Dad, Susan, Martha, Rob, Nate Utah Summer 2011

Wagstaff Family

Nathan Burton, Robert Burton,

Robert K, Martha Elizabeth,

Carolyn Eva, Susan Ellen

July 2011, Orem, Utah

From an email to Rob:

Today has been strange--I forgot to take my meds last night and so didn't sleep and have felt fragile all today. I loved seeing you and your children. I still remember hearing you and M talking about Europe and places that you had both visited. Hearing the two of you discuss things that I had only ever read about made me feel left out at first. Now, though, the memory leaves a sweet peace--that the rest of the world is being seen and cared for by others while I can stay safe and small in my own space. I love you. One of the best parts of my summer was being in Nate's house with you and dad and Susan, and Martha. I have been away from all of you for so long now. Sometimes it is like I have always been married to Brent--everything before that was just a fable or epic poem. For so long I believed that I was a very intelligent, very smart person--then I married Brent and I knew I was brilliant--then I had Meg and La and Nate and I knew that I would never really know anything at all. I love you and I look forward to watching Benjamin and Natasha grow up while you and I grow older.

*******

I actually do look forward to growing older. I have given up on growing up--and I do want to continue to grow.

OraBrush, My Dad, Singing (Not Necessarily in That Order)

It's me as The OraBrush. Dad's home office is in Provo, UT and while I was there in July, he gave us a tour of the place where they make the OraBrush commercials, take orders and fill them, keep stores stocked, think up new ideas, and I haven't any idea what else.

My whole life, I have been the one on center stage. Every year at Concord Elementary school in Edina, MN, each grade had a different theme for the choral concert. I was (probably) in 4th grade and we sang songs about Indians and how they lived. I got to be an Indian Princess Mother and sang with another girl. The lullaby was first sung in the native language and then in English words. It was a soft, flowing rhythm that rolled off my tongue. I sang it to myself over and over again during the weeks before the concert. That night, I stood by the microphone and sang to the invisible, dark of the audience--and mom and dad where there to hear me do my thing. There were several years when I was part of different schools' music concerts--and mom always made any costumes I needed and mom and dad always came to hear me sing. In High School, I was in several plays. Mom and dad came to each one--whether I was in the chorus or was one of the stars.

Now, I go to YouTube and my dad is there: talking, being interviewed, explaining how OraBrush was first created and how, using YouTube, his creation has become an international feature. I am so proud of my dad. He and Cindy have put tens (if not thousands) of thousands of dollars into research and development and failed attempts over the last few years. Dad has a patent on a special kind of golf putter, and he created a nutrient supplement that makes egg yolks and broiler skin yellower. (That makes it look healthier and so we want to buy it and eat it more . . . that's what market research reported, anyway.) He has more patents that are owned by the companies that he was working for when he created them. Anyway. I think you understand what I'm talking about.

I was always proud of my dad when I was a little kid. Now that I'm a big kid, I think that he is even more wonderful.