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Sharing The Past

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1977 Yellowstone Park. From front to back: My brother, me, Tilly, Mom, Tilly's 2nd husband Henry.  

1977 Yellowstone Park. From front to back: My brother, me, Tilly, Mom, Tilly's 2nd husband Henry.  

Hello Again! Plus a letter from Tilly - WWII London 1940

June 16, 2016

Hello again. I haven’t been able to submerge myself in genealogy for over a month as I have been buried amongst the living. 

My father just turned eighty-six years old. He is in overall good health for his age, but he still has a number of health issues - including, but not limited to, peripheral neuropathy, aortic stenosis, venous insufficiency, arthritis, a history of DVTs, spinal stenosis and a handful of other delightful “old age” issues. Did I mention his severe case of stubbornness. It’s a disease, trust me. 

Last month, he had an episode of syncope which means he fainted. At Costco. While driving around an electric cart. But he knew he was going down, called out my husband’s name, and my husband caught him on the way down sparing him from serious injury. I can't help but to mention that a number of shoppers reached over the two of them sprawled on the floor to grab grocery items and didn't even bother to ask if they were ok. I mean, really? Really!! 

Concerned about the incident, my husband took Dad to the ER. After a few days of tests to determine the cause, it was decided that his aortic stenosis was to blame and he should get a new heart valve. So he did. The procedure was remarkable! It's called TAVR, Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement. It was minimally invasive and had a speedy recovery time, even for an out-of- shape-eighty-six-year-old. Of course, as always happens with my father, and life in general, there were a few complications completely unrelated to the heart valve. As my father’s primary caregiver, and because his driving privileges were revoked for safety reasons, I ended up spending numerous weeks in the hospital, followed by weeks of driving him to all his doctor visits with, I suspect, years of those visits to come. 

I've had scarcely a moment at my desk. Until now.

No surprise, during these past weeks, I’ve felt unusually overwhelmed. Stressed about Dad’s “brush with death” and the not-so-gentle reminder that life is temporary. Frustrated at how hard it was for me to tend to my well-being, focus on our remodel, log hours with my paying job or write about these old letters. Angry that there is so much beyond my control. Pissed off that every day is so short. Guilty for wanting time to myself. And so much more. 

Though my father has been living with us for over a year, these last months have been the biggest transition. More then once I have felt on the verge of a panic attack. You know, that feeling like you can't breathe, you are dying or going crazy? I even asked my doctor if I should start taking Xanax. He told me to stick to my nightly glass of red wine. 

But then, one day, on the way to the hospital, I picked up Dad's mail and there was a package from my cousin in Utah with a handful of old letters sent to my grandmother Hilda. I cozied up in a chair in the corner of dad's room, skimmed through them and one jumped out at me. It was from Cousin Tilly Vince Luckins. She is my favorite of the cousins that wrote to my grandmother and perhaps the only one I ever met. So I opened it up and read.

It was like a thunderbolt through my soul. 

Written on November 10th, 1940 and sent from London England during World War II - it was a gentle reminder of how ridiculously lucky I am. How lucky we all are. Here I was fretting over the stupidest of things. I mean, c'mon... there are no oil bombs raining from the heavens at night. Sirens are not warning me to head to a bomb shelter. I can contact friends and relatives with a few clicks on a keyboard or taps on a phone that fits in my pocket. 

We live in a time of miracles. It is so easy to forget that.

The letter is simple, but it made an impression as do all these war letters. I suddenly felt very, very grateful. And I also felt, a little bit, like my mother was sending me a message. You see, on the outside of the envelope, in what I’m pretty certain is her writing (she passed away in 2000 from early onset Alzheimer’s) were the words - “Comments on WWII Tillie“

It’s almost like mom sent it to me. 

Examiner 4259 - 1940 Letter from London to USA. Lucky for me, the examiner did not extract any of the letter.

Examiner 4259 - 1940 Letter from London to USA. Lucky for me, the examiner did not extract any of the letter.

November 10, 1940

Dear Cousin Hilda, 
I received your wishes for a Happy Birthday & thank you for them, the card will go to my collection of your pretty cards to me & which words I know are sincere. I had a very quiet birthday & would have been happy just to have my John with me. I still miss him very much. He came home on 24 hrs leave he arrived home at 4:30 & had to be back by 1o’clock the next day, but he hopes to have 4 days leave soon, he looks very well

1940WWIILetter

But doesn’t like Army life he said it is alright if you have no home. I sent him your letter & a cartoon you sent me it was very good he thought. How is Aunt Alice these days, we all know how you must pray for our safety in England. Poor Mother has had it terrible in Wapping all her windows are out also in the shop the place is nearly in ruins there. She is now staying with my cousin Ina to get some rest & she still refuses to give up living in Wapping. The business is still closed up & Jack

Says he is not going to manage it anymore, he is going to spend the rest of his life in the country. The house next door to him was bombed recently & his wife is evacuated I bet they wish there children were safe with you in America. Grace evacuated today with her baby, her nerves have given out. Life at the moment is not worth much we get a warning from 6-30 in the evening till 8 o’clock the next morning & there is heavy gunfire that if you were

Walking the street you would get injured with our own shrapnel. Hitler seems to glory in bombing our Churches. Did you get my letter to send to Annie. I said to John we shall have to go to America when the war is over. The people in England are really wonderful they are taking it all bravely although they have lost everything which they hold dear. How is Ben is he keeping well, I should love to see you all one day. What does Bobbie say about the war as I expect he

Understands a little. I bet he tells you he is glad he is not in England. Well, Hilda, I hope as we all hope to finish this man Hitler & I am sure we shall win I have every confidence, as I am confident that I shall be kept safe for my John. He prays also that I shall be safe. I am not a bit nervous, as I do not go in a shelter but take my chance in the house mother said I am crazy directly she hears the warning she runs, you can quite understand her though as she has been through a lot. 

I do worry over her as she has Bronchitis very bad. Emmie is still by her & is also brave. I haven’t heard from Ethel & John is stationed near her but doesn’t get a chance to go & see her. Weren’t you disappointed about Wilkie not getting elected, I thought of you when they have it through the wireless that Roosevelt gained the majority. Is your land quite better now. Christmas will soon be here & I am looking forward to having John home on leave, I will ask him to write to you

He writes to me every day as that is the only way to keep in touch with me another to know we are alright, unless of course a bomb is marked for us. Hitler likes dropping oil bombs, he is busy now going over this house, but I don’t think he knows 20 Bolton Rd at least I hope so. How is America going on in this war, do you think they will come in it. Give my love to Aunt Alice & tell her I will write to her soon as I don’t get much time these days but I think of you all

1940-World-War-II-Letter

 

& hope you don’t have to experience what we are getting. It is a truth saying Britain never never shall be slaves. Good Old England & I hope she will have peace forever after this. Well Cousin Hilda I must now … & try to get some sleep & forget about war. Kiss Bobby for me & tell him I hope he is making good progress at school & Ben tell him to write to his old cousin who although has not met him, likes to hear from him sometimes. 

From Your Sincere Cousin Tilly

1942 Tilly with her sister Grace's daughter Helen.  (Photo was not in the letter, it was just the one I found dated close to 1940)

1942 Tilly with her sister Grace's daughter Helen. (Photo was not in the letter, it was just the one I found dated close to 1940)

As I get ready to post this entry, I received an email from a cousin in Auckland NZ. I have never met him. I did not know he was alive. He is Tilly’s nephew, son of her brother Charles Percival. He too survived WWII. I am overwhelmed with my good fortune! How lucky are we to live in a world where we can connect the present with the past so easily? What a gift to learn of and from our ancestors.

I can't wait to reply to him and discover more. I do hope he has more letters or insight to share. Perhaps he might even recognize a face or two in some of the old photos I have... 

Happy Genealogy Hunting!

Laurie

In 1940s, family history, genealogy, letters Tags 1940s, matilda "tilly" vince
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Me: On the back of the envelope these were in someone wrote "Madge 9, Joyce 9, Lois 9, Innyce 4"  Any idea why? ⠀
Dad: Nope. But that does look like my writing not my mother’s.⠀
Me: Maybe you made them all copies or something. Do you think they are the girls in the photos?⠀
Dad: Maybe. I’m going to take a wild guess that this is at Black Rock Beach.⠀
Me: Where is that? ⠀
Dad: Great Salt Lake. Could be at Sunset Beach. One of the people in there I’m pretty sure is Keith Daybell.⠀
Me: Which one is Keith Daybell?⠀
Dad: Well I don’t recognize the car but the boy on the left, that’s Keith. He’s on this one too. (Kids standing, guy on far right)⠀
Me: Who is this Keith Daybell? I’ve never heard that name before. ⠀
Dad: He’s one of the boys I grew up with in church, Wilford Ward. And we went to Granite High together.⠀
Me: Hmm. On the car, that’s you next to Keith, who is the girl you have your arms around?⠀
Dad: I have no idea. ⠀
Me: Not a clue?⠀
Dad: Nope. ⠀
Me: Ok, what else do you remember about Keith? ⠀
Dad: I think Keith had a motorcycle… yeah, I know he had a motorcycle. He used to pick me up and take me to high school on it.⠀
Me: Did you wear a helmet?⠀
Dad: Nope.⠀
Me: Did anybody wear a helmet?⠀
Dad: Nope.⠀
Me: Did anybody ever get injured on Keith's motorcycle? ⠀
Dad: Nope. Only the guy that hit my car. ⠀
Me: What?! A guy on a motorcycle hit your car? When was this? ⠀
Dad: Oh, probably I was still in high school… well, when did I meet June Anne? ... I was going down to pick up June Anne on a date & I turned west on 21st South & State Street, I think it was, and I don’t know whether it was my fault or the motorcycle guy’s fault but he hit the back of the ’29 Dodge, went over the trunk and bent the fender in. We had to use a pry bar to bend it back, it was on the tire and those old cars were built like a tank. Then I went and picked up June Anne and we went where we were going. It was my first automobile accident. ⠀
Me: So no one got hurt? ⠀
Dad: I don't think so. I'd probably remember that.⠀
Me: Did you tell your parents about the car accident?⠀
Dad: Of course I did! The fender was bent they couldn’t miss it. ⠀
Me: Did it ruin the date?⠀
Dad: Nope.⠀
Summer 1950
Easter Greetings! from Jennette to Winifred in 1911 (& Dad and me in 2018)⠀
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Postcard by E. Nash.⠀
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#graphicdesign #easter #familyhistory #ancestry #vintagepostcard #design #lithograph #embossedpostcard #sharingthepast
Dad: You think that is me?⠀
Me: Yep. ⠀
Dad: I don’t think that’s me, I didn’t have that much hair.⠀
Me: Sure you did, before you had kids. ⠀
Dad: I’m not sure. And I don't recognize the girl.⠀
Me: Well, it looks like you and that the wind was blowing your hair up in the back. [Looking in magnifying glass] That is definitely you. Nice swim trunks. ⠀
Dad: I’m not admitting to it. ⠀
Me: Looks like the swim trunks might have birds on them, and sailboats.⠀
Dad: That’s why I’m not admitting to it.⠀
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June 1950 - Salt Lake City, Utah. Probably somewhere near Great Salt Lake.⠀
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#Familyhistory #oldphoto #genealogy #ancestry #1950s #vintagephoto #familysearch #instaphoto #blackandwhitephotography #foundphoto #caregiver #findmypast #memoirs #memories #familystories #sharingthepast #vintagefashion #caregiving #stories #shortstories #interview #alzheimers #fashion #vintage #swimwear
Dad: What am I taking picture of this stupid bird for?⠀
Me: Oh, everyone takes pictures of birds on a wire because it looks cool.⠀
Dad: It’s a seagull on a pole. ⠀
Me: Maybe you thought it was interesting.⠀
Dad: I don’t know what I thought. ⠀
Me: It’s a very nice picture, perhaps you were just testing the camera. ⠀
Dad: This is testing my brain. ⠀
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Long Beach, CA Summer 1948⠀
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#Familyhistory #Rootstech #oldphoto #genealogy #ancestry #1940s #vintagephoto #familysearch #instaphoto #blackandwhitephotography #foundphoto #caregiver #findmypast #memoirs #memories #familystories #sharingthepast #caregiving #stories #shortstories #interview #alzheimers
Dad: Maynard Viot, he’s the guy on the end on the right, and this guy (on the far left), this is Lenny Hesterman, and the guy in the white shirt is Mickey, but I don’t remember his last name. And…who is this guy in the black shirt? I’m stumped. That’s the font room of the house I grew up in, that chandelier is at Judy’s. And that’s our table, and our television would have been behind Maynard but we didn’t have a television then. ⠀
Me: What year did you get a television? ⠀
Dad: I don’t know.⠀
Me: What can you tell me about Maynard Viot?⠀
Dad: Oh, he’s another LDS boy I grew up with in the Wilford Ward, lived down the street a few doors. And Lenny, I grew up with him in the church. His mother was a little round dutch lady who played the organ and bounced up and down when she played. ⠀
Me: What kind of music did she play?⠀
Dad: Church music and any other kind, she played the organ in the ward.⠀
Me: Did they go to Granite High with you?⠀
Dad: Yes. Maynard was a lifetime friend. Lenny, he moved into the ward, I don’t know when he moved into the ward, anyway he wasn’t a lifetime resident but Maynard was. ⠀
Me: Did you go to Maynard’s wedding? ⠀
Dad: Maynard & Sid’s wedding? His wife was Sid, hmm, I can’t remember I could have but I don’t remember.⠀
Me: When did he pass away?⠀
Dad: I don’t remember that either, I think we went to college together too and I can’t remember much about Lenny any more he had some fraternal twin brothers. Now, who is that guy in the black shirt?...⠀
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Photo taken Summer 1948.⠀
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#Familyhistory #Rootstech #oldphoto #genealogy #ancestry #1940s #vintagephoto #familysearch #instaphoto #blackandwhitephotography #foundphoto #caregiver #findmypast #memoirs #memories #familystories #sharingthepast #vintagefashion #caregiving #stories #shortstories #interview #alzheimers #fashion #vintage
Dad: This is the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone Park, I think. ⠀
Me: Well which is it, the Grand Canyon or Yellowstone Park. ⠀
Dad: It’s the Grand Canyon OF Yellowstone Park.⠀
Me: Aren’t those two different places?⠀
Dad: No, I don’t think so. Look it up. ⠀
Me: Oh, look at that, it is a single place - “the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone if the first large canyon on the Yellowstone River downstream from Yellowstone Falls in Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming.”⠀
Dad: See. That is not THE Grand Canyon. ⠀
Me: Did you go for there for vacation?⠀
Dad: We didn’t take vacations.⠀
Me: Well then why did you take photos of the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone Park?⠀
Dad: It wasn’t a vacation. ⠀
Me: It wasn’t exactly in your backyard. It’s about a seven hour drive from the house you grew up in. ⠀
Dad: Well, I guess YOU can call it a vacation. When we went to Long Beach for a week or so to visit family, that was more what I’d call a vacation. But if we went fishing at Bear Lake or Moon Lake, that was not a vacation. ⠀
Me: So, more like an outing. ⠀
Dad: Yes. That sounds better.⠀
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Summer 1948⠀
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#Familyhistory #Rootstech #oldphoto #genealogy #ancestry #1940s #vintagephoto #familysearch #instaphoto #blackandwhitephotography #foundphoto #caregiver #findmypast #memoirs #memories #familystories #sharingthepast #vintagefashion #caregiving #stories #shortstories #interview #alzheimers⠀
Me: What can you tell me about these kids?⠀
Dad: Never seen them before. ⠀
Me: There is a note stuck to this, “Group 1 - 5 Year Old - Summer 1951 - Ethel Upwall Teacher “ Ring any bells? ⠀
Dad: Looks like they are wearing Indian hats with two feathers. ⠀
Me: It does. ⠀
Dad: I was what, 21 when this was taken? So I’m not in there. Mom wasn’t teaching school anymore so it’s not her students. ⠀
Me: Maybe it was something to do with church and Primary students? Wasn’t she active in Primary then? ⠀
Dad. Yes. Maybe. Ethel Upwall, I can see her. ⠀
Me: You remember her? ⠀
Dad: No, she’s the only adult in the photo. ⠀
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Salt Lake City, Utah 1951⠀
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#Familyhistory #Rootstech #oldphoto #genealogy #ancestry #1950s #saltlakecity #vintagephoto #familysearch #lds #instaphoto #blackandwhitephotography #foundphoto #caregiver #utahhistory #utah #findmypast #memoirs #memories #familystories #sharingthepast #vintagefashion #caregiving #stories #love #vintage #fashion #shortstories #interview #wilfordward
Dad: I made one of those airplanes the other one I do not recognize, looks like maybe it has a gasoline motor. One is a rubber band airplane.⠀
Me: How many planes do you think you made when you were a kid?⠀
Dad: The first ones I made weren’t these. They were wooden models that mother helped me make. I was too young to make them alone.⠀
Me: What planes did you make after the wooden ones? ⠀
Dad: They would have been rubber band airplanes. You took little tiny pieces of balsa wood and laid them down and glued them together and covered them with tissue paper, that is what this back one is made out of.⠀
Me: Did they come from a kit?Dad: Yes. We got them at Douglas Models in downtown Salt Lake City.⠀
Me: How much do you think they cost? ⠀
Dad: Oh, 1, 2, maybe 3 dollars. Aunt Ruth and Uncle John gave me a bigger one that was complicated with a big wingspan, maybe three feet.⠀
Me: Which one was your favorite?⠀
Dad: I did’t have any favorites.⠀
Me: Do you have any favorites of anything? ⠀
Dad: Not much.⠀
Me: Do you have a favorite chocolate bar or candy?⠀
Dad: No.⠀
Me: Favorite ice cream?⠀
Dad: Homemade vanilla. ⠀
Me: Made by your mom or store bought?⠀
Dad: Made by me. ⠀
Me: You really don’t have any favorites? Favorite dance perhaps?⠀
Dad: Favorite what? ⠀
Me: Dance, a favorite dance.⠀
Dad: Oh dance, favorite dance steps. No, I just like to dance. Me: A favorite place you visited? ⠀
Dad: I’d have to think about that. ⠀
Me: A favorite child? ⠀
Dad: No I just liked what I did and liked people, oh, you are just talking about this situation. [Laughs at me]⠀
Me: You don’t have a favorite child?⠀
Dad: You’re amazing. Absolutely amazing.⠀
Me: So me, I’m the favorite? ⠀
Dad: I’m not going to commit to that. You might repeat it. You might publish it. ⠀
Me: You are right about that. .
#saltlakecity #vintageairplane #vintagetoys #familysearch #genealogy
Me: This is from the same batch as the MIA Dance Festival, recognize anyone?⠀
Dad: I think the girl standing in the white shirt holding the watermelon is Connie, my dance partner, but I can’t identify the event. ⠀
Me: Were you camping? ⠀
Dad: We we're not camping I can guarantee you. Boys & girls just didn’t go camping at that age. ⠀
Me: Not at age 20? ⠀
Dad: Absolutely not. The people in the dance festival in my group were all adults. These are just young friends at some kind of a campfire. I’ve looked at it and looked at it and I can’t identify them. I must have taken the photo though. Must be some of the kids I went to college with at University of Utah...maybe it will come to me...yeah, that's Connie. When I came back from my mission she was married. ⠀
Me: Oh, you dated Connie? ⠀
Dad: Yes, we dated, but I wasn't a romantic kind of person. I don't think it was a serious thing, at least not from my point of view. ⠀
Me: Did you ask her to wait for you 'til you returned from your mission?⠀
Dad: No, I didn't ask anybody to wait for me. She's the girl that gave me the cufflinks for Chi Omega sorority. Her brother and I were in the same class. We all went to High School together at Granite. Her mom and dad knew my mom and dad and her dad was a contractor I think, probably worked with my dad on some jobs. She was a very bright, lovely, talented girl. Connie will be in my yearbook, and so will her brother. When I saw him at the last reunion I asked about Connie and he said she had a very good partner but I don't know whether she is dead or alive and we didn't talk about that then and there won't be any more High School reunions we are all too old and too dead. ⠀
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Campfire Photos: June 1950 - Salt Lake City, Utah (or somewhere nearby)⠀
Dad: That’s from the MIA Dance Festival at the University of Utah. ⠀⠀
Me: Why did you have two different suits?⠀⠀
Dad: They are not suits.⠀⠀
Me: Costumes?⠀⠀
Dad: No. ⠀⠀
Me: Tuxedos?⠀⠀
Dad: Well, yes. ⠀⠀
Me: Isn’t a tuxedo the same thing as a suit?⠀⠀
Dad: Is it a suit? yes. ⠀⠀
Me: So, why were there two tuxedos? ⠀⠀
Dad: Those are costumes for the dance. ⠀⠀
Me: Ok. Do you remember what dance you performed?⠀⠀
Dad: I remember one in particular. See the Viennese Waltz down there [pointing to program], that’s the one Connie Clayton & I were in. We were the youngest couple in the group but we were not married. The rest of the couples were all older and married. I suggest you send that program to a Church historian and ask them if there is a movie of the dance. I’d like to see it. ⠀⠀
Me: I’ll do that. And to the University of Utah too. How long did you train for the MIA Dance?⠀⠀
Dad: Probably a couple of months.⠀⠀
Me: What were all of the dances that you learned?⠀⠀
Dad: Well if I danced in them I learned them. ⠀⠀
Me: I mean, can you name some dances you learned in your lifetime? ⠀⠀
Dad: All of the popular dances I learned. ⠀⠀
Me: That’s a lot of dancing, can you name a couple of them for for me? ⠀⠀
Dad: Fox trot, swing, jitterbug, um, tango, those are the dances that were popular in my time. They were not, what should I say, people didn’t go out and dance like the kids do today. When you went someplace you went to Salt Air or Lagoon or the Coconut Grove… what was the other one… Rainbow Rendezvous. They specialized in orchestras and dancing. That’s what you did when you went there. ⠀⠀
Me: Want to go to Vienna for a ball & watch the Viennese waltz ? ⠀⠀
Dad: Are you kidding me? ⠀⠀
Me: We could still go. I bet a lot of folks attend in a wheelchair. There’d be some great music to listen to. ⠀⠀
Dad: No. If I can’t dance there is no point in going. ⠀⠀
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June 1950 - Salt Lake City, UT⠀⠀
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#Familyhistory #Rootstech #oldphoto #genealogy #ancestry #1950s #saltlakecity #vintagephoto #familysearch #instaphoto #blackandwhitephotography #foundphoto #caregiver #utahhistory #utah #findmypast #memoirs #memories #familystories #highlanddrive #sharingthepast #vintagefashion
Dad: Well, that's me. I’m trying to identify the fish they look like trout… and that is home in the backyard but...the only place that we went fishing that I would have fish like that is Strawberry Reservoir. And I would not remember having caught those fish. ⠀
Me: How many fish did you catch in your lifetime?⠀
Dad: Oh, not a lot. ⠀
[Prolonged silence]⠀
Me: Are you counting?⠀
Dad: No, I’m not counting I’m trying to think of the fish - Sun Perch at Fairmont Park and we went fishing at Moon Lake, probably caught rainbow trout there I guess, but I think this was taken before we ever went to Moon Lake. ⠀
Me: Yeah…⠀
Dad: What do you mean yeah, you don’t know when I went.⠀
Me: I’m just saying yeah. As in yeah, tell me more. But, I do happen to have some photos from when you went to Moon Lake. ⠀
Dad: Oh yeah?⠀
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1940s Highland Drive & 33rd South, Salt Lake City, Utah.⠀
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#Familyhistory #Rootstech #oldphoto #genealogy #ancestry #1940s #saltlakecity #vintagephoto #familysearch #instaphoto #blackandwhitephotography #foundphoto #caregiver #utahhistory #utah #findmypast #memoirs #memories #familystories #highlanddrive #sharingthepast #fishing #trout #vintagefashion #caregiving  #stories #love #vintage #shortstories #interview
Me: How about these lovely people? ⠀
Dad: Oh that is easy, that’s Elmer Don and Marilyn Sharples. They are Irene’s kids. And they have a brother whose name does not come to me, he’s deceased now. Oh and that’s Jack. ⠀
Me: I remember you once told me one of your dogs was poisoned by a neighbor. Was it Jack or Lassie? ⠀
Dad: Jack died of old age and Lassie was poisoned. ⠀
Me: How old was Jack when he died? ⠀
Dad: I have no idea how old Jack was, I don’t think I paid any attention to dogs ages at those times, but I can tell you where he was buried...in the backyard.⠀
Me: The backyard isn’t there anymore smarty pants. ⠀
Dad: Boy I’ll tell you! [laughing out loud]⠀
Me: That’s an awful big grin on your face. ⠀
Dad: Well, we buried everything in that back yard. ⠀
Me: How many animals were buried there? ⠀
Dad: Jack and Lassie and pigeons and white rats and rabbits and chickens. Too many to count.⠀
Me: Were the white rats the ones you learned about sex from? [He shoots me a funny look.] Well, you told me once that you learned about sex from rats.⠀
Dad: Probably - mother had the rats so I could learn about reproduction. ⠀
Me: So, wait - they, the rats weren’t pets, they were there to actually teach you? I thought you learned about reproduction accidentally from the rats?⠀
Dad: Maybe that’s just my interpretation as an adult as to why we had pet rats. I think they were a teaching tool and a pet. But she probably got them as a teaching tool. ⠀
Me: [I can’t stop laughing.] Couldn’t the rabbits have taught you? ⠀
Dad: Quit it. [Grinning]⠀
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#Familyhistory #Rootstech #oldphoto #genealogy #ancestry #1940s #saltlakecity #vintagephoto #familysearch #instaphoto #blackandwhitephotography #foundphoto #caregiver #utahhistory #utah #findmypast #memoirs #memories #familystories #highlanddrive #sharingthepast #vintagefashion #caregiving  #stories #love #vintage #shortstories
Me: Dad, can you tell me the names of all the kids in this class photo?⠀⠀
Dad: Are you kidding me?⠀⠀
Me: I never joke about photos. ⠀⠀
Dad: (giving me the side eye, then sighing heavily as he grabs the magnifying glass) Sheesh! Well, that looks like one of the Nupton Twins, Don or Dale. (points to front row, 4th from left in stripe shirt) I'm not sure where his brother is, but behind him is Tomino Mitsunaga, I think we went through high school together. Hmmm. Oh, to the left of Tomino is the other Nupton twin. He's wearing the same stripes as his brother. I can't tell you which is which... Let me see...(points to curly hair girl far left back row) That's Betty Lou and in front of her is Nola Kuntz.... Oh man kid, you're pushing your luck tonight. ⠀⠀
Me: As always. Who else do you remember? ⠀⠀
Dad: I think that is Billy Metcalf. (front row, second from left). Evelyn Beals and Janine are probably in there somewhere. ⠀⠀
Me: Can you recall the teacher's name?⠀⠀
Dad: I remember a Mrs. Greene, a Miss. Halliday, but I don't think that teacher is either of them. (Looking more closely) Is that me in front of the teacher?⠀⠀
Me: It sure is. ⠀⠀
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1930s Roosevelt Elementary School, Salt Lake City, Utah⠀⠀
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#Familyhistory #Rootstech #oldphoto #genealogy #ancestry #1930s #saltlakecity #vintagephoto #familysearch #instaphoto #blackandwhitephotography #foundphoto #caregiver #utahhistory #utah #findmypast #memoirs #memories #familystories #highlanddrive #sharingthepast #vintagefashion #caregiving  #stories #love #vintage #shortstories
Dad: That is Monte Archibald.⠀⠀
Me: Both these photos are of Monte?⠀⠀
Dad: Well yes - who else would be that skinny and ugly? ⠀⠀
Me: Well I don’t know, I never met Monte. ⠀⠀
Dad: No you never did and I don’t know what happened to him. Maybe he moved away. ⠀⠀
Me: You must have known him pretty well to call him skinny and ugly. ⠀⠀
Dad: Well, that’s just, I’m looking at him… aw, I’m kidding. We were pals.⠀⠀
Me: So you went to school with him? ⠀⠀
Dad: I must have. I know I went to church with him, he just lived over there by the ward. ⠀⠀
Me: By Wilford Ward? ⠀⠀
Dad: Yes, his house may still be there, I don’t now. He was a childhood friend and came over all the time. That one looks like his Sunday suit.⠀⠀
Me: What else do you remember about him. ⠀⠀
Dad: Well I would say he’s not a straight A student. ⠀⠀
Me: Now why would you say that? ⠀⠀
Dad: Well I just don’t remember him hanging in the same group as Evelyn Beals or Marvin Goldberg or Marilyn Carlisle or Clara Ann Carlisle.⠀⠀
Me: Wait, who are all those people? Were they straight A students? Were you? I've never heard their names before. ⠀⠀
Dad: Well, I don’t know what any of their grades were, but I think we were all good students. You’ll have to look in my school book stuff. Marilyn’s father was a violinist, I think I took some lessons from him. I’m sure they are in the books. Go find the books. ⠀⠀
Me: I will, just let me get through these boxes of photos first. Your mother held on to an awful lot of memorabilia. ⠀⠀
Dad: Well, hurry up. ⠀⠀
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Photo taken: 1940s Salt Lake City, Utah on Highland Drive.⠀⠀
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#Familyhistory #Rootstech #oldphoto #genealogy #ancestry #1940s #saltlakecity #vintagephoto #familysearch #instaphoto #blackandwhitephotography #foundphoto #caregiver #utahhistory #utah #findmypast #memoirs #memories #familystories #highlanddrive #sharingthepast #vintagefashion #caregiving  #stories #love #vintage #shortstories
Me: So, who’s this lovely lady?
Dad: That’s Velene Bern, I think, but it was Abbott when she married. Her and Malissa used to come up and visit us and we’d go to SaltAir at the Great Salt Lake. 
Me: Do you mean Melissa Gribble, your mom’s missionary companion? 
Dad: Yes. She went on her mission years before I was born. I’m not sure when. Malissa was Velene’s mom.
Me: It was in 1924-25, in Kansas. 
Dad: Sounds about right. 
Me: Do you recall anything else about Velene? Where she lived perhaps?
Dad: Well, we were friends since childhood because our mothers were friends. They lived down in Salina Utah and we’d ride the Greyhound bus and go down there and see them. She was a very assertive little girl. What is it that I remember, “Don’t touch that” - I think that is what she’d say. 
Me: Um, when she said don’t touch that, what were you trying to touch? 
Dad: I think I was touching a book at their house, it was probably something on a shelf. They lived on a farm and they had a great big work horse. His back was as tall as that piano (pointing to upright player piano) and he was round and that was the first horse I remember riding. 
Me: How old were you?
Dad: Just a kid maybe six or seven or eight or something like that is a wild guess. 
Me: That’s a pretty nice memory. 
Dad: Well, ask me tomorrow and I won’t know my name. .
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1940s Salt Lake City, UT
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#Familyhistory #Rootstech #oldphoto #genealogy #ancestry #1940s #saltlakecity #vintagephoto #familysearch #instaphoto #blackandwhitephotography #foundphoto #caregiver #utahhistory #utah #findmypast #memoirs #memories #familystories #highlanddrive #sharingthepast #vintagefashion #caregiving #stories #love #vintage #shortstories #savefamilyphotos #saltair #thegreatsaltair
Me: Recognize this kid? ⠀
Dad: Well of course that’s me and apparently the dog is my dog Jack. ⠀
Me: There are actually two dogs. ⠀
Dad: You think there are two dogs? Well, I see my hand down there, yep, that’s a dog but I don’t remember a dog that was that color. ⠀
Me: Color? But this is a black and white photo. ⠀
Dad: Well it’s obviously a brown dog. Compared to Jack that dog down there is a darker brown. ⠀
Me: I can't argue with that logic.⠀
Dad: Well some of me still works.⠀
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1940s, Highland Drive & 33rd, Salt Lake City, Utah ⠀
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#Familyhistory #Rootstech #oldphoto #genealogy #ancestry #1940s #saltlakecity #vintagephoto #familysearch #instaphoto #blackandwhitephotography #foundphoto #caregiver #utahhistory #utah #findmypast #memoirs #memories #familystories #highlanddrive #sharingthepast #vintagefashion #caregiving #stories #love #vintage #shortstories #dog
Dad: I’m not doing you any good today kid. I know where the picture is and that’s our house and the kid looks like me…but the suit…well,  I may have had a navy blue suit but you are getting too far back in my memory. ⠀
Me: Don’t worry about it. That’s a really long way back for you to remember! You are only about eight in this photo, that’s eighty years ago. I can’t believe you recall even a fraction of what you do from your childhood.⠀
Dad: Well, I’m thinking I grew up in a real nice house that I didn’t understand at the time. When I look back at the houses that other people had then and that my dad built that place, each brick by hand, that’s really tough for me to grasp. He built that house for his first wife. He only had an eighth grade education and learned how to be a mason all on his own. He was very resourceful. ⠀
Me: Do you remember that part of his builder’s education was via a home study mail correspondence with Chicago Technical College? I’m not sure when he started it but I know he finished the education in 1929. We have the majority of the coursework in storage. ⠀
Dad: Remarkable.  Just remarkable. I sure was a lucky kid, I just didn’t know it.⠀
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1939. 33rd & Highland Drive, Salt Lake City, Utah ⠀
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#Familyhistory #Rootstech #oldphoto #genealogy #ancestry #1930s #saltlakecity #vintagephoto #familysearch #instaphoto #blackandwhitephotography #foundphoto #caregiver #utahhistory #utah #findmypast #memoirs #memories #familystories #rootstech #highlanddrive #sharingthepast #vintagefashion #caregiving  #stories #love #vintage #shortstories #savefamilyphotos
Me: So, what can you recall about this outfit dad?⠀
Dad: Well, it looks like there is a necktie involved. ⠀
Me: Yes, you are wearing a necktie. Dad: Are you sure that’s me?⠀
Me: 100%. Here’s another pic of you in the same outfit. ⠀
Dad: Same clothes. Looks like a white golf hat. That’s my dog Jack. Well, not… that’s…sheesh, well, I can tell you more about the buildings behind me, that’s Miller’s lumberyard and it looks like the restaurant is Judd’s Drive-Inn or whatever it was at the time and this is looking north up Highland Drive. But this other picture has me stumped. ⠀
Me: It looks like your mom just moved you over, out of the sun into the shade by the same tree. ⠀
Dad: I think it might be a different spot at the house....well, I’m taking the fifth. Maybe something more will come to me overnight, and maybe it won’t.⠀
Next Day: Me: Can you tell me more about Judd’s Drive-Inn. ⠀
Dad: Oh yeah, it was owned by the Flinders Family. I went to high school with their eldest son, Leland, at Granite High. They had a ranch up at top of Paley's Canyon I think, and I worked there a couple of weeks in the summer. Leland was a singer as I recall, maybe tenor, could have been baritone. ⠀
Me: Any more?⠀
Dad: You don’t stop, do you? ⠀
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#UtahHistory #FamilyHistory #RootsTech
Me: What can you tell me about this outfit? ⠀
Dad: That was probably my single breasted blue and white herringbone weave fuzzy suit. ⠀
Me: What do you mean fuzzy?⠀
Dad: Not smooth like gabardine. And I’m wearing a typical topcoat. ⠀
Me: What’s typical? ⠀
Dad: Wool gabardine I think. Typical topcoat like other men wore in those days. I don’t remember the color. And I’m wearing gloves. Obviously I’m wearing a scarf. At that point it would have been yellow wool. I don’t remember the hat but I did have hats. ⠀
Dad: Looks like I would have been in high school. I didn’t wear suits except for church and special occasions. I’m standing in front of the rose bush in the back of the house, under the box elder tree. That’s the Miller’s lumberyard in the background… That was a climbing rose bush, it grew down the fence line. The fence used to have a picket top but they cut it off. Maybe they thought it looked commercial or well, I don’t know… Behind me it looks like the old potato cellar. Do you know what a potato cellar looks like? Just say no. ⠀
Me: Aren’t potato cellars supposed to be under the house. (Dad shot me a dirty look.) Ok. No. No. I don’t know what a potato cellar is. ⠀
Dad: It’s a trench in the ground. You dig a hole about 6 feet wide by 4 feet deep and maybe 20 feet long and create a framework over it. You’d cover it with dirt. There would be a door at one end on a slope and you’d put potatoes in to keep them at a constant temperature in snow or rain. It had vents in it. They put ten gallon cans upside down inside with holes in them that would stand up and down the length of it so it had ventilation. I’m trying to recall if they had onions in it to… We had one potato cellar behind this house, that’s me on the north side of the house. The other cellar was on the south side of the property and it’s the first one dad did away with… My cousin Peggy & I played on the cellar and ran up and down it and slid on it… That looks like Hilda’s shadow taking the picture. Mom took all the photos with the Brownie. ⠀
Me: That’s a lot to remember from one photo. ⠀
Dad: I suppose so. ⠀
Me: Can you tell me what gabardine is?⠀
Dad: Look it up on the Internet dear. ⠀
Just a couple of sisters and their dollies out back at their Aunt Hilda & Uncle Ben's house. Janice Louise & Alice Marie circa 1946 near 33rd & Highland Drive. ⠀
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#Familyhistory #Rootstech #oldphoto #genealogy #ancestry #1940s #saltlakecity #vintagephoto #familysearch #instaphoto #blackandwhitephotography #foundphoto #fashion #utahhistory #utah #findmypast #memoirs #familystories #rootstech #highlanddrive #sharingthepast #vintagefashion #caregiving

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