Hymn #318
Love at Home
Text and music: John Hugh McNaughton, 1829–1891
There is beauty all around
When there’s love at home;
There is joy in ev’ry sound
When there’s love at home.
Peace and plenty here abide,
Smiling sweet on ev’ry side.
Time doth softly, sweetly glide
When there’s love at home.
Love at home, love at home;
Time doth softly, sweetly glide
When there’s love at home.
In the cottage there is joy
When there’s love at home;
Hate and envy ne’er annoy
When there’s love at home.
Roses bloom beneath our feet;
All the earth’s a garden sweet,
Making life a bliss complete
When there’s love at home.
Love at home, love at home;
Making life a bliss complete
When there’s love at home.
Kindly heaven smiles above
When there’s love at home;
All the world is filled with love
When there’s love at home.
Sweeter sings the brooklet by;
Brighter beams the azure sky.
Oh, there’s One who smiles on high
When there’s love at home.
Love at home, love at home;
Oh, there’s One who smiles on high
When there’s love at home.
I think Dad loved this hymn because he was attempting to keep his nine children from fighting with each other. He was probably trying to teach us with the message from his favorite hymn. When I see my grandchildren fighting with their siblings, maybe I should start singing "Love at Home" to them and remind them of the Great-Grandfather they never knew.
Mormon Tabernacle Choir sings the Hymn here: https://youtu.be/tn5UeEFw4QQ
About a month ago I drove by the house that Jim and family built in Leed's Utah. It has been many years since I last saw it. It seemed smaller than I remember.
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| The "Dream House" in 2018 |
I remember the November (1976?) when we all helped move the tool shed onto a foundation during Thanksgiving break. It was quite a group effort and Mark Weiss tells the story with considerable emotion.
I stopped by the Leeds LDS chapel to take a picture in June, 2018. It looked much nicer than I remember it. The landscape was refreshingly green on a hot day. When I was there in 1974, it seemed to be a small white brick building and everything was dry. There were curbs on the main street. I don't remember them being there before either.
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| Leeds Utah LDS Chapel in 2018 |
The Owen family moved from great Southeast Portland to dry Southern Utah in 1974. During the five years prior to Dad's death, the family was always building on their "dream home". The Owen kids were at critical ages:
Steven was 13-18 years
Diane was 11-16 years
Donald 9-14 years
David 7-12 years
Teresa 5-10 years
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| At Grandma Lillian Moulton's house. They had just picked me up from the Salt Lake City Airport after my mission in Rome, Italy. |
Ralph was living in Oregon and I was on my mission in Italy (1973-74) when the Owen family moved. I reported my mission to the Leeds Ward Sacrament Meeting in their newly completed chapel. Since I knew no one, it didn't make a significant impression on me. In my Journal I merely mention it in passing.
Louise was married in 1974. Sandy was at BYU and worked summers in Provo. Sandy and I both married in 1975. Mark and I moved to Washington state in 1976. We were all so busy in our own lives that I don't think we really knew how difficult it was for the Leeds family. Ralph helped provide a bit of income with creating jobs for the family in his framing business. People were generous in the community and made life easier for Mom.
Dad died in the Salt Lake VA Hospital in September 1979 after living in Leeds, UT for only 5 years. The five years were tough years to say the least. Multiple trips were made to Salt Lake City for appointments at the Veteran's Hospital and purchasing items for building the house. They would often stay with Louise and Dave Daniel's in Orem.
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| These letters were transcribed by Maxine Owen after Jame's Owen's death. |
Dad tried to connect the family through THE HORNTOAD GAZZETTE. Most letters were written from February 1978-September 1979. These gave a flavor of the last 19 months of his earthly life. In the letter he wrote between Sunday School and Sacrament Meeting on Sunday, February 19th, Dad thanks us all for birthday greetings and then says:
"[I am] so thankful to our Heavenly parents to allow all nine of you sweet, kind, wonderful, spirits to come associate with us for a few of our trying and formative years. To see all of you doing and striving so well in your individual ways to do that which is right in God's eye, and to know that our efforts have been most rewarding and ever expanding as we see all of you walking in that strait and narrow road that will bind us all together now and in the Eternal worlds."
Dad and Mom tried to do their best in a hard situation. Dad also wrote on Feb 19, 1978:
"We did try-oh so hard-possibly too hard at times- but so grateful for your love that forgives us for our failure on the first attempt at being parents. So you must be much better than we. We have shown you the "Best" and some of the worst-so now you know how to-and what to avoid. Our great joy is to see all of you doing so much better than old Mom and Dad. "
I went to the Leeds Cemetery to take a picture of LaVarr Webb's grave. He likewise, did the best he could in a tough situation. He was a wonderful grandfather to the older grandchildren.
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| LaVarr Webb, 2nd husband of Maxine Moulton Owen. |
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| Leeds Utah Cemetery in 2018. |
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| 1978 Reunion in Orem, UT at Louise and Dave's home. |
Dad likely loves singing about "Love at Home" in heaven. He once wrote: "I continually wonder why time passes so quickly. "Hope" is the reason ...that time doth softly, sweetly glide, when there's love at home" (Horntoad Gazzette-Dec 8, 1978).
When we meet again for our next Family Home Evening, I am sure we will sing this chorus yet another time:
Love at home, love at home;
Oh, there’s One who smiles on high
When there’s love at home.
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