More about Huntington Beach

Making new friends has always been difficult for me and caused some anxiety when we moved to Huntington Beach. But one neighbor who lived right next door became and instant friend. I wish I could remember her name. This is one of the most frustrating things about getting old ... memory loss. And it is names of people that seem to go first. Anyway, she was very special in today's world where personal or family isolation is the preference of many. She was the first to introduce herself and welcome us to the neighborhood. She was deaf so her speech was a little difficult to understand, but you surely couldn't misunderstand her friendliness and genuineness. Those didn't require words. She had a daughter, Stephanie, who was Jeanie's age and who was blind. Stephanie and Jeanie became best friends. They would walk to school together every day, and Jeanie was amazed at how little help she needed to navigate her way there and around the campus. The whole family learned so much from these special neighbors about overcoming challenges and being happy and productive in spite of difficulties. I will always remember that it was this neighbor who was first to be there to help with the children and bring in food when I got the worst case of the flu that I had ever had. And, of course, it was when Dad was away on a trip.

One special thing about about living in Huntington Beach was that we got lots of company. I wonder if that could have been because we lived very near Disneyland and Knott's Berry Farm, two big and popular amusement parks. We had friends come from Novato, and family from Utah. Of course, they were welcome to stay with us as long as they didn't mind sleeping on the couch or in sleeping bags on the floor. The children were always willing to give up their beds to company because they loved "camping out" on the floor or outside in a tent. And making this "sacrifice" often meant an invitation to one or more of the children to join the family on their excursions. This got a little too expensive for us because we refused to have company pay their expenses. And besides, how many times can you go to Disneyland before coming bored? Now that was a dumb question!

Jim's callings in the Church were first, Sunday School presidency, and second, Young Men's president. Working in the Sunday School was pretty routine, but working with the Young Men was a different story. Teenage youth come with a lot of their own challenges, but when you add trying to enforce church standards at their activities the difficulties are multiplied. The stake dances were the worst. Until Jim got involved, most of the adult leaders were afraid to follow church guidelines for fear the youth would stop coming to the dances. Because they had allowed loud and improper music, no dress code, and little or no security at the doors, there had been incidents of violence and even a stabbing. When the latter happened the dances were shut down. Enter Jim into the program!!! Those of you who know Jim (husband, father, grandfather, great grandfather, friend, etc.) know that he has no problem dealing with unruly and uncooperative "kids". He has no problem enforcing rules and upholding standards. And he has no problem with not being popular or adored by the youth. He DOES have a problem with adults who are too weak to do what they know is right. With his influence and direction the dances were restored (with all standards and guidelines in place and enforced) and guess what? The kids actually attended in large numbers and there were no more serious problems.

Life was not all wonderful in Huntington Beach. It seems that no matter where you go in this world and in this life, there will always be challenges and difficulties. That is just a part of life ... but an important part. What we learn from life's experiences and how we apply what we learn, determines how much we grow and progress along the road to eternal happiness. And that is what our goal should be. In the end, that is all that really matters.