Strength from our Grandmothers

A family finds strength to face life's challenges, including a cancer diagnosis, by learning the lives of their grandmothers.

TRANSCRIPT:
So just say something like "This is Zina.She's my great-great--"
This isn't Zina.
Oh.
Mom, is this--That's Eliza.
Yeah, I didn't think this was Zina.
My daughters are awesome. They are the strongest, most amazing women in my life.
My name is Jodie Blackburn. In the first Saturday of June, my grandmother and my great-aunts would bring me here to the Lion House. And we would get a delicious lunch and tell stories of Brigham Young and Zina Huntington. I looked forward to it every summer.
I watched my mom get ready and come to the luncheon when I was little. And then when I turned eight, I was old enough to come. And as a little girl, that's so exciting.
One of the funnest things for me is that we get to spend time with my mom.
The food's really good.
Learning about my ancestors is pretty darn cool.
My mom is an amazing storyteller. She brings the past and the present and the future all together.
It makes her really happy when she looks at all her ancestors and learns all about their lives.
What's your favorite story your mom tells you about Zina?
Mom, what's my favorite story of Zina?
So what I admire about Zina is her strength. At Nauvoo, she was only 18 and she lost her mother and had to take care of her whole family because they were all really sick. And that she was able to overcome that showed how strong she is.
So for Zina D., God was always in charge. And when she followed His lead, she succeeded. In my life, some big stuff has been put on my plate.
So my mom was diagnosed with cancer a month ago. For us, it was very shocking, and that was really hard for us. But seeing my mom and how it was just going to be OK, and we're going to do this—I feel like that's a part of who we are that was passed down from our grandmothers, passed down from Grandma Zina. We're tough women. We do this. We get through it. We figure out how to do it, and we figure out how to live, even after the hard stuff.
This is one more thing to hopefully define my character. And if I don't have life struggles that define who I am, how could I ever associate with the incredible women who gave all? And their character was defined in their trial.
The characteristics I see in my mom are strength, are perseverance that she can overcome all the obstacles in her life.
I think for us, learning about our ancestors helped us realize where we have come from. And when you know where you come from, it's a lot easier to figure out where to go.
I know I've handled some hard stuff, but I've never been given anything that I didn't think God gave me for a reason. And so I'm like, OK, He's in charge. And it is the strength. For me, it's the strength of everyone that's gone before me, and it's the strength of my incredible posterity.
And is it something that you're going to do--carry on that tradition?
Oh, yes. I will definitely carry on the tradition of the granddaughters' luncheon. I want my daughter to get to know her ancestors through the stories and just being together with family, because you only have one. It's not like you get to pick and choose them. I hope it never stops. I just--I love it so much.
OK.
OK.
This is Zina D., our great great great great grandmother.
OK, let's cut.

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