My Mom is famous!

Surely with all of the brushes with fame that my family has had (none come to mind at the moment), this would rank first on the list!  The October Friend contains a story about a girl stealing an apple.  Yes, it was my mother!  It is a true story, with all of the correct names and everything!  I grew up hearing this story, it has become more of a cherished memory than a lesson.  My mother submitted it a woman that writes for the Friend and she rewrote it for the appropriate space allotted....here it is:
http://lds.org/friend/2011/10/the-apple-adventure?lang=eng

However, she recorded the REAL story for her posterity!  Enjoy!

The Apple Adventure

A True Story Related by Donna Grover Foster – May 30, 2008

Growing up on a farm where lots of people were your cousins was so much fun. There was always something to do, and always someone to do it with.  I remember one such night when two of my cousins and I were walking down the country road that joined our two houses.  We were going to have a slumber party at my Aunt Pat’s house.  She was a great aunt.  I loved going there with my cousin Judy.  It was night, but there was plenty of moonlight, and in our little community you always felt safe.  We were laughing and joking when all of a sudden there stood before us Mr. Cook’s apple orchard.

It was dark, and surely Mr. Cook wouldn’t even miss a few of his delicious red apples.  The only problem was there was a barbed-wire fence between the tempting treat and us.  Well, that wasn’t the only problem.  Some of those barbs seemed to be poking in me and saying, “Come on, Donna.  Think about it.  He is your neighbor, and you are going to steal from him.”  However, the fun of the moment and the idea that there were thousands of apples won the argument and through the fence we went.

It was all going well, and then the dreaded happened.  The dogs started barking.  They came unglued!  In an instant it seemed the porch light flooded the night with brightness.  It was a mad scramble to get back through the fence, leaving behind our treasure—or should I say, Mr. Cook’s treasure.  The sound of my pants ripping was as loud as thunder.  The warm sensation of blood running down my leg was the final blow.  I had done wrong and now I had to go tell my mom.

I hated disappointing my mom.  I was surprised that she seemed almost happy that I had to return home to her hurt and bleeding so she could patch me up.  And while patching, she did some teaching of valuable lessons. Was it wrong to take what is not yours?  Would it have been wrong, EVEN IF YOU DIDN’T GET CAUGHT? I could never forget the night that I learned about honesty from my mom.

The story doesn’t quite end there.  Year later when I was a teenager, one day in seminary we studied about the great prophet, Alma, who had a rowdy son that he worried about all the time. In the scriptures it tells how he couldn’t be with his son all the time and control him so he prayed so hard that an angel came and got him on the right path. (Mosiah 27:14)  I had heard my mother pray for me so many times, that I am sure that is what happened the night of the apple adventure.  I have told my chidren this story a thousand times because I want them to know that I don’t always know what they are doing, but the Lord does.  I want them to know that I pray for them constantly and then I know the Lord will help me take care of them.

(On the Sally DeFord website there is a new Mothers’ Day song entitled “An Angel to Watch Over Me.” I just taught our Achievement Day Girls to sing it for Mothers’ Day. One verse says, “and because of the place that I hold in her prayers” I still do believe that God sent an angel to watch over me.  It brought to my mind this story because my angel mom was as real to me as Alma the Younger’s angel.)