Matson was named after my Great Grandpa Matson (my dad's Grandpa). My Great Grandpa Matson was the only great grandparent I ever knew and had a way of making you feel like you were the most important person in the world. Although I only had a few visits with him in my lifetime they were memorable. He would sit and talk to me and I could feel his love. I remember visiting his tiny home as a little girl. He would let me ride his horse as he guided me around the pasture and he always had sorbert ice cream and cookies to serve us when we came to visit. I grew up knowing he was one of the kindest, neatest people that ever lived. Years after he passed, I interviewed my dad for a school project I was working on. As he talked of his life and childhood it all revolved around Grandpa Matson. My dad spent his childhoods at his Grandpa's home where he worked alongside my Grandpa. It's not easy to get my dad to talk about his life, but if you get him talking you will know that Grandpa Matson was a huge influence in his life and one of the people he loves and respects most in this life.
When my Grandma and Grandpa passed I was sad that Matson was so young and would never know my grandparents. He would never really remember my Grandma (Lois Matson Peterson) and have that connection to Grandpa Matson. He wouldn't grow up going to Grandpa Matson's house on our summer trips (my Grandma and Grandpa lived in his home on his farm). He may never walk up the rickety cement walk, swing on the rope swing over the dry canal bed, or pick rasberries and hide in the rows of corntalks like we had always done as kids. And as my older kids had done on our visits.
As we were going to the funeral I pointed the houses they lived in and some of the places in Rigby that are important to my family. I showed them the sign "Lorenzo" as we drove into town because the area was named after my Grandpa Lorenzo Matson. I explained to Matson that he was named after Grandpa Matson and we showed him the house Grandpa Matson lived in all of his life. I was amazed at his interest. He ate it all up. He wanted to know everything there was to know about Grandpa Matson! After the funeral and graveside service we walked around the cemetery so Matson could find Grandpa Matson's tombstone. He searched and searched (with a little direction from my dad on which way to go :). When he found his name MATSON in big letters you would have thought he had won a contest. He was so thrilled. He felt so important. And he wanted to know everything he could about this Grandpa Matson fellow.
Later in the day we took the kids to the Matson homestead. Here is Matson standing in front of the home Grandpa Matson lived in most of his life. When he could no longer live there my Grandma and Grandpa moved into the home and worked the land. My Grandpa Matson's wish was that the farmland and his home would always stay in the family. He wanted the family to have the land so they could grow their own food and take care of themselves if the need arose.
Here is a picture of all the kids in front of Grandpa Matson's house. It was a neat weekend to remember my Grandparents and to teach my little Matson about the great man he was named after and the great legacy he has left behind. I never imagined a little 3 year old could grasp the family connection like he did. He has this natural love for Grandpa Matson and he talks about him constantly. In fact, not a day goes by that he doesn't ask me a question about his Grandpa and he insists that we should name our new baby boy "Grandpa Matson". I am grateful he is interested in learning about his namesake and hope he can strive to be a man like my Grandpa Matson, who was loved, revered, and respected by every person that met him.
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