Barbara C Hoag.com

Life at home was a little strained for a time but Frank did get a job working days at a company the manufactured Garage Doors. It was very nice to get back into a more normal family life. He spent more time at home and was more of a help with the kids. We were able to do more stuff together.

We went to the boat races on Lake Washington with Kay and Dave. We had cook outs together and played hearts in the evenings. Frank continued to work weekends for the Security Company so of course he couldn’t get home in time to go to Church.

I resigned myself that he might never embrace the gospel the way I wanted him to. We continued on this way. We got back to laughing together. We spent time with some of the friends Frank had made. I felt like we were beginning to be a real family.

One day Frank took David with him to run errands. They made the rounds of Franks buddies. David by this time had grown quite a head of long curly blond hair. He looked so cute. When Frank came home Davids hair was cut short above his ears. All the curls were gone. I said “Why did you do that?” He said, “All my buddies were teasing me for having such a cute little girl. I had a girl. I needed David to be the boy.”

Kay introduced me to one of the Northwests great bounties. Blackberries. We went in search of wild blackberries. I made blackberry pie and blackberry jam. I still love blackberry jam when I can find it.

One Sunday morning in late July Frank came home from work and said he was going with one of his friends on a four wheel drive rally. That story is for the next post.

Life changes a great deal once you have a baby. Some of the sisters in our Ward gave me a baby shower and gave us many lovely baby things. I really loved being a Mother. David was a sweet little boy. Of course that was 40 years ago and I don’t remember a lot of the hard stuff.

It was winter and they don’t usually get snow mostly rain. This was a mild winter. But it did get cold. We soon learned that you had to order heating oil for the furnace and it was a shock when we were told it would cost $400 dollars to fill up our tank. Taking care of a home is more of a responsibility than I ever knew. We managed to get the funds and had enough oil to provide heat.

As spring started coming and the weather started to warm up the flowers began to bloom. We had some beautiful flowering bushes in front of our porch. I really began to love Washington.

I don’t remember exactly but sometime this year of 1970 my Brother Douglas who was in Viet Nam came home. He had a lay over in the Seattle Airport. Frank and I, bringing along baby David went to the airport and spent some time with him as he waited for his flight back to Utah. This was before all the security you could walk right up to the boarding areas and wait for incoming or outgoing flights. Since Frank has spent time in Viet Nam they had common things they could talk about.

One day I decided to go for a walk. I bundled up David and we set out. I was just carrying him in my arms. I didn’t have a stroller or buggy. I didn’t have a baby carrier. I just thought I could walk and carry him in my arms.

We were doing fine and then I realized I had gone quite a ways and I was getting tired and I had a long way to get back home. I had been on a sidewalk that was going in a downhill direction and now I had to go back up hill.

We started back and I was getting tired. There was no place to sit down and rest. I just pressed on. Suddenly I stumbled and down I went. Somehow I managed to save David from hitting the cement too hard. I don’t know how we managed to not scrap ourselves up. I gathered David up and just sat there on the sidewalk and gathered myself together. A police car drove by, he kind of slowed down a little bit but I guess he thought we were OK and he didn’t stop. I wished he had stopped and offered to take us home.

We made our way home and I was very happy to be back home. I never tried that again.

Some things that were changing in the way of baby stuff. Disposable diapers were just starting to come on the market. The first ones I tried were paper with plastic backing. They didn’t contain very well and you had to still put plastic diaper covers over them. They didn’t have those wonderful tab holders, you had to still use diaper pins. It was hard to get them through the material and sometimes they would pull out and tear. A few years later when they started putting adhesive tabs on the diapers, you had to make sure when you placed them where you wanted them because you could not take them off again. They would tear the diaper and you would have to throw it away. I was very happy to see the evolution of the disposable baby diaper. I mostly used cloth diapers for David and Pattie. But that was just what had to be done. Part of being a parent.

Settling in with a new baby and rambunctious 18 month old boy was quite a challenge. Frank was working his security job at night and not coming home until afternoon just to sleep and then eat and go to work. I was pretty much on my own. My neighbor Kay was an enormous help. She would come over and take David over to her house so Pattie and I could get some sleep. Or I would take the kids over to Kay’s house. Kay and I would spend almost all day together. We would do crafts and since it was fall we canned fruit.

Franks parents and his sister came from Montana for Thanksgiving. We had a nice visit and they had a chance to see their new granddaughter and get acquainted with David.

As winter set in the rains began and then it started to snow. The Seattle area doesn’t get a lot of snow. So it would snow, warm up a little bit, then freeze. This creates ice. Also the Seattle area does not have  a lot of snow removal equipment. Some business, schools and even Churches would cancel or close. Kay and I would bundle up the kids and we would trek up and down the street. We built snowmen and played in the snow with the kids. We lived up on a small hill and if the road was frozen Frank and Kay’s husband would have to park his truck at the bottom of the hill and walk home.

Kay would go to Relief Society work meeting with me and her daughter would go to church with us sometimes. Kay and her husband taught me how to play hearts. The three of us would play hearts in the evening and laugh and talk. We looked forward to the Book Mobile so we could get books to read to the kids and something for us.

One Sunday I was asked if I would teach a class in Primary. When I told Frank he got very angry. He pushed me up against the wall and yelled at me. I told him it would only be for a couple of hours on day a week in the afternoon. He was still angry, he had never talked to me like that. He wanted to know who would get his dinner. I told him I would prepare his dinner before I left. He was still angry and told me I could not do it.

He had never been physical and angry with me. I was so frightened I decided to go back to Utah. I was ready to end it. I called my parents and made plans to fly home. By the I was ready to go Frank had calmed down and drove us to the airport. The trip was horrible. Pattie cried and threw up almost the whole time. Of course she finally fell asleep about thirty minutes out of Salt Lake. My parents met me and I think we may have stayed overnight with my sister Kathryn in Salt Lake. Then we headed for Cedar City.

A few days later my Home Teacher called and wanted to know what we needed to do to get our family back together. I told him we hardly saw each other. Frank worked all night and stayed out most of the day with his buddies. He did not go to Church with us and made no attempt to live the commitments he had made when he was baptized. I was trying to reconcile that he hadn’t grown up with any strong religious training. But when he would not support me, that was not acceptable. He called back a few days later and said Frank had agreed to get a day job and spend more time at home. My Home Teacher encouraged me to come home and so did my parents. I had been prepared to leave the marriage but my Parents encouraged me to go home and do my best to make our marriage work. So like the dutiful daughter I went home. I think I was in Cedar City two or three weeks.

The flight home was a little better but Frank was not at the gate to meet us. I was struggling to make my way to the baggage claim area when a Travelers Aid lady came to my rescue. As we were making our way to baggage claim, Frank found us. I guess we had miss communicated and he was angry at me again. Welcome home.

Febuary 27, 1970 started as an ordinary day, Frank went to work for his early morning shift. I had to go Visiting Teaching in the afternoon. My partner came and picked me up. We made our visits and I noticed that it was harder getting in and out of the car that day. My back started to hurt a little bit. She took me home and I lay down.

Frank came home from work. We had made plans to meet with some friends that evening to go to dinner. I was not feeling like I could go out. Frank canceled going out but he invited them to our house and he went and got hamburgers and shakes. I was hungry. I really hadn’t eaten much that day.

Our friends came and we visited and laughed. By this time my back was hurting a lot. I put a heating pad on it. They left and we went to bed.

I couldn’t sleep, I just felt restless. Frank said I had indigestion. Soon I started having contractions. They were coming pretty regularly. Frank called the Doctor and his service said to go to the hospital and they would check me out. My due date wasn’t for two weeks. We were not ready for a baby.

We got to the hospital and sure enough I was in labor. Things were getting serious. The hamburger  and shake I had earlier decided they wanted to come back to the light of day. New lesson if you think you might be in labor don’t eat.

This was really happening. I had wanted to be a Mother for years. It was about to happen. But first there was the pain. Finally they gave me the Saddle Block. This numbed everything below my waist.

Then in the early morning hours of February 28, 1970, a healthy baby boy was born. Twenty one inches long, eight pounds 14 ounces. The promise of a tall man. We named him David Francis Mack. The President of the Church David O McKay passed away just a couple of months before. I wanted to name him David after the man who had been President of the Church for most of my life that I could remember.

Later when I moved to Provo we found that there were many boys born that year named David. At one point there were four Davids in our ward, two of them lived on our street, one next door and the other across the street.

We had our baby two weeks early and life would never be the same.

Sunday was warm and sunny that July day in 1972. Frank had worked all night at his security job and he came home and changed and set out again to go to a four wheel drive rally with his buddies. He took the truck so I did not have any transportation of my own.

I called my home teacher and asked if he could pick up me and the kids so that we could go to Sunday School meeting. My neighbor came over and she said her daughter wanted to go to Church with us. So she went home to get her ready. I was sitting in the living room so that I could see the street. A car pulled up into the driveway and my Bishop got out of the car along with another man. I went out to the driveway to meet them, he introduced this other man as a County Coroner and he was a member of our Church. The fact that he was a coroner never fazed me. But that he was a member of our Church. Then right there in the driveway the Bishop told me there had been an accident and that Frank had been killed. Just like that. No ifs, ands or buts about it. Frank was dead. Just then my home teacher pulled up. The Bishop went down to his car and told him and he left. Then the Bishop said he had to get back to the Ward and start Sunday School he told me he would send his wife to be with me.

I didn’t know what to do. My neighbor came over with her daughter and I told her what had happened. She gathered up David and Pattie and took them to her house. I was all alone. I just sat there. What was I supposed to do? What was the protocol? How was I supposed to act? Then the Bishop’s wife came.

“What can I do for you?”

“I don’t know”.

“I guess we should call Frank’s parents in Gardner, Montana. ”

I found the phone number. She tried to dial it. She couldn’t get it right. I didn’t want to talk to them but she couldn’t get it right. I took over the call. It rang through. No caller ID in those days. You just answered the phone. Frank’s Mom answered. I don’t remember what I said but I somehow got out that Frank had been killed in an automobile accident. She started to scream. Frank’s Dad came on the line.

“What happened?”

I tried to tell him what I knew but I realized that I didn’t know hardly any details. Just that he had been killed.

Well that was over. I called my parents. My Dad said he would call me back. I sat there, now what do I do? I felt like my life had just been put on hold. We sat around and looked at each other. My kids were gone. I didn’t know what to do. The bishops wife was nice but I didn’t know her very well. I kind of expected a lot of church members to come by after Sunday School. But no one came. My home teacher came back and my visiting teaching partner. I didn’t cry, I was numb.

I thought “I need to make arrangements for a funeral. How do I do that?” I was 26 years old. What do I know about these things.? Finally my Dad called back and said they were on their way. It was a long drive from Cedar City, Utah to Marysville, Washington. Frank’s Dad called back and asked when I wanted them to come. I didn’t know what to tell him. I didn’t know what they could do. Looking back I think I was not very nice and considerate to them and their feelings. They had just lost their only son. My heart felt cold as steel.

Somehow I made it through the day. It was getting to be bed time so I sent everyone away.

“ I’m all right. I’ll be alright. Don’t worry about me.”

I went to bed. I couldn’t fall asleep. Then the dogs. One of the dogs in the neighborhood was in heat. We had a big black lab that was tied up in the back. I did not like that dog. I do not like dogs very much and this dog did not make it any easier. All around the house there was barking. That’s all I could hear, Barking, Barking, Barking. I could not get to sleep. Finally I called the police.

“Could they do anything about the dogs? ”

“No”

I guess I must have slept some, it is hard to say.

Next morning one of the Relief Society presidency came over. The President was out of town. This sister was about my age she knew just about as much about arranging a funeral as I did.

“What can I do for you?”

“I don’t know”

She took me down to the Social Security office, she said I should apply for survivor benefits. They looked at me like I was crazy. I didn’t  know that it could have waited.

Trying to remember the whole chain of events is hard, some things stand out and some are lost. I don’t know that it is so important to have everything in perfect order only that the events are as true as possible.

I think my parents arrived later that day on Monday. They had driven all night. They stopped in Salt Lake at my sister Kathryn’s house and her husband Jim came with Mom and Dad. Jim was an accountant and he offered to come and help me with my financial affairs. That night I slept. I think just having my parents there was such a relief.

Somehow we made the arrangements for the funeral. Frank’s injuries were mostly to his head. The truck had rolled and even though he had his seat belt on they had taken the roof off the top and as the truck rolled, his head had been crushed. The funeral director told me that it would be better if I did not see his body. We should have a closed casket. We made arrangements to have Frank buried in Willamette National Cemetery, a military cemetery near Portland, Oregon. The VFW would provide a military tribute. Frank had served in Vietnam and had been wounded. I thought maybe his parents would like him close to them but his Dad said no the cemetery in Gardner was just rock pile. He was happy with the one in Oregon.

We arranged for the funeral to be on Friday and the burial to be on Saturday because the drive to Portland was several hours away. There was no viewing so we just showed up at the church for the funeral. I had asked someone to sing “Oh My Father” and the Bishop talked and someone else I don’t remember. When I walked into the church it was the first time I had seen the casket. It was draped in a flag. Frank’s Mother wept the whole time. I was kind of annoyed with her. I think I have many things to seek their forgiveness for when I meet them again on the other side. Maybe they can see the whole picture now and have forgiven me.

After the funeral, I thought something is missing. No one really talked about Frank. I didn’t realize that I needed to make that clear. Or I needed to assign that to someone. I think most of the problem was that we had only been married exactly three years when he died. We had only lived in our house in Marysville two years. We didn’t know very many people and the church members in our ward did not know Frank because he did not come to church. Most of them knew me but not him. There was no one to speak for him. I should have asked his parents or his sister if they wanted to say something but I didn’t.

After the funeral the Relief Society provided a lunch for us but his parents would not come. I thought this was something everyone did. That’s what I had grown up with. His parents were not familiar with Mormon culture. I think they were uncomfortable. I was not very sensitive to their feelings.

One of Franks friends asked me if I wanted them to take care of the dog for a few days I told them they could have it. I didn’t want the stupid thing.

The next day was Saturday and we all made our way to Portland to the cemetery. I talked to Dad about the lack of mention of Frank and his life at the funeral. He said that he would say something at the graveside. The mortician had arranged for the local VFW to do a military tribute. They had an honor guard and played a record of taps and folded up the flag and gave it to me. So surreal. I was numb.

We went back to Marysville and then what. My brother-in-law, Jim had gone through our finances and did what he could to help; then he went home. Dad took him to the airport in Seattle.

One morning I think my Dad was in the shower and my little 3 year old David came running into my room. All excited.

“Frank home?” “Frank home?”

“No honey Franks not home, he is not coming home.”

David did not understand. I guess I didn’t realize he even missed him. Pattie was only 10 months old. She would never remember her Dad. David today says that he thinks he has some memories of his Dad, but they are very fleeting.

I had nothing to keep me in Washington. Although I really loved our little house and I had made friends with a couple that lived just behind us. Our kids were about the same age and I spent a lot of time with them when Frank was away in the evenings. But my home was in Cedar City, Utah. I wanted to go back to Utah and get my life back on track. I felt disconnected from the Church. Frank would not come with me to meetings and he was not supportive when I had been asked to teach primary. I felt that I needed to be back in an environment I was used to. I was the wild child ready to come home and beg for a place at my parents table.

The Ward organized a crew to come and load up my belongings in a U-Haul trailer that Me and Dad would drive back to Utah. Mother took David and Pattie back on the plane. My neighbors David and Kay took me and their kids and David to Seattle to the Zoo. We left Mom and Dad with Pattie and  with the help of the ward they packed up my house. When we got back that evening the house was bare. It really hit me. My life would forever be altered.  There was no turning back.

We took Mom to the airport and Dad and I headed for Utah. We soon realized that the trailer we were haling was not loaded very well and we had a hard time going over 50 miles an hour. It took us two and a half days to get to Salt Lake. We drove day and night. When they packed they had not left out any clean clothes for me. We stopped at Kathryn’s house and I was able to have a shower and Kathy washed my clothes for me. I was glad to see my kids again. Then we all headed to Cedar City another good 4 hour drive because the trailer would sway and pull at the car.

Finally we arrived and a new life began. I had left behind the first home I had as a married woman. I had left behind a husband. My parents made me leave behind my beautiful cat that Frank and I had as a kitten that we brought from Gardner when we first traveled to Washington. “Clean sweep” my Mother said. I felt I was obligated to bow to their council. It took me quite awhile to find my own voice again. But for now I was grateful to them for their kindness and willingness to take me in along with my kids. I think about that time of my life and I shake my head and wonder what was I thinking. I was young. I guess I did the best I could.

Soon after we were married, Frank got a job offer from Boeing Aircraft to start work the first part of September 1969. They would send a mover to help us move. We started to make our plans. We didn’t have much to move but it was fun the have someone else move it for us.

Finally the big day came. I left my little red Volkswagen with Frank’s Dad. It needed new tires and they were hard to find in Montana. Frank had a station wagon so we loaded it up. Frank’s Mom gave us a kitten from one of her cats. We said our good byes and headed across country to Everett, Washington. I had never been to Washington and I was really looking forward to this new adventure. I think we just drove and did not stop over night. I remember when we started across Washington it was very hot. Our little kitten was getting too warm. We kind of panicked. I really don’t think we needed too.

We arrived in Everett and found a motel to stay in for a few days while we looked for an apartment or a house to rent. I can’t remember how long it took to find a place. I remember going to a real estate office and asking if they had any rentals. The man we talked to said they didn’t do that but he had some properties of his own and he would rent us a house. So we found a little house. It was a two story place. It was heated with an oil furnace. There was a gas stove in the kitchen. I had very little experience with a gas stove. My Dad worked for the electric power company. We only had electricity in our house. So it was a challenge to learn to control  gas plates. I soon learned and it turned out to be not hard at all. I kind of liked it. Learning to manage my own home was interesting. I never had full responsibility for a home before. We didn’t have much furniture and we didn’t bring a bed with us. The house had a bed upstairs an attic like room. The stair way was very narrow and steep. But we used it and it was kind of fun.

One night we went to see the movie ‘Planet of the Apes’. Frank got up early to go to work and I was alone in the house. I dreamed that the Apes were coming up the stairs to get me. I woke up in a panic. I was also getting kind of big with my pregnancy and it was getting harder to go up and down those stairs. We moved the bed down to the bedroom on the first floor.

We did a lot of exploring around the Seattle area. We went to Pikes Market and the Space Needle. We took the ferry over to Whitby Island. We tried a lot of the local restaurants. We found the Ward house and got introduced to our local Ward. I was called to work in the Primary and was assigned a visiting teaching partner.

Frank had a way of making friends where ever he was. He started making a circle of friends. I have always had a hard time making close friends. My acquaintances always seem to revolve around the church. That’s OK I guess but when you move or your ward is changed those friends kind of seem to move on.

Christmas was coming. Our first Christmas together. No family around. Too far to go to Montana  and way to far to go to Cedar City. Should we just stay home in our little house in Everett or go somewhere else. We started to talk about going to Canada. Vancouver was just across the boarder. It is a large city and we thought that would be kind of fun to spend Christmas in Canada.

We headed out December 23 to Vancouver. We found a motel to stay in for a couple of days and looked forward to exploring the city. On the 24th we started to drive around and found a park that had a bunch of Totem Poles. They were really cool. We took pictures and while we were there we met another couple that were there to spend their Christmas together. He worked in Alaska and she worked in a different state. We talked to them and hung out with them for a few hours.

It was getting to be evening and we started to look for a place to eat. We found a club of some kind. They served just a little bit of food, mostly appetizers and finger food. They had a small floor show. We really enjoyed the show and then headed back to our room.

Next morning was Christmas Day. We were late getting up and the hotel breakfast was closed. Not to worry we thought, we will just find something to eat in town. No, there was not a place to eat. Everything was closed. We went back to the park and met our friends from the day before. They were looking for something to eat also. There is a ski resort close to Vancouver. We took the lift up to the lodge and there we found a little sandwich shop and got something to eat. I was still hungry.  We went back to our hotel hoping that tomorrow would be better.

December 26th was warm and sunny. We headed to the down town area. Everything was still closed. I was so hungry. We didn’t know that in Canada they celebrate Boxing Day. We wandered around looking in shop windows and wishing we could find something to eat. Finally around noon shops began to open. We found a deli and ordered a french dip sandwich. It was the best french dip sandwich I have ever had. The beef was lean and on the rare side. The bread was french and crusty on the outside and soft and tender in the middle. It was soooo good. Maybe I was just really hungry. They had a lemon meringue pie sitting on the counter and we wanted a piece but they would not cut it because it was “too fresh.” Oh well we looked in some of the stores and I wanted to find something that was very Canadian. But I could not find anything that I wanted. Frank bought a hat that looked like a Russian Cossack hat.

We went back to the hotel, checked out and headed back to Everett. Christmas was over it had been kind of a bust in some ways but in other ways we had a very good time and enjoyed being together. Frank was pretty adaptable and he had a good sense of humor and could almost always make me laugh.

This is a talk I gave at Mothers Funeral January 2006.

“On January 17, 2006, Edwin Charles Cox came to the Orchard Park Care Center to conduct his sweet loving wife of 65 earthly year’s home to her Heavenly Father and to be greeted by her Mother and Father, Brothers, Sisters and many other friends and relatives.

Mother was born April 17, 1918 the 6th of 9 children born to Ettie Mae and Nels Sorensen.

The family moved from time to time as her Father found work. Eventually they settled in Pocatello, Idaho when her Father found steady work with the railroad.

Mother had many friends and several of them remained friends all her life. I always thought we were related to these ladies because we always visited them every time we went to Pocatello to Grandma Sorensen, Uncle Richard and Aunt Vera’s Families. In her later years these friends would still get togther and have a friend’s weekend. Mother told me they would laugh and talk just as they did when they were girls.

The story of how Mother met Dad has become a Cox Family Legend.

Mother was visiting her sister Viola Terry in Cedar City. Viola’s Husband knew that Dad was due home from his Mission and suggested that they drive to his home to see if he had returned. As they drove up to the house there was Dad, his back turned and his head in the trunk. All that Mom could see were his long legs. She thought to herself that this is one fine man. Dad called her up the next day and invited her to a dance. He persuaded her to delay her return to Pocatello a few more days. He took her fishin and on picnics and won her heart.

She said there was a letter waiting for her when she got back to Pocatello. They corresponded by letter for a few weeks then Dad arranged to meet her in Salt Lake City for the weekend of the LDS October General Conference. She told me of that weekend that she had never laughed so much. He proposed and they were married at her Mothers home in Pocatello, Idaho, October 30, 1941. Then they drove back to Cedar City with Dad’s sister Inez and because it was Pheasant season a shotgun at the ready. Then on November 5, 1941 they were sealed for time and all eternity in the St. George Temple.

They settled in Cedar City and began the business of life together. Sandra soon came to join the family the following year July 30th, 1942 and then Kathryn came along August 31st, 1943. At this time Dad was working for the Southern Utah Power Company. Then he was called into the Army Air Corpse and Mother moved back to Pocatello to be with her Mother because she was expecting another baby. Dad was stationed in Denver when Douglas was born July 24, 1944. Mother moved back to Cedar City when Dad was stationed at Neils Air Force Base near Las Vegas. The war ended and Dad was released from the Army. Soon I came along March 29th, 1946. Then Richard joined our happy family to make us complete August 4th, 1949.

Mother was a fastidious homemaker, an excellent cook and baker. We would wake in the morning to her singing in the kitchen as she prepared breakfast. We often woke to the smell of newly baked bread. The sink would sometimes be full of trout that Dad had caught that morning before he went to work. We then knew we would have trout that evening perfectly boned and cooked to perfection under the broiler. She could take a few ingredients and make a wonderful meal.

Mother was a talented and creative seamstress. She taught each of her girls to cook and sew. She made dresses for our birthdays, Christmas, Easter and for each new school year. We had to wear dresses to school, no jeans of pants. She sewed a whole wardrobe for a doll I was given for Christmas one year. She was not very happy with me when instead of dressing the doll I dressed the family cat.

Mother was adventurous and willing to take charge and have some fun. She would load us kids in the car and off we would go to Zion, Bryce or Cedar Breaks for a day of hiking and picnics. She took Sandra, Kathryn, me and our Cousin Lyona to Pocatello one summer to visit Grandma Sorensen. We stopped at Lagoon and had  wonderful time even though we had to be rescued from the fun house rolling tunnel. I still have a picture in my mind of Mother hugging her dress around her legs as a burst of air shot up from below.

Kathryn remembers another time Mother loaded us all into the car along with some invited friends to go on a picnic to Navajo Lake. Bening there with Mother, the beautiful food and fun friends made a wonderful day. Dad wasn’t there to lead us in hiking of water games, just Mom, and it was so much fun.

We all remember snuggling up to her as she read bedtime stories or poems from “101 Famous Poems”. “Which one would you like to hear?” “The Spider and the Fly”, or “Little Boy Blue” or perhaps “Out to Old Aunt Mary’s”. We each had our favorites, she would read until her tongue was thick and then she would say “OK that’s enough, time for bed.” We all knew we were loved.

There were a few notable mishaps or missteps however. Mother found a cake recipe that she continued to make even though it had not received a good reception the first time. It was a Caraway Seed Cake, not too bad a long as you didn’t bite into one of those seeds. The problem of course was there were lots of seeds. Another time she had baked and decorated cupcakes complete with a candle in each one for one of our birthday parties. She put them in the oven to get them out of the way. She forgot they were there and you guessed it, she turned on the oven and the candles melted and the decorations were ruined. But not to worry Dad just picked off the melted wax and ate them anyway.

As her family grew she nourished, taught and loved each one. She found much joy in her Grandchildren and Great Grandchildren. Kathryn recalls how her young children would squeal with delight when Grandma would come. Mother would get right down on the floor with them cross her eyes and growl like a bear and chase them around the room. They loved it.

She helped Dad in his various callings in the Church and activities in the community. Including being active in the Lady Lions, she served as President of the PTA and President of the Young Women in the MIA. Mom and Dad were active in the Sons of the Utah Pioneers and Mother was a counselor in Relief Society and taught the Spiritual Living Lesson for several years.

Mom and Dad spent many years as ordinance workers in the St. George Temple. At that time the sessions were still live and they learned all the parts. I had the special privilege to attend many sessions as my parents and Uncle Reid and Aunt Wanda took part.

When Dad retired from the Power Company they served three missions for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. They were called to the Los Angeles Temple visitor’s center, then the Hawaiian Temple visitor’s center, and finally Nauvoo. They loved to travel, exploring new places and enjoying the wonders of this great land. They made many trips around the United States, Canada, Alaska and even into Mexico. They instilled in each of us a love for our Country and the beauties of this wonderful world. They loved making new friends and sharing many of these experiences with  Andrea’s parents and the many friends they made during their missions and other associations. Everywhere they went they made friends that remained friends for life.

Mother loved the Gospel and was constantly studying and reading the scriptures. [I was given Mother's set of scriptures. As I have used them in Sunday School I continue to find little notes on scraps of paper in her handwriting. Most are just brief notes and don't make a lot of sense. But they are like little treasures.]

Mother we love you and we will miss you. We are so grateful for your influence and the examples you set for us. We know you are happy and at peace back in the loving arms of your Eternal Companion.

Amen”

I decided to take this story and give it it’s own home.

West of our house there were two homes. The Mackelprang brothers and their families. Don and his wife Lou had two daughters. They were older than us. The two Mackelprang sisters graduated from College and took teaching jobs in a small town in Eastern Utah. I don’t remember exactly all the details but my sister Sandra told me it was in the late fifties. There was a flu epidemic and both of these girls got very ill. One of the girls LouDon contracted Phenomena also and she died. Sandra said she also was very ill that year she was a Junior in High School. This must have been my first encounter with the loss of life. I did not know her very well. But I remember her as being a very nice looking young woman.

These two brothers were ranchers. They herded sheep and they had horses and some milk cows. They kept their stock in a coral west of Uncle Reids’ house. One of the horses name was Fairy Feet. She was black with a white blaze on her forehead and white stockings. I thought she was the most beautiful horse in the world. We would coax her over to the fence and give her sugar cubes and carrots.

The Mackelprangs had a wagon that they kept in the corral that looked like a trailer. It was called a sheep wagon. They would take it out to wherever the sheep were being kept and live in the wagon as they tended to the sheep. I remember sneaking into that wagon when it was in their corral and investigating. I remember being shocked that  coffee was there as one of the supplies. No one I knew drank coffee. I grew up very sheltered.

When I was about eleven or twelve, I used to go over to the Mackelprangs and beg to ride the horses. Finally Mr. Mackelprang let me ride Fairy Feet. He was very kind and indulgent of a silly young girl. I used to go over and beg and he would give me small jobs to do and then he would show me how to saddle up the horse and let me ride. At first I had to stay inside the corral but as he thought I had more experience he would let me take her out on the street and ride out west of town. I begged him to let me ride Fairy Feet in the 24thof July Parade but he said it was really hard to control a horse in that situation and he would not let me. I realize now that he was right and I was not experienced enough to handle a horse in a parade. But at the time I thought I could do anything. I had a pair of marching boots that belonged to my sister Kathryn, I used them as cowboy boots. Those were great days. I wanted cowboy boots for Christmas but never got them. I wanted a horse too but that never happened either.

When I was twelve I got Appendicitis and had to have an operation. I was in the hospital for about a week. When they released me from the hospital I had a hard time standing up straight. The doctor gave me a whole list of things I could not do until my incision was completely healed.  I started feeling better and energetic and wanted to get back to riding “my” horse. But Don said “NO” he said I could break open my incision. I begged but it was to no avail. He would not budge. That was the end of my horse riding days. I started Jr High and got involved in MIA and school activities. But I will  always have the treasured memories of the time I spent with Fairy Feet.

Years later when I returned to Cedar City as a young widow I went to visit Lou and Don. It was nice to see them again. I was Lou’s visiting teacher for a short time. She was always very gracious to me.

Before I begin I must explain that we had a little crisis and some of my posts were lost so I need to re-due them. It will be hard to recreate them just as they were so please bare with me as we start this journey together again. Thank you for reading.

Sometime during the winter Phyllis and I were asked to serve a special dinner party. It was to be held at the Park Managers Home.  We were told the special guest was Lowell Thomas. He was a famous radio broadcaster and a world traveler. I remember watching TV specials of his travels to many far and interesting places. We were told he had never been to Yellowstone. I was amazed. He was very nice and he got Phyllis and I together and we had our picture taken with him.

Soon after Frank was baptized we started to plan our wedding. I wanted to use the Chapel we met in but another couple had already reserved it so we had to make other arrangements. When I look back at this time I was so oblivious as to what was right and proper to do. I thought that getting married in a “Church” was the most important thing. So we asked if we could use the local Church of Christ Chapel. We wanted our Branch President to do the ceremony. OK so we were going to get married in a Church of Christ Chapel and a Mormon Branch President was going to preform the ceremony. La La La La, merrily we go along. Our poor Branch President was not really very happy about this arraignment. I really don’t know why he didn’t sit me down and give me a good talking too. I called my Mother and Father and told them that we were planning to get married August 2, 1969.

We went to Livingston and I purchased some flocked cotton fabric and a pattern and started making my wedding dress. My Aunt Wanda made and decorated a wedding cake for us and my parents brought it all the way up from Cedar City, Utah. They stopped in Pocatello, Idaho to visit with  my Mothers sister Vera and her husband Keith Tolman. They came with some of their children for the ceremony. My sister Sandra and her Husband Max came also. My Cousin John Cox flew a small plane with his girlfriend Carolyn. I was really surprised to see all these relatives. One of Franks neighbors  organized some refreshments for a small reception for us.

Everything worked out and we were married. After we said goodbye to everyone we headed to Cody, Wyoming for a couple of days.  Oh the folies of youth.

 Frank’s neighbor had a small cabin between her house and Frank’s parents. She said we could live there until we found something better. There was a bathroom, and a room big enough for a bed and a very small kitchenette. One day Frank’s Dad came over,  he had a wooden rolling pin in his hand. He gave it to me and said I could use it for other things than just rolling out pie crust. He was implying that if Frank needed a talking to, the rolling pin might be a good exclamation point. Another time he gave me a large chefs knife. I really liked Frank’s Dad. Franks Mother gave me a Platter that she said had been in her family for years. She said it came from England. I think it is from Wedgwood.

Soon after we were married Frank got a letter from Boeing Aircraft offering him a job in Everett, Washington. If he accepted he would start work around the first part of September. They would send a mover to help us move. I was really looking forward to starting a new life in a new place. We started to get ready to move to Washington.