My Awesome Aunt!

For those of you who are privileged enough to know my aunt Kate, you know that she is all kinds of awesome. On April 9th, I was able to attend an award banquet for her. She received the Dyer Distinguished Alumni award and was the speaker at the dinner.

Dinner was good, but Kate was even better! I want to share a few of her remarks that really struck me. (And yes, I do have permission to quote her.) She used the example of puzzles, and how different people approach them.

"Putting together a puzzle reveals process. Yes, the picture is on the box…but each person brings a different perspective on how to achieve that goal:

The three year old can get any two pieces to fit – by force.

One person works to see that the borders are completed first.

Another will sort the pieces by color or context.

Someone will have an intense focus, like my brother, on finding the key piece.

Frequently there is an observer who professes to be developing a master plan.

At some point, there is an onset of paranoia that a piece is missing. The truth is

in the last puzzle there was a missing piece and it was found in the dryer nearly unrecognizable having been through the washer!

Each individual’s behavior makes a contribution toward completing the puzzle…but the interaction of the behavior is rarely explored. If the how of working together gets attention at all, it is usually in the form of opinion giving (judging) by one puzzle participant about what someone else is doing."

She then went on to talk about process, using the current company ad campaign from Lockheed Martin:

"BETWEEN THE IDEA AND THE ACHIEVEMENT, THERE IS ONE IMPORTANT WORD: HOW

AND IT IS THE HOW THAT MAKES ALL THE DIFFERENCE."

It really struck a chord with me. It is the how that makes the difference. Also, another quote she used:

"President Spencer W Kimball taught “the more we serve our fellowmen in appropriate ways, the more substance there is to our souls”"

That is a fabulous image; more substance to our souls. And she later closed with this statement:

"I suggest that if we are among those who hear the summary statement of our mortal process: “well done thou good and faithful servant”, it will be the how that made all the difference!"

She did speak eloquently on process and important steps in understanding the process puzzle, but I believe that because my background was different than the rest of the folks in attendance, I gleaned different things.

In fact, I was asked to give a sacrament meeting talk on Easter, about Easter. Kate's talk just kept coming back to me over and over. It is the how that makes the difference. The plan of salvation is amazing. We can come here, live, learn, and return home to our Heavenly Father. But Easter is the celebration of the 'How'. The plan works because of what Jesus Christ did for us. He is the how.
How did he live his life?
How did he take our sins upon him?
How can we reflect upon what he did for us?
How did he love us so much?
How do we repay him?

My amazing aunt has always been an example to me and her words continue to influence my life. She is the how for a lot of people and I am just happy I get to be part of her life!