Mary Baily

I'm not even sure if I got her last name right. Mary was a marvelous woman. My father and I home taught her and her husband Bill for all of the years I was in High school.

She had arthritis gnarled hands. A constant grin. Wrinkles galore but she never really appeared care-worn... I would say rather that her wrinkles came from always smiling.

When my wife and I were going to get married we went to the Relief Society in Kearny and asked if anyone would let us house sit for the summer while I worked at the mine to save up for college that fall. No one stepped forward. My then Fiance and I went to Mary and Bill and asked them directly. They said that they were expecting us and not surprised by the request. They even let us move in three days before they went on vacation. I have been a little embarrassed about that since then but at the time it was simply a mark of how generous they were.

The Sunday that they were in the house I went to make Gnocchi verdi with gorgonzola for us and them. I don't remember what took me away from the stove for so long but when I came back Mary had begun preparing the potatoes like you would mashed potatoes. It was gross. No one complained. Not even our hosts. That is all that I can remember of them during the time we spent together with them in their house.

Bill was a rock hound. I didn't know it at the time but I would end up getting my geology degree. The only person that knows more about rocks than Bill is my dad. I would love to have spent some time with Bill talking rocks before he passed away.

We moved to Mesa about a month before they returned. When Mary got back she found some knives and wash cloths missing. My wife replaced them with the best we could afford at the time. For the next couple of years when we visited my folks in Kearny we would go to church and Mary would always give us the most warm hugs and ask about us sincerely. There was a real connection.

A few years later she moved to Texas to be closer to some of her children. I think about her often. I am grateful for her sincere generosity. Her compassion on a couple just starting out. Its people like Mary in your life that become mileposts. You look back through the years and celebrate the simple fact that you knew them. You look back at your life and there they are, a point on your timeline and you thank Heavenly Father that you were able to connect with them.