The Joys of Sisterhood (or the joke’s on me)

My oldest sister, Mary took German while she was in high school, which was one of the three foreign languages taught at Minico.  Once after she told me to say “Ich bin krank”, I asked her what it meant. She said it meant that my sister was sick. So being the smarty pants I thought I was; I taunted my younger with the phrase “Ich bin krank.”  Laura, being the youngest of us all, took a lot a grief from us. When I got to high school, I decided to follow Mary’s example and take German. Ja! (Spanish, not German.) Within the first month, I discovered that I had been telling Laura that estuve enfermo. Mary!

Translations from Google

Ich bin krank = I am sick (German to English)

Ja! = Yes! (German to English)

Ja! = Ha! (Spanish to English)

Estuve enfermo = I was sick (Spanish to English)

What I learned on Criminal Minds This Past Week

Most Wednesday nights will find me in front of the TV, watching Criminal Minds. Since it was Halloween, it involved a crazed witch hunter. But Criminal Minds also focused on a lesser known holiday – Day of the Dead. Penelope Garcia, a computer geek, who usually stays back in Washington while the BAU (Behavorial Analysis Unit)team goes out into the field, has the team over for a Day of Dead celebration. All the team members have lost a loved one and one by one, the team puts a picture of a loved one on an altar that Garcia had.

On Friday, I was passing through the the University of Utah Union building and I noticed a display of dressed up skeletons on a table; probably Catrinas. That tweaked my interest even more. I had heard of Day of the Dead before, but until Criminal Minds portrayed the event, I paid little attention to it. So I looked up Day of the Dead on Wikipedia, a online encyclopedia. I learned that the holiday has roots in Mexico and it also celebrated in other cultures.

When Jay called from Idaho this weekend, I asked him if he had stopped to the cemetery. Since he hadn’t, I told him a bit about Day of the Dead. The Magic Valley in Idaho has a noticeable Mexican culture, so I figured that cemeteries in the valley would be visited this weekend. When he got to the cemetery, he called and told me that there were some decorations up. He did mention pumpkins on some of the graves. I don’t think all the decorations were for the Day of the Dead.

Although the holiday is over, I thought of who I would have honored on this Day of the Dead. My thoughts turned to my family, just like Garcia did in Criminal Minds. I thought of my parents, but I settled on my cousin, Edward Jackson. He died while I was still in junior high (middle school). I had lost other relatives, but he was first relative that I knew who died. When his family lived in Idaho, our families would visit each other often. Often we would pair up with the cousin who was closest to our age. Lou Jane and I would play with each other and Mary and Emmalee would do the same. Although Edward was the oldest, he would hang out with John, who was Emmalee’s age; while Mike, the oldest child in our family would hang out with Bryant, who was just younger than Mary. Edward and Mike attended Ricks College (now BYU-Idaho) at the same time. One weekend Edward came home with Mike and they hung together. Without his family, I noticed a different side of Edward. He just seemed a bit quieter. He spoke to me like I was a teen-ager instead of a child.  That weekend was the last time I saw Edward. A year later, he was killed in accident in Southern Colorado. I still miss Edward forty plus years later. If I were to visit his grave this year in Manassa, Colorado, I would leave a Dove dark chocolate bar and say thanks for being kind to me that weekend. And then, I would go say Hi to my dad. It’s been awhile since I visited him.

Lighting Up The Night

Last weekend, I flew to Seattle to walk “Light The Night” with my sisters and my nieces. I had done a similar walk years ago in Sugarhouse Park with my work. At that time, I walked for two brothers who had Leukemia. I carried a red balloon in their memory. A few years after I walked in Sugarhouse Park, my Aunt Maevonne got Lymphoma. I looked up other walks in Colorado, but I never walked any in any of the event. I didn’t even bother to register.

When Mom was diagnosed with Lymphoma last year, I looked up the site again. But with stress of losing her, I forgot until after she died. I was at a local fast food restaurant when I saw a flyer for “Light The Night” in Sugarhouse Park. I thought of doing, but then I realized it was too emotional for me to do. So I concentrated on dealing with her estate and set a goal of walking in 2013.

As autumn approached, I realized my goal of doing the walk. But I wasn'tSalt Lake since it isn't an event one does alone. So I checked out other states, even Colorado, before deciding on the Seattle area. I knew I could count on my sisters to support me. So I registered and made reservations with Southwest, who has weekend getaway fares. My sister, Laura formed TeamBoice and soon my sister, Mary signed up. Then Tracina and her family joined in the fund raising efforts.sure if I wanted to do the walk in.

The day of the event was rainy, but then what can you expect of Seattle. Bill, Laura’s husband, drove us there. He checked out the free food while we picked up our t-shirts and lighted balloons. Bill highly recommended the clam chowder, which was very good. Mary got sick, so I picked up her t-shirt and balloon. I thought one of her granddaughters could carry the balloon. Eventually, Tracina and her daughters got to the park. I gave the Bella and MoMo each a balloon, one for each of their grandmas. (Their dad’s mom also has Lymphoma.) It was then that Tracina told us the walk had been canceled. It wasn't the rain, but the wind. We looked over and a large group of walkers were heading out on the trail. Even though the event was canceled, no one discouraged anyone from walking around Green Lake. We walked a short distance and saw some down trees, but none in the path that went around the lake. After we got back, we saw a large group come back. We could see the glow of the lights from the blinking necklaces and some of the lightened balloons. It made me realize that hope can be the light in the midst of darkness. Someday, there will be a cure for cancer.

Before Tracina and her daughters boarded the bus (back to their car), I gave her my balloons (They gave away balloons free after the walk was canceled.) to give her daughter, Vanessa. She had to work and she is quite close to her grandmas. Laura, Bill and I left to see Isaac and his family before we headed home.

Although the walk was canceled, I was glad I flew to Seattle to walk with my sisters. Mom liked it when I walked for the two brothers, one who was her bishop for a short time. She would have liked that we walked for her and her sister, Maevonne. And she would have loved that the Bella and MoMo walked for their paternal grandma too.

Division

About five years ago, I was wandering thru the Campus Store (more commonly known as the Bookstore) at the University of Utah. It was probably late October or early November when I saw a navy blue, white and red flag. No, it wasn’t an American flag, but a rivalry flag. BYU and Utah were evenly represented. I bought it and a matching tumbler. I kept the flag, but I gave the tumbler to my friends, who are also a divided family. Grandma Pugh, who had Alzheimer’s, didn’t like the BYU side of the tumbler like her grandson, Jason did, a staunch BYU fan.

As it got closer to Thanksgiving, I hung up the flag in the unit we live in. Jay, a dyed in the wool BYU fan, didn’t want it on the front door, so I hung in the entry way. I can’t remember who won that year, but if it was 2009, it was BYU. That year, Jay bought me soup and that was more painful than comforting. In our household of two, the loser got the soup or some other comfort food.

After the game, the flag came down and was packed away in the closet until the next year. I am not sure if it came out in 2011, the first year the rivalry moved to September, thanks to BYU going independent and Utah moving to the PAC12. It didn’t come out in 2012 because of our Mom’s illness. I didn’t get into the rivalry like I usually did. My cousin, Coach Jackson did give me some grief on Facebook like he usually does. I was glad for that distraction, even though I wasn’t into it that much. The day before the game, I flew out to Seattle, to be with my Mom once more. But Mom died before I boarded the plane. I had packed my “Utah” clothing, so I was wearing red on game day. Laura had to use Kohl’s coupon, so during the game I was shopping. But my friend in Ogden kept me posted on the score.

Two weeks before the game this year, Coach tagged me in one of his post. Apparently he posted a BYU football photo in my honor. I was back. It wasn’t until I posted a photo I took years ago, that I realized I was enjoying the rivalry again. It felt good. I managed to tag family members on my photo. All were tagged on the top half, except for Steven, my almost twin brother. He attended BYU and Utah, so I did my best to get him in that middle part where it was white. But his name showed up on Utah side with me.

When Coach said something about BYU being on top, I knew I had to get out the camera again. After a few shots, I finally got one that I could post. BYU and Utah were pretty much even in the landscape shot. It was easier getting Steven’s name right smack in the white middle. Of course, Coach noticed and asked why. I gave him some lame excuse, because I wasn’t ready to confess. I added a few more BYU relatives on both of parent’s side of the family. I even posted Jason near the “Y” and two of his sibling in the white middle. Jason’s sister has flip-flopped quite a bit and Jared has been a fan of both teams. And besides, I knew I needed to be the lone Utah fan in the red part of the flag. It was sometime this summer that I realized I am the only one in my family – paternal and maternal – that is not a confirmed BYU fan. I’ve been bleeding red since my return to the Salt Lake Valley many years ago. Even when I didn’t particularly care for the University of Utah, I didn’t cheer for BYU

Even though, the Utah-BYU rivalry is on hiatus for two years, the house is still divided. After all, the two teams will suit up for basketball and other sports. The division will be less intense.

To be continued . . . in 2016.

Being With Mom

Ten years ago today, I was with Mom and her sister in Illinois. We started the day by going to church and then it was on to Carthage. After our tour of the Carthage Jail, we headed headed south and a bit east, then west. It was like an extended ride in the country which was a favorite past time of Mom's. After our trip in the country, we returned to Nauvoo, where we had been staying the few days.

Five years ago during the first week in August, my older sister, Mary visited Idaho. Since she was so close to Utah, Mary decided to pay a visit to Idaho. Mary's best friend from childhood and Mom traveled with her. While in Utah, we decided to ride the Heber Valley Railroad; an old steam engine that ran between Heber City and Bridal Veil Falls in Provo Canyon. Mom mentioned that she rode similar trains as a young career woman from California to Colorado and back quite a few times and probably in Colorado a few times.  Mom rode the in the open air car round trip. She must have remember how stiff the seats were or maybe she liked the breeze. But it was cool to ride on train that Mom rode on as a young person. 

A year ago I took my last plane ride with my Mom.  I arrived at airport to fly alone to Seattle. I was hoping to see Mom one last time before she left this earthly life. But an hour before my flight left, my sister, Laura called to say that Mom was gone. Needless to say, I felt quite alone until I was standing in line. I felt Mom's presence close to me. It was such a comfort to feel of her spirit thru out the flight.

Each September my thoughts will return to the passing of my mother, just like each February when I think of my father. I decided that I would take a ride "in the country" via Frontrunner on September 14th. But it didn't work out that way. Due to poor planning I realized a trip to Provo was out. Frontrunner only runs every hour. I didn't want to wait that long at any station. So I decided to the Trax red line to Daybreak. If memory served me right, there was a sugar factory in West Jordan similar to the one in Paul, Idaho. And then I heard reports that there wasn't anything to view on the red line after it left Fashion Place station. I figured West Jordan and South Jordan would be as rural as I would get in Salt Lake County.

So after I boarded the red line at Murray North station, I was for southwest  part of the county. I got off at Redwood Road station for a break. I realized I was like Mom, who had to take such a break ten years ago. When I got back on, it was announced that the next stop was "Sugar Factory Road".  I didn't get off, but I searched for any remnants of a sugar factory. I didn't see any, but it was nice to know that I remembered correctly. I didn't see much open space until after 4800 West. When the train got to the South Jordan Parkway, I decided to get off instead of continuing on to the end of the line,which was the next stop. I was glad I did. It was probably the most open of all the Trax stations along the red line. I took a picture of the Kennecott mine.

And then I looked east and saw the Oquirrh Temple. Mom would have been pleased to see that. She always loved to see a temple. She always made in a point to go to the Idaho Falls and Boise temples when the Paul 2nd Ward had temple trips. She even made regular trips to the Logan temple with a group of friends. And when the Twin Falls temple opened, her home teacher, Clint Harper took her often.  So I took my cellphone out again and took a few pictures of the temple in the distance. I looked for the Jordan River temple, which can be seen from the Oquirrh Temple, but it was too far away. 

After a few minutes, the train came, probably the same one I had been on when I got at that stop or the one at Redwood Road. Instead of a ride "in the country" I got a ride in "to the country" and I had my trip with Mom. She did ride Trax a few times, but this was probably the first she rode on one of the new cars. Even I though I didn't sense her presence on my little trip, I wouldn't be surprised she joined me on this adventure. 

Life Goes On

Last September, I flew to Seattle to see my Mom and my sisters. An hour before I boarded, my sister called to tell that Mom had passed. But I still went; because when I made the reservation I decided I would see my sisters regardless of what would happen. When I got to Seattle, my niece, Tracina picked me up and we headed straight to the care center in Enumclaw where my Mom spent her last week. (The mortuary waited until I got there to take her away.) When I got to the care center, my sisters, Laura and Mary were still there. So was my nephew, Skylar. He waited patiently as we began planning for the funeral and contacted the mortuary in Burley, Idaho. Most of the time, he waited in the car. After what was a long wait, Laura drove Skylar and me to the house. I don’t remember Skylar saying much, probably because Laura and I were both talking to the mortuary in Burley. Shortly after we got home, I looked at the window and Skylar was quietly jumping on the trampoline. So I took out my cell phone and took a picture. Even though, Skylar needed time to himself, he reminded me that life does goes on.

And life has gone on.

The Desert Blossoming As The Rose

When John and I were in Rupert, Idaho last September, we stopped by the Square. There was a display by the restored Wilson Theatre that mentioned that the area had blossomed like a rose, especially after homesteaders began farming the area in 1950's. A scripture in Isaiah was quoted, which mentioned a desert blooming like a rose. John had his scriptures on him and looked up similar scriptures. He later wrote the irrigation project in Minidoka County was a prophecy fulfilled. And I thought the scripture was about the fulfillment of prophecy in Salt Lake Valley. When the Mormon Pioneers settled the Salt Lake Valley, it was desert. Jim Bridger, a frontiersman, doubted a bushel of corn could grow in the area that Brigham Young desired to settle. I imagine Jim Bridger would be surprised that in 2002, the Salt Lake Valley hosted the Winter Olympics.

So while the Salt Lake Valley desert was blossoming as a rose, so was the desert in the Magic Valley. In the 1950’s, there was a big push to invite farmers to homestead in Minidoka County. One of the events that made this possible was pumping water from the ground.  Diverting water through the use of dams along the Snake River was another event that led to homesteaders coming to the Magic Valley. Although Minidoka County borders the Snake River, there are no creeks in the county. There are only man made canals running through Minidoka County. There are plenty of wells, which provide water for many farmers in the county. This makes me realize, I never thought I grew up in a desert.  I was surrounded by many farms that displayed the colors of green; potatoes, alfalfa, barley, sugar beets, etc.

And then I realize that scripture in Isaiah 35:1 " ... and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose." has been fulfilled in the Magic Valley.

Pioneers In Their Own Way

July 24th is a state holiday in Utah. Most business, except for banks and the federal agencies close shop for the day, so that residents can celebrate the Mormon Pioneers entering the Salt Lake Valley. Only the wagon company of Brigham Young entered the valley on July 24th. A few months, another group entered the valley and in the coming years, other companies followed. Some of the companies consisted of handcarts. Most of my ancestors came west with pioneers the traditional, but two of pioneering ancestors came a less traditional way.

Benjamin Jackson left England in 1849. He boarded a ship and wasn't heard until the late 1860's. By then, his wife had given up and decided he was dead, so she married another man. So when Benjamin Jackson found his way to Nephi, he told the story of what happened after he left England. Benjamin crossed the Atlantic Ocean successfully, but while crossing the plain, he joined a group of Forty-Niners and headed to California to search for gold. Maybe he thought it would be a quick way to bring him family to America. Benjamin never wrote his family, probably because he couldn't read and he would have to pay someone to write the letter. Benjamin in his later years moved to Salt Lake City to live with his daughter, Elizabeth. He is buried in the Salt Lake City Cemetery, along with John Taylor, a former president of the LDS Church and other famous Mormons.

Elihu Kisor Ball was living in Russell, Virginia when he joined the LDS Church. On April 15, 1878, Elihu left his native Virginia with a nephew,Balford after a sorrowful farewell for Utah. They traveled first by horseback for the first 30 miles and then walked to Pikeville, Kentucky. Elihu and Balford bought a small flatboat sailed down the Big Sandy River to Louisa, West Virginia to visit with relatives. It was here that Balford got home sick and returned to Virginia. It was the last Elihu saw his nephew. On May 1st, Elihu boarded a streamboat and sailed on the Big Sandy River to Cincinnati, Ohio where he boarded the train to Salt Lake City, Utah. He stayed in Salt Lake until 1880 when he was sent by Brigham Young to help settle the San Luis Valley in southern Colorado.

35 Years Ago

This morning as I ate breakfast, I read the Salt Lake Tribune. Peggy Fletcher Stack wrote an article about the 35^th year anniversary of the blacks receiving the priesthood. I remembered Mom coming home from town that day and telling me that George could have the priesthood. I gave her quizzing look because she had to remind me who George was.. I was thinking of another George who I knew in Salt Lake my first year of college. He was strange and I am pretty sure he might have passed the sacrament in the branch I sometimes attended. When Mom mentioned it was my FHE (family home evening) brother from Ricks College then I understood. George came to Ricks College my second semester there. He wasn’t a member, but he still returned for a second time. I found out the following fall that he had been in my brother, John’s and my roommate, Deb’s branch the previous year while I had been in Salt Lake. Toward the end of the semester, George joined the church; students from the 8^th and 29^th branch were in attendance. I think it was the biggest convert baptism that I ever attended. As I look back on George’s baptism, I realize it took him a lot of courage to join the church. He joined knowing he would not have the full benefits of membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. In April of 1978, he wasn’t able to have the priesthood, serve a mission or even marry in the temple. But on June 8, 1978 all that changed for George and other Mormons of African heritage. Now I know of a biracial young man serving in Brazil and his brother who has been called to serve in California later this year. Most weeks in Sacrament Meeting, I see a young man from Africa pass the sacrament to members in the church. All because President Spencer W. Kimball announced that the priesthood was to be extended all worthy males 12 and over, 35 years on warm June day.