Grandma Denny's Family Stories

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Random Memories

I 15. On the freeway one day we drove past a semi carrying a load with huge bales of hay. As we passed I looked out the window and noticed a little round hole, about two inches in diameter, in the side of one bale. A little mouse was hanging on for dear life at the edge of the hole. As it registered in my mind about the unlikely thing I had just seen, we left the truck behind us and, sadly, I did not see whether the mouse made it back into his hole.

Alaska When John and I went on vacation to Alaska we took a bus tour through Denali National Park. As the bus drove slowly along, the passengers all watched for wildlife out the windows. Whenever anyone saw interesting wild animals, the driver stopped the bus so everyone could take pictures. We saw an amazing scene: a grizzly bear was eating a caribou he had killed. A wolf was pacing around and around the bear trying to get his share, but every time he got too close the bear raised up on his back feet and drove the wolf away. We watched for quite a while; the wolf never did make any progress. And, during that whole time, unbelievably, a little bird was sitting on the wolf's head. We had to drive on and did not see how the situation was resolved.

At another stop on the same bus tour, I sat resting my head against my window while most of the other tourists looked at something out the other side of the bus. I looked down at the edge of the road just as a little mother fox trotted by with about six tiny birds' legs hanging out of her mouth. I think she was taking lunch back to her own Little ones.

If the key fits

One summer after high school my brother, Alan, had a job with a street paving crew. Before the work began each household was required to move all vehicles off the street to clear the street for the paving machines. On one street they found one car had not been removed and nobody was home to move it. The crew could not proceed with that car in the way. Now, Alan happened to have a Chevrolet of the same year as the offending car, and had learned from past experiments that some car keys are interchangeable. So they tried his key, found that it worked, and moved the car out of the way. After the street was paved they put the car back where they found it. Alan said he would like to have been there when the owner tried to figure out how the new asphalt got under his car.

All the Way to the Top

Our family hiked to the top of Mount Timpanogos several times while we lived in Provo. Years later Wendy brought the experience to life in the form of a children's book. Here is her story. (Susan is Wendy. The pictures are from other sources.)

All The Way To The Top
Page 1: When Susan woke up it was still dark outside. Today was the day! She jumped out of bed and went to the window. The moon was full and low in the sky and she could see Mount Timpanogos filling the horizon. She could imagine the Indian princess laying there as in the legend. She could see her head, her body and her feet in the silhouette of the rough peaks of the mountain. Today she would hike all the way to the top! Today she would be up on the summit!
Page 2: Susan dressed quickly. She put on her jeans, a tee shirt, two pairs of socks, her hiking boots and her jacket. She knew that later in the day it would be too warm to wear a jacket and she could tie it around her waist, but now it was still cool. She reached up on her shelf and got out her lucky hat. On a day this important she wanted it with her.
Page 3: After a quick breakfast of cereal and fruit, Susan, her sisters Jacqui and Janet, and their mom and dad piled in the car. Mom had packed a backpack for each of them with water, snacks, lunch, and an extra pair of socks. Mom's pack had sun block, lip balm and a first aid kit.
Page 4: As they reached the mouth of Provo Canyon it started to get light. They

could see the Provo River twisting down the canyon and the tall cliffs looming up on each side. As they drove further up the canyon they passed Bridal Veil Falls and looked up to see the gondola ride and the restaurant on top of the cliff. They had ridden up the gondola and had dinner on Mom's last birthday.

Page 5: They drove past the Sundance ski resourt and up the Alpine Loop. Now they were on the other side of the mountain. Finally they came to Aspen Grove and parked in the parking lot. This was it! The beginning of the trail. Everyone piled out of the car and got their packs on. Dad led the way.
Page 6: They hiked for several hours before they rested. Susan looked at everyt

hing as they hiked up the trail. They were in a Quaking Aspen forest and Susan loved the slender white trees with their fluttering round leaves. They were her favorite trees. In the fall the leaves would turn yellow and the whole mountain would be a blaze of color. Susan saw some squirrels and a doe with her fawn. They turned and leaped away when they saw her.

Page 7: At last they reached Stuart Falls and stopped for a snack. The falls were

so beautiful.
The water tumbled from the cliffs above and fed the little creek below. They dipped their cups into the creek and drank the ice cold water. It was so good. This far up the water was clean and pure.

Page 8: They got back on the trail and continued to hike. By now it was getting warm. Susan took her jacket off and tied it around her waist. She was glad to have her lucky hat because the sun was bright. They hiked up out of the forest and across a huge rock slide. It was hard going, trying to keep from slipping on the rocks. By now Susan's feet were starting to hurt a little and she was getting tired. Mom said they would stop for lunch as soon as they got to Emerald Lake.
Page 9: It seemed like hours before they got to Emerald Lake. It was at the bot

tom of a huge glaciel and was made from melted glacial ice. Susan immediately tore her boots off and ran for the water. The water was so cold!!! Her feet were numb in minutes. They rested and ate their lunches. They could see the summit hut high above them at the very top of the mountain.
Page 10: Soon it was time to get back on the trail. They packed all their trash into t

heir backpacks, and Mom put lots of sun block on their faces. Then Dad led the way again. The last part of the trail was switchbacks to the summit. They were above the trees and on the rocky top of the mountain. Susan looked down and could see parts of the trail that they had already come up.

Page 11: Finally they got to the top! They could see everything! The whole valley,

Utah Lake, Provo Canyon, Deer Creek Reservoir, and all the mountains for miles and miles. They were so high that they couldn't see many of the roads down in the valley, just the freeway. It felt so good to have made it. Dad took a picture of all of them in front of the summit hut, and more pictures of the view from the top.

Page 12: Going down was much faster than going up. It was hard to keep fro

m running, and sometimes they didn't. They slid down the glacier on their coats. It was fun to play in the snow in the middle of the summer. They had a big snowball fight, although the snowballs were a little bit icey. The only bad thing about going down was the way Susan's toes kept jamming into the front of her boots. They were pretty sore by the time they got back down to their car in the Aspen Grove parking lot.

Page 13: They were very tired driving home. Susan, Jacqui and Janet all fell asleep. They were sore all over, but it felt good because they knew they had made it all the way to the top.
Page 14: As Susan went to bed that night, she looked out the window at Moun

t Timpanogos again. She imagined the sleeping princess, and right where her knees would be was the summit. She remembered how her town and valley looked from up there. It was exciting to think that from now on when she looked at the mountain she would know that she had been all the way to the top.

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Better Late Than Never: 4 graduations

They say, "In spring a young man's fancy turns to love." In spring, or I should say, during graduation season, this old grandma's thoughts turn to the graduations she never expected.

Graduation #1: I quit high school at the end of my sophomore year to get married and start a family. I completed my junior year through correspondence classes but didn't graduate with my "class of '56." My supposed graduation day was spent in the hospital giving birth to my second daughter. By then, family life had pushed out all thoughts of graduating from high school.

This, however, was not the case for my mother. In 1960, after daughter number three was born, we learned that students who had dropped out of school were being allowed to return to regular classes. My mom said, "You can do this. I'll take care of the kids while you go back to school." I hadn't even thought about such a thing. Besides being a mom, I was the Primary president and Johnny worked out of town all week--and he had the car. But, by borrowing my parent's car for the daily trip to Ely, and going to class half a day, we did it. In 1961, at age 23, I graduated second highest in my class.

Graduation #2: When we moved to Provo in 1964 I went to work in the Audio-Visual Department on BYU campus. I discovered that BYU employees can take evening classes with free tuition when my boss required that we take his class to learn how to run audio-visual equipment. I decided to take advantage of this free opportunity to learn new things and began taking one class at a time when circumstances at home allowed. After several years, I had accumulated enough credits to start thinking about declaring a major--just in case I ever graduated. I was most interested in the historical aspects of everything I studied, so history it was.

When we moved to Salt Lake City I got a new job as Learning Resource Center supervisor and librarian at the BYU Salt Lake Center. With the girls grown up, I now had time to take two classes in one semester. I was lucky that history was one of the few majors that could be completed at the Center and I only had to go back to the Provo campus for one class. So, in 1986, twenty-one years after I started, at the ripe old age of 48, I became the proud owner of a BA degree.

Graduation #3: Needless to say, by the time I graduated, I was tired of the late nights in class and the constant homework. I was glad to be finished! But no--the Library administration informed us that the LRC supervisors all had to get masters degrees. We would, however, at completion of our degrees, be promoted to "professional faculty" status. I rested for one year, then off I went again. So, in 1991, after pushing through two classes every semester for four more years, at fifty-three years old, I wore a blue collar and claimed my MLS (Master of Library Science) degree. This new degree brought me blessings and professional opportunities I didn't dream of when I started, and better pay provided me with a secure retirement.

Graduation #4: Each of my unexpected graduations were wonderful, but the graduation that gave me the most thrill was the first BYU graduation when I stood proudly with other BYU faculty as the new graduates marched by. I had come a long way! THANK YOU MOM! You had no idea that your faith in me would lead to such opportunities.

Saturday, November 21, 2009

A Mother's Sorrow

Eunice Abigail Seavy, my second great grandmother, was born March 1st, 1811 in Cornish, Maine. As far as I know, she did not leave any journal of her life, but the birth and death records about her family show me that, as a mother, she lived a long life of sorrow and sacrifice. She gave birth to fourteen children, but only three lived to adulthood. As a mother, I can’t imagine such sorrow.

In 1832, when Eunice was 21, she married Zimri Harfford Baxter and they began their life together in Milton, Maine. She must have been excited when their first son, Benson, was born a year later. In 1834 William joined the family. In February, 1836, when Benson was four and William was two, their third son, Henry, was born. Later that year the family moved all the way to Maumee, Ohio. In December baby Henry and William got very sick and both of them died; and in January Benson followed his brothers. Eunice lost all three of her sons within one month. She was pregnant with her fourth child at the time and perhaps looking forward to the birth of a new baby gave her some hope, but when little John was born in July, he died the same day.

Two years later she began her family again with the birth of Laure St Claire in May, 1839. The family soon moved again. This time to Dayton, Illinois, where, in 1841, Eunice gave birth to her first daughter, Emily. In December 1842, Alma, was born. She had three children again. But eight months after Alma’s birth he was gone. Eunice had lost another son.

The same month that Alma was born his father was baptized a member of the Church of Jusus Christ of Latter-day Saints so they moved the family to Nauvoo, Illinois. Zimri Seavy was born in Nauvoo in August, 1844. But more sorrow came when both Emily, four, and Zimri Seavy, eight months, died in April, 1845. Six year old Laure was the only child left.

In December, 1845, Eunice was baptized and she and her husband, Zimri were endowed in the Nauvoo Temple. In the spring they were blessed with the birth of another daughter, Eunice, named after her mother, and in 1847, another son, named Joseph. But illness struck again and Laure died that year–followed by little Joseph in 1848. Joseph died in Council Bluffs, Iowa, where the family had fled from Nauvoo with the LDS Saints.

In June of 1849, The family left Council Bluffs with their only surviving daughter in a wagon train aimed for the Salt Lake Valley. Eunice made this long, hard journey while pregnant with twins. The twins, Charles and Clarissa were born at Independence Rock, Wyoming in August. Clarissa thrived, but Charles died in December in Salt Lake City.

The Baxters settled in Salt Lake City, but were soon called to move south with the original group of families that settled Nephi, Utah. In 1854, another daughter was born in Nephi, but died the same year. In 1857, when Eunice was 46 years old and her husband, Zimri was 50, she had her final son. They named him Zimri Harfford after his father.

Eunice lived for eighty-nine years. She experienced great blessing and difficult trials. During her lifetime she was uprooted a number of times as the family moved to far-away places to make a better life. She saw her husband take two plural wives and raise children with those wives. She was a widow for twelve years. But her greatest trial must have been losing her children. She delivered 14 children, but only three survived to adulthood – Eunice, born in Nauvoo and at three years old crossed the plains with her parents; Clarissa, born in a wagon on the way to the West; and Zimri, her blessing at the end of her child baring years. Zimri was our ancestor. Aren’t we glad she didn’t give up with 13.

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Grease cakes and comic strips

My grandmother (called "Mom"by all her friends and family) had no money at all, yet she created traditions and memories that my brother and I always remember with fondness. Every summer our family went to Salt Lake to visit her. While we were there our local cousins would also gather at her house for several days of playing and catching up--and having treats we didn't get at home.

One special treat was sugar cubes. Mom kept a box of sugar cubes in the middle of her large, round kitchen table where they were handy for Uncle Francis to put in his coffee. We never had cubes of sugar at our house, so we were allowed to eat one or two when we visited. Each one tasted delicious as we placed it on our tongues and let it melt away.

Another treat was "grease cakes." Mom tore little pieces off her bread dough and pulled them into a thin, flat pancakes. She fried them in deep, hot grease in her big cast-iron frying pan until they were bubbly and golden brown. While they were cooling on a paper towel, she sprinkled them with sugar. With sugar all over our faces, all the cousins gobbled up another treat that we didn’t get at home. Later, I learned that "grease cakes" were also called scones.

I often marvel that, although Mom was in a wheelchair and cooked on a coal stove, once or twice a year she took the time and effort to make several dozen almond-flavored sugar cookies and mail them to us in McGill. She also cut out and saved the comics section of her newspaper every day and mailed them to us in bundles with the sugar cookies. She did it because we loved the comics in her Deseret News which were different from those in the Salt Lake Tribune we had delivered to our house. When the unexpected package arrived, we were thrilled. Everybody in the family spent the next few days eating cookies and reading comics.

Without realizing it, my grandmother taught me that traditions don't have to cost a lot of money. It's the thought that counts.

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

A Swiss bride

Nana (Dorina Matilda Cislini) was raised in Personico, Switzerland, in a beautiful green valley with several tall waterfalls cascading from the steep mountainsides to the river below. In 1902, when she was 19, she married 36 year old Paulo Giudici from the neighboring town of Giornico. The wedding was a big celebration. Accompanied by the Giudici family band, the whole wedding party marched in procession from Personico to the Catholic church in Gionico.

Soon after, Paulo (Paul) and his bride emigrated to the United States – to the dry desert valley of Elko, Nevada. Nana said she cried for months. She spent the remainder of her 90 years on their ranch by the Humboldt River. She raised two children and helped raise five grandchildren on that ranch, but her family also came to Nevada, so she never went back to Switzerland.

It is ironic that Nana was not born in Switzerland. She was born in Eureka, Nevada where her parents lived for just a few years. They returned to Switzerland when she was a little girl and before she had any memory of living in the desert.