The Story of Two Mountains
June 17, 2016 • Blog Post
We stood sheltered in the shadows of Ben Lomond, a peak rising out of Loch Lomond in the highlands of Scotland. Though my father and I had been excited to see many sites on our trip, this was the place we had been dreaming of seeing for years. The never-ceasing Caledonian wind brought a chill to that sunny August day, but we were all too happy to confront the wind to see the ben. My father was holding back emotions as he gazed out at the mountain—the namesake of a peak in Ogden, Utah, where my dad spent his childhood days. I watched my dad’s eyes fill with tears as he looked upon the mountain and remembered.
“They look so alike!” he said, surprised at just how similar the two mounts were. Both had a singular snow-capped peak, framed by two diagonal ridges that cut downward at the center of the apex. “I wish my dad was here.”
Scotland’s Ben Lomond
It had only been a year and a half since my grandpa had passed away. He was in many ways another snow-capped mountain in our lives. Like Ben Lomond, he had been a stalwart and constant watch guard. Full of wise counsel and MacGyver-like fixes for everything, my father’s father was who my dad turned to, learned from, and leaned on.
Ogden’s Ben Lomond
Ogden’s Ben Lomond stands at the top of the valley, a resolute landmark seen for miles, guiding home. My grandfather also guided us on our journey toward our celestial home, dauntlessly choosing the right again and again and again. He fulfilled Elder Delbert L. Stapley’s counsel:
Parents have the duty to be what they would have their children become in regard to courtesy, sincerity, temperance, and courage to do right at all times. Example is far more potent than precept.
There, on that sunny highland day, my dad looked at Ben Lomond, remembering another childhood mountain and the mountain of a man who had made him who he was. And I watched my own mountain, my father, who is my stalwart and constant watch guard—my guide and my example.
This weekend we celebrate our own “mountains” and express how much we appreciate all they do in guarding, guiding, and loving us. Let’s take the opportunity to remember and share the little, daily things our fathers did and do that have shaped who we are.
Photo Credit: http://www.hotel-r.net/gb/ben-lomond
Amanda Kae Fronk is the communications manager for BYU Speeches. She is an avid collector of hobbies with book buying, nature watching, and food sampling being among the most enduring. She aspires to one day be called a master wordsmith, a woman of grace, and an owner of a devoted heart.
