In May of 1945 I "graduated" from Sherman Elementary School. There was no special programs, no sixth grade dance, no celebrations, and none were expected. All the "hoopla" was saved for high school graduation. Completing grade school was not considered that big an accomplishment. Anyone can do that without much effort. But I was excited to be going on to junior high school for the next three years where we would rotate classes (no boring teacher for a whole year) and could choose some electives. Actually, I had mostly good teachers that I liked at Sherman and can still name most of them. I was a conscientious student and found school to be quite easy, so I was not fearful of taking the next step up. But I think the best part of going to Olympus Junior High School for me was that it was located in Holladay which was about four miles from where I lived...too far to walk. For the past six years I had walked over a mile to and from school every day no matter how rainy, snowy, or cold it was. Now I would ride a bus that would pick me up at the top of my street. And back then it was free.
That summer my parents made the decision to sell our house and half of the property (the half where we kept the animals) and build a new house on the other half (the orchard and garden half). Our two bedroom house was just not big enough for J.D., my brother who was now almost five, to have a room of his own. It would take us over two years to complete the house as my dad did as much of the work as he could in his "spare" time to save money. Work began that fall shortly after school started. Since our old house was sold, we had to move back to Grandma Knapp's house until the basement, framing, and roof of our new one was completed. Then we would move into the basement until the rest of the house was finished. Life in that basement for over a year is another story I'll tell you about later.
The very best part of 1945 came in September when it was announced that Japan had surrendered and the war was over. My Dad was never one to voluntarily place himself in crowded or rowdy situations, but when that announcement was made he packed us all up in the car and drove to downtown Salt Lake. What a sight greeted us once we were able to get our car parked in Dad's printing shop parking lot. It was absolute bedlam in the streets. People were jammed shoulder to shoulder screaming, yelling, waving flags, blowing horns, laughing, crying, hugging, kissing. I will never forget that sight as long as I live. I am so grateful that Dad made what I know was a sacrifice to give us this opportunity to celebrate our country's victory over the evil powers that had plagued the world for so long. But I really think he enjoyed it, too, even if he didn't admit it. Things would slowly get back to normal. No more rationing and collecting, and "war" bonds now became "victory" bonds because money was still needed. Oh how I wish that this generation and all new generations could experience peace in the world as we had then. But I'm afraid that there will be no end to war somewhere in the world until the Savior comes again to bring it to an end. I look forward to that great day.
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Monday, June 18, 2007
Appreciating my Father
As we celebrated Father's Day this week my thoughts drifted back in gratitude to my own father, what he taught me by word and example, and the many ways he showed his love to his family. It is a shame that too often we don't realize the impact a parent has had in our lives until we are adults and maybe even not until that parent is dead and it is too late to express our gratitude. In both those situations I have to plead guilty. As a child I mostly feared my dad because he was a strict disciplinarian. I was obedient because I feared the consequences if I didn't. I had seen those consequences with my oldest sister because her strong personality often challenged and once in a while even rebelled against the rules and directions given by my father.
But as I look back I am truly grateful for the lessons he taught us and for the often overlooked good acts of love and kindness.
What I Learned From My Dad
But as I look back I am truly grateful for the lessons he taught us and for the often overlooked good acts of love and kindness.
What I Learned From My Dad
- How to work and to find dignity and value in any kind of work
- To always do your very best in anything you undertake to do (That included school work)
- To appreciate what you have no matter how humble your circumstances
- There is never an excuse not to be neat and clean. Even if you don't have much, what you do have should be clean and cared for. (My dad was raised by a Dutch mother)
- To respect parents (especially Mother) and all adults
- To love the Lord and keep His commandments <><>To accept and be committed to whatever calling you receive from the Lord
- Good priesthood holders should accept and carry out the responsibility to support their families even if it meant working more than one job which my Dad often did. I remember him working nights at a drive-in theatre.
- Keeping your body healthy and strong is important
- The needs of your spouse should always come first
- Love can be expressed in many ways other than words
- Taking us to work with him (one at a time) on a Saturday when he had to work. I loved to watch him hand feed those presses. I worried just a little that he would get his hand caught and marveled that he never did.
- Taking us to eat across the street from the print shop at a little diner when we went to work with him. This was a real treat because we rarely got to eat out.
- Sunday afternoon drives which always included a stop at Laurel Larsen's ice cream store for a five cent cone.
- Packing our lunches for school and fixing our breakfast every morning.
- Playing with us the best he knew how which was usually tickling. I hated it because he didn't know when to stop. I guess because I couldn't help but laugh he thought I was having fun when actually I was miserable. I can't stand being tickled to this day...not even for a second.
- Taking us sleigh riding in the winter and to the Black Rock Beach in the summer.
- Washing our hair over the bathtub even when we were teenagers. His big hands were gentle but strong enough to make feel sooo good.
- In the evening when the family was just relaxing we could bring him a brush, sit at his feet, and he would brush our hair. Loved it!
- Giving us the security of a loving home. Because he loved Mother so much and showed it in so many ways, I felt our family was secure.
- Taking time to me teach me how to shoot with a bow and arrow. He even made me my own bow. (He was an archer who also made his own bows and arrows.) I became good enough that I was the champion intramural archer my first year in college.
- Buying me a white, yellow, and black plaid pleated skirt and a white sweater for Christmas when I was in junior high school. This was so special to me because Dad considered me a "tomboy" and a typical teen who didn't take care of my clothes. Not only were the clothes white, they had to be dry cleaned. I loved that outfit!
- Quietly giving me a treasured heirloom, his mother's wedding ring, because he said I was the one who showed him the most love and respect. I was honored.
- Being humble enough to ask me if I would cut his toe nails when he was elderly and living alone. I knew how strong and independent he had been his whole life and how difficult it must have been to ask for help with such a small task. It almost brought me to tears. I was the one who felt humble to be able to pay back in such a trivial way all the things he had done for me throughout his life. Thanks, Dad for all you did. I love you.
- <>
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
More Holidays
You might think that August has no special holidays. And I guess according to the calendar you are right. But as a child I considered "Dutch Lagoon Day" the best holiday of the year. I'll bet you all that Christmas was my favorite. It definitely is now, but as a child it was "Dutch Lagoon Day".
Dutch Lagoon Day - For those that are not familiar with "Lagoon" it is an amusement park north of Salt Lake City. It was the "Disneyland" of Utah in my day. Once a year all those who had emigrated from Holland would reserve one of the large picnic areas at the park to gather, eat, and of course enjoy all of the fun things that the park offered. There were rides, including a roller coaster which by today's standard would be considered a "dwarf". But we thought it was scary and considered ourselves very brave if we rode on it. There was an enormous swimming pool (or so it seemed to me as a child) in which I would have drowned had it not been for an alert lifeguard. My favorite rides were the "Dodgems" or bumper cars as we call them today, and the "Fun House". In the Fun House were huge slides, some straight and some bumpy. You had to sit on a gunny sack provided at the slides to keep from getting "floor" burns. There were also huge turning barrels you could try to run through without falling down. The hardest barrels in which to stay upright were two connecting ones, each turning in opposite directions. If you fell down, it was very hard to get back on your feet without being rescued by and adult. Then there was the "saucer" - a large turning wood disc that slanted from the center down to the edges. The object was to try and stay on without sliding off. If you were lucky enough to find a position near the center of the disc you could usually stay on, but you didn't have a prayer if you were towards the edge. You could spend hours in the "Fun House" because there were so many things to do. Dutch Lagoon Day was an all-day affair, ending only when we were all exhausted. And that was because Grandma and Grandpa Bernards provided what seemed to be an endless supply of cash to pay for the rides and treats. I think this was their fun day as well as ours, just watching their happy grandchildren.
Labor Day - No real holiday for us. Even Dad had to work.
Halloween - We always celebrated Halloween like most other children. Before Mom got sick, she must have made costumes for Georgia and Claire because I've seen pictures of them in black crepe paper outfits carrying pumpkins. From the time I remember, Mother would put together costumes from things she could find around the house. There were no pre-made costumes like we see in the stores today. I'm sure we could not have afforded them if there had been. With Dad as a chaperone, we went trick or treating in the evening to houses on our street. Our favorite place was the home of the Vents at the bottom of our street because they always gave away whole five-cent candy bars - the ones we pay almost a dollar for today. We thought that they must be really rich to be able to afford such and expensive treat. The one Halloween that really turned out to be a bummer for me was a year that Halloween fell on a Sunday. Since nearly all of our neighbors were LDS, it was generally understood that children would not come around that night. Besides it had been snowing and very cold the whole weekend. Mother said we could go trick or treating on Monday night so we put on our snowsuits with hoods (our costume that year because of the cold) and a half mask. As we went from door to door almost everyone said, "Most of the children came Saturday night, and we are all out of candy." Some said, "Let me see what I can find", and that would turn out to be an apple or orange...just what we wanted! There was very little candy that Halloween.
Thanksgiving - Since television hadn't been invented yet, there were no Macy's Christmas Parade or football to watch. My family wouldn't have watched anyway. No one was into sports. But we did always have the traditional turkey dinner at one of my grandparent's home. We rotated each year. When it was at Grandma Bernards' place we always ate in the basement because their upstairs living area was so small. But that was OK because the basement was always spotless (remember my grandma was Dutch). My aunts, uncles and cousins from Dad's side of the family were usually there, but Grandma prepared all the food. She was a great cook and used only real butter in all her cooking which was a real treat and tasted so good. After the dinner the adults visited and the cousins all played. Grandma wouldn't even let anybody help with the clean-up. She would do it after everybody left.
Christmas - What child doesn't love Christmas? As a matter of fact, what adult doesn't love Christmas? It's definitely my favorite now, even though it can be the most busy and, at times, stressful time of the year. But the end results are worth it. Now it's all about family, but as a child it was all about Santa Claus. I was not so different. Mom worked hard at trying to make Christ the center of the holiday by including a little pageant with us and our cousins as part of the Christmas Eve celebration. As my sisters and I were the oldest cousins on both sides of our family, we always had to let the younger ones be the favorite angels, and Mary. We always ended up as the Three Wisemen. Being a girl, and loving "girly" things I wasn't too excited about being a wiseman year after year.
Christmas Eve was always spent with Mom's side of the family which included traditional Danish food. Sweet soup and ableskivers were what we always ate. I never liked the sweet soup (what kid likes cooked raisins and prunes which were part of this "soup", but l like ableskivers even today. I never slept at all on Christmas Eve which made for the longest night ever. By six a.m. we were throwing shoes against the wall to wake up our parents because we were not allowed to go out to see what Santa had brought without Mom and Dad. (Sound familiar, Kids?). By today's standards our Christmas's were pretty modest. Each of us got just one "big" gift (usually a doll for me because I loved dolls). I remember one doll I received that was the most beautiful one I had ever seen. She was life size and was dressed in a white dress with a pink satin coat and bonnet. Her soft body made her so cuddly. I was kind of bad that year because I found that doll BEFORE Christmas under my Mom's bed and played with her when Mom and Dad weren't home. I could hardly wait for Christmas that year. But not too much later I think I paid the price for cheating (at least that's how my guilty conscience felt)) when I accidentally scratched the cheek of that doll. I tried to cover it up by putting some pink nail polish over the scratches. That looked even worse, so I took nail polish remover and tried to take off the polish. Not only did the polish come off, but so did all the original paint. Now it really was a mess, and because I didn't want Mom to see what I had done, I hardly ever played with her again. Back to Christmas morning.
One year Dad made all three of us little doll beds which was an "extra" gift. Besides our "big" gift, there were always our well stuffed stockings with an orange in the toe (now my kids know where that tradition came from)and small practical gifts like socks, underwear, hair clips, new tooth brushes, etc. But there was always some candy, too. It was our tradition on Christmas morning to take our one big toy and go visit all of our friends on our street to see what Santa had brought them. Then if was off to Grandma Bernards' house for dinner which included traditional Dutch treats and to open gifts. I loved going there because the first thing Grandma would say as we walked in the door was, "Let's open presents before we eat." None of us objected to that because Grandma always gave us the most wonderful gifts...toys, not clothes. All three of us girls and our cousin, Carlene, always got the same thing. The one gift I still remember was a huge box of art supplies including a "zillion" crayons...every color under the sun. It was absolutely magnificent.
By the end of the day we were exhausted from no sleep the night before. But the day was always perfect in my mind. I never felt that any of our Christmases were less than wonderful. I guess a lot of the happy feeling of the season came from the family preparation before the big day, like decorating the house and the tree, making popcorn balls and cookies, walking down the snow covered sidewalks of downtown Salt Lake to shop for gifts for our parents and siblings, and just riding down Main Street in Salt Lake to see the lights. I loved that, and I loved the snow. I will never get used to the sunny Christmases in California. Then there were the music of Christmas. Of course I loved "Jingle Bells", "Up On the House Top" and "Rudolf", but even as a child, the traditional carols were my favorite, and still are.
I am still like a small child when Christmas season comes along. I still love the decorating, seeing all the beautiful lights, making and buying gifts, and baking. But the two things that make Christmas so special at this time in my life are 1) the time I take to reflect upon the great and wonderful gift God has given to us - His son, Jesus Christ and 2) My special family. You are what my life is all about. I love you.
Dutch Lagoon Day - For those that are not familiar with "Lagoon" it is an amusement park north of Salt Lake City. It was the "Disneyland" of Utah in my day. Once a year all those who had emigrated from Holland would reserve one of the large picnic areas at the park to gather, eat, and of course enjoy all of the fun things that the park offered. There were rides, including a roller coaster which by today's standard would be considered a "dwarf". But we thought it was scary and considered ourselves very brave if we rode on it. There was an enormous swimming pool (or so it seemed to me as a child) in which I would have drowned had it not been for an alert lifeguard. My favorite rides were the "Dodgems" or bumper cars as we call them today, and the "Fun House". In the Fun House were huge slides, some straight and some bumpy. You had to sit on a gunny sack provided at the slides to keep from getting "floor" burns. There were also huge turning barrels you could try to run through without falling down. The hardest barrels in which to stay upright were two connecting ones, each turning in opposite directions. If you fell down, it was very hard to get back on your feet without being rescued by and adult. Then there was the "saucer" - a large turning wood disc that slanted from the center down to the edges. The object was to try and stay on without sliding off. If you were lucky enough to find a position near the center of the disc you could usually stay on, but you didn't have a prayer if you were towards the edge. You could spend hours in the "Fun House" because there were so many things to do. Dutch Lagoon Day was an all-day affair, ending only when we were all exhausted. And that was because Grandma and Grandpa Bernards provided what seemed to be an endless supply of cash to pay for the rides and treats. I think this was their fun day as well as ours, just watching their happy grandchildren.
Labor Day - No real holiday for us. Even Dad had to work.
Halloween - We always celebrated Halloween like most other children. Before Mom got sick, she must have made costumes for Georgia and Claire because I've seen pictures of them in black crepe paper outfits carrying pumpkins. From the time I remember, Mother would put together costumes from things she could find around the house. There were no pre-made costumes like we see in the stores today. I'm sure we could not have afforded them if there had been. With Dad as a chaperone, we went trick or treating in the evening to houses on our street. Our favorite place was the home of the Vents at the bottom of our street because they always gave away whole five-cent candy bars - the ones we pay almost a dollar for today. We thought that they must be really rich to be able to afford such and expensive treat. The one Halloween that really turned out to be a bummer for me was a year that Halloween fell on a Sunday. Since nearly all of our neighbors were LDS, it was generally understood that children would not come around that night. Besides it had been snowing and very cold the whole weekend. Mother said we could go trick or treating on Monday night so we put on our snowsuits with hoods (our costume that year because of the cold) and a half mask. As we went from door to door almost everyone said, "Most of the children came Saturday night, and we are all out of candy." Some said, "Let me see what I can find", and that would turn out to be an apple or orange...just what we wanted! There was very little candy that Halloween.
Thanksgiving - Since television hadn't been invented yet, there were no Macy's Christmas Parade or football to watch. My family wouldn't have watched anyway. No one was into sports. But we did always have the traditional turkey dinner at one of my grandparent's home. We rotated each year. When it was at Grandma Bernards' place we always ate in the basement because their upstairs living area was so small. But that was OK because the basement was always spotless (remember my grandma was Dutch). My aunts, uncles and cousins from Dad's side of the family were usually there, but Grandma prepared all the food. She was a great cook and used only real butter in all her cooking which was a real treat and tasted so good. After the dinner the adults visited and the cousins all played. Grandma wouldn't even let anybody help with the clean-up. She would do it after everybody left.
Christmas - What child doesn't love Christmas? As a matter of fact, what adult doesn't love Christmas? It's definitely my favorite now, even though it can be the most busy and, at times, stressful time of the year. But the end results are worth it. Now it's all about family, but as a child it was all about Santa Claus. I was not so different. Mom worked hard at trying to make Christ the center of the holiday by including a little pageant with us and our cousins as part of the Christmas Eve celebration. As my sisters and I were the oldest cousins on both sides of our family, we always had to let the younger ones be the favorite angels, and Mary. We always ended up as the Three Wisemen. Being a girl, and loving "girly" things I wasn't too excited about being a wiseman year after year.
Christmas Eve was always spent with Mom's side of the family which included traditional Danish food. Sweet soup and ableskivers were what we always ate. I never liked the sweet soup (what kid likes cooked raisins and prunes which were part of this "soup", but l like ableskivers even today. I never slept at all on Christmas Eve which made for the longest night ever. By six a.m. we were throwing shoes against the wall to wake up our parents because we were not allowed to go out to see what Santa had brought without Mom and Dad. (Sound familiar, Kids?). By today's standards our Christmas's were pretty modest. Each of us got just one "big" gift (usually a doll for me because I loved dolls). I remember one doll I received that was the most beautiful one I had ever seen. She was life size and was dressed in a white dress with a pink satin coat and bonnet. Her soft body made her so cuddly. I was kind of bad that year because I found that doll BEFORE Christmas under my Mom's bed and played with her when Mom and Dad weren't home. I could hardly wait for Christmas that year. But not too much later I think I paid the price for cheating (at least that's how my guilty conscience felt)) when I accidentally scratched the cheek of that doll. I tried to cover it up by putting some pink nail polish over the scratches. That looked even worse, so I took nail polish remover and tried to take off the polish. Not only did the polish come off, but so did all the original paint. Now it really was a mess, and because I didn't want Mom to see what I had done, I hardly ever played with her again. Back to Christmas morning.
One year Dad made all three of us little doll beds which was an "extra" gift. Besides our "big" gift, there were always our well stuffed stockings with an orange in the toe (now my kids know where that tradition came from)and small practical gifts like socks, underwear, hair clips, new tooth brushes, etc. But there was always some candy, too. It was our tradition on Christmas morning to take our one big toy and go visit all of our friends on our street to see what Santa had brought them. Then if was off to Grandma Bernards' house for dinner which included traditional Dutch treats and to open gifts. I loved going there because the first thing Grandma would say as we walked in the door was, "Let's open presents before we eat." None of us objected to that because Grandma always gave us the most wonderful gifts...toys, not clothes. All three of us girls and our cousin, Carlene, always got the same thing. The one gift I still remember was a huge box of art supplies including a "zillion" crayons...every color under the sun. It was absolutely magnificent.
By the end of the day we were exhausted from no sleep the night before. But the day was always perfect in my mind. I never felt that any of our Christmases were less than wonderful. I guess a lot of the happy feeling of the season came from the family preparation before the big day, like decorating the house and the tree, making popcorn balls and cookies, walking down the snow covered sidewalks of downtown Salt Lake to shop for gifts for our parents and siblings, and just riding down Main Street in Salt Lake to see the lights. I loved that, and I loved the snow. I will never get used to the sunny Christmases in California. Then there were the music of Christmas. Of course I loved "Jingle Bells", "Up On the House Top" and "Rudolf", but even as a child, the traditional carols were my favorite, and still are.
I am still like a small child when Christmas season comes along. I still love the decorating, seeing all the beautiful lights, making and buying gifts, and baking. But the two things that make Christmas so special at this time in my life are 1) the time I take to reflect upon the great and wonderful gift God has given to us - His son, Jesus Christ and 2) My special family. You are what my life is all about. I love you.
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
I Loved the Holidays
I always looked forward to holidays when I was a child. Some were more special than others, but all bring back memories of traditional observances and celebrations.
New Years - Staying up until midnight when we were "old enough" to bang on pots and pans when the new year rolled in. My parents never went out to celebrate.
Valentines - Sharing cards with friends at school and in the neighborhood. At school each class room had a large valentine box which was decorated either by the teacher or the students. It had a slot in the top where we could drop in the cards which we had brought for our friends. Back then we didn't have to bring one for each student, only to those we chose. On Valentine's Day the cards were passed out and we usually enjoyed cookies and punch. What was really different in my day was the way we purchased our valentines. There were no packaged, cheaply produced cards in quantities of twelve or more. Instead each card was purchased individually from counters located in "five and ten cent" stores like Ben Franklins or Woolworth's. The counters in these stores were organized by types of merchandise and each counter had its' own sales clerk. Several weeks before Valentines Day, three or four counters were designated for valentines. Actually they were more like large flat trays, each containing hundreds of different valentines. Each tray held either one cent, five cent, or ten cent cards. We would spend hours shuffling through all those cards to find just the right one for each friend. If you were willing to pay five cents, the cards were larger and would have moving parts, and for ten cents you could really get an elaborate card with moving parts, lace, ribbons, and other amenities. We usually just bought the penny cards, but loved to look at all the others. There would eight, ten, or even more children rummaging through the cards at a time. Valentines were distributed to friends at school, but also "ding-dong-ditched" on doorsteps in the evening. Fun Day!
St. Patrick's Day - We just wore green to school and those who didn't were subject to be pinched. And kids could be brutal with those pinches. No special food like corned beef and cabbage.
Easter - Easter always meant a new dress, usually home made. But sometimes Grandma Bernards bought us all dresses to match. And of course there was always the coloring of eggs and baskets full of candy, but no Easter Bunny. We were never told about a bunny who brought all the goodies. And as I look back now it seems strange that we didn't have some religious commemoration at home since my mother was so in to doing things for the right reason. I'm sure she must have tried to teach us the true significance of the day, but I don't remember it. Maybe I was just like most kids...to "in" to the new clothes and candy.
Mother's Day - Breakfast in bed and gifts for Mom...usually something we had made in school. I don't remember Dad ever taking us shopping to buy something for her. But we always bought Mom a gift on our birthday. That was tradition. I don't know where it came from, but I think it was a good one. It was a symbol of our love and gratitude for giving us birth.
Memorial Day - We called it "Decoration Day" because that was the day we went to the cemetery to put flowers on the graves of our dead loved ones. I never remember connecting it to remembering our servicemen who gave their lives for our country until I was much older. I just remember going to the cemetery, cleaning around the headstone of Grandpa Knapp's grave and leaving flowers there. Joined by Grandma Knapp and Aunt Dorothy we would then have a picnic at some one's house and play the rest of the day.
Independence Day - "The Fourth of July" was celebrated with a community children's parade. A "King" and "Queen" were selected in a contest to rule over the parade...children, of course. Young Jesse (Jean and Jesse's son) won the king contest one year. Following the parade it was off to the cool canyons for a picnic. But the high light of the day was in the evening when we were each given a whole box of "sparklers" to light and to draw pictures in the air. There were no other fireworks...just sparklers, but we thought they were wonderful. The city did put on a fireworks show, but we lived too far away from where they were set off to really enjoy them.
Pioneer Day - "The Twenty-Fourth of July" This was a Utah holiday, and it was a big one; huge parade, queen and court (had to be descendants of a Utah pioneer), ward assigned floats which usually depicted a pioneer event or lifestyle, bands, vendors selling all kinds of "goodies"...you know, everything that goes along with a parade. Because we had reserved parking at my dad's print shop right close to the parade route and the post office we always had a good view of the parade. Dad would set us up on the marble window sill of the post office (they were deep) where we could see above the crowd. After the parade there were always activities at Liberty Park near downtown Salt Lake. We didn't go to those, however, because we went home so Mom would not be there alone so long. Then it was picnic and play the rest of the day.
Since Carrie has advised me not to let each blog get too long (and this one definitely is) I'll quit here and finish the rest of the holidays tomorrow, or the next day, or the next. I still haven't told you what my favorite holiday was as a child. Can you guess?
New Years - Staying up until midnight when we were "old enough" to bang on pots and pans when the new year rolled in. My parents never went out to celebrate.
Valentines - Sharing cards with friends at school and in the neighborhood. At school each class room had a large valentine box which was decorated either by the teacher or the students. It had a slot in the top where we could drop in the cards which we had brought for our friends. Back then we didn't have to bring one for each student, only to those we chose. On Valentine's Day the cards were passed out and we usually enjoyed cookies and punch. What was really different in my day was the way we purchased our valentines. There were no packaged, cheaply produced cards in quantities of twelve or more. Instead each card was purchased individually from counters located in "five and ten cent" stores like Ben Franklins or Woolworth's. The counters in these stores were organized by types of merchandise and each counter had its' own sales clerk. Several weeks before Valentines Day, three or four counters were designated for valentines. Actually they were more like large flat trays, each containing hundreds of different valentines. Each tray held either one cent, five cent, or ten cent cards. We would spend hours shuffling through all those cards to find just the right one for each friend. If you were willing to pay five cents, the cards were larger and would have moving parts, and for ten cents you could really get an elaborate card with moving parts, lace, ribbons, and other amenities. We usually just bought the penny cards, but loved to look at all the others. There would eight, ten, or even more children rummaging through the cards at a time. Valentines were distributed to friends at school, but also "ding-dong-ditched" on doorsteps in the evening. Fun Day!
St. Patrick's Day - We just wore green to school and those who didn't were subject to be pinched. And kids could be brutal with those pinches. No special food like corned beef and cabbage.
Easter - Easter always meant a new dress, usually home made. But sometimes Grandma Bernards bought us all dresses to match. And of course there was always the coloring of eggs and baskets full of candy, but no Easter Bunny. We were never told about a bunny who brought all the goodies. And as I look back now it seems strange that we didn't have some religious commemoration at home since my mother was so in to doing things for the right reason. I'm sure she must have tried to teach us the true significance of the day, but I don't remember it. Maybe I was just like most kids...to "in" to the new clothes and candy.
Mother's Day - Breakfast in bed and gifts for Mom...usually something we had made in school. I don't remember Dad ever taking us shopping to buy something for her. But we always bought Mom a gift on our birthday. That was tradition. I don't know where it came from, but I think it was a good one. It was a symbol of our love and gratitude for giving us birth.
Memorial Day - We called it "Decoration Day" because that was the day we went to the cemetery to put flowers on the graves of our dead loved ones. I never remember connecting it to remembering our servicemen who gave their lives for our country until I was much older. I just remember going to the cemetery, cleaning around the headstone of Grandpa Knapp's grave and leaving flowers there. Joined by Grandma Knapp and Aunt Dorothy we would then have a picnic at some one's house and play the rest of the day.
Independence Day - "The Fourth of July" was celebrated with a community children's parade. A "King" and "Queen" were selected in a contest to rule over the parade...children, of course. Young Jesse (Jean and Jesse's son) won the king contest one year. Following the parade it was off to the cool canyons for a picnic. But the high light of the day was in the evening when we were each given a whole box of "sparklers" to light and to draw pictures in the air. There were no other fireworks...just sparklers, but we thought they were wonderful. The city did put on a fireworks show, but we lived too far away from where they were set off to really enjoy them.
Pioneer Day - "The Twenty-Fourth of July" This was a Utah holiday, and it was a big one; huge parade, queen and court (had to be descendants of a Utah pioneer), ward assigned floats which usually depicted a pioneer event or lifestyle, bands, vendors selling all kinds of "goodies"...you know, everything that goes along with a parade. Because we had reserved parking at my dad's print shop right close to the parade route and the post office we always had a good view of the parade. Dad would set us up on the marble window sill of the post office (they were deep) where we could see above the crowd. After the parade there were always activities at Liberty Park near downtown Salt Lake. We didn't go to those, however, because we went home so Mom would not be there alone so long. Then it was picnic and play the rest of the day.
Since Carrie has advised me not to let each blog get too long (and this one definitely is) I'll quit here and finish the rest of the holidays tomorrow, or the next day, or the next. I still haven't told you what my favorite holiday was as a child. Can you guess?
More M and M’s
I couldn't end my elementary school years without including several more memorable events.
- My baptism on July 25, 1942. I was baptized in the font located in the basement of the Salt Lake Tabernacle (I bet most of you didn't even know that there was a baptismal font there) by my father, John Barend Bernards. There were not too many fonts, if any, located in church buildings like there are today, so most baptisms in Salt Lake City took place in the Tabernacle. I was the third one to be baptized in the newly renovated font. Don't ask me why that statistic is so important, but my mother told me never to forget it. And since I was an obedient child, I still remember it. This special spiritual day was a welcome respite from constant reminders of a world at war.
- An incident which occurred when I was about six years old could have been a real disaster had it not been for what I now feel was divine intervention. A friend from church had invited me to spend Sunday afternoon at her house. My parents agreed to let me go and Dad dropped me off in front of her house and left. He didn't wait to see that I got in. I knocked on the door and no one answered. I don't know if I didn't knock loud enough or if plans changed for the family and they had to leave. Either way I decided to walk home. When I was about half way there a car with a male driver stopped and asked if I wanted a ride. Not knowing any better I said yes. (No, my parents had never told me not to accept rides from strangers.) I guess I was just a trusting little girl. Anyway, when I realized he was passing up my street, and he didn't stop when I told him so, I began getting really frightened. He kept on driving up east toward the mountains where there were only fields...no homes. Then he stopped. He said he would give me a quarter if I would show him "you know what". Then I really panicked. I grabbed the handle of the door, opened it, jumped out, and began running as fast as I could. I didn't run in the street, but on the hills. I knew which direction was home, but not how far. I just kept running on those hills thinking: "Maybe these are the hills where my home is supposed to be, and this bad man has made all the houses disappear." You can tell how upset I was by the things that went through my mind. Then my surroundings began to look familiar and I soon recognized my street. My parents were surprised to see me, and once they had heard what had happened it was like an inquisition. Once they were satisfied that nothing more had happened other than what I had told them, the lecture that should have been given earlier in my life ensued. This incident came back to my mind years later when I received my patriarchal bless which said that I would be protected throughout my life from "evil designing men and women". That blessing has certainly been fulfilled, and I am so grateful.
Miscellaneous Mish Mash
The way that a young child's mind works can at times be kind of humorous. Although thoughts that are triggered by what an adult may say seem rational and serious to a child (like me in the following instances) later become points of humor. Examples:
- What was said: "Always walk facing the oncoming traffic.
- What I thought: "How can you always face the oncoming traffic when cars are going both ways?
- What was said: "So and So had a miscarriage." What I asked: "What does that mean?" What my mother answered: "It means the baby died."
- What I thought: "The baby must have died because the mother wasn't holding it right and probably dropped it.
- What was said: "There is no end to space." What I thought: As I lay in bed at nights and tried to imagine non-ending space..."nothing" out there forever and ever. I would think about it until I would get this weird feeling in my stomach that almost made me sick. Sounds weird, I know, even to me now.
Most embarrassing moments in my young life:
- When my dad came to my third grade class to give a presentation on Holland where he had served a mission. I had volunteered him but the teacher scheduled him to come about a week after my dad had all his teeth pulled. He didn't back out, but came with no teeth to give his presentation. I knew the kids would either just laugh in his face or laugh at recess.
- When I wet my pants in front of the whole class (fourth grade) while wearing those awful long stockings, so everybody knew. I'll explain. I have always been quite shy, more so as a child, so it was pure torture for me to have to give any oral reports in front of the class.This day was worse than most because it was to be on "How Our Community (East Mill Creek) got its' name. I had been struggling to find a book, a person, or anything that might know and could find none. Remember, there was no internet and the encyclopedia just didn't have that kind of local information. We had no school library and the city library was too far away to go...and they probably wouldn't have had any information, anyway. Mother was as frustrated as me, so together we kind of made up our own answer. I stayed awake all night (like I usually did before having to give an oral presentation) and by the time I had to get up before the class, I was a nervous wreck. So right there, in front of everyone, I just wet my pants. At recess I rolled my stockings down so the wet spots wouldn't show so much, but the kids began teasing me with remarks like: "Jonita, why did you roll down your stockings?", then giggle and run away. That was the longest day of my life, and the most embarrassing.
- When my mother had shelling peas as one of the games at my seventh birthday party. I was humiliated! The reason? We had just picked a ton of peas from our garden that needed to be shelled in order to freeze. She thought that all those hands at my party would speed up the job. So...she gave a small prize to the person who could shell the most peas in ten minutes. Can you believe that?
Spelling words I will never forget:
- I had been sick for a few days and had missed getting the handout of new spelling words and the test on them. When I came back to school the kids said, "The spelling words were really hard and you're going to miss at least two of them. They wouldn't tell me what they were. I was in third grade, and although I hadn't seen any of the words before taking the test, I only missed two of them: "pneumonia" and "business". I have never misspelled them since. When I was in high school, my teacher once said: "I never fail a student on a test because I know the things they miss on a test are the things they will remember." How right she was. Loved that teacher!
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