A Picture Can Create a Memory or Two

My brothers and I spent Thanksgiving day at home. When we left that afternoon, we stopped by Paul Cemetery to visit Mom.Since I had my iPad with me, I decided to take some pictures. Before I got to the grave, I shot this picture of brothers paying their respects to our mom.This afternoon, I was thinking of this picture and remembered something I saw during my childhood. Not sure if I was in junior high or not.
I was looking out the window one day when I saw what I thought was a funeral taking place in the corral. All the sheep and another cow in standing in line in one row. In front of them was a dead cow with his feet facing those who were paying their respects. Maybe those animals had seen my siblings and me perform funerals for our cats and dogs who passed on. And then, I wondered now if I really saw what I did. It has been a few decades since this happen and I never bothered to write it down, but I think I remembered telling one of my siblings. But whether it really happened; I do get a smile when I think about it. Farm animals have funerals?

50 Years

50 years ago, John F. Kennedy was shot in Dallas, Texas. Unlike most people alive that day, I can’t recall where I was or what I was doing. I was only 5 years old at the time. My family must have talked about it, because I knew it had happened. All remember is that my brother, Steven and I were playing once. I was President Kennedy and he was Lee Harvey Oswald. I didn't want to die, so I hid under a bed sheet and Steven pointed a finger or toy gun at me. I remember Steven telling me that sheet was no protection against a gun.

Although, it’s been 50 years, I still find that John F. Kennedy has an impact on me. Maybe it is because I share a birthday with him. But then I share a birthday with Bob Hope and that impact isn't there. Most of my family (extended and immediate) is hard core Republican. So why do I check out most of the stories about Jack Kennedy and sometimes his family? I think that maybe as a child I was touched by the tragedy. And maybe his sudden death had an impact on me.

Kodak Moment with The Pie

On Friday of this week, the office called in an order to The Pie Pizzeria, more commonly known as The Pie.  When our delivery arrived, someone commented how big the box was. We ordered the giant size combo pizza. The comment reminded of my last year at Blue Cross.

The division I worked in at that time was training our replacements who were from Portland, Oregon. While they were in Salt Lake, they would ask for recommendations of good restaurants. I told them about The Pie, which had a new location in Midvale, which was not far from workplace. I had enjoyed pizza from The Pie when I was a student at the University of Utah. One day to show their appreciation, they ordered pizza from The Pie to be delivered to the office. When we walked into the conference room, our eyes popped wide open. Those giant size pizzas were huge! One of women from Portland commented that she wished she had a camera because it was a Kodak moment.

And so when I saw the giant box from The Pie, I had to take a picture. It was a Kodak moment I didn’t want to pass up.

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.