Maud Entertains the Prophet

Toward the end of Maud’s life she often was asked to help her neighbor, Edith Young, whose father was the most prominent person in Utah at the time.   He was a widower who lived in Salt Lake City but who needed to entertain lots of important people.   His name was President Heber J. Grant.   One of his favorite ways of entertaining visitors was to take them for a ride on the Alpine Loop between Salt Lake City and Provo and then end the day with supper at his daughter’s home in American Fork.

Even prophets are not perfect and often he did not bother to let her know she would be having company for dinner.   When this happened, Aunt Edith, as the Christensens called her, would dash through her side gate to my Grandmother’s home to see what food she had available and to get her to help serve. 

On one occasion the highlights of the meal were Grandmother's newly baked bread, her homemade cottage cheese, and her fresh green onions.   She worried some about the ordinariness of her offering.  The visitor was the poet Edgar A. Guest.  Mr. Guest told her that he was very tired of restaurant food and relished her homemade fare.  Then Grandmother performed a reading for him and President Grant.  It was an evening to remember!