A Tree For Halloween

One year, I was a tree for Halloween. I have to say, my mom was pretty dang smart! Some green fabric with a hole for my head, and real leaves pinned to it. 🎃

Church In A House

When we lived in Missouri, we were in a very small branch, and it was pretty spread out. It took us a long time to drive to church every Sunday, to Chillicothee, and we did not have a meetinghouse. We had church in a house…I believe it was a two story house. Sacrament Meeting was in the living room, and other classes were in other rooms of the house. My memory of the logistics is pretty fuzzy, but in my head I can still see the house and a couple of the rooms.

A Lesson In Modesty

One day someone gave me some hand-me-down clothes. This is another of my earliest memories. Included in the clothes was a swimming suit. A bikini. And I loved it from the first moment I saw it. At this point in my life, I had not learned anything about modesty. Probably because it just plain hadn’t been needed yet. But I remember being broken hearted when my mom told me I couldn’t wear the bikini because it wasn’t modest. So Mom took that bikini top and sewed a “skirt” all around it, so that it would cover me up. And then I got to wear that swimming suit.

I’m sure I was no older than 2 or 3, but I will never forget that. Most people don’t worry about children that tiny being modest. Bikinis, tank tops, super short dresses, etc.—little kids like that have “nothing to show,” so at that age those kinds of clothes are just “cute.” But that experience is something I remembered all growing up—that we don’t wear clothes that are not modest. That experience influenced the importance that I, as a mom, put on modesty for my children. It doesn’t matter what age you are or what kind of body you have. Respecting your body is good for everyone.

On the Banks of Crowder Lake

One day my parents took us to Crowder Lake. Actually, I’m pretty sure we went there several times. I remember my parents swimming across the lake and back a few times. One day when we were getting ready to go home from the lake, I was almost to the car when I heard someone screaming bloody murder behind me. I turned toward the lake, and there on the bank was Sam, screaming, and my dad hitting him on the head repeatedly with a towel. It was alarming! What was going on?

It turned out that Sam was being bitten by a horse fly, right on the crown of his head. Apparently those things bite, and they hold on, and it HURTS. My dad was using the towel to try and beat the horse fly off his head. Poor Sam! That’s all I remember, although I’m sure the horse fly eventually let go, and we made it home. I have no idea whether Sam had a big bite on his head for a while, or what the rest of that story is.

Jo and Tom

We were living in the small town of Trenton, Missouri, when Sam and I came home and happily told our mom we had met a very nice couple named Jo and Tom. I'm sure this sounded really weird to my mom. Looking back, it seems kind of weird to me that as young as we were (probably 6 and 4) we had been wandering the street meeting people. It was a much safer world back then! Mom was definitely relieved to learn that Jo and Tom were really "Joanne" and Tom. She came with us to meet them herself, and that was the beginning of a wonderful relationship. Jo and Tom were retired, and were the perfect Grandma and Grandpa for us, since we were so far away from our own. They gave us graham crackers and milk, and other various snacks when we visited. They told us stories. They even let us taste test their tea when they made it. That is, they asked us to, but we told them we didn't drink tea, not even a taste. One day when it was time to go I didn't want to leave, and Jo told me that if I was good and went home when it was time, she would send me a "ring" over the phone. Now, of course she meant that when she called the phone would ring, but I thought long and hard about how a ring could come to me over the phone. I waited in such anticipation to witness that. I remember that in the afternoons they liked to nap, so they had a special sign they put on their door when they were napping so that we would know not to knock, but to come back later. One day when I saw the sign on the door I decided I'd sit on the porch and wait for them to wake up. The porch was hidden, more or less, so when I fell asleep there, waiting, no one could find me. To me, it is a funny kind of memory, because I was so young, and because I didn't know anything of it until I was found. I didn't understand why they had been so scared. That became a story we all laughed over whenever anyone brought it up.

I don't remember a whole lot about them, but I do remember them talking to my mom about their daughter, Shelby Ann, who had died when she was 16. It had been decades, but they still felt the loss so deeply. I think they moved to Saint Louis, but they still gave us a call once in a while. One day Tom called and talked to Mom, and he told her that Jo had died. I remember feeling sad, but I also remember Mom telling us that Jo was with Shelby Ann now, and how happy she must be to see her again.
About 2 years ago when we vacationed to Missouri and Nauvoo we looked on the map and drove to Trenton. We drove down that little street we lived on, so long ago, and seeing the houses brought back a wonderful feeling. I'm sure that Tom has since passed on, probably many many years ago. It's nice to think of Jo, Tom and Shelby Ann, happy, together again.

The Big Pillow

We had this really big pillow. We all loved and adored the big pillow. It was so great to sit on and lay on. I'm not sure what ever happened to it, or when we got rid of it, but it was awesome.

Photo Booth

Here I am in a photo booth. I get such a kick out of these pictures!

Wheat

One of my very earliest memories is playing with buckets of wheat on the kitchen floor. There were probably things like cups and mixing spoons that we could use to stir and pour the wheat. It could have been rice, I’m not completely sure.

I also remember my mom telling me that if you put some wheat in your mouth and chewed on it long enough, it would turn into gum. So I tried it. But I never did get any gum out of it—maybe I just never had the patience to chew on it long enough.