Mindy Sue is one of the 2 sisters that got a middle name ... Grandpa wanted to call her Susan and Grandma wanted Mindy and so they compromised - I like it ... it has a great ring to it! (on a side note: when I was pregnant with Abi, we had decided on Abigail and were thinking of middle names. Thinking that I'd like to have a family name, I immediately suggested Abigail Sue Shaw - Abi Sue ... an adorable name to be sure! Until ... my dad called me up and mentioned the initials. He said, "You're not going to make an a.s.s. out of my granddaughter!" and that was the end of that! Emma was the next best and we sure love our Abigail Emma!!)
There are a few stories that I remember hearing while I was growing up. "Don't play with matches or you'll burn down the barn." Yup that was my mom - the barn burner! "Keep your clothes off the floor or they might get nailed there!" Grandpa Leo said, "If you want your floor covered in clothes - let's just keep it that way!" when all her sisters got their clothes nailed to the floor - she was the one with all her clothes nicely put away! My room was ALWAYS a mess and the pile of clothes was moved from the floor to the bed several hundred times ... on the bed when I need to walk on the floor and on the floor when I needed to sleep in the bed. Grandpa wouldn't have been able to find enough nails or long enough nails to go thru all the layers!! I'm sure he was severely disappointed with my teenage room (shoot, my room right now is a disaster area)!!
When Grandpa passed, we were camping too. It was the 4th of July weekend ... we had just arrived back and mom was in the shower when Roger called. He had called our Bishop's wife looking for us and she had told them that we were camping and when we were coming back. Mom remembers it was on a Saturday, because we had come back from camping to go to church. Dad sent us (Jennalee and I) out to play and sat mom down and broke the news to her. When Jennalee and I came in, she was there on the couch with a tear-streaked face looking stunned. Dad told us Grandpa had passed away and that mom and Molly (then a baby) would leave Sunday morning on a plane and we would follow in the Grand Torino. That was the trip to Utah where my dad was bookin' down the freeway and we were trying to build a blanket fort in the back seat. It was HOT and to save the gas dad had the windows down and we were restless. Dad was trying to help us stick the blanket under the headrest and somehow we ended up in the gravel on the side of the road and that was it - Dad rolled up the windows and turned on the AC and within minutes Jennalee and I were sound asleep! Mom remembers that she arrived at Grandma's before Peggy did. I haven't really ever talked to her about what happened between the time she arrived and the funeral - I'll have to talk to her about that and get back to you.
At the funeral, she was standing in the line with her sisters and brothers sharing hugs and stories with the people who came. Along the line came a man that she had heard stories about all her life but had never actually met - Tommy Rogerson.
Tommy was a short, skinny, squirrelly looking fellow ... he was a little slow (mentally) but a nice guy to be sure! Tommy was Grandma Jenny's 2nd or 3rd cousin and when Grandpa Leo was younger they waited at the same stop for the school bus. One story: As they walked to the bus stop one day, they were teasing Tommy saying that he didn't look too good, that maybe he was sick ... he said he felt fine but they kept after him, until they got to the bus stop and theyhad talked him into it - he was sick and he needed to go home! Grandpa always felt sorry for him and tried to stand up for him. He even made sure he had a job. He worked at the City of Orem with Grandpa. Another funny story: they told Tommy that they were going to blow out the phone lines and they needed Tommy to go around and cover up all the phones so the dust wouldn't get all over. And he did - covered up every phone in the building! Tommy had a sister named Mary Larae - sounded like "Mare-la-ray" all one name and all mushed together. Tommy used to call up Grandma Jenny and 'report' about what "Mare-la-ray" was up to that day or what she had said. My mom remembers hearing about the phone calls and the stories but like I said, she had never met him.
So there they are standing in the line grieving when Tommy Rogerson showed up. He stuck out his hand and grabbed my mom's hand and said, "I'm ... yer relation." They ALL busted up laughing and made formal introductions ... it was a much needed break in the midst all the tears!
I'm sure there's more I could tell you about my mom, many blogs worth! I'll stop here and let others share ... but before I go - I'll share just one picture!
(I am in desperate need of a scanner!!)
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