Gail Miller - Courage to Be You: Inspiring Lessons from an Unexpected Journey

2018 Karen G. Miller

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without permission in writing from the publisher, Deseret Book Company, at permissions@deseretbook.com or PO Box 30178, Salt Lake City, Utah 84130. This work is not an official publication of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The views expressed herein are the responsibility of the author and do not necessarily represent the position of the Church or of Deseret Book Company.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Miller, Gail, 1943 author. | Wright, Jason F., author.

Title: Courage to be you : inspiring lessons from an unexpected journey / Gail Miller with Jason Wright.

Description: Salt Lake City, Utah : Deseret book, [2018] | Includes bibliographical references.

Identifiers: LCCN 2017051444 | ISBN 9781629724270 (hardbound : alk. paper)

Subjects: LCSH: Miller, Gail, 1943 | MormonsConduct of life. | Mormon womenBiography. | BusinesswomenUtahBiography.

Classification: LCC BX8695.M545 A3 2018 | DDC 289.3092 [B] dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017051444

Printed in the United States of America

LSC Communications, Crawfordsville, IN

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

COVER ART CREDIT

Book design: Deseret Book Company

Art direction: Richard Erickson

Design: Sheryl Dickert Smith

Cover photos: Courtesy of Gail Miller and Drake Busath

Acknowledgments

As I think about those who were instrumental in making this book a reality, I am reminded of a quote by Melody Beattie that says: Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow.

I feel gratitude to the people who have helped me see the value in my life and encouraged me to share what I have learned with others. I am humbled that my experiences seem to have more than one purpose. I have grown in unexpected ways, been enriched beyond my capacity to contain, learned abundant lessons with each trial, and felt the hand of the Lord in every step I have taken. These things make what I have enough and more.

Because I feel deep gratitude for those who have given me help along the way, I would like to specifically acknowledge a number of very special people.

To Lynn Scoresby, a close friend and guide through many of my difficult times, who planted the first seed that a book about my experiences could be beneficial to other women who might be experiencing the same things, I say with deep sincerity, thank you!

To my son Bryan, who persisted when I doubted, who set up a schedule of interviews when I would have put it off, and who encouraged me with words like, You have lots of things to say that will be interesting to others. I hope he is right. Thank you, Bryan.

A special thank you to Andrew Johnson for his kindness, his gentle encouragement, and his willingness to take on this projectto ask questions and record interviews each week until we had the beginnings of a manuscript.

Thank you to Jack Sanford, who filmed the interviews and never made me feel like a blubbering idiot when I cried during the emotional stories.

Robert Bell and Carisa Miller were also helpful in the interview process. Thank you for your encouragement!

I will be forever grateful to Jason Wright for his extraordinary ability to extract stories of general interest from our interviews and for convincing me that others might benefit from my experiences. He has a beautiful gift for writing. I could not and would not have written this book without his guidance, encouragement, and expertise. Jason, you are exceptional.

I must also recognize the enormous efforts of Deseret Book, specifically Sheri Dew, Laurel Christensen Day, Lisa Roper, and Emily Watts. Its been an honor to work with them.

I want to acknowledge my husband Larry, who passed away in 2009, our children, Greg, Roger, Stephen, Karen, Bryan, and Zane, their spouses, and our posterity for the major role they have played in my journey through life. The older I get, the more I know I dont knowthey have been my willing teachers.

To my husband Kim, a quiet, gentle man with an unmatched patience who loves me just the way I am: Thank you from the bottom of my heart!

My acknowledgments would not be complete without my including all the other people who have contributed to my life: friends, coworkers, employees, neighbors, church congregations, my parents, my siblings, and my extended family. Each of them has enriched my life. They have generated untold rewards, challenged me in ways that have made me stretch beyond where I thought possible, and, in the end, helped me to create a beautiful quilt from that fabric called life. I have been richly blessed.

. Melody Beattie, accessed online at https://www.values.com/inspirational-quotes/7164-gratitude-unlocks-the-fullness-of-life-it.

A Letter from Gail

Dear Friend,

When I was a young mother balancing the endless demands of five children with their school lessons and sports, my own Church assignments, and a nonstop husband, the idea of writing a book never entered into my consciousness. I was so consumed with living life that I had no time left to write about it. As the years passed, I began to feel a need to record my lifes journey. In reality, I couldnt imagine anyone being interested. Honestly, sometimes I wondered if my own family would read it.

But... here I am.

It seems Ive traveled a million miles from those days dominated by ball games, never-ending loads of laundry, parent-teacher conferences, and Church callings. Im an empty nester now, and I have no problem confessing how much I miss those times. If youre caught in the middle of that whirlwind, I promise, someday youll miss it too.

Today, as I look back over my life, I recognize I have been blessed with a wide range of experiences: some simple, some complex, some ordinary, some extraordinary. Ive experienced everything from being a timid, unsure housewife and stay-at-home mom to being the owner of one of the 200 largest privately owned businesses in the United States. Im confident my experiences havent been better or worse than anyone elses, but they are uniquely mine and they make up the fabric of my life.

Looking through that lens, I clearly see that one of the most beneficial qualities Ive embraced is courage. Ive had the courage to look inward and face my weaknesses and challenge my trials. Ive also had the courage to look outward and welcome the future. I have been blessed to use my courage to grow and expand my God-given talents and potential when the opportunity was before me. Ive worked hard to create a life of purpose, direction, and satisfaction.

Im grateful for all the experiences, good or bad, that have been placed in my path and have allowed me to exercise the courage to uncover Gods plan for me.

I hope as you read about my journey, you will recognize a gem or two of truth that may be useful in your journey. Hopefully, youll recognize youre not alone in a confusing and complicated world. Maybe you will have an aha moment when something Ive been through gives you the courage to face the hard things youre going through.