"Bouquet of the Day" - Josephine Grow Scott

The Bouquet of the Day presented to Mrs. Josephine S. Grow Scott, broadcast of KSL December 5, 1938. Last evening I took a little trip into the past, I walked - not down the sidewalks you see outside your doors, today, but through sagebrush. There were no high buildings. There were no automobiles. No large homes - just wild, virgin country, whose landscape was broken here and there by little homes. There were children playing around, playing in the streets where they had no fear of oncoming motors or accidents. They were happy - those children. They wore no shoes and their little feet, which were barefoot, showed the fact that they were used to going without shoes - they had to. There was no money to spend for them. When it came time for dinner, often they had to go out into the plains and dig roots. Many times the girls were forced to help in the fields along side of the young boys. But they didn't mind and the most wonderful thing about them all - men, women and children - was that they were happy. You could see it in their eyes and in their strong faces. I suppose you're wondering about this little trip of mine. How did I get there, with whom did I go? I'll tell you. I lived it, in the quiet, pleasant voice of Mrs. Josephine S. Grow Scott, a dear lady of 86 years, who receives this morning, the "Bouquet of the Day". As her voice rose and fell, telling me of her childhood here in this valley, so simply did she speak, and yet so graphically did she portray the scenes of her childhood, that I could indeed almost fancy myself there, actually living what she spoke. Born here in this city just a short while after her parents had come across the plains, she knew all the privations and hardships of those early days. She told us of the time when, her father working in the mill in Ogden, he walked here to Salt Lake, all the way carrying a ten-pound sack of flour. Mrs. Grow Scott added with a smile that she remembers to this day how they all went over to the sunny side of their home and their mother put water in with the white flour - the first white flour she had ever tasted, by the way - put a little water with the flour and let the mixture thicken - and that was their porridge. They couldn't afford to make bread. And as I sat there, looking at her - petite, gentle, and with a world of character in her kindly face, I marveled at her. I almost envied her, the experience she has had - such a rich, full life - the mother of eight children, five of whom she has lost, and now she has 38 grand children and 57 great grand children. She has such a sweet, simple, and beautiful philosophy of life, and such a modest and lovable way about here. Mrs. Grow Scott loves flowers, and told me that she has never had a home that has not been filled with the fragrant, lovely blooms. She is truly a lovely woman and I am proud that we are paying tribute to her today. At this time we say to her - to Mrs. Josephine S. Grow Scott..... "Sit back my dear in your cozy chair, and rest - and dream. Dream of all the yesterdays, which have made today so beautiful for you. Don't regret the grey days, and the heartaches, They have given you patience, and tolerance. They have made you what you are - gentle, yet strong and brave. Sit back my dear in your cozy chair, and rest - and dream."