I've Loved You, Children

I love you children, Papa said
Tonight I'm tired. I'm off to bed.
When tomorrow comes I'll write to you.
There are many chores too much to do.

I love you children, said Daddy dear
A week then passed, a month a year.
The writing today was just not done
Work took my time till the setting sun.

I love you children, with all my heart
Oh how I'd love to share my part
Then each of you married and went your way
I wanted to share my love today.

I've loved you children, again he said
Four sweet children each bowed their head
With tear stained cheeks each one cried
The letter never came before he died.

Kent Vance

Who Loved Her Best

I love you mother, said little Nell
I love you more than tongues can tell.
Then teased and pouted for half the day
Till her mother rejoiced when she went out to play.

I love you mother, said little John
Forgetting his work, his cap went on.
Then he was off to the garden swing
Leaving his mother the wood to bring

I love you mother, said little Ann
Today I'll help you all I can
Then stepping softly she took the broom
Swept the floor and tidied the room.

I love you mother, again they said
Three little children all going to bed.
Now which one do you suppose
Really loved Mother the most?

Joy Allison

Papa's right handed

Papa, that's me, is really right handed. I've always known that to be true, but I'm getting to realize just how much it's so this week. I had surgery yesterday on my right thumb, and I have my right hand in a cast.

There are simple things that have a different degree of difficulty now that I am limited to my left hand. Brushing my teeth is a challenge. I'm clumsy, but I can get it done. Combing my hair is almost impossible with my left hand. I'm going to have to find a way to get it done with just the fingers on my right hand. Men's zippers are made for right handed men. Let's hope there are no emergencies in the next week. I'm really slow at getting my trousers open. Buttoning buttons is a challenge for me, but it can be done.

It makes me grateful for the human body. I am amazed at the complexity of the machinery, but even more amazed at how it can heal itself when it is damaged.

I was amazed with the surgery. I went under anesthesia long enough for the Dr. to make the incisions, then they brought me out andwoke me up to use the thumb to insure that it was functioning. I vaguely remember talking to them. The next thing I new, I was in recovery and within an hour I was headed for home.

Popo is trading in his silver steed

Popo made a major decision today. He's trading in his silver dodge pickup. As he ages, it has been getting harder and harder for him to mount the pickup. The cost of fuel is nearing four dollars a gallon. He is making the leap to get a newer, more economical vehicle.

I never thought I would see the day that he would be driving a four banger. He has spent many years driving heavy construction equipment. This is really a step down for him.

The pickup was a classy silver. The new car is a "lemon gold". I hope he likes it when he gets it. Today is the day he picks it up. He's planning on taking us for a ride when he brings it home.

Life

I was looking in some things trying to find that thing that was misplaced, ... alright lost... and ran across this poem which I thought you might all enjoy...

This is a poem which was written by Gordon Dean Howey when he was in San Diego, at Christmas time. Grandpa Arlo read it at his funeral in the obituary.

Life is such a mystery
With all its ups and downs,
One never knows for certain
What tomorrow will bring around.
Each day has so many challenges
Sometimes I wonder what I'll do,
Consider defeat, toss in the towel,
And then I think of you.

God's gifts to men are different
No two are quite the same
To some he gives riches and beauty,
But who am I to complain.
Because beauty may wither and wrinkle
Riches can vanish without a clue,
God's present to me is enduring and priceless,
You see -- His gift to me is you.

In Tune with The Master

The piano once was beautiful. . . an instrument so Grand.
Its music stirred each listening hear, just as its master planned.
When skillful hands engaged the keys, sweet music swelled the air.
And others felt inspiration as a gift of God was shared.

The master craftsman too, was pleased with the instrument he'd made.
It was of great worth to him ...indeed a high price for it was paid.
The piano enriched so many lives.. .it had a legacy of worth...
It was to have a profound influence while here upon the earth.

As years passed by. the instrument fell into careless hands,
The once valuable source of music met with harsh demands.
Not realizing its worth and value, it was the brunt of much abuse.
For musical enjoyment and inspiration, the piano was no longer used.

Its appearance was once stunning with it's surface polished to a shine.
Now was warped, scratched and scarred from seeing harder times.
After years of abusive pleasure and not maintaining its upkeep,
It experienced inner corrosion, the damage was sad and deep.

The piano long sat dormant, and when played, was so off key.
With its strings now loose and rusted...what would be its destiny?
Its owner was now dissatisfied with the once priceless gift of beauty.
And disposing of this worthless facade was now his apparent duty.

As fate would surely have it, another saw its worth,
And realizing its true potential would give it a second birth.
Restoration would require hours of work, sacrifice and pain...
But with the help of others, its value could be regained.

The work would be most tedious, not accomplished on one's own.
A master with the knowledge and skill, for the damage would atone.
To be an instrument of value again and bring others joy and pleasure.
It was destined to be in tune again, regain its worth... an earthly treasure.

The Master from the beginning, knew each individual's worth
And planned a destiny of great importance, from long before our birth.
Each soul is of priceless value... each one a child of God.
Will we pass the tests of mortal life and hold to the iron rod?

When we meet with life's big challenges, will they leave us scars of sin?
Will repairs through sincere repentance help as we strive until the end?
Our Savior paid the price for sins and said "Come Follow Me".
He wants us to be of worth, to be with Him for eternity.

May we always live in tune with God and be instruments each day.
To touch the lives and hearts of men with what we do and say.
The greatest gift, when life is over and we leave to go back home
Is to see our Savior and have him say, "Come to me. Thou art my own."

Bonnie Lynn Sisco Olsen

"102" in June

check out this article of Ruth Coch (Koch) http://www.alamosanews.com/V2_news_articles.php?heading=0&page=&story_id=7549

Aunt Ruth has made the news again!

Blue eyes

What burdens hide behind your empty face?
What battles in your heart take place?

I can see the sadness in your kind eyes, but I can only guess at the battles that have robbed
Your blue eyes of the light and your heart of the desire that in it once throbbed.

How can I make your burden lighter today?
What kind word would He have me say?
What word or deed could I possibly share that would make your burden lighter,
What thing can I do for you that would make those sad eyes brighter?

I've had a heavy burden on my table
That a times has seemed more than I was able.
Kind words and support have come from the most unexpected places.
Encouragement and love was offered from once hostile faces.

Despair with time has been replaced with hope
Kind words and affection gave me tools to cope.
I came to a fork in my crooked road
With a heavy heart and a difficult load.
Memories of kind words, of love expressed
Helped me have the courage to turn to the right.
I struggle still, but my heart is light.
My beloved friends have loaned me strength
I was stronger then at length.

Dear Brother with the sad blue eyes
Be strong and let me share with you.
The burden is lighter when its shared
as it was for me when someone cared.

Cold Pillow

I was probably 6 or 7 years old and we went to Uncle Don's house in Alamosa, Colorado.

As I recall, us girls were playing and getting ready for bed at the same time. I believe I told the girls that I forgot my cold pillow and that I knew I was going to have a hard time getting to sleep. I also believe that Danette knew I needed a cold pillow! Danette and Marcy were trying evertyhing in their power to make me cofortable, so one of them put a cotton pillow in the ice-box to make it cold, not realizing that all I needed was a feather pillow and I would have been happy.
yep
Aunt Gloria discovered the stash and asked why there would be a pillow in the freezer and asked that we come to retrieve the pillow to put it in its place.

I love how my cousins always looked out for us! They always made me comfortable and want to come back to play again! :-D

Another "true" story

Life in the mountains in the 1800's was unlike the lives we know today. There was an ebb and a flow of activity because of the effect of the seasons on the harsh topography. Spring brought a swarming of activity much like the movement of bees around a hive in a field of freshly blooming clover. Summer was a time of more constant steady activity. Autumn saw a melancholy slowing with the anticipation of winter snow. Winter was a time of little activity except that required to survive the harsh winter snow and wind.

It was not uncommon for people to be housebound or cabin bound in the mountain country. There was no media to entertain the mind. Boredom and isolation sometimes caused a condition called cabin fever wherin people lost contact with reality and retreated into an inner world.

Travel and hospitality in the mountains was also different than we know today. Today, one would never think of entering into a house uninvited. That was not the case with mountain hospitality of years past. As one traveled through the mountains and needed shelter for the night, it was permissable to use a cabin that was temporarily empty.

There was such a mountain traveller that came upon a deserted cabin in Massey Canon. As he came upon the empty cabin, he tethered his horse and unsaddled it. He took his saddle and bed roll into the cabin. He lit a lantern and built a fire in the wood stove and cooked himself a meal. The ride had been hard and he needed rest. He laid back on the bunk and looked up into the rafters of the cabin.

There he saw a hideous site. It appeared to be a naked woman, soiled and with matted red hair and burlap wrapped on her feet.

Carefully, the traveler grabbed the saddle and backed out of the cabin. He mounted his horse and never returned to the cabin again.

Establishing a Home

When Arlo and I got married, we didn't have a home. For a time we were here and there. We lived in a little 3 room house of Isabel's. Then we moved in with Grandma Vance. We live in a room of Charles and June Vance. That is where we lived when Dad died and Doris Faye came to live with us.

Then he got a job with Ed Guymon and we lived there until Don, Kent and Bonnie were born. Arlo quit his job with Ed and we moved in with Grandma Vance again for a season. We then moved to a farm between Sanford and Bountiful. Arlo worked for a Gyling. We lived there for one year.

The next year we moved to the house North West of Romeo. That is where Larry was born. That year there were a lot of things. Donnie had rheumatic fever, Arlo had a bad disc in his back and was in the hospital in Grand Junction for about a month, then was moved to Denver where he had back surgery.

While he was in the hospital, I moved us to manassa. We lived in Lucille Jackson's house, a block West of Grandma Dunn. We lived there until we bought our first home of our own. That was the one across the street from Maggie Weston.

From there we bought the house on 3rd street. That was our final home. We lived there until after Arlo died and I moved to Mesa. Things were never the same after that. There didn't seem to be a gathering place for all of us again. Eventho I own a home now, it doesn't seem to be a gathering place as I would like it to be.

Just like me

This was always one of my favorite songs, "Cat's in the Cradle", by Harry Chapin.

I suppose the reason I like it is because I can relate to it at least at a certain level.

My child arrived just the other day
He came to the world in the usual way
But there were planes to catch and bills to pay
He learned to walk while I was away
And he was talkin' 'fore I knew it, and as he grew
He'd say "I'm gonna be like you dad
You know I'm gonna be like you"

And the cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon
Little boy blue and the man on the moon
When you comin' home dad?
I don't know when, but we'll get together then son
You know we'll have a good time then

My son turned ten just the other day
He said, "Thanks for the ball, Dad, come on let's play
Can you teach me to throw", I said "Not today
I got a lot to do", he said, "That's ok"
And he walked away but his smile never dimmed
And said, "I'm gonna be like him, yeah
You know I'm gonna be like him"

And the cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon
Little boy blue and the man on the moon
When you comin' home son?
I don't know when, but we'll get together then son
You know we'll have a good time then

Well, he came home from college just the other day
So much like a man I just had to say
"Son, I'm proud of you, can you sit for a while?"
He shook his head and said with a smile
"What I'd really like, Dad, is to borrow the car keys
See you later, can I have them please?"

And the cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon
Little boy blue and the man on the moon
When you comin' home son?
I don't know when, but we'll get together then son
You know we'll have a good time then

I've long since retired, my son's moved away
I called him up just the other day
I said, "I'd like to see you if you don't mind"
He said, "I'd love to, Dad, if I can find the time
You see my new job's a hassle and kids have the flu
But it's sure nice talking to you, Dad
It's been sure nice talking to you"

And as I hung up the phone it occurred to me
He'd grown up just like me
My boy was just like me

And the cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon
Little boy blue and the man on the moon
When you comin' home son?
I don't know when, but we'll get together then son
You know we'll have a good time then

I would like to hope that my children choose my better traits. I feel that I am a compassionate helpful person. I saw that my father was like that. He would not anybody to tell him that. He did things for others that were in need with no intent of ever being compensated. He looked after the widows of Manassa and made sure they had what they needed. My father also had no reservations in stating to me when he thought someone was not honest or trustworthy, but he would not show it outwardly what he thought.

Our Wedding

Arlo and I were married on the 30th of March 1946 in Grandma and Grandpa Dunn's home. We were married in the same spot that my Mom and Dad were married. Arlo had said he didn't want too many at our wedding. I didn't invite Nona and forever after I was sorry that I didn't. She was a very special friend. Grandma Dunn made arrangements for music and food and it was a very special occasion. Grandma Vance was the only one Arlo invited and He should have invited his sister, Isabel.

It was just after the end of World War II and stockings were almost unheard of because nylon was not available for private use. Aunt Ruth worked for a clothing store and was able to get me a pair of nylons. The boys threw wheat, (not rice) at us and got it on the running board of the car, (the model A), and I slipped on it and tore my nylons.

We spent our honeymoon at the little cabin at the bottom of the hill below our present cabin. We rode horses to the top of the mountain through Fox Creek Canyon. That is where Arlo and the hunting crew often camped to hunt deer. We heard the horses sound upset in the night and Arlo said that there were tracks of a mountain lion around the cabin. I still love to go to the river, which runs by the cabin at the bottom of the hill, where our cabin is.

True Story

I loved teaching because it often gave me the opportunity to tell true stories. This one is one of my favorites.

Having grown up in a home were my father and older brother loved to fish, we often got together to tell true fish stories.

My Brother tells me that there was a particular fishing hole that he loved to visit each year. It was in one of the areas in the high mountains where streams run only in the spring when the snow is melting. When the snow is melted and the streams stop running, fish often are trapped in small ponds where food is scarce and fish don't grow as well as they do in running streams.

It was in one of those fishing holes that we got acquainted with an old rainbow trout and his world. The old trout was distinctive. He had a huge head in comparison with the size of his body. Don or Red as he is known, was determined that he was going to catch that old fish. He tried flies and lures and live bait, but he old critter had been around too long to fall for those ordinary measures. Don was determined not to be outdone by any old fish.

Each year for several years, he returned to the same fishing hole with a different ploy to get old "Grandpa Colors" on the end of his line. One year, Red, some of his friends and I went to the high country to camp out for a few days. This year was going to be different.

We camped in the middle of a beautiful green meadow just a few yards from the old fishing hole. After trying the usual means for catching the wiley old trout, Red threw his rods and hooks aside and took to the fishing hole with his bare hands.

I heard a hoot and a holler and out of a torrent of splashing mud, red hair, freckles and water, I saw the old trout fly into the air and onto the green bank beside the pool. Red scrambled out of the water and onto the bank. He grabbed a cast iron skillet that was beside the nearby campfire and tied it to the old fish. He called me over to see his catch. In his excitement, he turned his back on the fish and he heard a big splash. The fish was gone!

Red had stirred up so much mud in the pond that he was unsuccessful in finding old Grandpa Colors. Reluctantly, the camp was folded up, and we went home. We'd have to wait till another time to catch the sly old critter.

The next spring, we returned to the high country determined to bring home some trout out of the pond. We dropped our tents and sleeping bags on the meadow before we went to the water. In the edges of the crystal clear pond, we could see hundreds of tiny minnows swimming, each with a tiny frying pan tied to his tail.

Do you have a "true" story to post?

Mothers

Wishing all the mothers out there a very Happy Mothers Day. It is great to be associated with such great women! I feel very blessed to be a mother with great children and grandchildren. I have received much growth through the years and know it isn't over! MAY ALL BE BLESSED WITH A FEELING OF LOVE FOR THEIR MOTHERS AT THIS TIME OF YEAR! I know I Am!

Courting and Marriage

Nona , my good friend was dating Moine Provost, he and Arlo came to the school when it was just out and asked Nona and me to go for a ride. That was the first time I went with him and we went together often after that. I was a senior in high school. We dated for three months and were married on the 30th of March 1946. I went to school 2 months after we were married, so I could graduate. Arlo had just gotten out of the army the first time we dated. He didn't have a regular job. He drove a truck for Uncle Lute Vance part of the time.