“I wouldn’t want a life free of adversity,” said Mrs. Lavina Christensen Fugal. “Our troubles are what make us strong.” For Lavina, trouble and adversity have been lifelong companions. As a young girl she wanted more than anything to go to college. But when she won a scholarship to the University of Utah, she could not accept it. Her parents, Danish immigrants, did not have the money to buy her clothes.
As a young married woman in Pleasant Grove, Utah, Lavina and her husband Jens Peter had plenty of trouble to make them strong. When her children were babies, Lavina carried them to the fields, found shady spots for them to lie in, and pitched in with the crops. Busy as she was, she found time to teach school and belong to many organizations.
When the Depression came, Lavina dug 700 holes, each 18 inches deep, and planted dahlias. Then she made them grow—in a country where dahlias do not flourish. Garden-clubbers came from miles around to see it, and Lavina’s “dahlia money” helped send all of her eight children to college.
One by one, the children left the farm and became successful in business or homemaking. In time they presented Lavina with 34 grandchildren. Husband Jens died ten years ago, but Lavina kept busy. Two years ago, although she was already painfully crippled with arthritis and had to get around on crutches, she painted her house and tarred the roof. Last week Lavina, 75, badly crippled but plucky as ever, was named Mother of the Year by the American Mothers Committee, Inc. At first she was reluctant to enter her name. “Motherhood,” she said sternly, “is not a competitive event.” But when she won the title, Lavina was speechless. For fully two minutes she held her face in her hands, then looked up at her daughter. “It’s you children and your father,” she announced. “Not me.”
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