Henretta Lund Christensen, is my great grandmother. She is the only great grandparent who was still alive when I was born. When I was a young girl, we would go to visit Great Grandma Christensen. She lived in a small, humble home in Heyburn, Idaho. She lived alone, as her husband had died many years before. But, my Great Uncle Lund lived next door, which was good, so he could help her out when necessary. She always had lots of flowers in her yard. She loved growing flowers. In her history, it says that she always had a bouquet of flowers for the chapel on Sundays during the spring and summer. She even had a greenhouse where she would start her flower and vegetable seeds in the early spring. At one time, she and my Great Grandfather, Joseph Edward (Joe) Christensen, earned money selling nursery stock from their greenhouse. She also had a lot of knick knacks in her house that I was told to not touch. After I learned to play the piano, my parents would often encourage me to play a selection for her. I remember one time that I did not want to play, but my dad said that I should because it could very possibly be the the last time I would get to play for her as she was very old. She loved music. Even though times were hard, she made sure that all of her children learned to play the piano and other instruments. After a fall when she was alone in her home, she became afraid to live by herself, so she moved in with my Grandma and Grandpa Christenson, so that they could help to take care of her. I was told that she had been promised in her Patriarchal Blessing that she would live until she was ready to leave this life. I always thought that that was a great blessing. She died in 1974 when I was in junior high school. She was 92 years old. The funeral did not seem really sad, but was a celebration of a revered mother/grandmother. Life for her had not been easy. She lost her mother and father at a young age and it became her role at the age of 16 to care for her younger sisters and brother. She and her husband had a nice home in Hyde Park, Utah, but decided to try their hand at homesteading in the Snake River area of southern Idaho, where the United States had just opened it up to homesteaders and allowed water rights from the nearby Snake River. This did not work out for them as well as they hoped, and they had a difficult time of it and of caring for their family. Her husband then died in his 50's leaving her to carry on alone for many years. Luckily, she had most of her children and their families nearby to keep her occupied. She often helped my grandmother make quilts. She had an orchard behind her home where she also kept geese. For holiday dinners, she always fixed a goose.
In reading through her histories, I have found out a few interesting stories about her. Not long after her mother die, her father took her and her siblings to the dedication of the Salt Lake Temple. They sat on the balcony and she always remembered the Hosanna Chorus with all of the white handkerchiefs. She had many experiences in her life where she relied on the Lord to help her through difficult times and was thankful for his watchful care in her belhalf. She and her husband made it a practice to pray and put their trust in the Lord. She had a great testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ and tried to instill that in her siblings and in her children. How thankful I am for a righteous Great Grandmother who set a great example to her posterity. I am thankful that I was able to know her.
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