Susan, the girl right behind G Gramma Chris is a foster child. She lived on our street, and both parents were alcoholics. She was neglected and a sad, sad child. They begged her mother to give them custody, and she finally did. We took her in and she quickly became one of the family. By this picture, she had already been a part of our family for a couple of years.
Notice Gramma's up-do? She would go to the beauty parlor every week to get her hair done. The bun is a hair piece. She would either take it off at night, or wrap her head in toilet paper (yes!) to sleep so it wouldn't get messed up!
At this time, Dad was sick, but still able to work. He would come home at lunch time and hand me his watch and tell me to wake him up in fifteen minutes. I often wondered how he slept on that couch in the middle of all the mayhem, but in fifteen minutes, he would get up, fully refreshed, and go back to work. This pic must have been taken on a Sunday afternoon, because Dad was always in his work clothes, white pants, white shirt. It was my job to iron those white shirts!
Mary Ann had just started teaching school, but I don't think they were married here yet.
Those kids, Mike on the left and Rob on the right were my life! I think I spent every free moment at their house! Their parents were so good to me! Especially Marilyn. She was responsible for helping make me who I am. She was such a cute mother and just a lot of fun to be around! It's funny. At the time Randy got married, he was still drinking. We all thought his marriage wouldn't last longer than about a year or so. And we thought Gean and Marilyn would last forever. Funny how life works, huh?
Then there's Duke! We got him from Aunt Bonney when he was tiny. We were silly kids! We actually had a christening for him! He was named "Duke LaVerl"! There's a song called "Duke of Earl", that we used to sing, substituting the words, "Duke LaVerl". That dog put up with everything, from being dressed in my dress that matched Kim's and posing for a picture (I should see if I can find that!) to being a pillow in front of the television. He was a great companion that would choose a different bed to sleep on each night. He used to walk uptown and lie down by the door of the bank Gramma worked at, and wait for her to come out, then ride home in the car with her! He totally was NOT just a dog!
I was 17 at the time, and seriously, my friends called me "Motorcycle Mama"! I was always on one of the bikes.
Those were good, good days! I wish I could go back to them and pay more attention, be a little more sensitive and loving, and listen to my parents more. Wish I could play patty cake with my nephews, be nicer to Sue, and spend more time with my mother.
This was one of the happiest times in this family's life. Jann and Mike had just gotten married and must have been off somewhere being newlyweds, Randy soon would be getting married, Dad was mostly healthy, very active in the Church, and very tuned in to his family. Both Mom and Dad were working and earning pretty good money; we were a very typical American Mormon family. Good, good times!
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