Leslie Alfred and Alice Maurine Tippets Harrison
Reminiscing
by NaDee Harrison Davidson
Last night I got out the videotape that Jean made for me from last year's reunion, and watched it. There were lots of memories recounted there. Most of which I agreed with, some of which I had no memory, and a couple that I remember quite differently. Since my memory is not nearly as good as the rest of you (me being infinitely older than most of you and all), I'll just let them slip by.
I'd like to begin my reminiscence with memories of the Tippets uncles and aunts. It causes me great sorrow whenever I think of how difficult it was for Mama to spend any time with her family. Even when they were together I'm sure she was pretty tense about everything working out the way she wanted it to. Although the times they were there bring good memories to me, and I guess Dad mellowed in his later years, but it was sad that Mama couldn't really enjoy her family as we are able to do now. I hope she and Lucile and Nellie and Ray and Gene and Grandpa and Grandma Tippets are having some good times now.
Some of you mentioned about them quilting with Mama and how you really hated to have to go get wood or some similar task, and after getting a little older, realizing that you were sent at that very moment so something could be said that wasn't for your ears to hear. I remember those feelings very well myself. I loved sitting around like a little mouse in the corner and just listening to those sisters and sometimes their aunts, Jeanette and Esther and others, talk. I don't have even a clue of what they talked about now, but whatever they said was manna to my ears and I love the feeling I still get when I think about it. One really fun time I had after I got married was to drive Mama and Lucile and Jeanette and maybe Aunt Bess to Georgetown to see their aunt there, and listen to them reminisce.
One memory I have that I can't quite figure out what happened or how is that I remember sleeping in a bed in the one bedroom in the house with what to my memory was Mama and two of her sisters at the regular direction in the bed, and at least me and maybe Darlene sleeping in the same bed with our heads at the foot of the bed. Does that sound like too many people in a swaybacked bed? Yes, it does, but for some reason it's a memory I have.
Dad must have been in the other bed with some of the kids. I don't remember any fun chatting between the sisters. From the earliest of my memories, there were always two beds in that room. Darlene and Marilyn and I were in one of them and Dad and Mama were in the other, and, of course, as Virden came along, he was added to their bed. I don't remember when we were moved out of that room. I think the new addition to the house was built when Dennis was a baby though, so where did we sleep? Maybe the new addition was earlier and it was just that the bathroom was added when Dennis was a baby. It seems to me that we got the bathroom about the same time as we got Dennis.
I remember two different times of sleeping in the cellar building on the night a sister or brother was born. I also remember the day that Mama cried when Dr. Worthen drove past on his way to the army and she was expecting Adele, I think. We stayed at the Swenson’s on the day when she was actually born with Dr. Trealor as the doctor. I always thought Grandma Fannie Harrison was inordinately happy with that turn of events, because Dr. Trealor was always their doctor till he died.
I do remember that the electricity was installed when I was in the first grade. Someone was wondering about that in the video. That would have been 1940. I went to school one day knowing that when I came home we would have electricity (to quote Dad, "the juice would be turned on"). It was a pretty exciting thing to have happen. I remember some people making jokes about people worrying that when the juice was turned on that it would drip from the light sockets. I knew they were jokes, though, and was proud that we had electricity.
I remember once or twice after there was electricity in the church that it went off for some reason and they had to get out the old coal oil lamps to hold church in the evening meetings. I don't really have a memory of those lamps before then though. I guess it was just a normal occurrence and nothing special to remember until it changed.
My memory of our having one of the two telephones in Osmond, Grandpa and Grandma Harrison had the other one, is sort of like it was a service project for Dad and Mama to go get people who received telephone calls. I remember the little turner thing that rang the operator. And you had to give the operator the number you wanted to call. I don't have any recollection of when we got a different telephone. The party line was always a challenge in later years when other people got phones.
One really sad time that I remembered was when Mama had scarlet fever and had to be quarantined. It must have been in 1945. I think she was in the new part of the house and Dennis was the baby and she kept him with her. I can't remember how we and they ate. I remember I felt really sorry for Dad and her both because he was released from Bishop and put in as stake clerk and she wasn't able to be there. I remember two of the chores of the bishop which involved our family was cleaning the church and washing the sacrament trays and glasses every Saturday night.
It's truly amazing to me to realize that I finally got over the great fears I had of night. I was absolutely terrified when I stayed home with the younger kids. I would get everyone to sleep and spend the rest of the time watching out the windows for our parents to come home. Hyrum Hale was always a huge worry to me, and now I look back and feel very sorry for him. I always felt guilty, but couldn't bring myself to change at having Darlene and Marilyn sleep on the outsides of the bed, with me in the middle. I was a coward to the nth degree, and I now apologize for that.
My memories of sleeping as I grew up are not good ones. I have in recent years realized that Dad's forcing everyone to be in bed when he was ready for bed traumatized me. I have to apologize to Jack for causing him pain and suffering over the last 45 years because of that. I guess if you wanted to know what my worst rebellion in life has been, it would be when someone tells me to go to bed.
I apologize too for other things that I wish I hadn't done when I was the older sister. I'm not going to enumerate them, but any of you who have those memories, please forgive me. I did try to do my best by you in most cases.
I remember feeling sorry for my friend whose parents had just the same amount of children as our family did, and she always felt really put upon for having to do so much work and spend so much time taking care of the younger kids. Either our mother didn't demand so much of us, or she had a better way of demanding what she did. I do remember hearing people tell her that there was no reason why we kids shouldn't be helping her out more around the house. I agreed with them, and I expect that they didn't know how much Darlene and Marilyn helped out around the farm. Sometimes we were pretty messy though. I do remember that.
This is way over my 5 minutes, but there is one more thing I want to say, and I've mentioned this to some of my sisters and brothers before. That is, when I think back to the days when we walked home from school for lunch and Mama fed us "corn starch pudding" and bread and butter and milk, were probably days when she had nothing else in the house to feed us. I remember that lunch fondly. Probably my favorite lunch of all times. I never knew we didn't have everything we wanted, because we had every thing we needed.
Reminiscences of Darlene Harrison Jones for Harrison Family Reunion
August 1998
I think it is interesting to reflect on the changes that were made to the house (home) as our family needs changed. Dad (and others) built the house so it was ready to move into when he and Mom were married. A kitchen, living room, one bedroom with a closet, front porch, an attic, and cellar building were sufficient to begin with. When I was about 7 years old, they added on the dining room, new kitchen and bathroom (with running water), back porch, and upstairs bedroom. The old kitchen became a bedroom also. The cellar building was removed, and the cellar was opened into the larger area in the basement where the furnace and coal bin now are. Karla's bedroom was added after I left home. It is fun how the original one-car garage became large enough to be a two-car garage. I also remember helping when Dad dug the first cesspool. We used a windlass when it got deep. There used to be a neat white picket fence clear across the front yard, which we walked upon the top (on the 2" side of a 2x4); I suspect that may have contributed to its demise. There was a small ditch with running water most of the summers just outside the fence, that has since been filled in. You sprinkler generation people also don't remember the big ditch out in the field, nor the "fun" we had irrigating the fields with canvas dams. We irrigated all the way out to the east hill. Our pastime activity included drowning gophers. We always drank right from the clear water irrigation ditch, none of this hauling bottled water all over the fields.
We celebrated the 4th of July most years that I remember while at home, by putting up the first crop of hay. That way Dad didn't have to take off more time from work. I never realized (until after he died) how little he got paid by the hardware store. The 76? acres that Dad farmed there by the house belonged to Grandpa and Grandma (Otto and Fannie) Harrison. Dad still paid a good price for the crops he bought there. I wish that I would have done something to help Dad and Mom buy more of the land when the highway went through. Hindsight is better than now.
Everyone could trust and depend on Mama and Dad. That to me is a great heritage. I wish I were even half the great people they were. They were involved in practically everything that was going on around them. Talk about getting involved in the community!!
Just a word about Grandma (Hannah Emmaretta Wixom) Tippets. I remember the few times when she and Grandpa came to visit us. She had long hair (I think it was black with gray) which she wore in a bun at the back just above her neck. She would let us girls brush or comb her hair. I don't think I brushed or combed anyone else's hair like that. She had a "rat" that we rolled the hair around to form the bun, then pinned it in place. She was always very skinny, I thought. She died when I was 13. She was 60 years old.
Reminiscences of Chuck Jones
Whenever we came to visit Leslie & Maurine, we always received an enthusiastic welcome. Of course there was a thorough quizzing of our whole family to see that everyone was well and happy. Sincere concern was obvious.
One winter evening while courting Darlene and staying at the Harrison home, I took Darlene for a ride around Afton, which included a drive up Swift Creek road in the dark. On the way back down the road, another car rounded the bend in the road coming toward us. The road was so narrow that I had to intentionally drive into the snow bank beside the road to allow the other car to pass without going over the bank and into the creek. Of course the 4 guys in the other car were grateful (they were obviously going too fast for conditions). They all jumped out and came back to help dig our car out, but Darlene and I were late getting home that night. All I heard about it from Leslie was his concern over all the snow he noticed jammed into our front car grill & did we get hurt?.
Excerpts from the Life Story of Marilyn Harrison Fluckiger
August 1, 1998
When I was a little girl, I was really shy. All of us were shy for some reason. When we were little, we were quiet and never caused our parents any trouble. We were all smart. We got good grades and I think that tells a lot about our parents. They were both very intelligent. School came very easy for me. When I was a freshman in high school, we had a test where the teacher gave us a map that was blank and we had to fill in all the states and capitols, rivers and mountains, etc. Of about 200 possible, I missed only one or two. Memorizing was easy back in the good old days.
I don't remember ever being afraid of anything. I was shy and I recall one time when Mama's brothers came to visit us, and we went and hid behind the wood box in the kitchen. They liked to tickle and tease us.
My mother and dad were very good parents. My mother especially had most of the responsibility of raising the children because my dad was always very involved in working at Call's, and working on the farm. He was a schoolteacher for a few years, when they first got married, but by the time I can remember, he always worked at Call's. He really worked hard. He worked at Call's from 8 am, then he always came home for lunch, then back to work until 6 pm. So after those hours is when he worked on the farm. We milked the cows, hauled hay, and irrigated. We had pigs and chickens, cows and sheep. We had a couple of horses. They were mostly work horses. Isn't it strange to live on a farm and not have a horse to ride? My dad and mom did all the farming and irrigating until we were old enough to help. We raised alfalfa and grain (barley). We hauled rocks by the ton every year. My dad worked 6 days a week, plus he was the Bishop most of the time and had a lot of meetings to go to. He was the Stake clerk for many years too. Mama would read to us a lot and we played lots of games. She taught us how to cook and sew and embroider. I miss her so much. I think about her every day.
I wish that I could talk to her. I wish that I could ask her about life and about how things were when she was young and we were kids. I am sure that it was hard to be a mother in those days. They went through the depression when things were so bad. I remember one time after Daddy had quit teaching school, the only income they had was six dollars a month that they got paid for cleaning the church. I guess if it hadn't been for the cows and the chickens and Mama being able to make homemade bread and cook so well, things would have been really bad. But she was very resourceful and she could make a meal out of very little. I recall going to town and going to the meat packing plant and asking for a soup bone. She made the best vegetable soup. The bone gave it good flavor. My very favorite meal though was homemade chicken and noodles. When she wanted to make it, I would go and catch a rooster and I would hold it upside down by the legs and pull its wings down, then chop off its head with an ax on the chopping block. Those roosters could jump around for several minutes with their heads chopped off. Then we would put it in a bucket of boiling water to make the feathers come off easier.
My mother was the president of the Relief Society for a lot of years and she just took care of everybody. She was a good organizer and she could make things happen without a lot of money. She took good care of the people in the ward as well as in her family. When she was in the Stake Relief Society, a funny incident happened one time while they were at conference in the Tabernacle. Her feet were swelling so she took off her shoes. Then when it was time to leave, her shoes were so tight, she could hardly get them on. As they were all walking down the sidewalk, she looked down and to her horror, her shoes were on the wrong foot. My mother could get along with anyone. She had a very outgoing personality. She had lots of fun experiences with those ladies in the Stake.
My mother always baked fruit cakes and after I was a little older, she dipped chocolates and made pounds and pounds and pounds of homemade chocolates and they were so good. They were better than the ones you buy in the stores.
As I look back on my mother's life, I think, she was an amazing woman to accomplish all the things she did with as little as she had to work with. She was an amazing person. As I look back, I wish that I had more time to spend with her because she died when she was 61. I got married when I was 16 and we moved away from Star Valley. Then we would go back occasionally. The first couple of years we were married we went home about every other weekend. Then she would come stay with us when we had our children and we'd go home for Thanksgiving and Christmas and as often as we could. It only cost about $10 in car gas to go to Star Valley and back to Salt Lake. I wish I had more time to just sit and visit with her and tell her how much I loved her and tell her what a great mother she was and what a good friend she was to us, to help us to get through our lives and enjoy the things that we did. She prepared us for marriage by teaching us to cook and sew and clean, bottle fruit and vegetables and work in the garden.
My mother always let us help her with cooking and cleaning and whatever she was doing. So we learned early how to do things. It's good we did because when I started working out with Daddy, then I didn't get a chance to watch her much anymore. You can't really learn to cook unless you help. It's a hands-on experience. In the summer we always helped bottle fruit. I remember one summer we bottled 6 bushels of peaches and 6 bushels of pears. I think there were 600 quarts of fruit that year including raspberries and jams of several kinds. Grandpa Tippets used to bring us lots of bushels of fruit and peddlers would come along and sell us fruit.
One of my favorite things to do was to surprise Daddy and go out and haul hay and milk the cows before he got home. It didn't seem like work back then. Darlene, Virden and I all helped. I could stand on the hayrack and harness the horses. I started doing that when I was eleven years old. Mama and Daddy both got pneumonia at the same time and were so sick. Grandma Tippets died and Almon came and took Mama, NaDee and Darlene to the funeral in Ogden. Virden and I did the chores because Daddy was so sick. I never did mind the work until I got in high school, then it was kind of hard to milk the cows and get all dirty. We never did have time to take a shower before school.
When I was about 12 years old, Daddy decided to build the new granary. One end was to store grain, the middle was a chicken coop, and the other end was a pig pen. We went to the canyon to cut down trees to get logs. Jim Gomm was going to cut them into lumber. One day Daddy and I were up there getting logs. Babe had a harness with a single tree at the back dragging and Daddy hooked a chain onto the harness and the other end onto the log. It was quite a steep hill. He had to drag the log down to the bottom so we could load it onto the wagon. It was a big log. Daddy had me take hold on to the reins near her head. We were going down this dirt path where we had been dragging the logs. The log was so big that it started sliding faster than the horse and I was going and it pushed her back legs and kind of went between her legs and she started running. I started running and couldn't run fast enough and she started galloping and I couldn't go fast enough so I screamed and Daddy looked up and saw what was happening and yelled, "Let her go." It just happened so fast. I jumped out of the way and she took off and ran all the way to the bottom. If I hadn't jumped when I did, I would have been trampled or ran over by the log, because it was rolling and pushing her from behind. It was just a miracle that Daddy yelled, "Let her go."
I worked a lot with Babe on the farm. One time when we were hauling hay, we were in the field right at the south of the house. There was a big gully where there were a lot of rocks so we couldn't plant in that area. (That's where we always used to pick flowers, chicken heads, daisies, buttercups, and sunflowers). We had stacked the hay really high on the wagon and Daddy and Darlene and I were on the wagon. Daddy was driving the horses and we were way up on top. The wagon went in a ditch or something and tipped the whole hayrack over. I was totally underneath the hay. We had probably been about 12 or 14 feet off the ground when it tipped over. But I just held really still because I knew Daddy would get me out. Then my next thought was "What if they start digging with pitch forks?" Daddy just scrambled really fast and got me out. No one was hurt, but it was one of those accidents that could have killed us all.
I liked to irrigate. It was peaceful and quiet out in the field all by myself and I would wait for the water to run. I would make dandelion and clover necklaces and bracelets and pull the tall grass and chew on the tender parts. One summer I was helping Grandpa Harrison irrigate over in his pasture. There were hundreds of gophers. He and I had shovels. As the water would go into a gopher hole, the gopher would come out the other end. We would smack them with our shovels. I think we killed 98 gophers that day.
I think when I got married that Daddy was making one dollar an hour working at Call's. They were doing heavy, heavy work all the time. But it was a good job. He was one of the lucky men to have a good job, to actually have money coming in because most of the people in Osmond had to live off their farms. Some of them worked at the sawmill and the creamery. Most people just had a little farm and a few animals. We would sell milk to the creamery and get a milk check.
I was born in the house that I lived in my whole childhood. My parents lived in the same house all of their married life.
One very scary thing happened when NaDee was dump raking. We were way out in the field and Daddy was on the haystack. I was holding onto Babe. NaDee let out a yell. Bally was the horse pulling the rake. She ran away with NaDee. She couldn't stop her. Daddy heard her. He jumped off the haystack and chased the horse and caught it and stopped it and NaDee didn't get hurt. Daddy was running as fast as the horse was. It's impossible, I know, but it happened. I was there and saw it. I know it's physically impossible to outrun a horse. It was just a miracle.
We always enjoyed a sense of well being and stability in our home. We didn't openly speak about love for one another very much in those days. We didn't have to. We felt that security and peace and quiet strength which comes to families who pray together and work together. I'm so proud of my heritage.
The first car I remember was a square car. It had tar on the roof and would leak when it rained. When we wanted to go anywhere we would have to crank it to get it started. One time I remember being afraid was when we were trying to go up the canyon to Lucille's. The car wouldn't climb over the hill. There was a creek at the bottom and a curve. Daddy would get going as fast as he could and the car just wouldn't make it over the top. He had to try several times. We finally got out and walked, then the car would go without us in it. One year we were going to Ogden for Thanksgiving and the car didn't have a heater. Mama and Daddy put big rocks in the oven over night and then wrapped them in blankets to keep our feet warm in the car. My parents were wonderful parents. They took us as many places as they could and taught us a lot of things. They taught us all how to work. We all turned out to be hard workers and very dependable.
We used to carry water in buckets from the ditch across the street. We got a bathroom in the house when I was about 8 or 10 years old.
My parents were married when my Mother was 19 and Daddy was 27. He was 7 years older than her. As far as I know they were very happy together. I am sure there were times when things were not perfect though. At home, it seems to me that we always had a lot of fun. We didn't get into trouble. I respected my parents a lot. I don't ever remember sassing or talking back to them. They were just the kind of parents that we wanted to please all the time. They trusted us and gave us a lot of responsibility. It was a happy home. We played games together. In the summer we played outside a lot. We played hopscotch. We would draw the pattern in the dirt with a stick. We played board games, monopoly, jacks and marbles, dominoes, and checkers. One of the fun games we played was Fifty Cents.
I don't remember that we ever went without anything, I don't remember the depression. We always had food. We never went to bed hungry. My mother made all of our clothes. Life was not difficult. I always felt happy and peaceful and content and comfortable. I remember when the war ended - World War II, I guess. They announced it on the radio. We all went out on the porch and yelled and cheered and jumped up and down. My mother had five of her brothers all at once serving in the military. None of them were injured; they all came home safely.
My mother had beautiful gray hair. I always remember her in comfortable house dresses. She always was home for us. She never worked outside the home while I was growing up. Dad was 5' 10" tall and never overweight. His hands and face were always tanned. But the rest of his body was always white. We teased him after I was married, that his skin never saw the light of day. He always wore long sleeve shirts and long pants. He always wore a hat to do chores and to go anywhere. He wore a nice felt hat when he dressed up to go to town or church meetings. My Mother and Dad were always easy going. If we were ever spanked, it hurt our feelings much worse than the seat of our pants.
My dad had a really good friend whose name was Ruehl Call. He was the owner of Call Air in Afton. They built small airplanes there, and every once in a while Ruehl Call would ask Daddy to go for a ride with him in his plane. So they would fly all over the valley and fly up over the mountains and everywhere. He'd take all us kids for a ride in the plane. That was pretty exciting for us because most kids in Star Valley probably never went for a ride in an airplane. That was really an exciting memory for me to be able to go for a ride in an airplane. As we got older then Darlene and Chuck owned a plane and we all went for rides with them.
We used to go fishing a lot. In the summertime Daddy would come home from work at 6 o'clock and on fishing days. Virden and I would milk the cows early and we'd take a picnic and we'd go to the South End or Grey's River and go fishing. It was a good time.
Sometimes we went to a reunion at Bear Lake. Those were good trips. They were the Tippets reunions. The Harrison reunions were in Star Valley because they all lived there. We once went out to Allred Flats for a reunion.
When we were growing up, we never had any real dangerous or daring escapades. I think being raised on a farm we did about as many dangerous things as we could just living and working around the machinery and horses and everything. But we never did anything purposely that was dangerous. Mom and Dad would always tell us to be careful and we did. We just took good care of ourselves.
We used to baby-sit in the old Star Valley Creamery in Osmond. Ferrell and Marie Tolman lived in the apartment in the front of this big old creamery. I remember that it was always creaky and noisy. It was kind of scary to baby-sit there, but they always paid us a dollar. So it was worth it. You would put yourself through a lot for a dollar in those days.
In the wintertime we always wore long stockings. I remember we had garters. We'd pin one end of the garter to our underpants and the other end to the long stockings. (Long ugly, thick brown stockings.) The garters had a kind of metal cover that connected to a rubber round thing to hold our socks up. We had underwear; they were short sleeves and legs, a one-piece thing. It had a back door, so when we needed to use the bathroom, we would unbutton each side and pull the back door down. (That was so we didn't have to get completely undressed.) We always had boots with metals buckles on in the winter. They were rubber and fit over our shoes.
We all had the regular childhood diseases. NaDee and I each had scarlet fever 3 or 4 times. The doctor would come and quarantine our home. He would put a sign on the door so no one could come in or go out. One time, I remember that Daddy had to sleep in the garage for a couple of weeks. He didn't come in the house during the whole time. We had measles, mumps, chicken pox, and scarlet fever. I only remember going to the doctor one time and that was because we thought I had appendicitis. I worked very hard and often had bad side aches. The only other time I went to a doctor was for the medical checkup before I got my marriage license.
We usually ate supper about 8 o'clock. We had bread and milk or hot chocolate and toast. (Homemade bread and butter we churned ourselves.) We would pour our hot chocolate in a large cereal bowl or pie pan and then put in a whole slice of bread with lots of butter. I can still smell and taste those dinners. Sometimes we had bottled fruit.
We learned very young to accept responsibility. We always had work to do. We had lots of fun too. I don't remember being forced to work. I always did it to help my Mom and Dad. We had 8 children so there were always chores to do. My mother milked cows and irrigated and put up hay with my dad. I think when Virden and I started milking, she didn't have to anymore. She milked and irrigated and always helped Dad even while she was pregnant.
We would come home and put on old dresses to milk the cows, and do chores, so we wouldn't get our Levi's dirty.
One time I was on a date with Duane and his cousin Clyde Gomm and his girlfriend Janice (I can't remember her last name). There were 6 people in the car, but I don't remember who the other couple was. Anyway, Duane's dad had a big station wagon that would hold four people in the front seat. When they stopped to pick me up, for some reason Clyde had slid into the middle and Janice was on the outside. Duane didn't want me to sit by Clyde so he told me to drive. So he and Clyde sat in the middle and Janice was on one side and me driving. The roads were slick and I was going really slow. I was probably 15 years old and I didn't know how to drive on ice or anything so I was going real slow. Duane thought I was going too slow so he put his foot on the gas and I was trying to steer the car and he had his foot on top of mine on the gas. The car started sliding and I think I put my foot on the brake. Anyway, the car rolled. It went off the road and rolled on its side, on its top and on the other side and ended up flat on its wheels about one hundred feet from the road. As we were rolling, we all fell to one side, then hit our heads on the ceiling, then they all squished me as it slid and rolled on my side. In my mind and my heart I knew we were all going to be killed. But no one ever got a scratch. We just all got out of the car. The car coming along behind us had seen what had happened and they jumped out to help us. We talked to them and they made sure no one was hurt. Then we just all climbed into their car and went to the movies. I think Duane tried to call his parents but they weren't home. So we didn't call and tell anybody. My dad and mother were on their way home from a meeting and I was supposed to be tending my younger brothers and sisters. Duane had come by and wanted me to go to the show, so I left Virden in charge of the kids. So when my parents came home, they knew that somebody probably got hurt in that accident. (It totaled the car, by the way.) But nobody got hurt at all. We didn't have seat belts or anything. I remember we all crushed down to one side of the car. Then we went on our heads, then crushed on the other side of the car. Then it flipped right back up on its wheels.
When my mother and dad saw the car there they were really glad that I was home and not with Duane when that accident happened. Then when they got home, the kids told them that I had gone to the show with Duane and then they were scared to death. They tried to call everyone and find us. Nobody knew where we were and we had all just gone to the show.
After the show, Duane went and got one of his friends and they took us all home. My parents were so glad to see us, that we were all alive and well. They had called the hospital and they called everybody they could think of and couldn't find us so I guess they were probably a nervous wreck. Their fears of not knowing were probably worse than anything.
When I first met Duane, he was just so cute and handsome. It was 'love at first sight.' We both just fell in love with each other. From then on, we were together as much as we possibly could be. He would come and help me irrigate and I'd go on deliveries with him when he worked with his dad to deliver furniture. We spent as much time as we could at school together.
One time while I was dating Duane, we had gone to a movie in the evening and after the movie was over, he took me home. He was in the National Guard and he was supposed to be to a Guard meeting. They came and arrested him after he dropped me off. I don't know who it was or anything, but I guess they respected my dad enough that they didn't want to do it while I was with him. They arrested him and put him in jail overnight for not going to his meeting. So it was a good lesson for him. He knew he had to do what he was supposed to. They could find him real easy because we always had our dates in his dad's furniture delivery truck with a big box with Valley Furniture painted on it. We went on a lot of short trips together on deliveries in his dad's truck, delivering furniture and lumber.
The happiest moments in my life were when each of my children were born. All of my childhood, the only thing I ever wanted to do when I grew up was to be a mother. I reached my goal and have 4 wonderful children.
I was 17 years old when Karen was born. Then Sherry was born 17 months later when I was 18. Terry was born when I was 22 and Debi when I was 24. We all kind of grew up together. I'm really proud of each of my children. I also have eleven grandchildren and one great grandson.
My children have been so good to me. Last October Debi, Scott, Frank, Terry and Jason all got together and put in a sprinkling system and all the rest helped lay sod for my whole yard. Debi was the talk of the neighborhood when she moved piles of dirt with the tractor. One neighbor told me her husband went in and got his binoculars to make sure it was really Debi. My lot was pretty much a gravel and rock pit, but now I have grass and flowers.
I have really enjoyed working with Terry as a foreman for my builder. The buyers love him. He is so patient with everyone and always has a great sense of humor.
I especially enjoy working with Karen and Heather too. They are both selling real estate with me. They have learned so much and are doing very well. I love writing out those 5 and 10 thousand dollar commission checks for them.
Debi has moved into an apartment now and I really miss her.
Sherry helped me plant lots of flowers. She is a grandma too now. We have some fun family parties. There is a big group of us when we all get together. I love all of my children and grandchildren and brothers and sisters and all our extended families. We've always tried to stay close as a family. I'm so glad we have these reunions so we can be together.
When I left home when we got married, all I took with me was my clothes. I really didn't have anything of my own. NaDee and Darlene and I had grown up together sleeping all in one bed and I really didn't have furniture. I took my clothes and my dad gave me $20 when we got married and Duane's dad had given him $5 to get the marriage license with. So we started out pretty rough, but you know, we were happy. I don't remember that we went without anything. I remember that we ate a lot of meals out at my mother's house. I suppose, thinking back on it now, that we probably would have starved to death if it hadn't been for my mother and dad. I guess we would have figured out something else, but we ate a lot of meals at their house.
When Sherry was three weeks old, we had been working on getting a Temple recommend so we could be sealed together in the Temple. My Dad had written a letter to the Bishop of the ward that we lived in. (His name was Lynn Wilson, of the famous meat pies and foods.) We weren't very active because we were usually in Star Valley on Sunday. Anyway, my dad had written him a letter and the Bishop was working with us to get our Temple recommends. When Sherry was three weeks old on May 10, 1957, we went to the Temple for the first time and had our two little girls sealed to us for time and all eternity. I had made Karen a beautiful little white dress, and Sherry had a beautiful white dress that Mama had given her. I think it was when she was born. She had never worn it before. My parents came down and I don't remember who else was there at the temple with us, but I remember my mother and dad and how much it meant to them for us to be sealed in the Temple.
We went through a session and the workers in the nursery took care of Karen and Sherry during that time. Then they dressed them in their white dresses.
When the temple workers brought these two little girls in to me for them to be sealed to us, they were just like two little angels. They were beautiful and so perfect, all dressed in white and we were all dressed in white. That's the closest to heaven that I have ever been in my life, to see our two little babies dressed in white, in the Temple with Duane and I. We were so happy. Sherry was three weeks old and Karen was 18 months old. It was the highlight of our life to be sealed together for time and eternity. We loved each other and our two children so much. I can't describe the strong feelings of love and togetherness we felt.
Duane always had a lot of confidence in his ability and took a lot of responsibility. He was a good father. He had a guardian angel. All our married life I can look back on some of the things that happened, and the trials we went through and we just came through it okay. I just know that we had guardian angels watching over us all the time.
I love fast cars and exciting experiences. I used to enjoy water skiing and snow skiing. I would someday like to go hang gliding. I have been parasailing and skydiving. Well, not exactly skydiving, but parachuting. I will tell you about my experience. Karla and I worked at the same place. One day she said, "If I don't do anything else this summer, I want to go skydiving."
I said, "So do I." Well, one thing led to another and that very day we called and made an appointment to do it. We were so excited. We went out to Cedar Valley early in the morning. They gave us coveralls and big boots. We practiced jumping off small platforms and then bigger and bigger ones. The highest one was about 8 feet tall. They said that if the parachute opens, the hardest we would hit the ground would be the same as jumping from the 8 foot platform. So we practiced and practiced. They taught us all the emergency procedures, like what to do if our chute didn't open. We practiced the four point roll, over and over. That was where we land on our feet, then roll on our seat, shoulder and head. The first time out you usually don't just land on your feet, like they do in the movies. Our bodies were so sore we could hardly walk. We had a really good instructor. When they introduced us to the pilot, I knew right then that we were in trouble. This guy looked like he hadn't bathed or changed clothes for years. We discussed the fact that if he took off his clothes, they would stand up by themselves. He was so greasy and dirty. He looked like he had been drinking and hadn't had any sleep. But after all that jumping and rolling we just had to trust that he knew what he was doing. But that was the good part. The next part was after we got our parachutes on - a big one on the back and a reserve chute on the front. They strapped us into all the equipment and jerked us around and tried to give us the feeling we would have when our chutes opened. Then they took us over to the plane that would take us up. Oh, my gosh, that plane was taped together with duct tape. It was very old and seriously, the windows and other things were taped together. So here we were with a maniac pilot and a plane that came over on the Mayflower. We questioned the instructor at great length and he assured us that this pilot was the best. So the pilot and the instructor and three or four of us, with chutes strapped on so we could hardly move, crawled into the space in the plane where they had taken out all the seats except for the pilot's seat. We were stooping so we all fit while we loaded. The instructor went in first because he had to be where he could tell us what to do. (Oh, I forgot, the last thing we had to do before we went in the plane was to sign a form releasing them of all liability in case of an accident.) The last one in had to be the first one out. Karla volunteered to go first. The procedure was to take off in the plane, circle around the field many times until we got up to three thousand feet altitude and then level out and get in position to jump. The plane didn't have a door on our side. We were supposed to swing our legs out on the step, reach out and grab the strut (the brace holding the wing on), hang on for dear life, and work ourselves out to the end with our hands and get into position. Karla wanted to be first. The plane was going 80 miles an hour and he had to be over the drop zone. Then he would cut the power and Karla would let go. She did everything perfect and he yelled, "GO" and she had this great big smile on her face and she let go. She drifted away and we couldn't see her. Now we had to circle again to regain power and altitude. Next it was my turn. I swung my legs out, grabbed the strut, worked my way out to the end of the wing. The plane got in position and the instructor yelled, "GO." By now, I was so scared that I couldn't let go. I yelled back, "I can't." He had told us before we went up that there was no way we could get back in the plane once we were out. He yelled "GO" again and I had no choice. I arched my back and let go. The first thing we were supposed to do when we felt the jerk as our chute opened was to look up and make sure that the chute was completely open, or we had to release it and open our reserve chute. Well, when I went out the ropes got tangled and knocked my helmet down over my face. I couldn't see a thing. Here I was drifting though space, so I had to jerk on the ropes and get them untangled so I could get my helmet up so I could see. Everything was okay and I had a great ride down. Wow. What a feeling! I landed safely on the ground with no problems. I remember the ground coming fast as I was floating down. Here I was flapping in the breeze, hanging on to the wing of the plane, going 80 miles an hour. What a great feeling! It was so much fun that we did it again another day.
Memories of the Leslie and Maurine Harrison Family
by Jean Harrison (wife of Virden)
July 1998
I first became acquainted with the Harrison family during my senior year in high school when Virden and I dated on a regular basis. Our first date was at the end of our junior year however, when Virden needed a date for the Star S banquet. We had been seated next to each other in our seminary class that year since both our names started with an H. Consequently, since I enjoy getting to know people we struck up some good conversations from time to time. Besides that, how could a girl sit next to a real handsome hunk of a guy like that all year and not try to get his attention. I thought he would never ask me out but finally, since he had to have a date for this banquet he had to ask someone and I was convenient. When he did ask me I really wanted to go bad and the problem was how to approach my dad who was so strict with me about dating. My dad had not let me go on numerous other occasions and I sure didn't want to muff up this one. I had to wait for a time when he was approachable. It took several days. Virden would ask each day, "Well, can you go?" I would have to reply that I didn't know yet. He was probably getting a little concerned. Finally, I could stall no longer and found the right moment to ask my dad. Well, you would think that I had just asked him if I could marry the guy. Dad wanted all his personal history, the history of his parents and all his ancestors before he would permit me to keep company with him. All I really needed to tell him was his name and who his parents were. It became apparent right away that he would qualify and would meet my dad's strict requirements. The reputation of the Harrison family was up to par so far as my dad was concerned and he told me the history of Virden's parents, and much information about his ancestors. Star Valley is a small community and everyone knows everyone. At that time it really never occurred to me that my dad would know all about Virden's family. They were a well known, respected family throughout the community and served in many areas. My dad's comment was that if he was the son of Leslie Harrison, then it was okay with him for me to go out with him. So to make the story short Virden's reputation preceded him by his family’s good name and I was permitted to go on a date with Virden and that is how it all started. I told this incident to make the point of how important it is to have a good name and a good family reputation. This family certainly was among Star Valley's finest.
When I was invited to the Harrison home I always felt very welcomed. NaDee, Darlene, Marilyn and Adele were married by then. I knew who Adele and Marilyn were from high school. Dennis, Vicki, and Karla I got to know pretty good. They all seemed to be on very good behavior, and somewhat shy. I guess it seemed kind of funny to see their brother with a girlfriend. But, maybe they were getting used to that since they already had four sisters married. I always felt comfortable around everyone. Virden's mother always had a good meal prepared if I was there at a mealtime. It was usually simple, just like I was used to at home except they would have cake for dessert. At my home that meant a special occasion of some kind, like someone's birthday or special company to dinner. I didn't think I merited being classed as special company so I just figured they had cake for dessert just because they liked to have cake. Virden's mother was a good cook and I learned a great deal from her skills as I helped out in the kitchen after Virden and I were married. I think I learned more from her than I did my own mother about cooking. Of course that could be because Virden was used to his mother's good cooking and required me to learn how she did things so he could continue enjoying the things he liked so well. My mother was a good cook too, don't get me wrong, so Virden got used to some of the things that I liked as well.
One incident I remember was an occasion when I was asked to be part of the entertainment at some community banquet. I was a senior in high school and Virden and I were dating on a regular basis. I was asked to sing from time to time at various things and this was one of those times. I noticed Virden's parents were in attendance when I arrived and went to sit by them. They did not know I was coming and I didn't know they would be there so that was a pleasant surprise. As the dinner was served I was sort of picking at mine. Virden's mother noticed I wasn't eating. I explained to her that I wasn't eating yet because I wanted to wait until after I sang. It is hard to sing on a full stomach. So she took the matter into her hands and tactfully asked the host in charge of the entertainment if I could go ahead and sing so I could enjoy the meal. I was a little embarrassed but it really didn't seem to matter to them when I did my song, so I sang and enjoyed the meal along with everyone else. This is the way she was, considerate of others and seeing things that others might not notice, and then doing something about it.
Virden has said that this characteristic was an embarrassment to his dad and to some of the family from time to time since she was outspoken by nature. Virden's dad was a very quiet personality for the most part and this sort of thing bothered him. Virden says that he can remember many times when he was embarrassed too, but probably didn't really need to be. It was probably just because of being very sensitive about any attention being drawn to them. There are times when it is okay to speak up.
Virden's mother was talented in writing and telling poems for public gatherings. She collected these and most of us have copies of the ones she enjoyed most. This love has passed on to the generations to follow. The family has a love of poetry and good literature. She enjoyed reading and encouraged her children to read which I think greatly added to their intellectual abilities as well. It is proven that children with good reading skills have a great advantage in their academic achievements. She gave this to her children and they have carried on this practice in their own families. High achievement has been the result.
I always felt like I was an important part of the family. Virden's parents made sure I felt accepted and never made me feel otherwise. We had a very positive relationship and the lines of communication were always open. I could discuss anything with them and often did when I needed advice. I learned many valuable parenting skills, and was never offended when things were pointed out to me that would help me in my dealings as a parent. I can remember when our children were young, how their grandma would always encourage them to take a nap when we were visiting. She would make it known that maybe the children didn't need a nap but that she needed them to take a nap. I can imagine how much disruption we would bring into the otherwise peaceful home with our wild little bunch. She would just usher them into the bedroom and say to them, "It's time to take a nap, okay? Say okay!" They knew it would do no good to resist, so they would say, "Okay." My children still remember that about their grandma. She always welcomed us though and never made them feel bad. She had a wonderful way about her. She did admit openly that it was good to see us come, but that it was also good to see us go. We were never offended by that and we completely understood.
Let me explain to those who may not realize it. Star Valley was where we always spent our vacations. There was nowhere on earth that could even come close to a vacation paradise for our children. They were born to fish and where can you catch more fish than in Star Valley. At least we never knew of anywhere else because we never went anywhere else. With both sets of parents living in Star Valley what better place to hang out than with them. If we noticed we had worn our welcome a little thin we would just trade off for a few days and go back and forth giving each household a little break. Sometimes when Virden was working with the Department of Agriculture in Washington, D. C. our vacations would last for a whole month. It did take several days to drive to and from Star Valley, so we didn't actually spend a whole month there, much to the relief of both sets of parents, I am sure. I do remember realizing early that with a limited budget, our parents needed us to provide the groceries we consumed so we did do that and also did much of the food preparation as well.
I remember when all the family gathered for events, like Thanksgiving for instance, that the activity centered in the kitchen for all the women. I have never seen so many pumpkin pies baked and consumed. There was such a huge crowd that it took every hand available just to prepare the food. No one ever complained about how much work it was because I don't think anyone ever noticed because to us it was just fun to all be working together doing what was needed and enjoyed by all.
When Virden completed his bachelor’s degree at the University of Wyoming in 1962 he had to go to military summer camp the following summer. He had taken the officer’s training so he could fill his military obligations as an officer instead of being drafted. My Grandmother Hood was in a nursing home in Salt Lake so we lived in her vacant house in Afton for most of that summer. Virden also worked for the forest after serving his summer commitment to the army. Following that summer he did serve for two years active duty, but that's another story. The house needed some fixing up since it had been vacant for some time. Virden's mother was right there to help us clean and paint. I always appreciated that. Leslie and Robert were just toddlers at the time. We really enjoyed that summer in Star Valley. While we were living there my grandmother died. I was by myself and kind of nervous about the whole thing so I asked Vicki if she would come and stay with me, which she did. I really felt much more at ease having someone with me those first few nights following the death of my grandmother. I don't know what I might have been concerned about. Maybe I was afraid she would not be happy about my living there. I don't remember. The rest of the family was really glad someone was living there and that it was all fixed up. They all came there after the funeral to visit with each other.
Vicki and I had become good friends that summer and had taken piano lessons together. She did great in the class and continued to learn how to play the piano through the years. I never learned how even though I have tried from time to time. Oh well, it was still fun to do that with Vicki. Karla probably helped tend the boys from time to time, but I really don't remember. She was still pretty young herself. I just remember she was such a cute little girl, and I wanted one of mine to have those big eyes and jet black curly hair.
Virden's father was a hard worker and took life very seriously. I knew he had a strong testimony and did his best to teach his children to do right. He was an excellent example of what a father should be. I have heard many stories about how he protected his family from harm of any kind and was always concerned for the welfare of everyone. I remember his advice after each of his letters that he would write for the family letters. He would always say, "Stay close to the church." It may sound simple but if we would do just that one thing with all it includes we would all be following wise counsel. My Dad was right when he figured that if I was to keep company with a son of Leslie Harrison that I would be in good hands.
There are many more things that I could relate but if this gets too long you will stop reading it anyway. Maybe you haven't gotten this far. I just hope that I have expressed my feelings about the Harrison family by relating these few memories. This family is one of the closest I have seen and compares with my own in that way. I feel as close to my husband's family as I do to my own and have felt this way for years. I think it is wonderful that the reunions have continued each year and that so many make the effort to attend and enjoy one another. I hope this tradition continues. It is very important to keep the ties strong and the love that is evident will continue for years.
July 1998
Virden Leslie Harrison is remembering The Good Old Days
I realize the following may be an unusual approach to adding some items to a memory book for the 1998 Harrison reunion. What I have done is taken an already existing document I have about some memories of my life and used it as a start. I have listed a lot of events as I thought of them on a few occasions and wrote just enough to remind me of the event. The thought behind the whole project was to provide a start for a looking-back journal. So, I have included most of it here, expecting that a few of the readers of this memory book will be interested in some fragments of my life and the light it may shed on our great parents and family. My hope is that the items listed will provide some conversation if I ever get old and someone takes pity on me enough to ask about my colorful past. For instance, after reading item v022 someone might ask me, “Well, did you get to be high school president or not?” or after reading item v012 they might wonder if the fish were greener on the “other shore.” I have elaborated on a few from the original version.
1-25-96 I started my masterpiece list of memories. The memories will be in the order I think of them (i.e. totally random).
v001 Tippy and Roanie, my dog and horse.
v003 Fishing any day at our hill and Dry Creek dam, almost always by myself.
v004 Helping Dennis catch his 1st fish below the Swift Creek dam. Dad had taken Dennis and I to fish while he went to work.
v005 Riding horses to the Dry Creek lakes with 3 or 4 friends.
v006 Shooting BB's with Jerry Lee Roberts' gun to see if dust was settled.
v007 Shooting my 22 rifle any day. I got it on my 8th birthday. I was always asking dad to bring home some more 22 shells. I still have that rifle but it has a broken firing pin. I wore it out I guess.
v008 Hitting can with stick to and from junkyard.
v009 Riding bike up the canyon to go down the steep hill by Anglesey's.
v010 Hanging around the mouth of canyon afraid of Leonard Anglesey.
v010a Climbing our mountain to the cliffs several times while I was young. Later, after Jack had done it, so I knew it could be done, I climbed to the top of the mountain and gazed in awe at the valley.
v011 Hiking along the base of the mountain to spy on Carol Allred.
v012 Rowing across the Snake River in a rubber raft with Dad and Essie Bassett to catch fish on the other shore. I thought we were going to drown for sure.
v013 Always enjoyed watching uncle Ammon Bassett smoke and tell stories about hunting and fishing. Likely, if he didn't smoke all the time I would have been allowed to spend more time with him. Uncle Ammon was probably the worlds greatest mountain man.
v014 Deer hunting experiences. I went deer and elk hunting several times with Dad. I don't remember ever shooting anything with Dad present. But it was always exciting to hunt. I got a few one day when Jack and I went up the hill above Bassetts’.
v015 Growing up with Terry Allred, Brent Allred, Keith Leavitt, Joe Erickson, Lavar Olson, Harl Bassett, Deland Lainhart, Jerry Lee Roberts, Gaye Erickson, LaRae Bassett, Vatia Lainhart, Florence Anglesey, Larry Olson, Les and Clyde Gomm, Gerald Thomas.
v015a I was in love with Gaye Erickson all through grade school. But she got pregnant at about age 14 or 15 and married some guy from Fairview. Then I fell for Carol Allred until she got pregnant about the same age and married some guy. I never saw these girls again after they got married. Sweet country girls.... Pretty vulnerable, I guess. (By the way, I didn't do it.)
v015b I had a lot of cousins near my age that I enjoyed—Harl Bassett, Keith Leavitt, Deloyd Hillstead, Gaylen Hoopes, Orval Harrison. I got to go over to Hillsteads’ once in a while and ride a horse up Spring Creek fishing with Deloyd. I spent a lot of time hitting balls back and forth across the field with Keith and playing "rubbers" (inner tube type) around the buildings. Keith, Orval, and I shared a room my first year at college at Laramie. Gaylen and his brother Lael were in Laramie too. We all stuck it out and graduated, I think. Of course, NaDee and Darlene had been there at Laramie; they found Jack and Chuck and left before I arrived. Dennis, Vicki, and Karla went there later, after I left.
v016 1st to 3rd grade teacher was aunt Merettie Leavitt. Other teachers included
Eldon Erickson and Doug Barrus (substitute and undertaker, best elementary teacher I had). In high school, Gayle Haderlie taught me Vo Ag and FFA all 4 years; Miss Linthicum (Lick-um-thumb) on typing; Mrs. Mallory found out I could learn poems; Robert Litchfield and Alda Gardner, seminary. My basketball coaches were Vern Gardner and Reed Gunnell.
v017 Church teachers Leora Roberts, Audrey Lainhart, Clayton Longhurst and scouts (He had no muffler on his car.). Seems like Leath Henderson or Mom were always teaching gospel doctrine and Merettie playing the piano. I vaguely remember the old chapel where we pulled curtains to divide the classes. We helped build the new chapel. Both those buildings and the school have been desecrated now in favor of progress and growth.
v018 Scout camp on Bear Lake with Deland, Harl, and canoeing. Those guys never got along very well.
v019 Afraid of bullies, grade school and high school-Gerald Thomas, Brent Allred, and Fred "Pecker" Wright. They caused me an enormous amount of misery and stress all my growing-up years. Mom would always embarrass me by telling those kids to leave me alone. Then they would bother me more. Stupid bullies.
v020 FFA president, State dairy judging champions (with cousin Gaylen), won trip to Waterloo, IA. Mom made sure our achievements were chronicled in the Star Valley Independent. I think our parents were pretty proud of us most of the time. All the time, in fact.
v021 FFA projects: chickens a couple years, 4 sows with 12 pigs each my senior year. Sold the weaner pigs to Gray Hillstead for $15 each and had enough money ($600) to think about marrying Jean, which I did.
v021a I was chosen for Boys State at Worland. Awarded plane ride back but bad weather prevented the flight. Darn!
v022 Ran for high school class president 1957. I didn't really want to be president, but Gale Haderlie made me run to get Vo Ag recognition.
v023 Public speaking contest at SVHS. I came in 2nd. That same day I had severe back pain and went to my 1st chiropractor, 1957.
v023 "Stomach" pain when Jean came for Thanksgiving 1958 before we were married (It was hormones.) Dad took me to Dr. Worthen. They probably had a good chuckle, though they never let on.
v024 Won tractor driving contest at Lincoln County Fair, received a trophy.
v025 Mother sent food to keep us alive while going to college in Laramie. We always had a few bottles of fruit to take back, for which we were grateful.
v026 Growing-up meals: Germade, or Oats-and-Wheat with straight cream and sugar. We always had homemade bread (I insisted that Jean learn Mom's recipe). After-school snacks were usually bread, thick with butter and sugar (or syrup); or sometimes bread, cream and sugar (uhmmm). Cornflakes a rare treat. Plenty of deer, pork, beef, chicken and eggs. And milk, lots of bread and milk, as you would expect on a dairy farm.
v027 Dad went seining and came back with a couple washtubs of whitefish.
v029 Worked a year at University of Wyoming beef experiment farm. Lived at the site with Jean and 2 kids until May 1962 when I graduated. Neil Frye, foreman (I didn't like him either).
v030 Trip to Ogden with mother to deliver lumber 1956 or 57 and back home with bruised peaches from the bouncy empty truck (She canned a lot of peach jam that year.)
v031 Kicked around that summer with Phil, a year younger than I who had been sent to his relatives (O'Keefes) to keep him out of trouble with the girls. We double-dated several times. I dated Anna Vee Garrett and he dated (?) (I don't think his date got pregnant). He was a bit of a bad influence, probably. At least my parents thought so.
v032 Watching the clouds slide over the east mountain made it look as if the mountain was falling over on top of us. I would sit for long periods making believe.
v033 Dad said if the storm came down spring creek it would hit our property. And it did.
v038 Started my journal because of my parent's journals and because the stake president in ward conference asked us to do so (July 21, 1996)
v040 In early 1991, I spent a few days at Dennis & Martha's being "hypnotherapized".
v040a In my high school years, one day near evening I was out plowing a field with the tractor when two things happened. One, the biggest full moon came over the mountain I had ever seen. Two, I saw a bright meteor in the west which looked like it landed about a mile away in a field. I went looking for it the next day but never found it. We later heard that one had landed several hundred miles west of us that evening. It sure looked closer.
v041 Jobs on the farm.
Milking cows by hand with and without Darlene and Marilyn. When they left home, we got a milking machine.
Going out in the field after the cows in the evenings and mostly trying to get the milking done before Dad got home from work at Calls Hardware (Hastings).
Irrigating all summer. Carrying dams around, sometimes on horseback. I sure did learn to like the rain.
Helping with all aspects of haying using horses and haystacks in the early days, then with tractor and bales.
Fixing fence was needed somewhere all the time. One day Dad and I were out at the hill driving along the fence line with the tractor pulling a wagon. Dad was driving and ran over a nail in both left tires on the trailer. You could hear the air hissing out of the tires even above the tractor noise. He sure showed his frustration.
Chopping and bring in wood. I had to be diligent or Mom would have to do it (which happened too many times).
Gather the eggs, feed the chickens, feed the pigs, feed the calves, carry the
milk cans to the trough at the road usually with someone on the other side of
the can.
Catch the bus to go to school.
v042 Other jobs in my colorful career, in order:
Hay stacker for Reed Gardner, one season. Hard work.
Call Air airplane parts maker, one summer. I never did learn to weld very well.
Sawmill for Wilford Fluckiger (Sometimes with Duane), one summer.
Custodian at office building (fired after about 3 weeks) in Laramie.
Custodian at AT&T (Laramie), 1 year or so.
Army ROTC supply clerk, 2 years.
Salesman Laramie Memorial Gardens, 3-4 months until boss went to jail.
U. of Wyo. Beef farm assistant herdsman, until I graduated.
U.S. Forest service, summer 1962.
Statistical clerk for Dr. Delwin M. Stevens and Gordon Kearl 2 or 3 mo.
US Army, 2 years, Ordnance Supply officer, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland; and Ft. Riley, Kansas.
Oregon State Univ. graduate student assistantship, 2 years.
Purdue Univ. USDA, student trainee appointment, 3 years.
Agricultural Economist:
Washington, D. C. 1969 to 1975.
Farm Management with Don Bostwick, 2 yrs.
Agricultural Finance with Fred Woods and John Lee, 2 yrs.
Agricultural Projections with Leroy Quance, 2 yrs.
Clay Center, Nebraska, 1975 to 1982. Consultant to animal scientists.
Regional Representative ERS, USDA, Livestock Anylist with Kerry Gee, Roy Van Arsdall, Henry Gilliam.
Joint Appointment with U. of Nebr., Lincoln. Research with ?
Commodity Broker, Oakland, IA with Phil Bane, Pioneer Commodities, July 1982 to Feb 1984. Bane's office went broke and the bank failed soon after I left. Commodity broker and stock broker with EF Hutton, Modesto, CA with Bill
Vieira, Randy Cook (Years later, Jean had Caitlyn, Randy's daughter in her daycare), and Greg "Nobody" (I got no support out of him.) for 9 months. Passed test for securities license and surprised everyone, but nobody made a big deal of it. I wasn't a very good broker and quit just before they were about to let me go.
Author, free lance, on commodity futures trading (31 articles sold).
Economics Instructor, Modesto Jr. College, Oct. 1984 to present
Project advertising Agribusiness program at Stan. State to 13 High Schools.
Agribusiness Instructor, Cal State Univ. Stanislaus, Feb. 1985 thru May 1987. Economics Instructor, Cal. State Univ Stanislaus at Turiock, Sept 1988 to present Economics Instructor, Merced College, one semester - Spring 1993.
Groundskeeper, LDS Church, Sylvan and Dale buildings, 1985-93. Groundskeeper, LDS Church, Kimball Recreation Center, 1989-93.
Full-time groundskeeper, then custodian, LDS Church 1993 till fired Dec. 20, 1995.
Runner for LeAnn's Employment Network of California for a few weeks.
Family Reunion, August, 1998
Adele's Story
I used to spend hours on nice spring days walking out in the field in the rocky areas and picking wild flowers. There were yellow Buttercups, blue Larkspurs, pink Chicken-heads, white Sego Lilies, white Sweet Williams, the rare Blue Bells, red Indian Paint Brush, and many others I have forgotten.
Sometimes when we were out by the hill, we would find some wild strawberries and after we picked and picked for several minutes, we might have enough to have a good taste, but we always shared them with whoever was with us so we ended up having one or two berries, but still felt we had had a real treat.
I remember riding our horse, Grace. I was about 12 years old when we got her and I just loved to saddle her and ride out in the field and go into the pasture just east of Merrettie's house and ride as fast as I could and jump over all the ditches. Grace was a racehorse before we got her and she loved to go fast. I think she was partial to me riding her and when I moved away she developed a limp so bad that she could hardly walk when she saw someone coming out to catch her. I think she was missing me! She would lots rather run free with a skinny young girl than just walk out in the field with a man with canvas dams on her back.
Catching Babe, our workhorse, was a really fun adventure for me; in fact, for all of us. When we would go out to catch her for the first time in the spring, she would jump over any fence unless all the family got together and went out and cornered her. She then allowed Daddy to go up to her and put a rope on her neck. Babe was a worker! When she pulled the wagon with Tony who was a smaller, weaker horse, she would purposefully keep half a pace in head, just showing that she was the bigger, stronger horse. It actually made her carry more of the load that way, but that didn't matter to her. Later we got a big black horse that was actually a little taller than Babe and they had some fun competition.
Sometimes in the winter we would tie a rope on the back of the car and hook our sleds behind it and Daddy would pull us in the bar-pit or down the canyon lane. I just thoroughly enjoyed that. Virden even skied behind the car holding on to the rope, much like waterskiing behind a boat. Sometimes in the afternoon when we got home from school we would hitch up the horses to the wagon that was on runners instead of wheels and go out to get a load of hay for the cows and one of the older ones would ski behind the horses. I can't imagine that we were going very fast with the old work plugs in the deep snow, but it must have been fun.
As long as I remember, Daddy was on the school board and had a free ticket to all the high school basketball games so we saw lots of games. First we used to go to the building that was the Afton grade school, then they built the new high school and it had a really nice gym. We used to really enjoy the games there and my favorite part was watching the cheerleaders. They seemed so grown up and neat. It was really interesting when I got that age and the people seemed so much younger.
Daddy would let me sit on his lap while he was riding on the farm machinery. He must have had a lot of patience with us. I used to love to go with him on the mower and I loved to watch the blades saw back and forth and watch the alfalfa fall in a neat row. Daddy told me later that I was good for about one turn around the field then I would fall asleep and he would carry me home and go on with the mowing. I remember riding the dump rake just behind the forks and riding the buck rake and the side-delivery rake on his lap, too. All those were with the horses pulling, then later when we got the tractor, I was too big to sit on his lap and would sit on the fender over the big tires. I didn't like that as much and it seemed pretty dangerous. In thinking back, I think that I had complete trust in Daddy and as long as I was sitting on his lap, I didn't worry about a thing.
Sometimes on Sunday afternoons we would take a ride in the car and go over the tickle-bellies on a road in Smoot. It would be really fun and I never got tired of going on it. When we headed for home as we got close to the house, we would push really hard on the back of the front seat in an effort to push the car past the house so we could go on to town and buy some ice cream. It always worked too!
We always had family prayers every morning kneeling around the table before breakfast and invited anyone visiting to join us. We all took turns giving the prayer and I really liked the fact that we prayed for all of the ones who had moved away and I knew that they would pray for me when I was gone too. We also had a family prayer before setting out on a trip. That gave me a really good, safe feeling.
I used to love to watch Mama cook and sew. I really learned a lot about cooking and sewing by just watching her all the time. She let me be on the opposite side of the sewing machine so that I could have a good view of all she was doing. She could get that treadle sewing machine really humming! When she got ready to make me a dress, I would look in the catalog and find a dress I liked and she would take one of my dresses and use it as a pattern and lay it on the material and make the trimming like in the catalog. I don't remember her ever buying a pattern for my dresses when I was small. I still remember a dress I had when I was in the first grade that had a full-circle skirt. I thought that it was the best dress I ever had. I could twirl and it would go straight out.
Mama was a really good cook and I spent many hours watching her knead bread and make cinnamon rolls or cookies, sometimes using left-over mush or preserves and they were good cookies. She always used cream in the recipes instead of shortening like most recipes have. She was a good one for using everything on hand and not wasting anything.
I used to love to eat hot bread as soon as it came right out of the oven with good old homemade butter. I remember eating bread with butter and sugar on it or cream and sugar on it. It must have had a thousand calories!
I remember times when Mama and all of us kids would go out and weed the garden. It didn't seem like work when we were all out there and we could work for hours. It was a lot more boring when I had to go out there all by myself. We grew peas, carrots, lettuce, Swiss chard, potatoes, onions, radishes, and turnips. The growing season was too short to grow most other things.
One winter when I was about 6 years old we had an exceptionally heavy snowfall. The snow was up to the top of the fences and Daddy put a fence on top of the fence to keep the cows in. We had fun playing in the snow and dug down and built a snow fort in the area where the garden was. We would play outside until we got cold then come in and sit close to the big round coal stove in the living room and warm up our feet.
I remember when Dennis started growing faster than I was and his feet got just the same size as mine. We would sit on the cot in the dining room opposite each other and measure our feet until his got bigger than mine.
I remember when Vicki and Karla were born and I just loved playing with them and taking care of them. I probably did more playing with Vicki than taking care of her, but I remember that I would take care of Karla a lot and I changed many a diaper of hers. She was a happy baby and cooperated really well. We all watched out for each other and when one of us got hurt we all felt bad.
I remember the long summer evenings when we would play hide-and-go-seek with the neighbor kids. My favorite game was work-up, where we would play softball with someone in each position and 2 or 3 people as batters. When a batter got out, they would go out to right field and all the players would work up to the next position. All ages could play and really have fun. The older ones were able to stay at bat the longest, but even the youngest could play all the positions, even pitcher.
I guess we all had hundreds of turns of going out in the field and getting the cows and driving them home to be milked. They would always follow the same narrow trail coming home and wear it down several inches.
I remember going out in the field and having home evening sometimes by the birch tree that had a branch shaped like a chair. We would sit on the branch and swing up and down. We carried our supper out there and had a bonfire.
I am glad that I had the opportunity to grow up on a farm with the parents I had and with 5 sisters and 2 brothers. I am so glad that we all get along so well and really enjoy seeing each other and keep in touch all year long. I am interested in what is happening in each of their lives and the lives of their children and grandchildren. What a heritage I have! I am glad to be part of this family!
Adele Harrison Prudent Cook
Memories of Vicki Harrison Cutler's Childhood
NaDee:
My first memory of NaDee is her marching in a parade in Afton with white boots and a tall white hat and a cute little white dress with gold trim. She carried the American flag, and I remember being so proud that that girl was my sister. The next memory is when some boy from Montpelier or somewhere came to call on her and I think he brought a music box. Someone also gave her a very fancy Spanish doll that was beautiful. It was so romantic. NaDee always treated me like I was so special and I loved the attention she gave me. She would call me "Vickadee doo dah". I still remember how that thrilled me. NaDee worked at the soda fountain in Afton and I remember going in there and sitting on a stool that spun around and having a float. When she brought Jack home and they got married it was pretty exciting. They always did such a lot of fun things when they came. The first time I remember swimming was at Lava Hot Springs and I think NaDee and Jack took us there. Somebody —either Karla or Jacque swam in their diaper. And the books he brought for all of us to read opened up worlds to us.
Darlene:
I remember Darlene milking cows or working in the field. She was practical and energetic and right on top of her duties. She had a mechanical knack and could fix clocks so they ran backwards. She liked to have fun, too. Once she and Marilyn got beautiful taffeta dresses to wear to a dance and I remember them all dressed up and how pretty I thought they were—like princesses. I remember that Darlene worked at the bank in Afton and once it got robbed. She had to be questioned along with the other employees. When Darlene came home from college she taught us some fun songs—"I'm a Villain", "Don't Send my Boy to Utah," etc. It was such a delight to learn all about the fun they had at college. It really made me want to go too when I grew up. I remember her telling us with great disgust about when a bunch of her friends held her down and shaved her legs. One summer a non-Mormon boy came to visit her named Keith Yeager. We were quite suspicious of him, but could he play the organ! Mama said that he made sounds come out of the organ at church that nobody had ever made before. But when Darlene brought Chuck home, it was much better. We liked him right away because he played games with us. There was no end to the mechanical things Chuck could fix. Plus, he could play a trumpet. One time all of us lined up behind him and he played "76 Trombones" while we marched around the yard. We were always a little in awe of Chuck because he had fought in an actual war.
Marilyn:
My earliest memory of Marilyn is of the two of us kneeling on the couch looking out the front room windows at night watching a huge beacon flash across the sky. The occasion was a sale of some kind in town and Mama and Daddy had gone to it. Everyone was in bed but me and she let me watch the sky with her. When they came home they had bought me the most wonderful pair of sandals there ever was. I remember when we were having a Mutual party at our house. It was a San Francisco supper where you eat spaghetti with unusual things out of unusual dishes—somebody was eating with an egg beater out of Mama's big blue canning kettle. It was hilarious to watch people struggle to eat. During the evening, Duane came to the door and wanted to talk to Marilyn. Somehow a fight got started and the other guy—I think it was Lavell Shumway—came in kind of roughed up. Mama was pretty mad at Duane. I never did know what it was about. Marilyn was always milking cows and working in the field. I'm not sure if I remember or if I have just heard her tell about hanging onto the chain in a bull's nose and running behind him all the way from Fairview. I remember one day Duane's parents came to visit Mama and Daddy and they made all of us leave the house. Then pretty soon Marilyn and Duane were married. My best memories of Marilyn came after she was married. I remember going up to their apartment in Afton and watching her sew me the cutest skirt. I was so proud of it. When Karen was born and they moved away, we got to go visit them often. One summer they lived in Soda Springs and Adele and I went to stay with them and tend Karen while they both had jobs. I came home for my baptism on June 1 so I must not have stayed very long—about a week or two. Then they moved to Utah so we went there often. It was always such an occasion. We'd get up at 3 in the morning and sometimes come back the same day. The first time we went, Marilyn and Duane and Karen were living in a teeny tiny trailer. I thought it was pretty neat, but I know Mama and Daddy were so worried about them. The next trip they lived in an apartment in the avenues on a tree-lined street like we had never seen before. When Sherry was born, it was April and school was going on, but Mama let me go with her and Karla to help with the new baby. Marilyn and Duane did the most amazing things. They ran a gas station once. I remember going to watch fireworks at Liberty Park and Duane let us all have a pop from his station. It wasn't long before they were prosperous and bought a boat and camper and even went to Disneyland. When they started their pre-hung door business, Marilyn actually learned to run all the machinery and did the bookkeeping. I stayed with them one summer when I was 12 and helped tend the kids.
Virden:
My first memories of Virden are the wonderful concoctions he made in the big black wood stove. He would beat egg whites and add sugar and bake them. Then he would beat soap flakes until they looked like whipped cream and call them an exotic name like "Specees" and feed them to his gullible little sister. Was I the only one dumb enough to eat them? Virden could actually jump over a fence—not climb through or go through the gate, but just jump right over. I remember he joined the track team and practiced pole vaulting one year. He was on the high school basketball team and it was thrilling when he got to play. It sticks in my mind, though, that in the school newspaper he was interviewed once and they asked him what position he played. His answer was "Bench Warmer". I always thought that was so unfair because he was such a good player. The year that we all went to California to visit the Davidson's at Christmas, Virden had to stay home because if he missed any practices he couldn't be on the team. Plus, I'm sure SOMEBODY had to be there to milk the cows and take care of the animals. That must have been a lonely Christmas for him. But I'm sure he went to Jean's and spent the holiday with her family. It was so fun to have a brother with a steady girlfriend. I was so amazed with her talents, too. She was in the school musicals and could sing so HIGH. Virden built a trailer in shop at school. It was such a nice trailer and we were so proud of it. He also raised pigs for an FFA project. It was so fun to go out and watch all the baby pigs and see those huge sows with all the spigots and the babies piled on top of each other. Sometimes there would be 14 piglets and only 12 spigots so we would have a baby or two in the house. One of my favorite things about Virden was his very unusual talent of making new words. Like "Peeveeodelady Hinkle Yinkle Yer". I think that was his name for the Peavler kid across the street. There was a story about somebody running around in a circle until they made a deep trench in the ground and another one about being beat down and then beat back up again. I was the obnoxious little sister who was fun to tease so I spent half my life being mad at Virden. It made things a lot better when he got such a nice wife. He improved a lot then!
Adele:
Adele was the one I thought was so beautiful. Even Daddy bragged to other people about how pretty she was. Mostly she was thinking about either her hair or her clothes. She had black curly hair that people would die for and she kept it short and combed to one side. Mama tried to get her to grow it out a little in vain. I remember the big flap that happened when Adele went to town and bought a pair of LEVI'S with her own money and actually put them on! Well! Those got hustled back to the store in a quick hurry. She had rheumatic fever when she was little and had to go get shots for a long time and then take penicillin for years. We all worried about her heart murmur so she didn't have to work in the field or milk cows except to drive the tractor to haul bales. . Luckily, she had nice strong brothers on both sides of her. She sure could ride a horse, though. She got so good that Mama let her go up the canyon with some of her friends on horses. Adele and I and either Marilyn or Darlene or Karla had to share a bed. She always had pain in her legs and would make us lay perfectly still and not move a muscle until she got to sleep. Adele built the best playhouse in an old trailer parked in the yard. She put up shelves and stocked them with real food like crackers and sugar mixed with cocoa powder. We all had hideouts in the field. I thought Adele's was the best. It was a big bush that had split and left a gap in between. 1 was 10 when she got married and I got to inherit her hideout. My old one was under a spreading birch tree where a whole room could be built for playing house. I remember the night Adele came home from a date and woke me up to show me her engagement ring. It had rubies and was beautiful! The best thing about Adele getting married was that we got to listen to Vena Swenson talk a lot. She was the most interesting person and I could listen to her for hours. And we got to watch Noel jump out of airplanes and tumble through the air before his chute opened. What a thrill!
Dennis:
Dennis was the most aggravating brother in the world. He would snatch the apricot pits I was trying to crack out from under the hammer and I would be left to pound the cement. It was SO frustrating, but one time he was a little slow—or I was extra fast—because I got his finger instead of the cement. He hollered and ran in the house and hopped up and down in pain and ran some more and hopped some more. It would have been funny if I hadn't been feeling so awful for hurting him. But he deserved it! My favorite memory of Dennis is sitting with him in the open top end of the granary building and looking at the hill and discussing the deep philosophies of the world. Dennis was always wondering about things and teaching me things. He's the one that said it was stealing to sneak candy out of the cabinet. One of our chores was to bring wood in from the woodpile and fill the woodbox. Only Dennis would forget and it seemed like I would end up doing most of it. Once Mama sent us out to get a load of wood and he had me pile his arms full. When I thought he had enough, he said to keep adding more. I added so much it was up to his head and he said to put one on his head. I'll never forget the self-righteous look on his face when he walked carefully in the house with that huge load of wood. Nobody could fault him now! Dennis was always working in the field or with the cows. He was so strong and could lift those heavy bales all by himself. Once he caught a white weasel in a trap and I had to help him skin it on top of the coal hopper in the basement. It stunk SO bad. Sometimes there was a bounty on magpie eggs and I remember him getting sackfuls of them. It must have been VERY hard to get them because you had to climb right to the top of the trees to get to the nests. It was so fun when Dennis went on a mission and got to go clear back east to Illinois and Wisconsin. He never was interested in girls until college and then I had to listen for hours to his rating system where he evaluated each girl on her physical and character attributes. I was pretty excited when he started dating Michele who was a friend of mine. Also I got to help teach her the missionary discussions. We were pretty close to them while we were in college.
Karla:
Karla was my best friend. When we were little, we must have picked on her a lot because she was always crying so we teased her even more. We'd say "Too too bawee, are you bawling again?" She'd get so mad. When I'd beat up on her she let out a yell and say "My breathe! My breathe!" and I'd have to let her up. She was always following me everywhere, but I soon learned she was indispensable to my happiness. It was so fun to have a sister to play with. We'd dress up the cats in doll clothes and build playhouses behind the garage. Sometimes we'd take an egg from the chicken coop and make mud pies with real eggs. We'd climb haystacks and jump off Swensons’shed. We'd play dolls and marbles and jacks. We would gather eggs in the top of the granary and drop them down into the barley that was stored there. Then we would jump down after them and sink to our waists and wade out. We spent a lot of time out in the field playing in our hideouts or crushing rocks into different colors of dirt. In the winter we'd go sledding all the way out to the hill. In the summer we'd pick wild strawberries out on the hill and service berries and currants. It was always such an adventure and Mama didn't seem to worry about us as long as we were together. Sometimes we would go out into the barley field and crush down big areas of it to make rooms and play house there. Once we took the 22 rifle and shot some magpies. Only we just wounded them and had to bludgeon them to death with sticks. It was awful! We never did THAT again. We would wade in the ice cold ditch across the street or out in the irrigation ditches. We would pick our dresses full of buttercups and Mayflowers in the spring. It didn't seem like we were much use to anybody, but we sure had fun. We shared a room and weren't very tidy. We would take off our clothes and throw them on top of the chest of drawers. When the pile got high enough, Mama would make us clean it off. We got very adept at dressing inside our nightgowns or ducked down behind the bed because our room had 2 doors that were always open. There was no privacy except the bathroom and you couldn't stay long in there because someone always needed to use it. Karla and I would drag a mattress outside and sleep under the stars. The vastness of it all would scare me and I'd have to sleep inside. Karla was so disgusted with me.
Memories of the Family
In the winter there would be lots of time to play games. Marbles was one of my favorites. Mama would let us draw chalk circles on the linoleum and we'd play for hours. Mostly she wouldn't let us play keepsies, though, because the young ones (me and Karla) would always lose all our marbles. Another fun thing was playing jacks. We got so good at those. We could do all the way to twelvesies without missing and then we could do "pigs in the pen" and "sheep over the fence" and "around the world". And NaDee taught us the proper way to sit to play jacks. One leg was in front with the foot against the opposite knee and the other leg was off to the side behind. We had lots of fun playing Authors and Old Maid and Rummy.
When I was really little, all the girls slept in the big bedroom with two full sized beds in there. NaDee, Darlene, Marilyn, Adele and I would sleep there. Sometimes we would drape a quilt between the beds like a hammock and some would sit on the edges while one of us would roll to the center. It was so much fun, but we tore lots of quilts. I remember that I was always afraid of feathers in that room. I called them "Sivies". Where did the boys sleep?
We went over to Grandma Harrison's quite often. She had the most fun house with sliding doors and canaries and no closets. It was fun to play with Ernest but I never did get able to understand what he said. I think the first time I realized that Daddy loved me was during a game we played with Ernest where he would chase us. Daddy would save us and say, "Don't get my little girl!" I loved that game because Daddy would hug me. I loved the big bush of yellow roses by her side window.
We always had a big garden at home and grew the best peas. We would eat them by the gallons and never get to can any except one bottle Mama would do for the fair. She would do one bottle of peas and carrots mixed and a carrot bottle and even buy string beans and can one bottle. She didn't waste time on vegetables because they took 2 or 3 hours to process. But we sure did a lot of fruit. Peaches and pears and cherries and sometimes even raspberries, delight of all delights. She would make the best strawberry jam with whole berries and jellies that were so clear and pretty. She took such pride in walking off with more ribbons than anyone else at the fair for her canned things. Then of course, she would make bread and cakes and cookies and pies and jelly rolls for the fair. She was so good at improvising that she could fool the judge by using a cake mix for the cakes and adding a few of her own touches—like cream and a little more flour. I wish I had written down her recipes. And nobody could make candy like she could.
I remember worrying so much how I was going to handle growing up because I would have to do what Mama did every day. She would get up before anybody else and start the fire in the wood stove. Sometimes she even had to go out and chop the wood before she could start the fire. Then while it was getting warm, she would go out and skim the cream off the milk cans and bring in the day’s supply of milk. Then she would start breakfast. We always had mush and fried eggs and sometimes biscuits or milk toast or sausage gravy and toast. Sometimes she would go out and bring in the cows too. Then she'd get us all off to school and spend the day quilting or cooking or making a meal for someone else. Daddy always came home for dinner at noon and had a few minutes for a nap. Mama would leave the food on the table so we could eat the leftovers when we got home from school. That way, we were supposed to do the dishes, too, I suppose. For supper we would have homemade bread and milk and dark Karo syrup sometimes. That was our favorite. Sometimes in the winter we would have hot cocoa poured over toast in a pie tin. Oh that was good. We always had plenty of bread. She baked many loaves a week in big black dripper pans - 4 to a pan. Hot bread with honey or jam! No wonder some of us are so “Healthy.”
I have always wished since I left home that I could live in such a close-knit community that the Osmond Ward was. Everyone was our friend and had our best interests at heart. Everyone knew all about everyone else's life and our lives revolved around the activities at church. We all cheered the achievements of others and felt bad about their trials. We all worked together on the ward farm or building the addition to the church house. Everybody had a special talent. Remember Jim Gomm's big voice and Ruth Swenson's ability to play any song by ear? I have discovered that we were pretty narrow-minded and prejudiced then, especially about people who were different—meaning they weren't members of the church or didn't live their religion.
Remember our family reading the Book of Mormon together? Or the Swiss Family Robinson or the Gabriel Horn? We spent such pleasant nights after the chores and supper were over reading or playing games. Daddy had lots of meetings to go to but he was there enough to teach us about integrity and dependability and honesty. He would sign all those milk checks until his hand ached. He was on the boards for the new high school and the new creamery, I think. He had a lot to do with the addition to the church. I remember when Joseph Fielding Smith came to dedicate the church and how Daddy worried that he didn't like the huge mural on the front wall. I always loved that painting.
Mama was in the PTA and the DUP and the MIA and had all kinds of big callings. She was so overwhelmed when she was called to be the Relief Society president, but she was more than equal to the tasks. The fair booths and the Pioneer breakfasts and all the other fund-raising things she had to do to keep that organization afloat brought out some talents she didn't know she had. She learned to do catering and made some money on her own for that ability. She could feed a huge group of people delicious food on less money than anybody I know.
In all of Daddy's callings and work and activities, he never seemed to be unsure of himself or his decisions, but Mama was always very insecure. She continually surprised herself with her abilities. She was so flattered to be given the chance to work with Dad cleaning the Power and Light. And whatever she did turned out so well, from quilting for people to writing poems to tending kids to winning blue ribbons at the fair. She had so much to be proud of, but never lost her humility.
I always felt that Mama and Daddy were proud of me. I got to sing a lot in school and church and funerals and programs. I was in plays at school and church and they were always there to watch me. I never wanted to do anything that would make them feel bad or be ashamed of me.
Mamma's Quotes
by Karla Harrison
Mamma was a woman of many words. Some of those words have faded over the years, but many of her sayings and quotations are engraved on my memory.
There were popular quotes (I thought she originated them until I kept hearing them from other people). Some were, "Beggars can't be choosers," "Many hands make light work," and "If you can't bring Mohammed to the mountain, bring the mountain to Mohammed." (Vicki and I have a disagreement on how this one goes, but this is how I remember it and it's my story.) Some quotes I've never heard before or since, such as "Pigs get sick riding backwards." I still don't understand that one, but every time I ride backwards in a train, I worry a little.
When I was a young girl bemoaning my big feet, Mamma would say, "They don't build a foundation under an outhouse." Her empathetic, understanding tone of voice just naturally made me feel better. It wasn't until I was nearing adulthood that I finally asked her what it meant. It seems that the more valuable you are, the bigger "foundation" you will have. Another observation came when it started raining while the sun was shining. She would brush it off with, "A sunshiny shower doesn't last half an hour."
Sometimes her quotes backfired from their intended meaning. When I complained about my short fingernails, she would repeat to me what her aunt had told her, "If a girl has long fingernails, she's not working hard enough." I'm sure she meant to imply what a good worker I was, but mostly it made me think I was working way too hard.
Many quotes were actually principles she lived by. As a young woman during the depression, she was promised that if she wasn't wasteful, she would always have the means to provide for her family. She took that counsel literally and made oatmeal cake from leftover mush, children’s clothing from adult hand-me-downs, and never - ever - threw away a towel. During the rationing of the early 30's, she would stow away scraps of red crepe paper, to dab on wet lips when she ran out of lipstick. "Waste Not - Want Not" was her mantra. However, her all-purpose, all-encompassing, good rule to live by was, "Use your head."
There were a few short phrases that contained admonishments worthy of a whole lecture, but as short sayings, were much easier to swallow. "If you don't have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?" got the point across to all eight of her children. In the mornings, she could stand it only so long before she would holler into our rooms, "Get up. The day's a-wasting!"
When we cleaned, mopped, or shined and weren't making much progress, she would admonish, "Put a little elbow grease into it." Once when a friend asked me how I got my bathtub so shiny, I replied, "I used a little elbow grease." I think for a minute she thought I had actually spread grease on the tub.
After each gift or act of generosity someone gave to me as a child, she would always ask, "Did you tell them thank you?" She would have been proud if she had seen me thank a policeman when he handed me a speeding ticket.
I have quoted some of these maxims so often that a friend is saying them now. "Those convinced against their will are of the same opinion still" is being stored up by him to use after one of his boss's long tirades.
A few of Mamma's sayings were tongue in cheek. When she was washing dishes and I was drying them and I passed dishes back to her because of remaining food scraps, she would say, "It's a poor dish wiper who can't wipe the dishes at least half clean."
I mostly took it for granted that her sayings were true. I didn't know whether or not to believe "Part Strengthens Part", but just in case it was true, I made sure to eat my share of chicken breasts. "Smoke Follows Beauty" was easy to believe when the campfire smoke was coming my way, but I have seen some u-u-u-ugly people standing in smoke, so I don't know...
Mamma was unorthodox in the way she did some things. If someone questioned her methods, she would simply reply, "Poor people have poor ways." It was not so much an apology, as a statement of fact, and the subject was dropped.
She could also create interesting mind pictures. A visualization of exceptional speed was described by saying that something happened "faster than you can shake a stick at it." A slightly different version described quantity as being "more than you can shake a stick at." However, my favorite word picture is, "You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear."
When I quote these tidbits, it not only gives the other person pause, but it brings me a little closer to Mamma. Like she did, I use them frequently to argue a point. It's especially entertaining when I'm talking to someone who hasn't grown up with homespun wisdom, and is a little taken aback. I frequently catch myself saying, "My mother always said..." and then enriching people's lives with the common sense quotes I grew up with. I'm sure they walk away a little bit wiser, if not more confused.
The Inheritance
by Karla Harrison
The money they left us wasn't much,
Split eight ways, we each got our share.
They'd worked all their lives on that small rocky farm
For something to leave their heirs.
But what's an inheritance to folks like us
Who never had much at the start?
The possessions we valued most of all
Were the gifts of the mind and the heart.
One of those gifts was the love of work,
Shoulder to shoulder on the land.
The ties that bound us together
Were baling twine, reins, and our hands.
The jobs we did were according to age,
At ten, I drove the hayrack.
At fifteen, I could help the men
Throw bales on top of the stack.
Whether fencing or herding or mowing,
We rarely were ever alone.
There was always a parent or sibling
To help get the chores all done.
Now when I have a big job to do,
And I'm tackling it on my own,
I wish I was back on the family farm
Working next to my own flesh and bone.