Review
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Title: A Summer With Great-Aunt Rose
Author: Dieter F. Uchtdorf
Publisher: Deseret Book
Genre: Inspirational Parable
Year Published: 2016
Number of Pages: 41
Binding: Hard Cover
ISBN13: 978-1-62972-252-8
Price: $15.99
Reviewed by Trudy Thompson for the Association For Mormon Letters
There were about four times when I was growing up that my brother and I were sent to stay with our maternal grandmother, while our parents traveled out of state on business. The first time was when I was in first grade. My parents gave us strict instructions to “behave ourselves” and to mind Grandma and to do good in school. It was in the winter time, and each day Uncle Floyd, who had never married and still lived with Grandma at that time, would drive us to the highway to catch the school bus. Mom and Dad were gone for a week each time, so we went to church on Sundays with Grandma and Uncle Floyd, and on Saturdays Uncle Floyd would take us sledding on the big hill near their house.
We lived very near Grandma, and loved her dearly, and were comfortable with her. However, after that first week-long sleepover at her house, I knew I did not want to do that again.
I not only missed my Mom and Dad each day, but each evening my ears, nose, and throat would burn from the Marlboro cigarettes that my Uncle Floyd would chain smoke. Grandma would admonish him that he should not be doing that around “the children.” But that would not stop him. He completely ignored her. We could not open a window or door because the cold winter January days and nights would not allow that. Nor would our Uncle go outside to smoke, or down to the basement like Grandma tried in vain to encourage him to do.
I also had to sleep with my Grandma in her not quite full size bed, which I found too small and confining. Grandma always came to bed two hours after I had been sent to bed, and that would wake me up every time, and then her snoring would keep me awake. She was stricter than my parents, but fair. The saving grace in all of this was my grandmother’s home cooking, which was wonderful, and even better than my mother’s. Her homemade breads and dinner rolls were legendary and she always had cookies and candy on hand for us. Everything she cooked was delicious. (I won’t talk about the time I had to literally choke down her fried chicken after watching her wring the chicken’s neck and clean and dress it before bringing it into the house to cook! It was awhile before I could eat chicken again!)
Because of all this, I can totally relate to the story in President Uchtdorf’s delightful new book. The text of the book is adapted from his talk given at the women’s session of General Conference in October 2015.
In “A Summer With Great-Aunt Rose,” we hear the story of an eleven year old girl named Eva. Eva’s parents have just told her that her mother has to have an operation that would require a lengthy recovery. Because of this, her parents are sending her to stay with her Great Aunt Rose for the entire summer. Poor Eva absolutely, positively did not want to go live with her Aunt, and she could think of many reasons why this was such a bad idea.
She did not want to be away from her mother, her family or her friends. She did not know her Aunt Rose, and she was very comfortable, thank you very much, right where she was.
No amount of pleading or eye rolling could change the decision made, so she packs her bag and begins the long drive with her father to her aunt’s house.
Upon arrival, Eva’s worst fears are confirmed: everything in her aunt’s house was very old. There were books and old colored bottles everywhere and other bric a brac spilling out of plastic bins. Her aunt lived alone, the house was way out in the country, with no near neighbors, and no one Eva’s age lived nearby. To add to her discomfort, there was a creepy cat, who always found the highest perch in every room, to sit there and stare at everything and everyone.
When word came that her mother’s surgery had been a success, all she had to do then was endure to the end of the summer. But Eva hated enduring!
After awhile, the two settled into a routine. Eva got used to her Great Aunt Rose’s booming voice, her large smile and personality. Every night Aunt Rose would read from the scriptures and make comments like, “Oh he shouldn’t have done that!” or “What I wouldn’t give to have been there,” and other such entertaining statements. Eva enjoyed her grandmother’s beautiful nightly prayers, which were filled with gratitude for nature and the “wonder of being alive.”
One day Eva realized that her Aunt was one of the happiest people she had ever known, but Eva also noted that she was happier when she was around her Aunt. When Eva asks her why she is so happy, Aunt Rose shows Eva a painting of a young pioneer girl, merrily skipping down a lane. The aunt explains that the pioneers probably had many dark and difficult days, but that everything in this painting was bright and hopeful, and that the girl in the painting has a spring in her step and was moving forward and upward.
Great Aunt Rose goes on to explain that there are many things that don’t go right in life, and that at these times it is easy to get worked into a “puddle of pessimism” and a “mess of melancholy.”
The aunt teaches that there was a time in her life when she was sad and discouraged. But, she learned if she had faith and focused on the wonders and miracles of life, she could truly be happy. Faith in her Savior taught her that no matter what had happened in the past, her story could have a happy ending.
Eva was never quite the same after her eventful summer with Great Aunt Rose. Her beloved Aunt had taught her about faith, hope, and love.
The illustrator of this book is Salvador Alvarez, who is the artist of the painting of the pioneer girl skipping down the lane, titled “Joy In the Journey.” His colorful and beautiful artwork, including originals, can be viewed at www.SalvadorAlvarez.com There are additional embellishments and features on the pages from other sources, which add to the attractiveness of this small volume.
With his masterful storytelling abilities, President Uchtdorf has provided us with a delightful, beautiful, compact book with a powerful message for all ages. I am eager to read this parable to my four grandchildren when I see them again. Then I will present it to them with the admonition to take good care of it and read it often.
This is the perfect book to give to anyone who could use some encouragement, or to a friend, or neighbor, or a visiting teacher, or a relative, as a way of saying, thank you-I care about you. This is a non- denominational parable that can and would uplift and enlighten everyone we know. Consider this book as a must-have for your home library.