Quarantine!

Mom received an email from Cousin Nikki ...

Hi Margie and LaMar, I hope you are doing well during all this craziness. You might find this interesting. Years ago I went to Grandma and Grandpa Norman's house and they let me scan a bunch of photos in their albums. I remember Grandpa telling me about a time when their family was quarantined because they had caught an illness. He remembered being stuck at home for a while and he and his brother weren't allowed outside of their yard. Here is the picture of them during this time. Notice the cross in their window. He said that let people know the family had been quarantined. I think it was most likely the Spanish Flu. It seems like the math works out on the years.

Mom's Response~ Thanks Nikki! Ive never seen the first picture and the explanation of the cross on the door! Yes, on the terrible Spanish Flu in 1918, when Rex would have been about 3 and Gordon 18 months younger.  I remember when my Grandma Norman (Louella) told me that she and Herb were too sick to even care for the boys. And that it was the members of the Oddfellows and Rebekahs service organization that stepped in to help and care for them and their two little boys. Grandma said she doesn't know what they would have done without that help. So Grandma and Grandpa became members of the organization their whole life, as I remember, and held offices.

Taken from Herbert Lavar's Autobiography ...
That fall, along in November (1918) I took the flu. There was a terrible amount of flu then. There were many, many people dying with it. They took me home from work. The doctor got there and told the fellow who took me home to get me to bed and take care of me. They fixed me up and asked me if we had any liquor in the house. Mother (Louella) said she didn't know what it was, but I had just purchased a case of something for Fred Rassmussen. He got me part of that, and he rubbed me with it. He then made a "hot toddy" for me. The Odd Fellow's Grand Noble got a nurse who stayed for three hours. Then he got another one, and she stayed for a couple of hours. That is the way it was for two or three days. At least they had someone there to take care of me night and day. I went unconscious, and the doctor asked Mother if we had any relatives around. She said the nearest was in Mt. Pleasant, Utah. He said she had better get them because I couldn't live. That was an awful thing to tell her. 

The girl that was at the depot came and got the two boys and took them down to her house to take care of them. They were homesick and lonesome so she brought them back the next morning, and they had the flu. Mother was still up and going. I was unconscious for thirteen days, and when I became conscious I had a hemorrhage. I bled the washbasin nearly full of blood. They got the doctor to our home, and he packed my head in snow (there was snow on the ground because it was just a little before Thanksgiving). He finally got it stopped. Mother asked what she should do if I had another one.He said to get him and get him fast. About an hour and a half later I had another one. They finally got a hold of him, and I was still bleeding when he got there. He finally got it stopped and shook his head. He told Mother she had better get the folks because I could not make it. She asked what she should do if I had another one. He said I couldn't survive another one. That made Mother feel awful bad. I could hear what they were saying, but I couldn't say anything. An hour or two later, I had a third hemorrhage. They got the doctor and he came in a hurry. When he came in and took care of me, he said to Mother, "Mrs. Norman, if he can make blood as fast as he has been making it lately, he will be well." He said I was in better shape than when he first came down. It had turned red instead of black. That was the last hemorrhage I had, but I laid there and couldn't do anything. I got to feeling better so was able to sit up in a chair. We still had the nurses there, and Mother came down with the flu. She was expecting another baby, and it was quite a turmoil. 

When I got so I could go out, I went to pay the nurses because I felt they were the first ones who should be paid. I asked each nurse how much we owed them, and each one replied , "Nothing". The Odd Fellow's Lodge had taken care of all the expenses including the coal we had to buy from the lumber yard. I always maintained if it hadn't been for the Lodge, I wouldn't be here today. I paid them back. I couldn't do it all at once, but I did it as fast as I could. I figured if they could do that much good for me, they could do that much good for someone else. 

From Grandpa Rex Norman's History (this would have been a later quarantine)...

I was the oldest. I started school at the age of six. I can remember when my brother and sister both came down with Scarlet Fever. We were quarantined for over a month. The kids would bring my schoolwork home and place it on our fence for me. Dad had to live away from home during that period of time. I remember after about four weeks the doctor came and examined them and going over their bodies he found a couple of scales and kept us in for another week. We were sure mad and we called him Dr. Quack. We then had to fumigate the whole house. We had to stuff all the cracks and openings with rags and would do part of the house at a time.

(More from Mom) I remember when we were little kids on Boxelder St. and had measles and mumps, etc., how the county health dept. (?) came and put up a quarantine notice on your front door. I don't know when that practice was discontinued. We'll all have to do some research on those interesting times.

Great-Grandpa Herbert was an OddFellow ...

 

What is the IOOF (Independent Order of Odd Fellows)? 

From their webpage, the Odd Fellows are an organization that promotes personal and social development. For members, the fellowship emphasizes a "leaving of the old life and the start of a better one and of helping those in need."  As indicated in the image above, the Odd Fellows were established in the United States in 1819, but they were documented as far back as 1730 in England. The IOOF is still around today! The command of the IOOF is to "vist the sick, relieve the distressed, bury the dead and educated the orphan." Members are dedicated to the following purposes:

• To improve and elevate the character of mankind by promoting the principles of friendship, love, truth, faith, hope, charity and universal justice.
• To help make the world a better place to live in, by aiding each other, the community, the less fortunate, the youth, the elderly, and the environment in every way possible.
• To promote goodwill and harmony amongst peoples and nations through the principle of universal fraternity, holding the belief that all men and women regardless of race, nationality, religion, social status, gender, rank and station are brothers and sisters.

Mom/Margie's grandfather (Grandpa Norman's dad), Herbert Lavar Norman, was an Odd Fellow. In his history, he makes several mentions of his involvement and the impact they had on his life. Here are a couple excerpts: 

On April 18, 1918, I joined the Odd Fellow's Lodge in Brigham City. That fall, along in November (1918) I took the flu. There was a terrible amount of flu then. There were many, many people dying with it. They took me home from work. The doctor got there and told the fellow who took me home to get me to bed and take care of me. They fixed me up and asked me if we had any liquor in the house. Mother (Louella) said she didn't know what it was, but I had just purchased a case of something for Fred Rassmussen. He got me part of that, and he rubbed me with it. He then made a "hot toddy" for me. The Odd Fellow's Grand Noble got a nurse who stayed for three hours. Then he got another one, and she stayed for a couple of hours. That is the way it was for two or three days. At least they had someone there to take care of me night and day. When I got so I could go out, I went to pay the nurses because I felt they were the first ones who should be paid. I asked each nurse how much we owed them, and each one replied , "Nothing". The Odd Fellow's Lodge had taken care of all the expenses including the coal we had to buy from the lumber yard. I always maintained if it hadn't been for the Lodge, I wouldn't be here today. I paid them back. I couldn't do it all at once, but I did it as fast as I could. I figured if they could do that much good for me, they could do that much good for someone else. (See Quarantine for the full flu story). 

One day the Eagles Lodge had their Convention in Lovelock, and they went in the hole with their finances. They didn't make enough money to clear themselves out of it so they had to put on a home dramatic play. "Too Many Parents" was the name of it. One of the fellows they had in the play couldn't do his part so they came and asked me if I would take the part of the aristocratic old southern gentleman.  I did just to help them out. We practiced and practiced on it and finally we put it on. No one could tell it was me. But Mirriam was just a little girl, and she was pretty smart. When I came on the stage for my part she said "There's my Daddy." 

Herbert served as Grand Master of the Odd Fellows Lodge. On October 31, 1931 Herb had a meeting with the Odd Fellows in Salt Lake City ... he arrived home late the next day to baby Bonnie Lou just having been born. When he finished up his term as Grand Master, he was elected to be the representative to the Sovereign Grand Lodge in Springfield, Illinois in 1933. The next year he was elected to the Sovereign Grand Lodge in Toronto, Canada. Herb and Louelle went to Arizona for a job at the end of 1952... 

When I came home one night from work, I told Mother there was a party down to the Oddfellows' and Rebekahs' Lodge Hall. We decided we would go to it. When we got there it was open, and we went up to the door. I told the people in there who we were and showed them our card and reciepts. They invited us in. A little while later the superintendent for the government on the canal project came in. He looked at me and asked why I hadn't told him I was a member of the Lodge. When the Lodge opened, he had Mother and I go to the middle of the floor and he introduced us as a Past Grand Master and Past President of Utah. We were certainly honored. From that day on, anything I wanted to do on the job, all I had to do was suggest it.

In the history given at his funeral in 1986 his daughter Mirriam wrote " Dad joined the Independent Order of Odd Fellows while they were living in Brigham City, Utah. He remained very active in the organization until it became difficult to drive because of the deterioration of his eyes. He served as Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Utah. He was Representative to the Sovereign Grand Lodge for 2 years and served as Secretary of the Grand Lodge of Utah for 6 or more years. He was given the Meritorious Service Award for his years of service.

A Odd Fellow Meritorious Service Jewel may be awarded to an Odd Fellow for meritorious service performed on behalf of Odd Fellowship beyond the usual and customary duties of membership.

mer·i·to·ri·ous  /ˌmerəˈtôrēəs/   

adjective

deserving reward or praise.

"a medal for meritorious conduct"

Looking through old documents (Dec 2020) 

Chris found the letter from the lodge requesting the medal ...

The Odd Fellows were "fellows" ... it was for the men, but there was a women's branch, the Rebekahs. Louella was part of this group. In the fall of 1952, Louella was elected to go to Dallas, Texas as a representative for the Rebekah Lodge IOOF and she was quite active in the group over the years as well.

Cousin Nikki found and added this little newspaper tidbit to Family Search. 

A Plethora of Projects and a Pair of Parodies

 

I think most families are familiar with the popular children's book "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" featuring a cute little mouse who wants more and more ... and more. The parallel to home projects is pretty predictable (continuing on with my title alliteration). You start with one thing, but changing it makes you realize something else should be changed as well, and so on and so on ...

The Blackham family did some home renovations in 2020 ... as Callahan got married and moved out, Keaton would be taking over that bedroom. But the wall was damaged, so it was necessary to fix the wall. Then that wall needed to be painted, so why not paint the whole room ... I mean the whole basement? With the fresh paint, the old carpet looks awful, so replacing the flooring is next. New lights are next. Where do you stop painting? Best to just continue all the way upstairs, right? The Blackham renovations stopped there. For NOW anyway (the kitchen floors no longer match the new paint, but then the cabinets, which match the floor, would need to be replaced too, then would the furniture match?)

Derek and Danielle had numerous projects in their home during 2020 (with quarantine, there wasn't a whole lot else to do!). In August, in an email he mentioned:

I've had a dumb little idea for a parody children's book for a while. We were talking to our friends about their new sofa, and she was saying: "so, we got the new sofa, and we love it - but it doesn't match our room perfectly, so we needed to get some new throw pillows, and then a rug - but the rug was too big for the space so we had to..." then she proceeded to talk about all the things that resulted from the new sofa. I joked how it was like the kid's book "If You Give A Mouse a Cookie." So I finally sat down and wrote out "If You Give a Spouse a Sofa" in the same style. See attached.

Wendy commented that SHE had also written a parody of this SAME little story based on a drippy-door painting project back in 2009! Here's a link to her blog post about it, and the text included below ...

Have you ever heard the story "If you give a mouse a cookie?"
Well, here is our TRUE story of "If you give your husband a request..."

If you ask your husband to put the closet doors back on your daughter's room (that he took off and put in the shed two months ago to paint and never did), then he will go and rent a paint sprayer so that he can spray the door before putting it back on...

And if he rents a spray gun to spray the door, he will decide to spray all of the closet doors that are sitting in the shed before putting them back on...

And if he decides to spray all of the closet doors before putting them back on, he will also take off all of the other doors in the house in order to paint them too (even if his wife tells him over and over not to)...

And if he takes all of the other doors off their hinges, then he will carry them all into the garage and stand them up while he attempts to paint them (even if his wife tells him that it looks very precarious and perhaps he should lean them against the garage wall instead)...

And if he balances the closet doors capriciously, and begins to paint them with the paint sprayer, then right before he is almost finished painting all of them, one will fall over and knock another, which will knock another, which will knock another, until just like dominoes, all of the freshly painted doors are now all over the garage floor with paint everywhere and a husband who is covered from head to toe in splattered white paint...

And if there is a husband covered with splattered white paint and doors all over the ground, then the paint splattered husband will enlist the help of his tired wife who was almost ready to crawl into bed, while he tries to brush the drippy paint (and dirt) off the doors. 

And while brushing debris and splattered paint off the doors, the husband will ask his wife if she will hold the doors while he sprays them. The wife, not wanting to be sprayed in the face with a paint sprayer, politely declines but attempts to help brush the drippy paint. But since the wife's painting skills are no better than her husbands, she is not much help.

And after two frustrated tired people try to salvage messy doors, the husband will try again, re-spraying all of the doors making more drippy paint.

And after leaving the doors dripping with paint and the time almost midnight, the husband will ask the wife if he should go paint the outside doors now.

And if the wife exasperatedly vetoes that idea, the next morning, the husband will go check on the doors and inform his wife that all of the doors look like someone just threw a bucket of paint on them and they are now completely ruined. 

And if the doors are ruined, the determined husband will still go ahead and begin to paint the outside doors of the house.

And if the husband begins to paint the outside doors of the house, the paint sprayer will start to spray paint in every direction.

And after the paint sprayer starts to spray paint in every direction, the husband will bag the paint sprayer and start to paint with a brush.

And after the husband starts to paint with a brush, he will run out of paint and go to Home Depot to get some more.

And if the husband goes to Home Depot in order to get more paint, they will say that they don't have any more paint in that color.

And after going to Home Depot and being told they don't have any more of that kind of paint, the husband will get very indignant, and blame the sprayer and Home Depot and the doors and say, "I never should have started this project..."

And after the husband frets and complains and blames Home Depot, the sprayer, and the doors; the wife will murmur under her breath...but will refrain from thinking, "This is what I get for marrying a musician/teacher instead of a handyman.."

And after the fretting and murmuring, the husband will tell the sons to go ahead and put the dried drippy doors back on their hinges so that he and his wife can fulfill their obligation at the temple that evening...

And after the boys put the dried drippy doors back on their hinges, the husband hurries and puts the still slightly wet outside doors back on so that the baby will not escape and the kids won't freeze with the approaching evening.

And with the doors back on the hinges, the husband and wife leave the 11 year old son in charge of baby-sitting all of the kids, fixing dinner, and putting on the rest of the doorknobs, since the 13 year old daughter got a last minute invitation to see the movie, "New Moon."

And if the husband and wife get home from the temple and find that all is well (except for having to live with dried drippy doors)...

And if all of this happens on the husband's birthday...then the wife has no choice but to close her eyes so that she doesn't see dried drippy doors and ask her husband to sing her a nice soothing love song...and tell him that someday they will laugh over this day, and that they will celebrate his birthday tomorrow...

And please oh please, if you happen to come visit this particular house, just don't ask who painted the doors!

Check out the Westra Writing ~ Stories and Poetry for other creative contributions over the years! And here's a little look at a little book Derek wrote and had animated ...

 

Singing Sisters and Mom's Memories

 

Since this quarantine, Jaiden and Janelle have been playing around with Rick's studio equipment and learning how to record. They recorded this fun song, Tonight You Belong to Me that was originally sung by The Lennon Sisters (MP3 attached). Also, here is a fun picture of them from their last concert.... Also, Janelle just got called to be on the Seminary Council next year. She is really excited!! 

User 65371523 · 2020 - 5-20 Jaiden And Janelle Singing TONIGHT YOU BELONG TO ME

Also, a local news story with some great footage of Janelle right in front... (Starting about ten seconds in -- after the ad). It was a fantastic concert. The girls are so sad that their director is retiring...

https://www.cedarcityutah.com/news/archive/2020/05/20/hsr-longtime-high-school-music-teacher-conducts-final-concert-before-retirement/#.XscKZmhKiUk

From Grandma to Janelle and Jaiden,

Very lovely Song and I love the harmony. Fun to have all the singers in your family! That is exciting that Janelle got called to be on the Seminary Council! That will be a great experience for her! Uncle Derek was Seminary President. Great that Jaiden was elected to the Student Council. All these experiences are great to have. 

My best friend and I were elected Song Leaders/Cheer Leaders in Jr. High. They only had 2. We would lead the school in our school song after each assembly (since I am so musically talented;-)---cough, cough!)

I was Sophomore Class Secretary. I remember we had to go around to the different classrooms and tell them why they should vote for us. These were called "whistle-stops." Back in the early days of our country, I guess the men running for President of the United States would ride on the train to different cities around the country, and crowds would come to hear them speak from the back of the train and these were called "Whistle-stops," because of the train whistles I suppose.

 I was one of the girls nominated for Prom Queen, but didn't win that.

Then we moved to Olympus High after my sophomore year and I went from being a big fish in a little pond to being a little fish in a big pond. There were 720 in my graduating class! 

 The next year Skyline High School opened and half of Olympus kids went there. Merrill was a senior that year. Seniors got to choose whether to go to Skyline or stay at Olympus. He chose to stay in Olympus. So he went all three years there.

My business teacher dictated a letter to me that I had to take down in shorthand and then type up for her to sign. I had asked her for a letter of recommendation for a scholarship to Henager's Business School. In it, she mentioned in the letter that academically, I was number 20 out of the graduating class of 720 students. I don't know if there was more than one with a certain ranking or not. I did get a full-tuition scholarship.

The top so many of the graduating students were invited to write a graduation speech and turn it in. I don't remember if I wrote one and turned it in or not. When I graduated from Henager's Business College, I was voted "the Secretary most likely to Succeed" by my fellow graduates. So write in your journals about all these experiences, and you can tell them to your grandchildren someday! Love, Grandma

What was Popular in the 1980's? Here you go!!

(Wendy) Since I have a little more time on my hands during this quarantine, I have been working on some family history projects. I am starting to digitize some of my childhood journals (or at least highlights from the journals) and making a timeline of these events to put into our shared family Dropbox. I found this entry pretty interesting: 

October 18, 1982: My Grandma and Grandpa Norman were on a trip to Mexico. I was disappointed because I had to ask them some Genealogy questions for an English assignment. When my parents got home they helped me answer the questions, but my parents or grandparents couldn’t remember things like what foods they liked as a kid etc. So I am going to write down some things in case my kids need to use it…

The popular foods now are pizza, fries, coke… I love pizza and sprite (I hate coke and Pepperoni and hot spices and stuff) but I do love pizza – yum! Popular clothes are Levi Strauss – Izod shirts, those kind of church shoes with the bows on them, knickers, bermudas, and vuarnet sunglasses. Also Jan Brady (white tennis) shoes – I love those and wear them a lot. Popular hairstyles are hair curled (flipped) up or permed. My favorite T.V. shoes are Fame, Different Strokes, Facts of Life – but I don’t really have enough time for T.V. these days – hope this info will be helpful!!

So when I was 14 years old I was thinking about my future children and how I could help them with their Genealogy assignments in their English class! Aren't I considerate, ha ha!! (First picture is at my Great Grandma Bohne's 90th Birthday Party in February). I just cringe when I look back at these pictures with at my big, permed hair! Jeni looks so cute in her childhood pictures because she kept her hair long and straight!)

Mother's Day 2020 - Memories of Mom

Mother's Day 2020 - Quarantine Mother's Day. The usual visits wouldn't be happening, so Chris asked all the siblings to come up with some memories of Mom to share ...

Derek's Memories ~

My experience growing up (during my teenage years) was a little different than the rest of you siblings since I came later, and was almost like an "only child" since Shane left on his mission. So, I'll provide some memories from some of those years. :) I remember that Mom would put a "Thought for Today" on the fridge every day. My friends LOVED it. My friend Brian would always come over and hang out in the kitchen and out of the corner of his eye, he would try to quickly memorize the fridge quote. Then he'd suddenly say, "you know Margie - I've just been thinking..." then he'd repeat back the quote from memory as if he had just come up with it. I think Mom appreciated that her thoughts were being seen and internalized. :)

Mom would make homemade bread often (before Dad's celiac diagnosis brought that to a wheat-grinding halt). :) I remember coming home from school during High School (and often having a few friends with me), and Mom would bring out 2 loaves of homemade bread hot out of the oven. I recall that we wouldn't use a knife, but my buddies and I would just use our hands to break off big chunks (juggling them because they were hot and burning our hands) and we'd go through a whole loaf and a half and a stick of butter. My friends loved coming over to eat Mom's homemade bread! 

Another memory I have of Mom/Derek time was watching shows together growing up. Being a "nerd" is "cool" now, but when I was a teenager, it wasn't necessarily "cool" to be into Star-Trek. :) Especially if you are watching it with your Mom! Haha! But I remember being secretly really into the new Star Treks. Mom and I watched The Next Generation, Voyager, and Deep Space Nine together. I remember doing homework in my room and Mom calling up "Derek, Star Trek is starting if you want to come watch!" I remember feeling "tool cool," but then I'd hear it start and I'd wander down and watch it with Mom. Fun fact - I recall one of my first crushes being a character called "7 of 9" on Star Trek (of course I never admitted this to Mom!). 7 of 9 was a half-human, half Borg that wore a way too-tight space suit. Fast forward many years, and there is a definite resemblance between 7 of 9 (long blonde hair, blue eyes, big lips) and Danielle. :) I must have a type. :)

I remember Mom doing her exercises to her CD's of "dance music" throughout the house. I imagine these are the same songs she exercises to in her pool now. Haha. I remember a few of these songs: "Let's Hear it For the Boy," and "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun." To this day I smile every time I hear these songs on the radio, as I picture Mom dancing around the house with her arms up, pumping her jams. :) 

Mom has always been a sponge of information and learning, and self-improvement. I have always been SO impressed with this. When I was in High School, she would wake me up in the mornings and I'd get ready for school, and do my morning chores (one of which was strangely to make HER bed - haha, to this day, I'm the only person I know whose chore was to make my parent's bed in the morning - but I always just assumed that was something she didn't love to do). :) While I got ready, Mom would walk on the treadmill and watch BYU devotionals. She has always loved to learn, and to be inspired and then share that information with others. Over these years I watched her assemble hundreds of these "Thought for Today" packets for missionaries, for friends and family and others - inspiring them with things that inspired her. I believe this is what led to her website (she had amassed so many resources that she started compiling them online). Her thirst for learning has never stopped. Even in her 70's, she amazingly (and surprisingly) became the family's expert in investing (even with two MBAs and a CPA/CFO). I consider myself a student of personal finance and my knowledge doesn't even approach my Mom's. I've always been inspired by her thirst for learning and her ability to learn new tricks (even at an older age). :)

Sometimes I tell people that when I was growing up, my Mom made me breakfast pretty much every day. Cocoa and Toast, Oatmeal, Spam and Eggs, Waffles, etc. This blows people's minds. I didn't know this was unusual until I went to college and learned that my Mom was the only parent on earth to spoil their kids with breakfast every day. :) 

Shane's Memories ~

Riding Bikes: We would often ride bikes as a family, and Mom's bike had a little kid-carrier that Derek would sit in. I loved spending that time together as a family. 

I remember going places in Grandpa's RV, and going fishing. Mom wouldn't ever bait a hook, or pull the fish to shore, but she liked doing the rest of it!

She was the "Fluoride Lady" at school. And I hated fluoride! But I guess I needed more of it, as I've had tons of cavities my whole life. 

Before my mission, Mom took me to get my wisdom teeth out. After the surgery, on my way out of the office, I ran into a friend who was just coming in for his appointment. We chatted for a while, and then once we left apparently I was trying to convince Mom that I was fine to drive us home. Mom wisely insisted on driving. I have no recollection of my conversation with my friend or asking to drive home. 

Once I got a "pink slip" at Woodstock (for tripping a classmate), and I was embarrassed to tell Mom and Dad. So I didn't, but I did keep the disciplinary note in that old toy metal fridge. After the school year was about up, I told her about it expecting to get into big trouble. But she just said I did the right thing by telling her, and she said that if we always do the right thing nothing else matters. 

Mom would soak her feet in bucket of hot water (and I think salt). One day, she filled the bucket, put it in front of her recliner chair, and out of habit lifted up the foot rest -- spilling the bucket and all the water. She cleaned it up (which took a lot of time), filled the bucket again, sat down, and AGAIN lifted up the foot rest the second time, spilling all the water once again. I remembered that she was still pretty calm and composed in that situation, which really impressed me. 

Conference talks: Mom collected hundreds of conference talks, books, and tons of other material for me to listen to on my way to and from the U. I still refer back to many of things I learned during those commutes. 

Mission call: On my birthday when I turned 19, I was expecting my mission call. Really, it should have taken another week, but I thought "wouldn't it be cool if it did come on my birthday?" But I thought there was very little chance of that, figured I'd have another week to invite family and friends over for the opening. But when it went to the mailbox that day, there was the white envelope! I was very excited, but I knew that if I told Mom she'd make me open it sooner than I wanted (because I wanted more people to be around when I opened it). So I shoved it up my shirt, walked back to the house, and Mom asked "Did it come???" I shrugged and said "I guess we need to wait." Then I just went about the normal activities during the day. A while later Mom said "Darn, I was really wishing it would come today, that would have been such a good birthday present". Then I broke down and admitted that it had come, and it was hidden up in my room (I was using the east bedroom while still building my room in the basement). She got so excited and ordered me to go get it and open it right away! I protested, saying at least we should wait for Dad to get home from work, but she insisted so we called Dad on the phone and then opened my call. Mom was excited, but a bit scared of me going to Brazil. 

Mom is the best! One of the things that has impressed me the most about Mom is how much she cares about us, even though we're older, married, and have families of our own. She still loves us, prays for us, and does so much to help us -- I am so amazed at how much of her daily activities are dedicated to helping her children and grandchildren.

Jen's Memories ~

Mom was CRAZY for coupons. She got a system to pick up the Sunday inserts from some neighbors who didn't want them. The neighbors would lay them out, then Shane would collect them. Then they had to be cut. And filed. "Filing coupons" was one of my jobs. I actually DID like shopping and appreciated the deals, so I think Mom connected more with me over the coupons (and rebates!) One morning I remember waking up to Mom rushing into my room and practically jumping on my bed, she was so excited and ecstatic. Skaggs Alpha Beta was going to do double coupons again! ;) 

One of my favorite meals Mom would make was ... a chicken in the pressure cooker. It would be a whole chicken (I only do chicken breasts now myself) and I'd eat just it, didn't need anything else (except salt of course). My boys actually like this too! Except I don't use a pressure cooker (I'm even intimidated by the Instapot, but those old pressure cookers ... they were a little scary!)

Fruit Leather - did any other family make fruit leather? The table on the deck in back, with the wooden frames and the netting to keep the birds and bugs out. Lift up the frame and peel some off, still hot from the sun. Peaches were a milder flavor, but apricots were more plentiful. We'd experiment with jello and punch to make different flavors. Once, Mom and I even sketched out some "dream frames" ... but they never got built.

Mom didn't have time to be too involved at the schools while we were growing up, but when Derek was the last one left in elementary school, she started to go in, volunteering as "The Library Lady". Don't quote me on the name. She would tell a story to the kids to try and get them interested in a book. As I was a voracious reader, she often had me pre-read from a long list and tell her which ones I liked best (so she only had to read the best ones). She was at the school when the library was having a book sale, and they were getting rid of (gasp) the book "Sonny Elephant". This was my FAVORITE book. After I had left Woodstock, I'd get Shane and Derek to check it out so I could still read it. It is old and out of print, not something I could just buy. Mom bought it ... and it's still in my home library today.

Wendy's Memories ~

Mom was very educationally-minded and instilled within each of us a love of knowledge and learning. Going to college was completely expected. We were encouraged to do well in school and earn scholarships to help pay for our education. This is something I feel like I have passed on to my own children. When we were young, Mom and Dad had an education fund where we could contribute money for our college education and they would match it. She was also involved in our schooling and just learning in general. Mom would often correct our grammar and spelling and she would play word games with us. One game was to see how many homonyms we could come up with. We would also have spelling tests and play around with words in different ways. I still remember having to write an autobiography for a class and Mom suggested that I start it off with "On April 29, 1968 the world was graced with my presence!" I liked it and so that was the way I started my paper! 

Recently I was reading in my journal about an experience that happened in July 1982 when I was 14 years old. Donaldsons hired me to weed their entire yard for $10.00. I hated weeding (then and now) but I accepted the job. It was difficult work and I soon realized that I wasn't getting paid enough for the amount of work. Mom must have felt sorry for me and came out to help. We wet down the dirt so that the weeds would come out more easily. It got really muddy in one place and when Mom stepped in it her foot sank about a foot. She was stuck and couldn't get her foot out and when she finally got it out her sandal broke! I was grateful that mom came and helped me when I was overwhelmed with a task. All of the "mud" reminded me of when we would play "muddy mess" in our sandbox. We would put on old swimming suits and dig huge holes in our giant sandbox and then fill them with water. Often we had elaborate sand castles, tunnels, and bridges. We would play in the holes of water and get all muddy and needed to take a bath when we were finished! I am grateful that mom let us explore our creativity in fun, messy ways! 

I love how Mom made birthdays a big deal -- but also kept the parties simple. We often had a birthday party both with friends and with family. We had lots of combined birthday parties (and other parties) with the grandparents, cousins, and aunts and uncles. When we were young and had a "friend" party mom would give each of the kids a paper sack to color and that became the party bag for the kids to bring home. I actually continued that tradition for a lot of my children's birthday parties -- cheap and easy -- and they loved it! She would often read the children a story and we would play simple games. When we went to a friend's party we always had a birthday gift covered with taped on candy, which immediately got lots of attention by all the kids there! Mom often got birthday gifts on sale and had a whole drawer full of gifts that we could choose from when we had a birthday party to go do. 

We had lots of birthday sleepovers! This is not a tradition we have continued (in this day and age we no longer feel comfortable letting our kids have sleepovers except at relatives houses) but I have fun memories from the sleepovers that Jen and I had with our friends. I also have lots of fun memories of family get-togethers. I am grateful for everything Mom has done through the years to keep our family close! Love you, Mom!

Wendy also wrote up a bunch of memories back in 2003 as well.

Chris's Memories ~

I remember Mom asking me about specifics in my life growing up. She knew what girl I was interested in, what test I was taking, and what afternoon activities I had each day. Because she knew, she could ask those specific questions about my day. I’ve tried hard to do this with my own boys, getting a schedule of their classes and knowing what book they are currently reading, for example. 

I remember Mom and I sharing books, even when I was a teenager. I credit her for opening up my life to psychology and life improvement and relationship books. To this day I’m still interested in those type of books!

I remember Wonderful World of Disney on Sundays, 6:00 I think. She would be in her recliner and we would be watching from the floor around her. When a commercial break came, Mom would say, “Ok, everyone up and go brush their teeth! - hurry.” And we would have to hurry to get back before the commercials were over so we didn’t miss any of the show.

Scott's Memories ~

It has been interesting to read the responses. Mom was in different stages of parenting with all of us.

I remember mom working in the small kitchen in the first house we lived in on Ranier Street. I remember the large white appliances and I remember her taking Chris in the stroller for a walk and walking behind. I remember that I had to go to my room if I was bad or if my parents needed a break and looking under the crack below the metal bedroom door and seeing my parents walk around on the wood floor. I remember mom being so nervous when dad would have me stand on his hands up in the air or leave me hanging from the clothes line or the Catalpa tree in the front yard. The Ranier house had a window-mounted air conditioner in the front window and I loved to stand in front of the cold air and mom kept shooing me away – afraid I would freeze my brain.

I remember later after we moved into the Saint Street house than mom took up cake decorating and had all these neat things to play with – disks and tubes and heads. I remember watching the moon landing on the black and white TV while mom was ironing and having her say this was something I would always remember.

I remember going to Church as a family and that the building had green stone and a deep large window well, where I was told I would be placed if I was not reverent. I remember mom wearing wiglets and that she would style them while they sat on a Styrofoam head. I remember mom taking me to Kindergarten at Spalding Elementary and letting the teacher know he should take good care of me or he would be in trouble.

Mom was always busy with the younger kids – there were babies or young children in the house all the time I was growing up and they demanded the bulk of her attention. I figured that was fair as I had her undivided attention for the first two and a half years of my life.

I am amazed at her dedication and investment in making the lives of her kids and grandkids better. She is tireless at transferring the wisdom and knowledge to benefit her posterity. She is a great example. Always faithful.

Thanks Mom for all your continued love and support for us, and for all your grandchildren! 

We all love you!