Memories
I am going to do something a little different this year. My letter is going to be titled memories.
I want to go back to the things I remember about my grandparents, parents, siblings, and kids and grandkids.
My first memories of my Grandpa Humpherys are when I was probably about five or six years old. Grandpa would come to visit and to help us in Etna on the ranch. He always wore a hat, dark glasses and carried a cane. I did not realize at that time that he was losing his sight.
My next memories were down in Logan. I most likely was seven. The family would go to Logan with Mom and Dad, stay with Aunt June but always went to visit Grandpa and Grandma Liza. She was my step-grandmother. My grandmother passed away when Dad was young so I never had the privilege of knowing her. Grandma Liza was a kind person. I had the opportunity to help her do her vacuuming. She had a big old up-right. I think it could have been a Kirby. It was heavy, had a light on the front and I always played like it was a tractor as I would go around the room vacuuming . Grandma Liza had a stroke when I was a junior at Star Valley High School and passed away shortly after that. Some of my best memories of Grandpa Humpherys was when I lived with him while I was going to college at Utah State. Grandpa was totally blind by then. In fact, I know he was blind the last 30 years of his life. I asked him why and how he lost his sight He told me the best way he could explain it was if you threw a hand full of mud at a window, some places the mud would cover and some places you could still see through. In time all the places you could see through would close in until he couldn't see any more. It made sense to me. I was really amazed how independent Grandpa was and how well he got along. He could cook and do most of the household chores. He would walk up to the Temple and do temple work most every day. Sometimes he would go by himself, but other times he had a friend that he would meet and they walked together.
Grandpa lost part of his left hand in a rock crusher. He had his thumb and index finger was all. I can still see him holding his bread in that hand when we were eating. I learned a lot from him, I loved him; he was a kind and good man.
My first memories of Grandpa Clark and Aunt Annie are a little vague because Aunt Annie stayed in Logan when Grandpa came to the valley every spring. You see Aunt Annie was my step Grandmother also. I didn't understand this at first how she could be my aunt and Grandmother at the same time. I didn't know my real Grandmother. She passed away when Mom was around four years old.
Aunt Annie was the wife to Gene Weber who was the brother to Grandma Clark. He died also. Aunt Annie had five kids and Grandpa Clark had 7 or 8 kids. Anyway, they were married and raised their families together. Aunt Annie lost her left hand in an accident. I'm not really sure how it happened. It was really amazing how much she could do with the stub that was left from her elbow down.
Grandpa Clark would come to Etna every spring and help Uncle Wilfred farm and help Dad lots of the time. Grandpa loved to drive tractors. I know he farmed with horses, but I feel he was a happy man when tractors came on the scene. They would go fast, pull more and didn't get tired. They didn't have welders in Grandpa's day, but he could fix anything with baling wire and a pair of pliers even patch canvas dams that wouldn't leak!
I lived with Grandpa and Aunt Annie when I came home from my mission to Australia. I learned a lot from them. Grandpa was a very talented musician. He could sing, play the organ, the piano, the fiddle and etc. He had a family dance band and they played at lots of dances in the Valley.
Grandpa was kind of a health food nut. I remember him taking some delicious, homemade, whole wheat bread, slice it, then lay it out to dry. I can still hear them chopping on that old, dry bread! He said it created more saliva when you ate it so your food would digest better. Maybe this is where I get some of my health food ideas!
Grandpa had a good sense of humor. One of his favorite sayings was that you could get more mileage out of your tires by going around corners on two wheels!!
I could say a lot more about both of my grandparents. I loved them all. They were good to me and I felt that they loved me also .
I could fill volumes about Mom and Dad. I just want to share some of the highlights that stand out in my mind. When I was five years old, Dad decided that he should go fight for America to defend our freedom in the Second World War. I am sure it was not an easy decision having a wife and four kids and knowing the reality of war that when he left he may never come back. I know he had a lot of faith and if he and Mom did the right thing, such as saying family prayers and paying tithing, he would be protected and be able to return home, and he did.
One of my first memories was when Dad had a big auction sale and sold all the horses, cows, and farm equipment. I was five years old and riding a big sorrel mare named Bird. I don't know if I was helping and only in the way but Dad made me feel like I was helping. Edwin Ivie asked me if he was going to sell my horse too. I said, "I guess so." And he did. The only two horses he kept was Goldie who was just a young, maybe two years old, and Ole Chief. I am not really certain about Ole Chief because Dad referred to him in some of his letters. When Dad came home, I know we still had him. As I have become an adult, I have learned to appreciate some of the things they must have gone through during this trying time of war, the uncertainty of what was going to happen to our country, to Dad, to their family, and just being separated from each other as things were going on around them. We give Dad lots of credit for having the courage and patriotism to go and do what he felt he must do. I am not sure we give Mom the credit courage she had to have to stay and take care of us kids and continue to love and support her husband during these time. After a furlough from basic training, Dad was gone close to two years fighting on the front lines in Italy and Germany. None of us will ever know what Mom and Dad went through at that time. All I know is that Dad said in one of his letters is that war is hell and I am sure that it was and it still is. Time has a different meaning to me today than back when I was six years old. As the time past and the war ended, it was announced on the radio that the war was over. Nadean, Sharon and I took Mom's dishpans and wooden spoons and marched up and down the side on the road beating on the dishpan with the wooden spoons singing that our dad would be coming home! We were very happy indeed! When Dad returned, I am sure the next few years were a struggle. Starting over having to buy new horses, cows, machinery and just becoming part of his family once again. When Dad came home is when I started learning to ride, to work, to help with all the chores that needed to be done. I feel that I learned a good work ethic from Dad and I learned a kind, gentle approach to life from Mom. Building a new barn and a new house brought many happy times and memories.
During my teenage, rebellious years I didn't always get along with Dad but as I grew up, I learned to appreciate his wisdom and many talents that he had. I appreciated Mom for always being the peacemaker and smoothing things over when I was often in the wrong.
How grateful I am for parents and grandparents who loved me and helped shape my life to some degree. I am thankful to Mom and Dad for instilling in me and all my siblings a very strong love for each other. I am very thankful for Johnny, Robert and Gordon Ray for playing a huge part in my life. Not really knowing Gordon Ray, I would have like to have known him as the big brother that I always wished I had. I miss Johnny and Robert more than words can tell and will always cherish the good times I had with them. I am so thankful for Nadean, Sharon, Florence, Ray, Gerald and Newell for the kind of people they are and the good example they are to me.
I am thankful for my children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. It is interesting to watch your children struggle and grow with some of the same experiences that we as parents have gone through. I am proud of each of them as I have watched them struggle and grow into responsible adults. I am thankful to Tawny for being a good mother to our children.
Time goes so fast. Now I am in the twilight of my years. This is not a last farewell. None of us really know how much time we have here on this ole earth. Dad past away at 71, Mom died at 90, both of my grandfathers lived into their mid-eighties, so I figure I have at least ten more years. Only time will answer that question!!! I have lots of things left to do, places to go, people to see.
I am so thankful for Myrna, for what she means to me in my life, for her love and support that she has given me during the thirteen years we have been married. I am so thankful for the blessing of going to the temple on October 20, 2012, and being sealed for time and for all eternity. I am thankful to Myrna's family for the way they have accepted me into their lives.
Myrna and I have chosen to stop doing the petting zoos this year and concentrate on wagon rides and wedding carriage business. We have found this to be a good supplement to our retirement and it is one of the things I can still do and enjoy.
May we all have many happy and successful years and make many enduring and lasting memories together.
