A fond farewell to Cousin James

Today is President Faust's funeral and it will be televised on BYUTV, and I hope to catch it. President Faust is a distant relative of mine. He's my grandma's first cousin once removed. This picture was taken near the gravesite of both my mother's and President Faust's great-great-grandma, Eliza Lyman, in Central Utah. They were both there after a large Lyman family reunion. My daughter Lilia is the baby in my mom's arms. My mom was taking care of Lilia that day, so I could get some chores done and errands run in Provo.

I'll remember President Faust for a few things: 1) He gave a great talk at BYU Law School's Founder's Day dinner about serving others. He was a lawyer before he became an apostle, and he spoke about some of the pro bono cases he took while a lawyer. (2) His last General Conference talk on forgiveness. I'll never forget how he broke down in sobs as he told of the admiration he had for the Amish people's capacity to forgive. And (3) he grew up in the same family tree as my grandmother. I feel as though I have a window into the type of family he must have grown up in, and the type of family he most likely also raised. From stories of my mother and grandmother, my grandmother's family were good cooks. They lived a real farming lifestyle near Delta, Utah. The men would have a big breakfast before heading out to the fields, then they would come in for a big lunch complete with homemade bread, and then they would have family dinners at night together, complete with fresh vegetables from the garden. It sounds idealic.