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Show 206 the night and woke up the children at outrageous hours to talk to them or hold them limp and half asleep on his shoulder. He often left again before sunup, but the neighbors knew when he had been home because of the small change the children had the next day."9 Roberts' love for his wives was enhanced by harsh trials (his imprisonment and their exile)undergone in order to preserve their ties during the persecutions. The Roberts' motivation was not a selfish love but a strong desire to uphold their conviction that they were defending a divine mandate. All three of his wives found unique ways to demonstrate their love. Louise stoked her husband's creative fires by sitting quietly near him, reading or sewing, as he wrote late into the night. Celia was instrumental in honing and polishing some of his work. Margaret shared his sensitivity to music and, in later years, studied piano secretly in order to be able to play some of his classical favorites. B. H. Roberts, like Milford Shipp, fostered harmony among his families, though he did not suffer the disadvantage which Milford had, in the early years, of having them housed under one roof. Roberts combined his wives and children for outings to lakes, canyons, parks, or resorts whenever he could. Later he would spend more time with his grandchildren than he had been able to manage with his children. He shared holidays with them by usually spending Thanksgiving at Celia's, Christmas at Louisa's, and New Year's at Margaret's. There were often well-known guests. |