Seeing the Good

On this day, one hundred and twenty years ago, Ethel Hurst was born in Hyde Park, Utah. She is shown here, 100 years ago, in 1915, with her siblings.

Ethel is seated third from the left on the front row

Ethel married Robert Rector Speas and became a wonderful wife, mother and grandmother.  She spent her life using her many talents to bless the lives of everyone around her. 

Perhaps Ethel's greatest talent was the ability to consistently see the good in others. Although the small community in which she lived, Woodville, Idaho, was idyllic, not everyone who lived there was perfectly good, except to Ethel's eyes. Her words were always kind and uplifting about others. Of course, as with all talents, this was not simply a gift, it was practiced over a long period of time until it became part of Ethel's very nature. A very close acquaintance in her community beautifully described her  talent: "I never heard Ethel say anything bad about anyone."

Ethel's granddaughter, Marsha

Ethel became very important in the life of this little girl, me. A seemingly insignificant event that happened when I was about five illustrates how my Grandma Ethel strengthened others through her talent of seeing good.

One day Grandma joined my Mom and I on a routine trip to the grocery store. After our shopping was done and we were on our way home, Grandma reached over the car seat and handed me a nickel. That doesn't seem like much today, but in 1963, a nickel was a lot to me. 

Grandma sweetly told me she was so proud of me - my behavior that morning had been the very best and I hadn't begged for a single thing during the whole excursion. 

Grandma Speas

Why do I still remember that tiny little experience fifty-two years later? Because Grandma made me feel so good about myself, and it was genuine, not phony. I knew that her praise was earned and that her words were true. I don't know how long of a wait it was, or how many shopping trips preceded this one, but Grandma patiently waited for an occasion to reward me with positive words. 

Grandma practiced that same patience and positive reinforcement with everyone. I love her so much and honor her today on her birthday.