A New Year  2019
A few months ago (during 2018), I told some of my children that I wanted to have a family gathering during 2019.  I said I can't do it , but if you will take charge , I'll pay for it.  Well, it has moved forward with a date set for March 30 -April 1 , 2019.  The venue has been set for Overton, Nevada.  I will be able to stay in my own home during the event and be with my guests during the three days of planned activity.  It most likely will be the last time that I will be together with all of my descendants and so I'm hopeful that everyone will come.  Transportation for some will be a big expense, for others ,not so much.    Once they get here I will pick up the expense for meals and some lodging.  Kathleen is doing most of the planning and all seems to be on schedule.  I will have about 70 guests including spouses and friends, grand children and great grandchildren.
I'm in the process of making for each couple of my grandchildren (15), as they are all married or have a friend, a remembrance gift and for each great grandchild (25), a remembrance gift .  I have a couple of months to finish this project.  The great grandchildren range in age from 1 year to 18 years.  So, my gifts will be varied. 
I continue to be blessed with the health to work in my shop and follow plans in constructing items that are a little bit artistic and which will remind my descendants of their only living patriarch.  I have not been good at letting them know of my testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ.  I wish that to be the gift that they would remember me by.  That I was a devoted follower of Jesus, my God, that I served Him by assisting with His church and Kingdom on the earth.  That, I was a Savior on Mount Zion, having arranged for 100's of cousins from my wife's side of the family as well as from the Brooks side to receive covenants pertaining to their salvation since they could not receive them while on earth or did not take advantage of the opportunity when salvation was available.    I have left a family tree that shows each one how they are related to those who have gone before them, i.e. familysearch. org. UN rhbrooks,   I have received miracles and the answer to all my prayers and I know that my redeemer will redeem me.  I have been sinful, but I have tried to follow my redeemer.   Because of His righteousness, I will be forgiven through my hope and faith upon Him..
So much for the beginning of a new year.
RHB                                                                                   

Reflections of a 92 year old.

I will soon complete my 92nd year on the great planet Earth.   I have seen many unbelievable changes over my life time. I've been sitting watching football and while watching my computer screen saver is randomly putting photos from my files on my monitor.  I become distracted from the game and watch that which is on the monitor.  The above is one such photo.  Some of the photos were taken many years ago when grandchildren and great grandchildren were very young.    I wonder if these descendants of mine want to see and spent time with a grandfather.  As I look at these photos, I feel a longing to see them and hear about their lives.  I have placed my self near my brother in Nevada and for many it is difficult to be together.  I guess that is the reason I'm sponsoring a family get-together in March 2019.  I hope to see each grand child and great grandchild and have a conversation with them.  Maybe such will promote a remembrance.. I wish that I had such an experience when I was growing up.
As Christmas comes to us in a few days, I think of the one that has blessed me with an extended life, i.e. Jesus Christ.  He has answered my prayers and I have found joy in life even though my companion for life and eternity has left me to be alone.  It is difficult to be alone, but my brother and some of my children have taken away the sting of loneliness. The Lord has blessed me with facilities to occupy my time constructively.  I have a wonderful wood working shop in Nevada and a similar one in Utah.  I'm finding a lot of joy and happiness in making gifts for those coming to our family get-together.
I want my descendants to know how much my Savior and Redeemer means to me and how much I rely upon his goodness.  Upon reflection, I have concluded that I was a parent that did not express to my children that need for a close relationship with my Savior.  It was not expressed to my children as they were growing up.  I wanted them to know that the Church was true, I wanted them to go to church and be church oriented, church, church, leaving the Savior and redeemer out of my example in life.  It was a tragic error in my life and very few of my children have survived it.
I have learned so much in the last five years about faith, hope and charity.   The Temple has been a great teacher, my separation from my wonderful wife has been a great teacher.  I have learned that we must follow the Savior in all that we do from our baptism to the Temple.  He wants to save us from our sinful mortal state, but without baptism for the remission of our sins and a desire to repent and try to be more like him in every way until we leave this earth, it will not come about.  Oh how I need Him.
Well so much for a thoughtful evening.  I am so grateful for all my children and their descendants.
RHB 12/22/2018

My Life and Times in Overton, Nevada

Part II

In the previous Blog I described how and why I came to spend the winter months in Overton, Nevada.  In this Blog I will to describe my life in Overton in general terms and describe some specific occurrences as I remember them.  

The single wide manufactured home in which I live is a very comfortable abode with two bedrooms, one bathroom with only a shower.  It  came with  completely furnished bedrooms, washer and clothes dryer, and a completely furnished kitchen,i.e., dishwasher, electric range, refrigerator, water filtration system, air conditioning and heating system and a water softener, as well as, a couch for the living room.  In other words , it was ready to be lived in.  Since I moved into this house, I have replaced the living room furniture with furniture from Oregon as well as providing a garage sale desk-console. In recent months, my son, David, replaced the small bedroom furniture with a Murphy bed.

Road to Carp

The Road to Carp
It was on Saturday, a beautiful cool morning, that we left the Fun N Sun RV park in Overton, Nevada with my brother and his wife, Juliana, headed for a rondevue with Juliana’s, newphew and his wife, Mike Miller and Judy.  Our plan was to join them and ride with them in their two ATV’s to visit an old farm stead which rested in the Meadow Valley Wash. To get into the wash from Moapa, we turned north on road 168 and traveled 3 miles until we reached the Union Pacific Railroad underpass where we turned onto the Meadow Valley Road to the right.  At this point we met our host’s the Millers and traveled with them in our pickup until we reached a commercial building where we parked the pickup and joined them in their ATV’s.  My brother and I rode with Mike in his four seater while Juliana rode with Judy in her two seater. At eleven miles we came to an end where the UPRR does not allow trespassing.  At this point, one can go under the Railroad to the left and proceed on the road t o Carp and Elgin.  The road to the right passes over the stream of the Meadow Valley Wash and leads to an old farm stead known as the Huntsman Kane Springs Ranch where the old ranch home still stands.  A month earlier we had visited this location and thought it to be an old Pony Express way station.  Recent research has proved this old  home as being the home of David and Emeline Huntsman who built this home in 1891 having moved from St. Thomas.  The Kane Springs Ranch was located along the Upper Muddy River in the Moapa Valley of Clark County, Nevada. In 1891, David and Emmeline Huntsman moved onto the property to homestead. The Kane Springs Ranch, as it came to be called, was known for its large orchard and mining operations. The ranch became well known after 1905 when the railroad to Caliente, Nevada was completed. The tracks crossed over the Huntsman property and trains often made unofficial stops to taste Emmeline's cooking and receive medical treatment. David Huntsman died in 1907, leaving Emmeline to look after the property until her death in 1920. Emmeline Huntsman was especially well-loved by the people around her, most notably after she rode into the Muddy Valley Wash to rescue those injured in a disastrous flood in 1910. G.W. Birnie purchased a portion of the property in 1929 and the entire property was purchased by Bradley Stuart in 1947. He passed  the Stuart Ranch on to his son Robert and his daughter-in-law Joan. Joan Stuart was the last private owner of the property before she sold it to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Today, the property is still owned by the BLM and is a tourist destination because of its historic buildings and Native American petroglyphs. That trip is the subject of another story that was guided by Judy Miller.
The Meadow Valley Wash empties into Lake Mead via Glendale and the Muddy River which passes through Overton, Nevada,

where we live. Flash floods in the wash are not uncommon.  Rain occurring in the mountains around Caliente, Nevada, provide the perennial source of water for the Meadow Valley Wash that runs through Elgin and Carp. Although we did not plan to go as far as Carp it is interesting to know that this Meadow Valley Wash road where we started passes through Carp and Elgin and ends in Caliente as shown on map above.

 The travel by ATV was mostly uneventful accept for UPRR trains passing by.After an hour riding in the ATV, Mike pulled off the road for a stretch and rest. I stayed near the vehicle while Mike and Loren scanned the area near the railroad track. When we got ready to go, Mike said lets take a short cut.  Since the tracks were very close to where we were parked, he drove the ATV over the tracks ans we crossed a bridge parallel to the bridge for the train tracks.  It was a little scary but we made it across and were now east of the railroad which was where our destination was located. A view of the bridge and tracks are shown here from Google Earth.

 


About 12 or 13 miles south of Carp, we arrived at our destination.  The site was an old farm stead with corals, water supply tank that had toppled over, a  house that was partially constructed of old ammunition boxes and a well that brought water into the home and coral.

As I strolled around the coral area, I spotted an egret in the field.  No doubt she was nesting close by.

Our return to Overton was uneventful, but the excursion was most interesting and enjoyable

RHB

My Life and Times in Overton, Nevada

Part  I

Over the years when my brother, Loren, and his wife , Julianna, began to spend their winters in Overton, my brother would invite my wife , Anita, and I down to Overton to go fishing.  We would periodically come down and spend several days or a week with them fishing and having a good time.  Their was several times when we would invite Anita's cousin, Wanda, and her husband, Pat,  to join us.  At one time, the visitors were expanded to include several of Wanda and Pat's friends from California.  That was a time when we put too much pressure upon my brother to be the host and take everyone fishing for three or four days in a row.  He still suffers from that experience to this day.  Nevertheless it was always fun to be a guest of my brother as he has a terrific memory of the past and always has many stories to relate regarding fishing and his experiences from the FBI.  He is a excellent fisherman and writes in a column for the weekly newspaper, the "Progress", called "Fishing the Overton Arm", meaning the Overton Arm of Lake Mead.  The articles are always fun to read and find out whose is catching the most and largest fish from Lake Mead.  He has is own network of fisherman that relate how fishing is in Lake Mead or in the Overton Arm.
A number of years ago, 2013, my wife, Anita suddenly passed away and left me a widower.  Of course I struggled with the loss but my daughter, Kathleen, suggested that I go to Overton and spend some time with my brother and his wife for a month or so.   My daughter said she would drive me down to Overton from Wilsonville where I had my home of almost 20 years.  I agreed that it would be a good change of scenery and I knew that I would enjoy being around my brother. Kathleen and I traveled to Nevada from Oregon and I spent about a month living with my brother and his wife.  I returned to Oregon to have Christmas with some of my Children.
My children were all busy with their lives and I found myself with little to do and somewhat lost.  It was then that my brother suggested that I come back to Overton.   My brother had a fifth-wheel   in Storage at the Fun and Sun RV park.  He said he would put the unit in an RV space that I could rent that would be close to he and his wife. I could join  with him and his wife in the activities of the park and I could become his fishing companion which would relieve loneliness and comfort me in the loss of my wife. I decided to take him up on the offer and returned to Overton and began to live in his fifth wheel in a rented space of the RV park.  The arrangement seemed to be working quite well as I was enjoying my association with my brother and his wife.  However,I did not like the very close living space of the fifth wheel trailer.
It was not long thereafter that a single wide manufactured home in the park went up for sale.  The seller wanted $30,000 for it and it had been re carpeted and thoroughly cleaned.  We made a deal and when My brother and his wife left for Bountiful to the summer and fall home, I left also with a newly purchased home and returned back to Wilsonville, Oregon.  I decided at that point that Oregon was too far distant to commute as a snow bird and I made the decision to sell my home in Wilsonville and buy a condo near my brother in Bountiful, Utah.
I think all my children thought is was an OK move, but I'm not sure of their true feeling about moving away from those that lived nearby in Oregon.  In any case, the move was a big chapter in our lives.  The condo I bought in Utah was quite small and I could not take all of our possessions, so I began to divide and give to my children many of the things Anita and I had collected over the years, such as crystal and glassware of all kinds and some furnishings.  Most of Anita's clothing was donated. 
The movers finally arrived and delivered all my household effects to Bountiful on September 4, 2014.  Kathleen drove me to Utah and stayed and decorated my condo after delivery.  She did a beautiful job and I began my life in Bountiful, but only for about one month as October was the time that Loren returned to Overton and I planned to leave about the same time after the LDS conference in Salt Lake.
Of course, I had to decide which of my possessions should go to Overton.  I must add that part of the move from Oregon was to decide what household effects were to go to Overton.  Shauna and her husband, Skip, provided the transport of all of those effects before the Bountiful household effects were moved.  This would provide sufficient furnishings for  the Overton home when I would arrive in October, 2014.
So, my arrival in Overton began the snowbird life of living in Bountiful and in Overton, May to October in Bountiful and October to May in Overton .  I will not give a chronology of life but rather a routine of life here and to give a glimpse of my comings and going.

Reflections at the beginning of 2018

I have a journal that at times I write in it about my life's happenings.  Since my wife's passing, 4-1/2 years ago I haven't felt much like expressing my feelings in this type of publication where family can get some insights into what is going on in my head.  I guess my children feel like I'm doing Ok.  A few stay in close contact for which I am very grateful.  My life goes along pretty well during the day time in as much as I keep busy with all kinds of projects.  I usually work at such until it is time for news on the TV.  Then I try and figure what am I going to have for dinner, the hard part, then it becomes time for late news and weather at 9:00 pm.   The hardest part of my life is the loneliness of the evening.  I could go over to Loren's place and watch a movie with them, but it always seem like a waste of time, so I turn to my computer and fill the rest of the evening with reading the scriptures and doing family history work.  I attend a family home evening group once a week and meet friends and acquaintances that live close by.  I have resolved this year to be more out going and thoughtful of others.  I use my bread making skills to help with that by baking bread once or twice a week to give to a friend or neighbor. As with all the things I have become engaged in, I love the creativity of making flour and water so delicious to eat.

Today is Jan 21, 2018 and I just returned from church.  We had a wonderful sacrament meeting where the speakers spoke upon the Love that God has for them.  One was a young man that had just returned from a mission in Tennessee.  I came away feeling such gratitude for my membership in the Lords church.  To know the path you are in is the way to eternal happiness.  The gate through which I passed to get on the path was baptism and the gift of the Holt Ghost so that I may receive a remission of my sins.  To go each Sunday to the Sacrament table and covenant to always remember him and keep his commandants and take upon ourselves his holy name, is a renewing experience that brings joy and happiness to my soul. By so doing my soul is refined as I go about life's activities keeping in mind the covenant I make each week. My faith and hope is the remission of  my sins will become a reality according to His sacred word.  Perhaps the Lord has grated me a little extra time to repent so that I might receive this blessing.
Loren and Juliana invited me over for dinner tonight.  Very good and I thanked them,

Today is Feb 4, 2018 and I just returned from church.The question that I came home with and I'm pondering is one that we collective spoke about in our High Priest quorum.  "How can I come closer to God and receive more guidance from the spirit in my life."  I confess that I'm a very introverted man. I'm not very good at seeking out people and sharing my life's experiences.  I am very content in working on a project alone, trying to become schooled in what I'm doing .  I spend hours each week in family history work.  I'm content to work in my shop for hours at a time.  I have concluded that to become more like my Savior I need to keep the commandants so that the spirit can  be with me.   Then I need to act upon His promptings by being more outgoing and share my life with neighbors and friends.  I have learned a great deal about the spirit and to recognize a prompt when it comes. 
I have a pain in my hip area that at times becomes very difficult to move about.  This pain helps me to remember my Savior and seek his healing influence.  Which helps me to try and remember Him each and every day.

The Gifts of Christ

         During the month of December, the Christian world celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ and according to their beliefs and teaching, they honor him in various ways.  I have noticed in the past two years that the true and living church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, the theme has been “He is the Gift” and this year it is: “Light the World”, meaning that we can light the world by adopting 25 suggestions each day from December 1 until Christmas day which will help us “light the world”.  For example, on the 10^th day, which was last Sunday, “Search the Scriptures”, (John 5:39.) was the suggestion.  Today on the 17^th day, the suggestion is to “Meet together Of”.

You can go to lds.org  and help light the world by those  daily suggested actions.  The Christmas message given by the first Presidency was of the same message.

I would like to focus our attention upon last year’s message: “The Gifts of Christ”.

It is a great honor to write about the living Christ, the creator of this world upon which we live.  I pray that these thoughts, even though you are well acquainted with them, will remind you of that which He has given us.  

I believe that at Christmas time we need to honor His coming to earth,  born of a virgin, called Mary, His Father being Elohim, the Father of us all; raised as a boy, He being about His Father’s business of coming to earth and subjecting himself  to wicked men, having a love for all of the descendants of Adam so much so that He was willing to make a sacrifice and atone for the sins of those who follow Him.

We call Him our Savior.  To remind us of what the term Savior means, we need to remember that Satan , he who was cast out because of rebellion, beguiled Eve into partaking the forbidden fruit by saying “thou shalt not surely die , but shall become like the gods knowing good and evil and you’ll have knowledge.  Adam knowing the other commandment, to multiply and replenish the earth and be with his wife, Eve, also partook of the forbidden fruit so that men might be.   We know this occurrence as the fall of Adam where death of the body and the spirit would occur for all men.

Read:  2 Nephi 9:6-12     

Read:  2 Nephi 9: 18-19 

This is the greatest gift of a redeemer given to us as Saints of the living God and this why we call Him our Savior.   It is true that the Christian world’s definition of “Savior “ means the gift of the resurrection which is for all mankind, whether wicked or righteou. But, as true followers of Christ we know that His invitation involves more than a resurrection and a simple belief in Him. “ come, .. every one that thristeth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money, come buy and eat; yea come buy wine and milk without money and without price.”  

This invitation from His only true and living Gospel (Church) is an invitation to all the descendants of Adam on the face of the earth, “ come unto me, all ye that are heavy laden ..”  “Come follow me”.  Each of us is given the opportunity to make that invitation. Those who believe in the scriptures contained in the Holy Bible will be led by the Holy Ghost to believe in the words of these who teach the plan of salvation. 

By entering the waters of baptism for the remission of our sins we embark upon the road of repentance so that a remission of sins becomes a reality.

When we repent of our sins, He takes from us the suffering we must otherwise endure because of our wickness. “For behold, I, God, have suffered these things for all,that they might not suffer if they would repent; But if they would not repent they must suffer even as I” (D&C 19:16–17).

Obeying the sacred covenants and all the commandments qualifies us to receive the remission of our sins, allowing us to live clean and pure lives in the presence of God as resurrected and exalted beings.

Jacob truly gave us a better understanding of the true gift from Christ.  It is the greatest of all gifts and we appreciate that gift as we celebrate his arrival on earth so that we may recieve the true meaning of salvation.

Yet, Why does life seem so difficult? Why does there seem to be so much sadness, hate, and unhappiness in the world? Why are there so many unhappy people? Many are unhappy because they do not know the plan of salvation; others do not believe the plan of salvation; and others, although they believe, are not willing to pay the price for happiness now and for all eternity.

As we quoted earlier from Jacob: “Behold, the righteous, the saints of the Holy One of Israel, they who have believed in the Holy One of Israel, they who have endured the crosses of the world, and despised the shame of it, they shall inherit the kingdom of God, which was prepared for them from the foundation of the world, and their joy shall be full forever” (2 Ne. 9:18).

Our Heavenly Father wants each one of us to receive a fullness of His blessings. Will we become discouraged because of the adversities of the world? No! Let us be optimistic. Let us be grateful for the gift of redemption and have faith in the future, knowing that the plan of salvation is true. Let us trust the Father and endure to the end. Let us never forget that we are children of Heavenly Father and t hat each one of us has the potential to become like Him. Let us have faith in Jesus Christ; let us have faith in ourselves. Then we will have joy in the gift that our Savior has given us and we will have joy and happiness in life and throughout eternity.

 There are many gifts that we all receive because of our savior, but the second most important gift is the gift of becoming,  Saviors on Mt Zion.

From Alma we read:

“Now, concerning the state of the soul between death and the resurrection— … the spirits of all men, as soon as they are departed from this mortal body … are taken home to that God who gave them life. …

“… The spirits of those who are righteous are received into a state of happiness, which is called paradise. …

Now the spirits of those who are not righteous, the spirits of the wicked, are cast into spirit prison until the resurrection where there is no chance to receive this redemption of which we have just discussed.  Amulek taught:

 “For behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors.

 And now, as I said unto you before, as ye have had so many witnesses, therefore, I beseech of you that ye do not procrastinate the day of your repentance until the end; for after this day of life, which is given us to prepare for eternity, behold, if we do not improve our time while in this life, then cometh the night of darkness wherein there can be no labor performed.”

The night of darkness is a time when repentance is not possible, unless the Saints of God looks with upon their kindred dead and save them through vicarious baptism for the dead so that they may receive the gift of the Holy Ghost and repent and become worthy of a remission of their sins through the Holy One of Israel.

To bring our ancestors the saving ordinances of the Gospel is truly a great gift and in a sense we become saviors ourselves.  Because, we can only do the work for our own families it causes us to turn our hearts to our fathers.  

Oh, the merciful plan of happiness and the plan of our God from the beginning.  How grateful we should be for his coming to this earth and teaching us the way to eternal life with our Father who dwells in the heavens above and become the son and daughters of Christ the father of this world.

   

Lastly the gift of the Priesthood of God.  This gift is a gift whereby all the sacred holy ordinances are given to us to help us to return to our heavenly parents.  The Aaronic and Melkezidick Priesthoods, Baptism, Gift of the Holy Ghost, Endowment, Gifts given to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob., patriarchal blessings, power to anoint  and heal the sick, His gifts are endless!   

This is my testimony.

An Unfolding Mystery

               Over the years of family history work, I have been concerned about the marriages of my father after my mother divorced my father in 1940.  Do I have any half-sisters or brothers?  My mother mentioned to me at times that she thought the woman that my father was seeing at the time of the divorce was  Jerry Alford.  I was certain that the marriage took place in California.  I had searched for years for any additional marriage records of my father without success.

A number of years ago while living in Charbonneau, Wilsonville, Oregon, probably about 2011, my brother came up with a photo of two young girls that was given to him by our Aunt Martha.  He passed them on to me, thinking that they may be our half-sisters and prompted me to do some research on the girls.  I spent several months in research and I finally found information regarding their identity. (Unfortunately, the research data is in Bountiful, Utah and unavailable at this writing)  I sent for a birth certificate to the state of California to determine the identity of the father.  It turned out that the father was unknown to me.  I am anxious to review this research in Bountiful, my other residence, because I believe the mystery of the identity of the girls may unfold.  And, here is the reason why:

A few days ago, I opened my familysearch.org and found that my front page contained a recent photo of my brother and I as a memory under our father’s name, Royal Harvard Brooks, Sr. submitted by Donna van Uteret, my bother’s daughter.  It prompted me to review my father’s history page history page.  I was reminded that I had added the identity of his second marriage, Virginia Ann Fritz.  I’m not sure how I made that discovery, but anyway, there it was and the name was not “Alford” as my mother had thought.  The parents of Virginia Fritz had been connected by Familysearch along with many of her ancestors for several generations.  My father had a knack for finding women with well-known ancestry, as with the case of our mother.  I could not seem to leave this research and began adding familysearch noted sources to the families involved with Virginia Fritz.  As I continued to dig into the work, low and behold , I found a marriage record of my father to a Virginia Alford, May 1940 in Yuma, Arizona where his brother lived.  Her name was not jerry,  but Virginia.  This fact was verified by the 1940 US Census.  As I continued to add sources to Virginia Fritz, I came across a public record (city directory) for a Virginia Brooks, also known as Virginia Ann Fritz.  Wow!!  Virginia Fritz and Virginia Alford were one and the same person.  The birth year for both were confirmed by the 1940 census and the birth record for Virginia Fritz.  ( the photo  noted above given to my brother by our aunt, may be of Virginia and her sister, Hazel, born in 1913 and 1915 respectively)

In 1953, after graduating from college, we moved to West Riverside California, soon after which, my father came to visit me and he brought with him a baby girl of his that appeared to be about 6 months old.  He wanted me to meet my half-sister. I was so young and inexperienced in life that I did not give the visit much attention and in-fact I did not invite him into my house.  In retrospect I was very rude, and I did not ever see him again.  He died in 1978 while we were living in Egypt.  Years later, Jamie Robbins, a cousin, gave me a photo of my father with his daughter that looked to be about seven or eight years old. Her physical appearance was in the express image of our daughter, Vivian Rae.  The only name on the photo was “Margo”.  In the past, wanting to have a birth record of this child, I found only two Margo Brooks records that were born at that time in California.  I have not pursued it further to obtain the record itself.  This photo of Margo can be seen on the memory page of my father in familysearch.org.

All of the above is somehow related and connected  but, I must wait for my return to Bountiful in May of 2018.  I would love to meet my half-sister and apologize for the manner in which I treated her in 1953.  This work also shows the power of the Holy Ghost and the spirit of Elijah in bringing the gift of our Redeemer, baptism for the remission of their sins, so that they may be released from that spirit prison where no progress can be made.
(see my blog "A Past Moment in Time Becomes History" 8/7/2012)

On April 23, 2017, the 90th year of my life, Skip and Shauna sponsored a small birthday party for me.  (Another is being planned by Kathleen for Bountiful, Utah on May 5th 2017 so others can join in)  Two of my grandchildren and their children came

to spend a Sunday afternoon with me.  And, what a treat it was.  Kimberly and her three children arrived first followed by Jamison and his two children.
 I attended a Sacrament meeting at 9 am so I could be with my guests.  Shauna and Skip arrived shortly after I returned home from church.  They brought a grill along with all the ingredients for hamburgers and hotdogs.  I just had my house painted and a new screen put up on the porch so everything was very pleasant to have our party on the deck and porch outside.  After checking with  Jamison on his arrival time, skip started the hamburgers and hotdogs.  The children had a good time playing outside and exploring where the pool was located.
Kim presented me with an Amazon gift card for my Birthday.  I will enjoy spending it sometime after I return to Utah.  There are a few photos

that I am attaching to this blog for historical purposes.

Anita's Life Story  - Chapter IV

One of the most wonderful, enduring memories of our activities at Eugene High School was my membership in the A Cappella choir.  I loved every minute of it.  Wanda, Evelyn and I had the chance to sing in every performance because we were so energetic and dependable.  We loved our choir director and he was one of those people who had a special rapport with young people and could bring talent out of even the least capable singer.  He was drowned  in a terrible accident which devastated all the choir members.  It was never the same after that.

         The move to Oregon was a complete change of life style for us.  As I indicated earlier we were the only teen-age girls in the ward so everyone thought we were pretty special  We brought new ideas, activities and a little “spark” with us.  We were just going into MIA  (the youth organization of the Church) and were anxious to have lots of fun….the only problem was….there were no BOYS!!!  Bishop Lake (Ralph) told us the solution was easy…..just get out and convert some!  So we did and had so much fun during those couple of years as “Belles of the Ball”.

         Evelyn had met a fellow, Phil Cannon, who she had seen a few times and invited him to a MIA activity.  He came and brought the twins Grant and Graham Misbach who were wonderful dancers, so of course they were welcomed with open arms.  The group began to grow and a couple of brothers Bart and Dennis Olsen moved into the ward so things were looking up!  We had great fun.  Wanda by this time had her drivers license so we were indeed independent.  We even had the courage to go and “drag the gut” once in a while.  That was the  expression that was used to go downtown Eugene and drive down the main street, Willamette, which was a one way and the kids who had cars would drive down and turn around and go back down….as long as the gas held out! Great Fun, honking at each other, yelling and getting acquainted with the police officers who kept a pretty good eye out for us.  One officer in particular kind of took extra special watch over us.  I suspect now that he knew our Fathers and was doing them a “favor”. 

         I very much enjoyed my Senior year in high school.  Because I had been what they called a “mid-term” student in California, and because Oregon was on a  different enrollment program, they had no  place for me.  I had most of my credits, I still needed some English and Math requirements to fill.  Lucille Barker, my English teacher arranged for me to do a “Story Hour” on the local radio station (KUGN).  I would adapt the stories, she would approve them and I would go to the radio studio each week and read them over the air.  It was fun, exciting and lot of the students really envied me….because I got out of school early that day!

                    I was also an excellent “debater”.  I was on the school debate team and got to do a lot of fun (at least to me) travel to debate other schools.  I remember one of the subjects was on the formation of the United Nations.  That, of course, was a timely and highly controversial issue at the time.  As I write this today I realize again what a wonderful experience my high school years  were, and how disappointed Mother and Daddy were when my life took the turn that it did.                   

                    About six months after we moved to Oregon, Hazel Vanessa Gibson (Brooks) moved to Eugene with her two daughters, Vivian and Phyllis and a son, Loren.  She had another son, Royal who was just finishing up his duty in the Army.  Vivian and I became the best of friends, actually the closest thing I have ever really had to a sister.  She kept telling me her brother was coming home from the Army and I was going to marry him!  Of course I pooh-poohed the idea, never dreaming what fate had in store!!                                                                                 

                    I need to mention that by this time (1949) the rest of the “clan” had moved from California.  Uncle Ted and Aunt Jane, and Aunt Miriam and Uncle Barney.  Daddy had a half-brother, Jerd and his wife Tenny Mae, had also made the move.  So by now we were quite a clan of Loe’s and Lee’s.  One person’s birthday was everyone’s birthday so we had lots of fun celebrating  all through the year.  Of course. Christmas and Thanksgiving were always huge gatherings as the family always seemed to find someone around who didn’t have family nearby.  I count this as one of my greatest legacy’s.  My Mothers home was always open to friend or relative.  I sincerely hope that will be one of the things I might be remembered for!

                   So, often included in some of our family get togethers, were Vivian. Hazel and Loren.  They became very close friends and joined us in these fun times.  Vivian had a very beautiful singing voice.  One year she was invited to sing “Easter Parade” in a special program we were all invited to.  When my Father heard her sing it must have been the most beautiful thing to him because she never visited that she wasn’t asked to sing that for him!

Falling in love with Royal Brooks was the greatest blessing that could ever have been.  Perhaps his falling in love with me was the greater blessing!  Roy had come to Eugene to be with his Mother and siblings after he got out of the Army.  His cousin, Raymond Webb, whom he had served with in the Army was going to go over to Logan, Utah to attend school.  Congress had passed a bill…..The G.I. Bill of Rights, that gave every returning veteran the opportunity to go into University for further education.  This was a fantastic thing the United States Government did for the returning veterans.  Those who had served during the war were eligible for an opportunity to go on to college with the help of the government.  Roy’s cousin, Raymond Webb, had enrolled at Utah State and talked Roy into going over with him.  This too, was another significant evidence of the Hand of the Lord in our Lives.  It was such a blessing that a I write this 60 years later I can still examine and reflect on what our lives might have been without this opportunity. 

                    The first time I met Roy, Vivian had invited me to their house for dinner (tacos) and a movie.  When I got there Roy was nowhere to be seen!  Soon I could hear

              his Mom in the bedroom giving him the angriest talking to I had ever heard!  She was saying “Roy, you get out there and speak and you be nice!!”  He, in return was saying “I’m not going out there!  I don’t like her and I’m not going out there!!!  It was really quite embarrassing to listen to.  Vivian on one hand telling him she’d never speak to him again! and His Mother threatening him with…..I can’t remember what!!!  Finally he came out of the bedroom and sort of spoke.  We went ahead with dinner, but I was so embarrassed I felt like I wanted to die!     By this time we were ALL almost in tears and not knowing what to do.  I had walked out onto the front porch by this time, not knowing what at all to do.  I had ridden out to their house with Vivian so I was pretty well stuck there!!  Eventually Hazel talked him out of the bedroom…reluctantly…and we met for the first time.  I will have to say that based on that encounter I am surprised either one of us ever spoke…which Roy, in his typical style didn’t do much of anyway! We finally decided to go to the movie, but all of this resistance had taken so long that we didn’t have tine to eat the rest of our tacos.  So we wrapped them in aluminum foil and off we went!  For people so shy and not wanting attention you can imagine the reaction around us when we pulled out our tacos..,.they really did smell up the theater.  (you must remember this was in the olden days when people didn’t eat in theaters, except for a little popcorn!).         The movie was “Red River Valley” with John Wayne and Maureen O’Sullivan.  That is about all I can remember about that evening…except I thought Roy was more handsome than any of the actors on the screen!  Vivian also had a date…he had the car, and they took me home right after the movie was over.  My parents lived about 10 miles north of Eugene on a five  acre ranch with a cow and lots of hay!

                   From there, our courtship didn’t have anywhere to go but up!  But it sort of took a long time to head that direction.  We had made a date for Roy to pick me up after school….at the school.  I waited and waited and he didn’t show!  Of course, I was furious.  That was IT! It turned out that He had worked the graveyard shift at the service station where he had gotten a job and had gone  home to take a little “nap”!  It turned out that he had slept 18 hours straight.  He was lucky he didn’t lose his job, but he redeemed himself with me (I can’t remember how) and things went on.                             

                        In retrospect, my parents were so very against our getting married.  They thought I was too young!  Roy didn’t have a job!  He had come from a “broken” home..just about anything they could think of.  My Dad promised me a brand new car if I wouldn’t get married.  They of course wanted me to go on to college, which hadn’t been mentioned until then!

      Hazel Brooks was personnel manager at the Sears,Roebuck Store in Eugene and got me a job decorating windows and dressing mannequins in the store.  I felt like I was pretty lucky to get that job.  I bought a few things for a“hope chest” (it was mostly hope!)  We were quite fortunate in the generous gift giving at our wedding reception and seemed to be able to set up housekeeping quite nicely. 

         A few words about our wedding.  we went to Salt Lake so that we could be married in the Temple.  My Parents had not been to the Temple so  they weren’t able to go with us.  Aunt Sidna had gone as  a child so she was able to go through with us.  It was a beautiful, wonderful experience.                                                                  

                    I was the first of the teen age girls to get married out of that group of church young people and the Ward went all out to express their love and support.  We had a beautiful reception , received many lovely  gifts, some of which I still use in my home today!  Throughout these many years, it is always  thrill to go to Eugene and see people who remember  us as young, and adventuresome.  Our wedding date, September 2, 1949 of course remains a special day for us.  Even today I pinch myself and feel deep gratitude for the wonderful fifty seven years I have been blessed to share with a wonderful man.  We made some enduring friendships there in Eugene and its always a thrill to see those few people who are left from that era of our lives.

                    

            My relationship with Roy’s family has always been wonderful,  They all…..aunts, uncles, cousins were always loving and kind to me.  When we were so poor getting anything new in the way of clothing was just out of the picture.  Aunty Martha worked in a dress shop in Chino, California and passed on many, many items of clothing that were a real joy for me to have something…..anything new.                                                                                

      

Daddy was so sure he would never be able to work again that he was making preparations to “live off the land”.  They had a few animals and hay planted.  It was really a big departure for a girl who had spent what life she could remember in the ‘city’ with buses to ride and close neighbors.  

            Things at home were beginning to loosen up somewhat,  Daddy’s health was returning and he was beginning to feel stronger.  As I look back I can appreciate more and more the worry and work it was on Mother.  She was not that many years away from the time spent down after Cal’s birth.  They were workers! She would go out and milk the cow every morning.  Belva learned to milk really well.  I could never stand the feeling of the cow’s teats in my hand … which is why my assignments were always in the house, I guess.  I did learn to cook and clean!!  I liked it, although I’m sure I did my share of complaining.  Mother was an excellent cook.  She believed in lots of butter and cream, which we had….and yet!! Standing by her side was not magic because she had lots of little tricks that I never learned, however I did learn many things that helped me as I attempted to start my own “kitchen” at a fairly young age.            

            Life was so fun!  Our extended family activities were almost continual with birthdays, holidays and just about any excuse to get together.  With Mother being the “cook” of the family she was the “queen” and she did relish the title!

            Before I met Roy,  I met my first really serious boyfriend.  His name was Gene Simmons. He was from Louisiana and had a very heavy accent.  My folks didn’t like him at all.  I thought he was very handsome.  He had very curly blonde hair and beautiful teeth.  We had a lot of fun together.  Just silly kids but full of life.  One reason Mother and Daddy didn’t like him , I’m sure was because we had exchanged rings.  They had given me a beautiful ruby ring for my birthday and they were very proud of that.  Gene’s ring wasn’t quite as nice as mine.  They never did quite believe that he lost it.  Any way after that, He moved back to Louisiana!!!  I enjoyed my life very much, things were just fun!!! I must editorialize for a moment, it seems like more than my short lifetime ago that we were so “innocent” at that age.  When I look at my grandchildren and realize how very difficult the world is now, I wonder how I would have endured the challenges that they are faced with each day.

            After I met Roy my life changed dramatically. I was finishing high school, was head over heels in love and very conflicted at home.  My parents had planned so strongly on my going on to college.  I’m sure they could see the writing on the wall and it wasn’t what they had planned for me.  I can appreciate now their disappointment.  Wanda, Evelyn and I were the first of their posterity to graduate high school and the thought of having children go on to college was a great milestone for them. If they had been in a position to get me right into college that summer it may have been different, but we had the summer to date and fall more deeply in love before Roy left to go to Logan, Utah to attend Utah State University.  He was going to become an engineer…whatever that meant, but it was a long separation for us and we pretty well knew we wanted to get married.    

         We set our wedding date for September 2, 1949.  We had no car…no money….and were completely dependent on my folks to get back and forth to the Temple in Salt Lake City, Utah.  Mother drove their car with Aunt Sidna, Evelyn, Belva, Roy and me as passengers!  Mother’s brother, Bronson Lee, lived in Salt Lake and Roy’s sister Phyllis also lived a little way out in a suburb of Salt Lake.  Phyllis came to get Roy and the rest of us spent the night at Uncle Bronson and Aunt June (Lee).  They were very hospitable and tried to help make it a wonderful and exciting experience.  Mother was not at all in the mood to have any fun or happiness connected to the occasion.  I’m sure it was because they didn’t know Roy all that well and were so disappointed in our decision to marry so soon.   

         The Temple was very full and busy.  Aunt Sidna went through with us (she had gone through the St. George Temple many, many years before when she was just a child and stood proxy for her own Mother who had died in childbirth) and I was so grateful for her because I was so afraid.  I had heard many terrible stories from people who didn’t know what they were talking about, concerning the Temple, it’s ordinances and treatment of brides, etc, that she was my salvation that day.  

         Our wedding ceremony was finally performed about 10:00 p.m.  I was exhausted, afraid and I don’t think I actually realized I was MARRIED!!!  It was almost 11:00.  We were both hungry, tired, excited and didn’t know what came next!  Mother,et al, were waiting….also tired and ready to be through!  We left the Temple, met Mother and Uncle Bronson, they took Aunt Sidna and left Roy and I on foot to walk to the hotel where he had made reservations.  We started walking down East Temple looking for someplace to have a bite to eat.  We did find one restaurant open so went in.  Of course, that time of night the menu was pretty well depleted .  I had a toasted cheese sandwich and Roy had…….LIVER AND ONIONS !!!   That shows a bit about our level of “culture” at that stage in life’. 

         We started for home the next morning,  our little troupe of a “wedding party”.  I guess we didn’t get too early a start because we only made it as far as Reno, Nevada and it was getting fairly late.  The only thing Mother could find (she said) was one room with three double beds in it….all in a row.  We have had some fun with this as the years have passed, but at the time it was    horrible.  For whatever reason, Mother put Roy and me in the MIDDLE BED!!  What kidding we’ve taken through the years.  Belva says she laid in her bed all night praying…”.please don’t let Roy touch her                                                                                                                                        I think Roy and I were both thinking the same thing because I don’t think even our toes brushed together!  It was quite an ordeal for all of us.  I’m sure Mother was just not thinking.  I’m quite certain she didn’t have the money for two rooms and Roy certainly didn’t.  But we have had great fun with that through the years.

      We had a wonderful reception in Eugene.  The members of the ward were wonderful to us.  We received many beautiful gifts which was a great blessing because we literally didn’t have anything.  We couldn’t even take all the gifts we had been given with us, for lack of room in Roy’s 1946 green Chevrolet.  We were packed at tightly as could be, but left the more “impractical” (crystal, silver ) gifts at Mother and Daddy’s.  We have been so blessed and enjoyed many wonderful, beautiful treasures in our lifetime together.  

                    We left Eugene adventurous, naïve and oh! so in love.  Roy’s old Chevrolet was packed to the last available inch.  It was quite emotional for me because I had never really been away from home before.  It was a real conflicting set of emotions because it seemed so far away and yet so exciting to be starting our on our own.  I had just turned 18 and looking back, compared with today’s society, could just as well have     been 10 years old!   We drove to Bend, Oregon spent the night then went on to Logan, Utah the next day.  Roy had made arrangements for us to rent a Quonset Hut which had been moved onto the campus to solve the housing problem when the military boys started coming home from the war.  They had divided them in half and put up a very thing wall to create two apartments of one hut.  We could hear each other whisper, hear the toilets flush and know what the other couple was having for dinner!  It was terrible!  But the worst problem was the bedroom!  It was large enough to accommodate one TWIN sized bed!  and that was all!!  For two tall people who had both been used to sleeping alone all their lives it was the first of many adjustments.   It also had a coal stove.  Now I had never seen a lump of coal in my life and somehow fate created us to be enemies!  Roy would “bank” up the stove before he left for school and tell me not to touch it.  After He had been gone about an hour it would look like it was going out so I would take the poker and move the coals around….just a little bit so it wouldn’t go out ….and sure enough …It would. No fire and all, and very soon no coals either!  By the time he arrived back home mid-afternoon there was no sign of a fire or even a burning ember. I was freezing, crying, not dressed and hungry…not a pretty sight to come home to!  We managed to stick it out about three months, miserably, when one of Roy’s buddies heard of an apartment very close to where he lived.                                                                               

So we did some investigating and learned that there was an apartment on the second floor of a big old “Utah” house.  It had been split up and made into several apartments and we were able to be one on the top floor.  We had to share a bath with another couple on the floor, but that was sort of OK because The other couple were both students and gone all day.  We enjoyed it very much.  The owners family was wonderful to us and we became quite good friends.  Evelyn was in School ay BYU and had a boyfriend who lived in Corrine, Utah so she came to visit us several times.  We had s lot of fun during those years.  Everyone was broke, trying to get educations. Struggling, but very happy in our ignorance of a better way of life at that time.   Evelyn really loved Lloyd Hubbard but she couldn’t get her parents approval because He was so short.   Uncle Roy just wouldn’t agree to it.

One of my first experiences at having a dinner party was when Evelyn was visiting us….she was a student at BYU and had come up to spend the weekend with us and what she hoped would be her boyfriend.  I put a pot of pinto beans on to cook for dinner.  One of our wedding presents from my folks had been a complete set of “revere” dinner ware (which I am still using today) which included a small pressure cooker.  I read in the cook book that it would be about a half hour coking time.  What the book didn’t tell me was that the beans had to be soaked first!...or I missed that part in the reading somehow….I cooked them and had the cabbage all ready to serve in a half hour with the  beans.  The cabbage was done just right but the beans were still…crunchy!?!  I kept cooking the beans and  warming the cabbage. The beans took about two and a half hours to cook and by then the cabbage was slimy and brown.  NOT MY BEST MEAL!!  I have since become a somewhat “adequate” cook, but I remember my embarrassment about that meal to this day!!! We had to leave that apartment under rather stressful circumstances also.  One night we were going to go out and I fixed dinner early so we could get ready.  It was in the middle of winter and I had done the laundry and of course had to hang everything on the outside clothes lines.  Roy had come in and I thought had gone into the bathroom to take his bath to get ready to go out.  Rather, he had gone outside to bring in the clothes for me.  I heard the tub running in the bathroom so opened the door and saw him undressed leaning over the tub adjusting the water, so I went in playfully ??   tickled him and said “ding. Dong Daddy…dinner’s ready”  The person who looked around…not smiling, was not Roy, but the fellow from down the hall!  Of course, I screamed….so did he!!  I went running into our apartment totally mortified.  I cried and cried but we just couldn’t stay there for fear I’d run into him again!

 I feel sure that Roy has to be wondering who….or what he’s married !   Somehow He has always been understanding and never made me feel more mortified than I have already made myself feel.  We started looking around and found a darling little tri-plex, closer to school and a little more room.  It actually had a kitchen!  We felt so lucky that we could afford it and made the move as soon as possible.  It had a pull down bed in the living room, a small kitchen and bath.  We were very happy not to have to share anything.  It was there we were living when Wanda and Pat Wright came to Logan with Aunt Sidna to be married in the Logan Temple.  Wanda and Aunt Sidna stayed with us the night before the wedding and it was such a treat for us to be able to have company!  We went to the Temple with them.  We have stayed close and have shared many wonderful   memories throughout the years.                                                                                                               

         People were so good to us and were always giving us things to try, to help us get by more comfortably.   Roy’s very good friend, Gordon Flammer, whose parents had a farm in Logan, was always passing on to us things to help us out.  One time they butchered a pig and gave us all the fat to render down for the lard.  I followed all thetions ….but went to bed that night forgetting that it was still in a “slow oven’.  The next morning I went in and snapped on the kitchen light and ……BOOM….the whole kitchen ignited and melted everything in it…including the knobs on the cabinets.  Well, needless to say we made another move!  As I look back and reminisce at the experiences we had I more fully appreciate the hand of the Lord in guiding our lives.  I was such an inexperienced, naïve 18 year old.  

         This time we moved into a basement apartment.  The winter’s in Logan were ferocious and it was cold.  Our apartment had a door that opened into the furnace room and many times I would go in there and sit just to feel a little extra warmth.  We had made a wonderful circle of friends, some Roy’s classmates and some from the ward we lived in.  We stayed in contact for several years after leaving Logan but gradually as time and moves, children and jobs , just life in general caused us to lose track of each other. 

                       A moment of digression in my thoughts, We have always been so very, very blessed to meet, enjoy and maintain wonderful, wonderful friends.  As we lived away from family for so many years these friends became our family so to speak and have filled a very large space in our hearts.  As I write this I must comment that just last week we were with our “supper club” group that we have been part of for 28 years and what a joy and delight that association has been.  We are all getting older but still have fun and enjoy our time together.    

                         The little apartment we lived in was in the home of a Stake Patriarch, Hyrum Carlton.  We got very well acquainted with him and after some time of his knowing me, he asked me to record blessings for him as he gave them.  I found that to be a very special experience and realized the preparation that is made spiritually by those holding that calling.  He was a widower at that time so I used to take servings of casseroles, bread and desserts to him when I felt

they were good enough.  He was wonderful to us and really took us under his wing.  When I learned I was pregnant with David so soon after Vivian’s birth, he was very consoling, assuring  me that the Lord had chosen very  “special” women to bear very special spirits in the last days.  I certainly think that is true as David has been special and brought us much joy. 

            The time passed quickly, Roy graduated with honors and he started interviewing for employment.  He had done well and had several job opportunities, we were at a point that I really didn’t realize was such a critical one.  The decision He made                                              was to impact our lives greatly.  One opportunity was with the Highway Department in Oregon and the other with the U. S. Government at the Salinity Laboratory in Riverside. California.  Riverside was “old stompin” grounds for Roy, of course, having been raised there.  Several of his aunts and uncles still lived there so that was a big attraction.  After interviewing and praying he made the decision to go to Riverside. It was a very dramatic turning point in our lives.  We didn’t own a car so it was a challenge as to get what few things we had moved.  My parents bought us a little Studebaker Car and we packed all our belongings plus the two kids and headed off into the “lone and dreary world”.  I seemed like such an adventure. Little did I realize that it was only the beginning of an adventurous life that would take us “around the world and back again”.  

     When we arrived in Riverside Roy’s “Aunty” Bertha and Uncle Bill Took us in and were so wonderful.  Uncle Bill was an avid “roller derby” fan and Aunty Bertha a marvelous pie maker so every night after dinner we would watch TV and eat pie. We found a house just around the corner from them and moved into it.  After a couple of months we realized we had “bitten off more than we could chew” and started looking for a more affordable house.  We found one in an area called Mira Loma, which was very near the area Roy’s grandparents had lived.  So we rented it and moved into it.  We stayed there for about two years then began “moving up in the world” and found a lovely            two bedroom house closer to the little town of Glen Avon.  We really enjoyed the community and Roy was made Branch President.  There was a wonderful group of young people about our age who were in the same stage of life….having babies and starting careers.  We went to Stake Dances as a group, had dinner in each other’s homes and just enjoyed being young, broke most of the time, but happy!                                                                                                                           

      We had a lot of septic tank problems there.  A layer of “hard pan” soil made it difficult for the drainage to keep up with the needs.  Someone at the Salinity Lab mentioned to Roy that sometimes you could break that hard pan up by dropping a stick of dynamite down the septic tank. He decided to try it!!  He bought the dynamite and chose a Saturday morning to be THE day.  Of course the kids were all excited because they had heard Daddy discussing all the possibilities.  One matter of concern was whether to use one stick of dynamite or two.  He decided that because of the hardness of the soil that possibly two would be more effective.  THE day arrived and of course it seemed to have grown in magnitude!  Several of the neighbors learned of the endeavor because of course they faced the same problems with that difficult soil as we did and Mr. Brooks worked in soils and drainage so he MUST know something about what he was about to do.  He got everything set up and was ready to go.  The crowd had gathered, the anticipation was high because we had cautioned the kids that it was going to be very, very important that they not move from where we had told them to stand.  The moment arrived when it was time to drop the dynamite into the tank.  He did!!  And BOOM.  It worked!  Soil, Rocks  and other contents blew into the sky and over quite a wide area.  WHAT A MESS.  One of the neighbors was heard to say in shock and disbelief……..”that looks like human excrement!”  Well to make a long, long story shorter, we moved from the neighborhood very shortly thereafter.  I don’t think Roy has ever bought another stick of dynamite,                                       

  Our next house was in the area of “Sunnyslope”.  Actually right across the road from    where Roy’s Grandpa and Grandma Gibson had lived.  He had spent a lot of time with               them as he was growing up so he was well acquainted with that area.  It was quite a long way from the Salinity Lab and of course we were lucky to have one car, so I spent most of my time at home being a mom.  Once again the Church filled a huge need in my life.  We got active in the little Branch there and made some very good friends.  (My dearest friend, Beverly Harrington and I are in contact at this time  (2006) and continue to enjoy our visits via telephone.) 

    At that time the Riverside Stake sponsored a dance (in the Chapel in downtown Riverside) every month.  That was our big night out!  We would get a baby sitter, get really “dressed up” and go with our group from the branch.  This included the Bascomb’s, Wooley’s, Harrington’s, Longdon’s.  We stayed in contact with these friends for quite a few years after we left Riverside but as I write this are still only in contact with Beverly Harrington Kraemer.  She has been a wonderful friend all these many years.

    About this time also, Roy was made Branch President of the little branch in Mira Loma.  This was a real learning experience and the first of a lifetime of many different callings in the Church.  He has enjoyed many, many callings and has always excelled in each one.  I, too, have enjoyed many various callings and feel that this has been a very positive influence in my life.  I learned many things from the older sisters in the various wards we’ve lived in that my Mother didn’t have time to teach me because I married so young and moved away from her geographically.  We were blessed, in that my family always worked hard to see each other often.  We enjoyed many visits from various family members from time to time.  Mom Brooks and Vivian were living in Las Vegas at this time so we were also lucky enough to have visits from them often.  Our children were always so excited when the Grandmas and Grandpa would  come to visit because it meant treats and excursions that we couldn’t afford at that time.  Grandma Brooks was always a special treat because she liked to have “fun” and was pretty inventive in places to go,  My Mother was inclined to “cook up a storm” so there were always extra cakes and pies around when she was visiting.     

         We were on a very tight budget.  Roy was making fairly good money for the time and his education.  His salary in 1952 was $3475.00 per year and that was about average for government wages at that time.  We had two children, were paying about $50.00 a month for housing.  One car meant I stayed home most days, the Salinity Lab was about 15 miles from our house so there weren’t many days I had a car.  I was busy with two “babies”, laundry, cooking and every day activities.  I didn’t occur to me to be “bored” or unhappy.  It was life!  Roy’s “boss” at the Salinity Lab, Ronald Reeve and his “Alie” took us under their wing and really “nurtured” us, far and above the caring for a new colleague.  People have always been so good to us  and seemed to go the extra mile in being kind and helpful to us.                                                                                                                              

            After Roy was made Branch President in the Mira Loma Branch of the Church our life changed dramatically.  There were many in that small branch that had “problems” and He started having lots of calls and visits to make.  It seems like there were many…perhaps not as many as I seem to remember, that were in need of assistance and I made a lot of trips to the welfare center.  My good friend Beverly Harrington, used to go over to Pomona with me to pick up welfare orders.  It was kind of a fun outing because the Church was paying for the gas, Beverly would take her children and I would have mine and we would make an outing of it.  Sometimes we could squeeze out the cost of an ice cream cone around the trip which made it really, really fun for the kids.  I can remember, being young, feeling some resentment at all the food and provisions I would pick up for others when it seemed like we needed it worse than they did!  But it was fun and gave us time away that we might not otherwise have had.                                                                    

            We were very needed in that small branch and did build some wonderful and lifetime memories.  One activity that we really forward to each month was the Stake Dance in Riverside.  It was such a highlight to get together with our friends and go as a group together.  There were at least five couples that would make it every month and it was such a wonderful time.  We would plan all month on what to wear and do our hair, save for the baby sitter.  Not more than twice or three times a year we could squeeze out enough to go to dinner before the dance or so somewhere afterwards for a piece of pie,  It was fun.  Avery tight knit group who truly loved each other as family and would come to each other’s aid when needed.  One of the couples, Bill and Eloise Bascomb had a baby born with a hair-lip and cleft palate. It was such a trauma for all of us.  She called on me to come and take her home from the hospital, it was a shock and experience I have never forgotten.  I have always felt a deep gratitude for the health and strength of our children as they have come to us.

      Roy was doing very well professionally.  He was doing some significant work in irrigation and drainage with Ronald C. Reeve who was an expert in the field.  It was the beginning of a long and very successful career, one which took us all over the world and put his name in many professional journals.  He has  traveled extensively giving lectures and participating in professional seminars.  It also opened many doors which later took us into the international life.  The Reeves were so wonderful to us.  They never failed to open their doors to us and before we could hardly sit down she had something for us to eat.  We needed “nurturing” and a sense of family and they certainly provided that.  Ron was also a mentor for Roy professionally and was very generous with his professional experience.          

                Our time in Riverside was certainly a growing and maturing period of our life.  Roy’s Aunt Bertha (Hazel’s sister)  and her husband (Bill Miller) would open their home any time we stopped by.  “Aunty” Bertha made the most wonderful apricot pie.  She would peel the apricots and make a real “short” crust and they were “more” than delicious.  Uncle Bill was also a roller derby fanatic derby , so we would eat apricot pie and watch the derby matches.  Wonderful Memories!!

            We bought our first home. What a thrill.  It was a lovely, small three bedrooms, living room, dining room and kitchen.  We had great fun building  bookcases out of chain and brick, refinishing old dining room furniture (the table of which Kathleen is using today as a game table).  I made draperies, shopped every garage sale and checked out the city dump frequently for discarded items.             

As I remember back, there was certain thrill and sense of accomplishment was a true joy!  We were so proud of what we had and spent a lot of time there.              

 

A Dave Brooks Reunion at Bear Lake

RHB