Grandpa Butters legacy

This is Grant Butters, my Grandpa, as a young man in his first Hair Salon.  He had a gift of not only creating beautiful outsides for women ( their hair)...but while they were in his chair,  he talked to them and created beautiful insides where they left feeling uplifted and loved. 

 My Grandpa Butters made everyone he came in contact with feel very special.  He did it on purpose. We called him "the wonderful committee" because he took it upon himself to compliment and lift and help others feel wonderful.  

I felt this as his granddaughter.  So many days after a hard time at school as a student and later as a teacher I would go in the afternoon up to my Grandparent's house to sit in their "pity party" corner and express all of my concerns and struggles and feel heard and loved and leave knowing it's all going to be okay.  

Grandpa called me Song Bird-- and always had me sing for him. He told other people, in my presence, how amazing I was.  It was very sweet for me and helped me to love singing.  He requested I sing at his funeral, "Suddenly You're Older".-It compares life to the seasons of the year..and finally it's winter and you get to say goodbye.  It's a bittersweet song and leaves a bittersweet memory for me.

My Grandpa died when I was pregnant with Monson.  It was the first death of someone seriously close to me that I would miss on a daily basis. 

After his funeral, a dear sister in his ward came by to see my Grandma.   This sister, Faye Fox, was a dear old soul, and as my mother put it, "she was not blessed with good looks, nor the ability to make the best of the looks she had, but over the years she did the best she could."  Faye was teary and said to my Grandma,  "I know you lost your sweetheart, and that is a great hurt for you....but when Grant died, I lost the only person that ever made me feel beautiful." 

That was my Grandpa.  He made everyone feel beautiful, talented, and special.  And I think that is just what Jesus would have done.