Everyone searches
for a landmark that helps to define their lives...a memory that creates a firm building block in their hearts...something they can look to, remember and learn from. Ironically, one of the landmarks in my life occurred when Lorie and Manny had their wedding reception at the original 1940 Houston Hobby Airport terminal, which is now a civic air museum. That tie has bound me, perhaps forever, to the Houston Hobby airport. With me holding a Southwest Airlines companion pass that allows me to fly virtually free whenever Kyle flies, we have done some extensive traveling this year. Every time I fly into or out of the Hobby airport, I strain my eyes out the window of my plane to look for...yes... that short control tower somewhat dwarfed by a much larger one only a short distance away; the unique architecture that is the original Hobby airport terminal. It has become a favorite landmark for me. It brings back memories of a wonderful event in my life. It reminds me what a wonderful place Houston is. It lets me know that I am HOME.We had another landmark several years ago, and that was a large flag that flew on a mast atop a 5 or 6 story building right at Kirkwood, our exit off the Katy Freeway. In the winter when the leaves fell from the trees, you could look out the small windows in the front door of our house on Queensbury and see that beautiful flag flying up in the air. With a light illuminating it at night, it seemed to reach up to the sky, reminding me of this wonderful country that we live in. When we traveled out of the city, our family always looked for that bright flag as we drove into Houston. That meant we were HOME.
There is another landmark that I have grown to love. It is the temple. I LOVE watching for the green spire of the temple through the trees here in Houston as we drive up to it. It lets me know that we are almost there...to our Heavenly Father’s HOME...and to the home that makes me feel peace, feel safe, feel warmly loved. I also LOVE to follow a tradition that my parents started when they moved into the Cornerstone Condos near the Jordan River temple. When we visited, we would go out the back door of their condo and either sit or stand while waiting for 11:20 PM, the time the temple lights would go off. If we waited long, we would sing, “I Love to See the Temple” as we waited. I felt like we were putting the temple to bed, so to speak. If I somehow missed seeing the lights go off, I would look across the temple wall at that black void that was the dark temple. It was very sad when I missed seeing the lights go off.
We rented an apartment up the hill from the temple for a few years, and we would not go to bed before we watched those temple lights go off. When we bought a home in South Jordan, we had to make sure that we could see at least part of the temple spire so that we could see when the lights went out. That is a tradition every time I go to Utah...I want to see the temple lights go out.
I am so grateful to have a husband that turns our “tent” toward the temple. The peace and extreme joy I feel reminds me that within those temple walls, I am HOME.
Goodnight, temple!
