After travelling backeast and being reminded of the history of our great nation..and being Memorial Day weekend, when we remember those who have fought so bravely to keep us free, I am writing some thoughts down. I know many are discouraged by what goes on with politics these days, but that is not all that this country is about. If you are interested, follow along.
On my Dad's side of the family I go back to 1630, when Anthony Colby sailed here on a ship named Confidence. Governor John Winthrop was sailing on another ship at the same time. On my mom's side, my grandfather came from Sweden when he was just eighteen years old to find a better life. I have ancestors who heard about the Book of Mormon and because of their belief, travelled across the plains to the Salt Lake Valley. They lost children and their beloved mother along the way, but never their faith. My Swedish great-grandmother lost her family when she joined the LDS church in Sweden. She came to Utah to be closer to others who had her same beliefs. Yet, when she got here it was much harder than she imagined. She didn't know the language, the customs, she didn't have work. But she found work. She learned the language and the customs, while incorporating her own Swedish traditions into her family life. It is what you do when you come to America. You become an American, while enriching America with all the beauties of your native land. My mother and aunts always said, though this lovely woman went through many hardships, which included losing three babies, a husband leaving her after they immigrated, supporting her family on her own, she was always happy and cheerful. She was a fun and strong woman to be around!
My parents were depression children. I grew up hearing the stories of how they went without. Yet for some reason, it didn't always sound totally doom and gloom. I think it was because they both came from tight knit families who had a strong belief system. They had a lot of faith and worked hard. They stayed close together during those times and made it through. They also had a sense of humor, which I feel is invaluable when going through life in general, let alone difficult times. My dad remembers around 1930 that "his parents were going to lose their home. The depression had hit hard, they lost almost all of their new furniture they had bought for their new house. His parents tried to protect the children from the details so they were not made to worry. My dad remembers how much fun the kids had after the furniture was all taken away. The rooms were large and empty and the children went sliding through the house in socks, loving the space and wondering why their mother was sitting on the porch quietly crying."
My dad and his brother would walk by the Country Club after herding cows, hoping for a cadding job. He said "if you ever got a 'loop' you'd earn one dollar. It would take at least an hour to get over there, and a round took four hours. The big deal was to get a ten cent tip. With the dime you could get a hamburger and a drink, in the caddy yard. If you got a hamburger and a drink and still had a buck to take home that was big money." Later in life my dad was to build a world class golf course with Arnold Palmer in Parley's Canyon. Every time I drive by that golf course I realize how he truly lived the American Dream.
My mom's family was full of girls with just one brother, living in a different part of town. They too were a tight knit group. Making clothes and passing them down to one another, working hard just to get by, always working and loving this country that had been so good to them. After suffering those years during the depression they then had to endure the hardship of war. Not just the deprivations of war, but the emotional wear and tear. One grandmother lost a son at age eighteen from a heart ailment and a few years later sent her remaining two sons off to war. I can't even imagine how she must have felt. I sent two sons on missions at the same time. Having them gone was harder than I can express. They were relatively save, they were serving the Lord. They were also in this country! But to have one son die and then the others go halfway around the world to a war where they could die also. She couldn't communicate with them except through letters that sometimes took months. These were young boys! My other grandmother had to watch as her daughters sent husbands, fiances' and boyfriends off, and her only son. So many never to return. My dear Aunt Ginny married her sweetheart, three weeks later he was sent to the Pacific and lost at sea. Of course back then this was a common story. But this was my sweet aunt who lost her dear love. I talk to her often. She remarried. It took her years to find the right man, but she did and has lived a happy life full of service and love. She is ninety one now. She is full of wisdom. We were talking about this amazing country and the leaders we have now. She told me she didn't like how people tore down the President. She said, "I didn't vote for him, but once he became the President he became the office and I respect that, I support that, we all need to give him that support. He's doing an awfully hard job." It may seem like an old fashioned idea, supporting the President, especially after some of the stunts past presidents have pulled, yet I think Aunt Ginny has it right. A little support, a little old fashioned patriotism wouldn't hurt these days as we face the difficulties we are in and those to come.
~more to come
1 comment:
Love all these stories!
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