Joyce and Jantzen

First I apologize for not writing more often the past few weeks. I have been spending most of my free time sewing for Bethany's wedding. After the wedding I'll get back to writing more frequently.

Now back to life as a "teenager" in junior high school. I was excited about school most of the time, that is until I realized that just being a nice person just didn't make it with the "popular" or "in" group. Can you believe that cliquishness and fad crazes begin so early? Yes, I guess you can because I see it even in grade school today. And what is so sad that even way back in the forties your popularity depended mostly on the clothes you wore. It's the same now but different in a way. The challenge today is about being stylish and modest at the same time. I know how hard it is for you young women today to find clothes that meet both requirements. And there may be some stigma about brand names (Abercrombie and Fitch, Old Navy, and others I'm sure) but that usually isn't a big issue today. But it was everything in my day. We didn't have to worry about modesty because the styles were all modest...skirts (mid calf or longer) and sweaters (not skin tight ones). But those sweaters better be Jantzens and the shoes...yes, the shoes had to have the brand name of "Joyce". The sweaters were not always easy to distinguish except that they had some unusual colors that would identify them. But it was not unusual for someone to come up behind you and pull down the neck of the sweater to see the label just to make sure it said "Jantzen". But the shoes were easy to tell because they made only four or five styles each year, and everyone knew those styles. And as you might suppose both of those brand names were expensive. Consequently, I was never one of the "in" group or considered even slightly popular. I never owned a Jantzen sweater and I had only one pair of Joyce shoes...and that was because I bought them myself. I was earning some money now by babysitting for $.50 an hour ($.00 if the parents were going to the temple or to a church meeting) and picking strawberries for $.50 a flat. Our bus driver owned a huge strawberry field and paid some some of us students to pick strawberries. I even picked cherries one year, but they paid so little that it just wasn't worth it. I saved my money for a long time to be able to buy that one pair of shoes.

Some of the activities that made school fun were:

1. Orchestra concerts - I loved to play the classical and semi-classical music.
   
2. Sports competitions with other schools - Flag football, basketball, volleyball and track. I've always loved sports.
   
3. Night dances - Yes, we had night dances. I only remember going to one and that one was kind of awkward (I'll explain later). But I was happy just to be invited even though the guy was kind of a "dork" by the name of Harry Farber. I have no idea why I remember that name. Maybe it was because it was first "date" and by parents let me go even though I was just thirteen years old. (The Church hadn't come out with the counsel not to date until sixteen or you can be sure my Mom would not have let me go. She always went "by the book" or by the word of the prophet.)
   
4. Making new friends mainly with the music lovers and serious students. We were always considered the weird ones. What kind of teenager loves classical music and tries to be conscientious about their studies? (I was pretty much an A student.) Only the "dorks". Some of my friends included Jerrold Ottley, one time conductor of the Tabernacle Choir, Lawrence Lyon, who has written or arranged many of the hymns in our hymn book, and Jamie Lyon, his twin brother who was very smart. If I were to search his accomplishments, I'm sure they would be significant. Both of those boys were sons of T. Edgar Lyon, a noted Church scholar and educator. Yes, I had girlfriends, too, but didn't have the time to develop close relationships with girls because they often require spending a lot of time together.
   
5. There was special a occurrence that really made my junior high school experience the best ever. That will also come later.

Now a little advice. Enjoy your school years but also work hard especially in the early teen years. You will be practicing, preparing, discovereing new interests and developing habits that will not only make your high school years easier, but will help prepare you for making good decisions the rest of your life. Find joy and excitement in learning new things.