45 Years Old!

When one walk through our Meandering Way Building and sees all the signs of age, it is "chagrining" to think I am older than this building or this ward! We had our D4 45th Ward Birthday Celebration at Spring Creek Pool last night and the Activities Committee did a wonderful job. There was a large turnout and the food was great and plentiful. We had a healthy representation of our Primary and YM/YW. However, I did miss the people of D4 that were there when I was a young wife/mother and new member of this ward back in 1975.
My first memory of D4 was a time when David and I had graduated from BYU and had come to Dallas to find our way in the world. We were staying with his parents and went to the Stake Roadshows and D4 had the winning roadshow written by Mary Taylor and Karen Bateman. The apartment we found turned out to be in the D4 boundaries and the rest is history. I know I would not be the wife/woman/mother I am today, without the mentoring of Kay Hollingsworth, Fern Woodbury, Karen Bateman, Mary Taylor, Mary Kay Tanner, Barbara Dunn, and the list goes on and on.
I felt the ward party last night represented the "future" of D4. But my heart grows soft when I think of the many people who influenced my life - so richly - with their examples or talents or lessons or kindnesses - that I did not see last night. A swimming event was probably not a party they would have attended on a hot summer night. I just wanted all of them to know I had them in my heart - and can still see the reflections of their influence in this ward.
I love this D4 Ward. I love the past, present, and the future of it.