The Year I Grew

On December 26, 1979 I experienced a moment that defined the coming year. And yeah, my life hasn't been the same since.  My younger sister, Laura and I were involved in a car accident on State Street in downtown Salt Lake City. It was my fault, but lucky for all involved we all walked away basically unharmed. My car spent a month in body shop at Rick Warner in downtown Salt Lake City.
Soon after getting my car back, my dad died. Yes, it sucked losing my dad at 21 years of age. and I still miss him. But he is okay and I am basically okay too. 
A month later, I had another accident as I was driving home to Idaho. It spent another month in a body shop in the Mini-Cassia area. When I got the car back, I lost my job at Rick Warner. Yeah, that really sucked too. I got two weeks severance pay and a week’s worth of unemployment pay, which is a lot less than a week's worth of regular pay. I found another within the month, but I took a cut in pay. At least my new paycheck was more than what my unemployment check was. I did meet people in that job that I would not have met otherwise, so I did have doors of opportunities that opened for me. Somewhere in the drama of the changing career event, I found out my Grandma Boice had brain cancer. My mom went to LaJara, Colorado to take care of her parents. While she was there, my brother Mike took care of Jay and Laura, who were middle school age. Over the July 24th weekend of 1980, Mike drove his younger siblings and me to Colorado (but not Mary, who was raising a family in Washington state and Steven, who was on a mission.) We visited with my Mom and some of her family. It was sad to see my Grandma. She couldn't talk, but she could understand us. She had no hair. Before labor day, we all said good bye to Grandma. It had to be hard on my mom losing her husband and her mom in a six month period. I think she drew on the strength her mother taught by example.
When I was driving home from Christmas 1980, I heard Barry Manilow on the radio singing "I made it thru the rain" and it hit me. I made it thru a difficult year. I grew in unexpected ways. I had experienced trials before like death of a cousin, uncles and a neighbor before that awful year, but not this closely related. Looking back at that year, I realized at 22 years of age that I didn't want to go back to the life before December 26, 1979. Life before had it challenges, but none that had strengthen me like 1980 had. I learned what having faith was. And I am still learning about faith.
Now in 2012, I look back and I cry for the young adult who had to experience that difficult year. It wasn't fair, but that if life; it throws foul balls at the spectators. But I also look back at that young adult self and I realize I wasn't alone. My family, my friends, my church were supporting me in my time of need. I could not have faced that year without their love and support. I knew God was watching over me and loved me. Jesus had and still does wrap his arms around me. I have been blessed with a strength to carry on. My dad loves me still and so do my grandparents. There is hope in the midst of life's storms. (Sometimes the foul balls aren't that bad. A younger Jared got to keep one that hit him. The guy behind Jared thought it was only fair that he did and Jared thought it was awesome that he brought home that baseball.)

Finally did it

On March 22, 2012, City Creek Mall opened to great fan fare.  I finally got to the new mall two weeks later, which a week before my brother’s birthday and a day before Easter. I had to go to Deseret Book to get Jay’s present, a DVD.  I had wanted to get “17 Miracles” for Christmas, but when the stake president came out with the reading list for 2012, I decided to get Jay one of the recommended books. I rode Trax, but instead of getting off at City Center, like I did yesterday, I got off at the

Temple Square

station. I wanted to see the Western half of the new mall before I went inside it.  After I made my purchases at Deseret Book, which had opened sometime in 2009 or 2010, I started my tour of City Creek. Up I went on the escalator and walked across the new skywalk that crossed

Main Street

. I seen a few times during its construction as I rode Trax. After I walked thru the skywalk, I went back because the line at Kneaders was too long. (As of yesterday, it is still starts outside the south doors of the restaurant.) I went back the Nordstrom’s (western) side of the mall, visited Rocky Mountain Chocolate and bought something, then I checked out Blue Lemon, which directly across from Deseret Book. I had eaten twice before and was surprised that it was crowded too. (It still had a long line yesterday, but at least it wasn’t out the door.) So I decided to eat at the

Food Court

on the Macey’s (eastern) side of City Creek. To my delight, Chick-fil-A was opened for business. Finally there were more options than McDonald’s. It was crowded at the

Food Court

, but I was too hungry to care. When I left the

Food Court

, I exited the way I had before; heading for the exit on South Temple and State.  Then I crossed the street and went shopping at Harmon’s, which opened a month or two before City Creek did. I bought some Easter candy and a few others things. After Harmon’s, crossed the street at 100 South and State, walked up the street and entered City Creek at

State Street

. Years before I would enter the ZCMI mall at

State Street

in about the same location.  Except this time, I was still outside instead of inside.  I walked thru the mall and when I crossed

Main Street

to get to Trax, I had a sense of deja vue. Years ago as a college student, I would cross from ZCMI center to the Crossroads Mall at this same spot.  I got the same deja vue yesterday as I waited for the light to change. It was like I was back in the 80’s again.

It will be awhile before I eat again at City Creek.  Yesterday, I boarded Trax, transferred at Courthouse and caught the Red Line to Café Zupas. It was less crowded and so worth the ride there to have my BBQ pulled pork and Mango Berry salad. Heaven! I will that Mango Berry salad again.

 

The Great Utah Shakeout or The Largest Earthquake Drill The State of Utah Has Experienced

Weeks before last Tuesday, I was informed that there would be an earthquake drill. Every building on campus had the maps posted at all their exits.  A few days before the drill, the bookstore put up notice that they would be closed between the hours of 10:15 am to 11:30am on April 17^th.  My boss, Lisa conducted meetings with those in office the day before. We saw a depressing video that left me with no hope of surviving the real thing. It said thousands would die and life as we knew it would be over. Highways and such would be in chaos and buildings would all be leveled.  Lisa did show some other videos, one which was the earthquake that my Steven experienced. It was more informative than the death wish video that someone in Utah put together. I enjoyed the video of the fireman who demonstrated how to get under a table and hold on.  The narrator had to tell him to get completely under the table.  Oops.  Penny, who was raised in Southern California, told us that the longest quake she was in only lasted 42 seconds or less than a minute.

Tuesday morning arrived and so did the talk.  A few joked about a real earthquake happening just before or at the time of the drill. The nervous chit chat increased as the time grew shorter. I got out my iPad and earplugs so I wouldn’t have to listen to their ramblings during the drill; I did not care to listen to that again.  I was in an earthquake drill at Blue Cross and one woman could not quit yakking.  Granted we were under our desks for 15 minutes.  I decided right then that if an earthquake happen, I wouldn’t get under my desk; I just get myself out of her misery.

At 10:15, a text arrived to cell phone, informing me to get under my desk. So under I went, but I sat instead of rolling up like a ball.  I am too tall to sit under my desk; I would have to take out a few ribs or my neck to fit under there.  I did turn on my iPod on my iPad and listened to some song. I could hear people leaving, so I texted Karie in St. George and told her two individuals didn’t shut up the entire time. I put my iPad in my bag and put on my jacket, then I wore my cross pack. I was quite surprised that my neck wasn’t sore, but if I had been under my desk like I had in the first drill, my neck would have been sore.  Next time, I am not taking the time to wear earphones; I will do my best to ignore the loudmouths or laugh at their nervous chitchat. Maybe I will get lucky and they will be put out of their misery.

I was the last one out of the office. Pat and Lisa walked me out.  I had to text Karie and that is why I was last. Next time, not gonna happen.  We met up at the appointed spot on the lawn on the corner of 2^nd & University or the lawn in front of Big Ed’s. When I got there, I noticed that not all of the office was there, so I went looking for them.  While I was searching, I ran into Jen, who used to work in our office and I picked up a 1^st aid kit from the tent that was set up.  In my 1^st aid kit (or was it a 72 hour kit?) were band-aids, ointment, toothbrush, toothpaste, a bottle of water and a granola bar in a Campus Store plastic bag. I stuffed it in my bag and forgot to take it out, so it went home with me.  I brought it back the next day and added an overnight pad for young women.  Hey, I’ve been told those things belong in a 1^st aid kit. The next day after I decided it would be a take home ER kit, I added deodorant, small package of tissues, and lotion.  Since I had gum in my desk drawer, I threw that in the kit too. My ER kit or “Hoofin’ like a New Yorker” kit is now hanging on a coat hook by the trash basket under my desk. I still have to walk on glass to get to my purse and bag. If my lunch is in the frig, I will probably forget to grab it, but then maybe not.  It could be on the way out to the evacuation spot by Big Ed’s.  That is if the frig isn’t blocking the exit.

Oh, by the way, I texted my out of state contact (my oldest sister) that we had an earthquake drill and I was fine.  I didn’t know that living apart that from my family would provide me with so many contacts out of state. That prep was probably the easiest prep of the whole drill.

Thoughts on Easter – A Day Late

Today during sacrament meeting, the choir did the Easter Program. The choir director has cancer and decided to go hatless today and show her new hair. It reminded me of when my sister, Mary, had cancer and lost her hair; there is a picture of my sister with her very short hair and her granddaughter with a little bit of hair. Isabella seems to saying “Lookee, we got hair!” Both heads of hair in the picture remind me of a newness and hope. Isabella is very young, probably 18 months old and still experiencing new things, like her hair getting combed and styled. Mary was recovering and experiencing a new growth of hair being restored to its former glory. When I think of Easter, I think of newness, like Isabella’s new hair and renewal like Mary’s new hair. I think also of hope. The hope of things restored and of thing resurrected. I get my hearing back and so does my dad. But I hope when I see him again that he is still bald, because I am not sure if I will recognize my dad with head full of hair.

Good Friday Weather

4/6/12
6:20 am Penny -Well its snowing at my place. Glad Im letting UTA do the driving...Ithink! haha
7:04 am Susan - Hard to be it is Easter weekend.
7:04 am Penny - I know
7:16 am Penny - Sorens headed up 4th south. 2 trucks and paramedics
7:27 am Susan - There were slideoffs just before Foothill. Cop & ER mobile in Research Park. Heard a siren when I got off at the business loop. What a Good Friday.
9:13 am Susan to Darren, Crystal, Jared & Mark - So did you have fun driving in that **** this morning?
9:15 am Jared - I just hated cleaning my car off
9:18 am Susan to Jared - So it is better weather in Happy Valley (Utah Valley)?glad my nephews are okay.
9:19 am Jared - I don't know... i haven't seen salt lake
9:23 am Susan to Jared - Oh no! happy valley got dumped on too?
9:30 am Susan to Isaac - Is BYU under snow too?the school to the north got dumped on.
9:31 am Isaac - Yep, lots of snow
9:35 am Mark - Beautiful snow covering the ground! Beautiful day! how could i not enjoy it!
9:35 am Susan to Mark - Haha
12:08 pm Darren - I didn't actually ha
12:11 pm Susan to Darren - Ja! You probably laughed at all the poor suckers on the road. At least I hope you did. Lol

Conference Weekend Weather

Thanks to the The Weather Channel, KSL and others, I took the weather was going to be going from one extreme to the other. It did, but not quite as predicted. Saturday was nice; the sun was out. I walked to the library in short sleeves, jeans and socks with shoes. I wished I had worn sandles and capris; my jeans and socks were too warm. People were out biking and I even saw a guy jogging in his shorts and t-shirt. KSL did report that it got into the high 70's at the airport, so it is fair to say that Saturday weather came as predicted. I woke Sunday to the sound of cars traveling on wet pavement. It was probably raining, but soon after the morning session of conference began, I noticed it was snowing. Lightly because the only way I make sure it was snowing was if I looked at the trees outside our condo. Bewteen the sessions, I took another walk around Holladay. I wore my gloves and my hoodie. I could feel the cold go up my legs, the jeans I that wore both days, were not enough. It snowed the whole time, although it melted when it hit the ground. The pictures I took just showed wet sidewalks and grayish skys. I am sure the snow did not melt on impact in Park City, Utah. The Weather Channel app on my iPad was showing colder tempatures. While the weather people weren't exactly right about Salt Lake County, at least they were right on about Park City.

Hot Caramel!

At the University of Utah, I am a loan collector; I collect on student loans and emergency tuition loans. After helping one student with her emergency loan, she brought in some gourmet caramels from a local store. She told me that the salted caramels were the best. So I ate one and it was good. Then I decided to share the rest with the office, since I felt uneasy accepting this student's gift. There were a variety of flavors. My boss, Pat was on his lunch hour so I left a chili caramel on his desk. I thought Pat would look at the wrapper and then try to pawn it off some unsuspecting employee or Lisa, the director of the department. I soon left for lunch and when I came back I found he got quite the surprise when he popped his caramel in his mouth. Apparently he didn't look at the wrapper before he ate it. I am surprised that I wasn't put on academic probation. But then I think Pat is use to the office jokers. After all he joins in on the teasing too, especially if it involves Lisa.

Leave it to Mike Stewart

Thirty something years ago, my Dad suddenly passed away. John and I drove up from Utah. Mary and Doug flew in from Seattle with their six month old sold, Mike. Since Mike was a baby, he got to fly for free, but not five year old, Tracina. She stayed behind with family in Portland or friends in Olympia, Washington. Since Mary and her family flew in on the night of Dad’s viewing, I got to drive to Twin Falls, Idaho to pick them up, which was thirty miles from Burley. When we got to Payne Mortuary, Mary sat Mike down and immediately he starts moving and smiling at everyone. Our neighbor and former bishop, Lowell Maughan and his wife, Mary smiled back as did any other visitors who were still there. Laura said on the way from the viewing that no one had smiled before Baby Mike arrived. Using his own innocent charm, he changed the somber mood into a more cheerful countenance.
After the funeral in Paul, Idaho, we drove to Manassa Colorado for another funeral and to bury my Dad where he was born and raised. On the way, we stopped at one of my Tracy cousins to spend the night. The next morning at breakfast, someone gave Baby Mike a dill pickle. To everyone’s surprise, Mike sucked on that pickle like it was one of his bottles. Again, Mike was bringing cheer into a dreary event.
Later that night, we pulled in Uncle Kelland and Aunt Wilma’s house outside, LaJara, Colorado. While I was in bathroom getting dressed after my shower, I could hear the piano playing. Then it got louder. I walked out into the living room to see my nephew sitting on my Mom’s lap at the piano. Mike was banging away at keys like only a six month old could. And he was grinning from ear to ear and his audience was smiling. Little Mike knew when to entertain. I doubt that Mike knew that he was performing acts of service. Thirty two years later, I am glad that he flew free. Thank you, Mike Stewart, for bringing cheer to our family when we needed it the most.

Oh Peas No

Text Message – 2/11/12
Aunt Susan – Does your Mom eat peas?
Vanessa – Only if she has too lol
Aunt Susan – It’s my fault your Mom hates peas. Maybe Aunt Laura’s too.
Vanessa – Haha what
Aunt Susan – Yeah I fed her some gross canned peas from your grandma’s cupboard. Aunt Laura & didn’t want to eat them so we made your Mom eat them.
Vanessa – Haha ohhh ew
Aunt Susan – Don’t tell your Mom. She doesn’t need to visit that nightmare again.
Vanessa – Lolzzz

The Summer of 75
The summer I turned 17, my younger sister, Laura and I went to Portland, Oregon to spend a month helping our older sister, Mary, who had a nine month old daughter, Tracina. We stayed home during the day while Mary worked. During the day while we watched Tracina, we would watch TV or play in the backyard; sometimes we would push Tracina in her stroller and buy a few things at the neighborhood grocery store. Sometimes we would bring lunch home, but most of the time, we got our lunch from the cupboard. At first Laura and I ate almost anything from the cupboard, including the cheap canned peas. Once I cooked up the peas, but I decided I didn't want to eat any. Laura was sick of eating canned peas too, so I gave them to Tracina. She ate them all. Maybe because it wasn't baby food. When the month was over, Mary and her husband, Doug decided to move to the Magic Valley. Shortly after they moved they came over for dinner. My Mom served real peas, probably garden fresh peas or Western Family frozen green peas. We all ate the peas on our plate except for Tracina. She would not allow those nasty things near her lips. My mom thought it was the move, because my older brother would not touch peas after moving to Idaho. But I knew the truth, it was those nasty canned peas from a Portland, Oregon cupboard. My Mom still doesn't know the real reason why, but Mary does.