finding a "smoking room" for the students in a North Carolina high school we visited.   That was before the no smoking in public facilities law. Great memories for me.

We had a little snow storm beginning last Thursday night and into Friday. Put a damper on morning rush hour traffic.   We had a leadership training scheduled for Friday but it was moved to Saturday because of the bad roads. About noon, the sun came out and much of the snow was gone by evening.

The Friday snowstorm.

The wind blew the snow into our front door.

It has been a routine nursing week. It is the time of year for coughs, sore throats, runny/congested noses, nausea and what comes with it, and a few carryover neck and back and shoulder complaints left from shoveling snow during the BIG snow storm, Jonas. I was going through the list of 197 or so missionaries in our mission to look for something and I noticed that there are few complaints from foreign born missionaries. I am not sure if it is because they don't get sick or they just deal with it. I rarely get a call from one of them. Perhaps they have never had the kind of medical care available that we are accustomed to so they don't expect it.

We have had two new senior missionary couples come into the mission to replace people who have left. I overheard two of them talking about driving here in the city. It made me think of when I first came and began to drive these crazy streets. I want to report that I am becoming a much more aggressive driver here in NYC. If you snooze, you sit there all day and the cars behind you honk endlessly. Hence, I accelerate frequently which doesn't give one good gas mileage. Again, I hear Kay explaining to me how to drive the Prius for the best possible gas mileage. I can do it but I have chosen to join the "jack rabbit" starters off the line when the red light changes to green. I am off like a shot and my gas mileage shows it!! I seldom have anyone honk at me now and I can change lanes with the best of them. I haven't resorted to honking yet but perhaps with time…….

As my week draws to a close and a new one begins, I like to think of the things I've learned this week. I've reaffirmed that the Lord directs His work on earth. I am grateful that I can be an instrument in His hands to help the missionaries and the people about me. So many people don't have the opportunity to know and feel the love of our Savior. I have had time to reflect on my family and the blessing that each of them is in my life. My thoughts of Kay make me even more grateful for eternal families and the knowledge that Kay and I will spend eternity together with our children and grandchildren.

I want to do everything in my power to assure that I will be worthy of eternal life with my ancestors, my husband and our posterity, Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father. I want to follow the example of my Savior. I have a testimony of His Atonement. I believe that He loves me and helps to carry my burdens. He is my rock.

I read a talk in the Ensign by Elder L.Tom Perry that he gave in conference October 2014:

"And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall" (Helaman 5:12).

It is the gospel of Jesus Christ that provides this foundation upon which we can find lasting peace and build eternal family units.

I love you my family and friends