#52 Stories--Story # 36

What is something you never understood or appreciated about your father until much later in life?

I know my dad would tell us of the poverty he knew as a child and the idea of not having what you needed unless you got it for yourself. That was hard to understand as a child and young person because my life was always pretty blessed.  We had what we needed--but not always what we wanted--and that was probably for the best. We learned to make do with that we had sometimes or work and save and plan for whatever else we wanted.  Nothing was supposedly given to us--even though I see now that so much was! He told us those heart breaking kind of stories of his childhood on the railroad or living in little homes without electricity or water, and it made our lives seem pretty cushy. I never felt like we we missing much. We had opportunities poured out on us as we grew up--raising animals, riding bikes, using our imagination, exploring new places--that helped us see how blessed we were.

As a child myself I didn't see the wisdom in him telling us those stories though.  It just made his childhood sound sad and pretty unhappy.

He has talked in the past before about his parents and what they were like--especially before they were converted to the gospel of Jesus Christ.  My gramps was not a happy man when he drank, and my gram was a scared young woman, just older than a girl herself. I don't think joining the church was an immediate turn about for them, but it gave them a new way of seeing their lives and their family. Then finally when they did get active and were living the gospel fully, there were many changes in his parents that he didn't get the benefit of as a child himself. I look at this now and see how much more the gospel meant to him that my sister and I had the "after" portion of the life he had with parents who lived the gospel. We weren't perfect at it, but I can see now how much that meant to him.

#52 Stories--Story #22

Do you remember what future career you dreamed of as a child? Are you stil following that dream? If not, what age did you find a new dream?

From about age ten on I wanted to be a photographer fro Life Magazine.  I loved to see the detail in all the photos from that publication.  I loved the idea of traveling to see new places and people and photograph them for the magazine. I pursued photography as a hobby for some years.  I was fairly decent but never committed enough to learn more than what I knew or used regularly to improve much.  That dream still sits in the back of my mind but it's potential has since died as my eyes have gotten increasingly bad as I have gotten older.

My other dream career was that of a classroom teacher.  Particularly a history teacher. I studied to teach high school history through college.  I did my student teaching at Mountain view High School in Orem, Utah in 1992.  But after interviewing all over the valley, I never got a contracted job teaching and ended up working at a dental lab--of all places--after graduation. However, through my PTA and volunteer work, I have substituted in my kids' schools over the years.  And now that they are gone from public school, I think about going back to teaching.  That dream is slowed by the idea of the increasing hoops and restrictions placed in the way for creative and innovative teaching by the "powers that be". I absolutely admire the teachers that do this year in and year out.  But I know too well how ridiculous the legislative requirements--yanking them one direction then the other year after year, as well as the incredibly invasive parental oversteps can interfere with actual teaching and creative learning.  Nope, I'll likely just go back to substituting at the local high school.

I do love teaching though, and currently get to practice that art in my Gospel Doctrine class at church.  I loved teaching int my callings in Young Women as well, but a regular teaching calling is terrific. 

#52 Stories--Story #15

What is your earliest memory of feeling proud of yourself--at school, in sports, in art or music, in a club or scouting?

I don't remember all the details for this, but I remember that I entered the Bonanza Days talent contest--or some kind of pageant type of thing--when I was about 6th or 7th grade.  I imagine it was a little like the Little Miss Lindon pageant or something.  I just remember preparing a tap dance performance to compete with in this event.  At the time, I remember being super excited and enthusiastic.  I also remember actually doing it and then feeling proud of myself for doing it and then realizing this was NOT my kind of thing and vowing never to do something like this --competing-- ever again.  And I never did.

I grew up a bit and realized that I liked speaking and performing--but NOT on my own.  I wrote and acted as MC at a junior high talent show when I was in 8th grade--and I loved that!  in high school I thoroughly enjoyed being part of the Mime Troupe (a mime and improv club at the school) where I performed in front of the school and other groups. I stretched into choir and drama while I was in High School and loved every minute.

In college I continued doing some drama but morphed into teaching where I was again in front of a group "performing". I still love teaching and speaking in front of the group--however I no longer have any desire to "perform" like a pageant girl.

#52 Stories--Story #10

What were your favorite hobbies or pastimes in your childhood?

As a kid I rode my bike to the neighbors' and played with friends like Susan, Lisa, Tracy, sometimes Brenda and Lainey. From the time I was about 10 I participated in 4H and we did a lot of things there--I raised dairy goats with some of the same girls. We spent a lot of weekends each summer showing the goaties and ended the summer with a week at the country fair.

I jumped on the trampoline with my sister and cousins when they visited and I just spent time in the weed field around our house.  I placed with my pets--Waldo, the wonder dog and the many cats we had over the years.

We always had chores to do but once we were done with those we were pretty free to do whatever we felt like.  I remember making forts in the weeds with Susan, a close neighbor. We played Barbies together and had a very busy imagination world outside in the dirt and weeds.

Tracy's family raised golden Labrador retrievers and she and I would put on shows for the dogs pretending to be the Carpenters or Sonny & Cher-like shows. We would sing along to her tape deck into the hoses near the dogs' kennels.

Lisa and Lainey lived further up the street and their families had horses.  I was never very comfortable on the horses, but they were sure beautiful and powerful and I wished I was good on them. They were a little scary to me still.

As I got older, I had friends in town like Julie and Jessica.  We'd bring our bikes to town and ride all over the sidewalks of Gilroy.  There were still Barbies to be played and imaginations to exercise.

We always had church things to do--Primary was held every Wednesday after school. We did that every week. I don't recall what kind of things were did, but it was a stable place with a lot of good friends that helped me feel right at home.

My grandparents moved in with us when I was about 7.  I learned to drive Grandpa's electric wheelchair--he even provided a "driving test" for us to that we had to pass to get his "driver's license" he had made for us. While my gram was still healthier, she did things with us that helped us use our imagination in new ways.  I remember her teaching me the basics of the right hand notes on her organ. I figured out how to play a few songs--just the right hand. She loved to play the organ and probably wanted to teach me more but I got busy doing other things and never finished lessons with her--or ever learned the left hand.

I gained an interest in photography through 4-H right away--I was 10 when my parents bought me a 35mm camera. After that I could entertain myself for hours with that camera--and the rolls of film I was always asking for. I loved the creativity I felt and I loved it when I got to work in the dark room under the direction of our 4H leader, Huck Hagenbuch.

I had a pretty idyllic childhood that way: lots of stuff to make up and do on our own.