One Magical Summer

The journal of our 48-state trip together has been published. The official release date is 2/2/2010. http://www.publishamerica.net/product87963.html

Three Months Since the Picnic...

and no pictures posted.

Aloha!

That's what I was afraid of. Hopefully those coming next year will bring their cameras and post their pictures for us all to enjoy right after the reunion.

If members of your family have not done so yet, please have them join www.ourfamily2010.com. And please let me know e-mail addresses for the master list.

If you have members of your family without e-mail please help by keeping them informed of the reunion. And if you have any questions, just let me know. Mahalo.

I've changed my blog name to www.gypsyolie.blogspot.com. Everything we did in Hawaii is reflected in the pictures.

Please keep Michael Chavez in your prayers. Mahalo.

Update on 2010 Centennial Reunion, or K.I.S.S.

Hello family of Doris,

The consensus is why fix it if it ain't broken. Instead of having our food cooked and prepared for us which was an idea I heard from others, we will stick with our pot luck. I encourage you to look at Doris's Cooking blog on www.ourfamily2010.com for her favorite foods and add to them if you have something you like to cook better. Are there any professional cake-makers in the family? Anyone who loves to make pies? Cobblers?

For those who have children who have e-mail addresses please send them to me to be on our master list for updates. All blended families are included in the reunion plans. Remember, my Hotmail account is exclusive so you have to send them to me first. Are there any bands and singers in the family? We have four known published songs of Doris and are hoping to get them on CD. The highly talented Andy Lloyd may be able to help with this. Thank you Andy and happy birthday.

I've since learned that a triathlon is a swim, bike and run. However, during the Olympic year in 2010 ours will differ to suit our children. So plan on arriving by 10:30 a.m. to have the 11:00 swim portion on time before the pool fills up with other people. I wrote Dole and received decorations for our train pinata. The Dole Plantation in Oahu has a train.

If you write the e-mail address below you will get my story btw. It's been two months since the picnic already. Enjoy your summer and stay in touch. Please share this with your family who is not online.

Love you.

48 1960, Alaska 2008, Hawaii 2009
50stateclub@gmail.com
=^..^=

Head Count Requested For 2010

Hello and greetings to all descendants of Doris,


Once again I'm already excited about our next picnic and hope you'll come and support our efforts by celebrating Doris's 100th birthday together as family. Additionally, if you are unable to make the trip to California I wholeheartedly encourage you to have your own Centennial Reunion where you live with as many family members as possible. We have family scattered throughout the U.S. and Europe.


In order to ask for a fair per person cost of the California Centennial Reunion please respond to Jade and me with the number of your own family who plans to attend including children old enough to sign their names. If members of your family do not have e-mail will you ask them whether they plan to attend please? With an estimated number of 50 persons the cost would be on a sliding scale of $11 to $13 each. This figure would go down if the count gets bigger of course.


Right now the hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. officially and as long as you want to stay unofficially. The chef is aware that the BBQ is for noon. He will be bringing in his own gas and charcoal grills and this has been okayed by Holbrook Community Park. He has sides for both tri-tip and chicken breast included in his $7.00 per- person estimate. He is not charging for his time, just the food. This is his idea, not mine.


There are other things in the works such as getting Doris's published songs put to music by family members. My brother Richard Davis spent three hours looking for his original copies which were left out for family to look at in June. This would be so wonderful and a special keepsake for each family member.


Once a per-person cost is determined you will be asked to send in your money and the order of arrival will be the drawing number for the door prize, or in this case, gate prize.

For those of you who have not signed up as family on the Web site please do so. I'm glad that the living children of Doris are signed up, namely, Richard, Phillip, Joyce, Olivetta and Rosella, or Rich, Phil, Joy, Olie and Rose. Thank you to those who have signed up as her descendants.


RSVP August 1.

11 More Months Until Centennial Reunion

If you are a descendant, or a descendant's spouse, of Doris this update is for you. Sometime last year I thought it'd be great to have a family reunion on Mother's birthday and her 100th is next year. I've been planning and organizing it and if anyone wants to take over the responsibility at another location after 2010 this is your invitation. Holbrook is still the 2010 location and the grove will be reserved which includes 10 swimmers and 20 non-swimmers in the reservation fee.

Our theme is Hawaiian and a shell lei greeting is planned at your 10:00 arrival. Wear muumuu or aloha shirt. I was prepared for community games last June but the pool was very inviting and they didn't happen, much to my disappointment. I'm planning a triathlon and it's an Olympic year as well. The swim portion must be done at 11 a.m. before the pool fills up. This is for 17 and under and if adults want to have one, fine. A three-legged race, beanbag toss, clothes pin drop in a bottle can be part of the triathlon.

Since the Centennial Reunion only happens once I have arranged for a friend/chef to BBQ and prepare food, have a professional sheet cake, and entertainment. I invite you to look at the blog at www.ourfamily2010.com about Doris's cooking and bring one of her dishes to make the picnic more special. This all will cost for the food, cake and entertainment and I'm hoping to ask for donations on a sliding scale basis and no one will be turned away for lack of paying. Your reservation and money paid will be the number on our drawing, so if you're first to pay you'll be drawing number one, and so on. The per person cost is TBD.

The itinerary will go something like this:

10:00 arrival
10:30 triathlon dry portion begins
11:00 swim portion (this can be in the shallow end--just get in the water or swim)
11:15 awards for triathlon
11:30 decorate pinata bags
Noon welcome and blessing on the food
1:30 individual family pictures and group pictures
2:00 entertainment
2:45 drawing (will include family gift and a child's gift)
3:00 pinata

I have volleyball that someone needs to set up, mini pool table, badminton, bat and ball, soccer ball, scuba gear, etc.

If anyone has any objections to having our food cooked for us by Bil Orlando now would be the time to make your preferences known.

As you may know none of Don and Bev's family was represented at the June picnic. I feel an annual family picnic is long overdue and the cousins deserve to know each other. Please clear your calendar for June 12, 2010.

There may be T's offered for sale as well so it just depends on how much you want to spend. They can be worn to subsequent picnics.

Thank you for your love and support.

Olivetta

Attending Church While on Vacation

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On 6/2/09 6:03 PM, "Olivetta Chavez" <bellaeuropa@gmail.com> wrote:
Olivetta Conklin Chavez
Concord 1st Ward, Concord
California Stake
bellaeuropa@gmail.com <mailto:bellaeuropa@gmail.com>
Donation/2 June 2009
ensign@ldschurch.org <mailto:ensign@ldschurch.org>
ATTENDING CHURCH WHILE ON VACATION
Because of the dream of my mother, Doris Eleanor Thomas, to visit the 48 contiguous states my younger sister, Rosella, and I at ages 13 and 12 drove with our 50-year old mother in the summer of 1960 and did just that. She drove a pale green ’55 Chevy pulling a trailer where we slept and prepared meals. On Sundays we often put on dresses and looked for a church to attend. Donald Lee Davis, her oldest son who later became a bishop, and his wife Beverly who had been tracted into and baptized, encouraged her to take the missionary discussions. Mother had always wanted to be baptized having read it in the Bible. My sister and I took the discussions with her and were baptized March 25, 1961, the spring following our driving trip. She had also visited Alaska more than once. Mother died and was buried exactly ten months after her baptism, on Beverly’s birthday. It had been my goal over the years to visit all 50 states. One of my family’s favorite parts of travel is attending the local wards. We love attending the Mt. Shasta Ward during our annual camping trip and each time we get invited to move into the ward. For our silver wedding anniversary my husband Michael and I left on our temple sealing anniversary May 7, 2008, on our Alaska cruise to the Inland Passage, my 49th visited state during Alaska’s 49th anniversary as a state. It has been such a blessing to visit local wards while vacationing. On Mother’s Day the bishop’s wife kept her promise from months earlier to pick us up for church in Juneau, Alaska, in front of the Red Dog Saloon. We took a walk after the early ward and returned to the afternoon ward, thoroughly enjoying the spiritual experience. Then on May 16, 2009, we flew together for the first time in 26 years of marriage to my 50th visited state, Hawaii, during their 50th anniversary as a state which took almost 50 years for me to achieve. We attended stake conference the first Sunday; I attended a seminary graduation followed by a lei-giving frenzy; I attended Enrichment. Our second Sunday I attended three sacrament meetings, three Sunday School classes and one Relief Society of the Manoa, McCully and Makiki wards in the very beautiful Honolulu Tabernacle. My husband gave up after attending five meetings. The stake center has a mosaic of the Savior on the building with a blue reflecting pool and the giant banyan tree spreads its branches over the lawn with green parrots that fly between the palms and banyan branches. It is a rare and choice blessing to renew covenants and meet with the Saints while traveling. I thank my heavenly Father for these spiritual experiences.

Doris Eleanor Thomas, by Rose Greene

Doris Eleanor Thomas was born on June 13, 1910, to Washington “Watt” Thomas and Olive Rosalind Pitcher Thomas in Puyallup, Washington. She was the third of their four daughters and was a cut-up and instigator with her sisters, Joyce, Gladys and Ruby (the youngest). She was a tom-boy as a girl and was such a good baseball player that the boys nicknamed her “Babe Ruth”. She was a Daddy’s girl and her favorite thing to do was to keep her Dad company when he was logging. She helped her Dad take care of the two big horses that pulled his rig, Jake and Bill, and she adored them. She was definitely an animal lover.
Doris was a strong swimmer and played the saxophone when she was young. She had an 8th grade education, but that didn’t stop her from writing stories and novels and composing music under the penname of “Jade Greene”. One of her songs was even published. Doris had a beautiful soprano voice and was not afraid to sing out at Church. Her wonderful voice could be heard above all the rest. She was a talented whistler as well and whistled on the radio once. She and her sisters loved to jitterbug, and she would have won a local dance contest one time, except she couldn’t get down on the floor to do some of the moves because she’d had rheumatic fever as a child. Doris was also a clown – literally. She marched in parades, wearing a big, bright chartreuse shirt, baggy pants with big suspenders, and she entertained the crowds and was a joy to watch. She made a living selling greeting cards door to door, and she made many friends along the way.
Doris had a penchant for traveling. She went on a trip to Juneau, Alaska, and, while there, reached out and petted a huge pure white husky – that had never allowed any other woman to touch him ever before. Many times she got the urge to visit her family, would pack up the car and she’d drive straight through to Yelm, Washington, where her sister Joyce lived. We’d make the rounds, visiting her Dad and Ruby in Seattle and Gladys in Tacoma. She always drove through the Redwood Forest on those trips and stopped to see the huge statues of Paul Bunyan the lumberjack and Babe his big Blue Ox; then we’d drive right through one of the largest redwood trees. She drove cross-country to Ontario, Canada, to visit her Dad’s family there, and brought back Granddad’s brother, Allen, whom he hadn’t seen in more than 50 years. What a grand reunion that was! Doris’ grand finale was a trip through every state in the continental United States, crossing the border into Mexico so she could say she’d been there, and revisiting Ontario and many relatives we’d met there.
Doris' first husband was Harold Bashey. She married Lee Davis in 1930, and Donald, Richard, Phillip and Joyce came from that union. She next married Joseph Conklin and Olivetta was born. Then she met a sailor a couple years after the end of World War II and Rosella came along. Doris had a marvelous smile and beautiful green eyes. She once owned a café called the Chick Box and did the cooking herself. She later owned a bar-café called The Blue Room, but she never drank liquor and she never smoked. She was Christian Scientist until her conversion and baptism into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints March 25, 1961. She was buried exactly ten months later in Vallejo, California, across from the auto movies she went to so often. She made sure Olivetta and Rosella would go to a good home, that of her oldest son Don and his wife Beverly and their daughters. She died of cervical cancer at age 51. She could out laugh the boisterous Laughing Sal at Playland At The Beach in San Francisco; she was a marvelous cook and made the best fudge you’ve ever tasted. Doris Eleanor Thomas was a woman of many talents and was truly wonderful.

This part is by Olivetta: August 3, 2009, I drove from Concord to Fairfield to find some information at the County Seat taking me from Family Law Calendar Clerk to Vital Records across the street. A clerk there copied a document and said it was of a husband of Doris. The document stated she married George Thomas Bachelor of North Hollywood, age 47, and her age was 42. The file date was 2 December 1952, a month after my sixth birthday. I have no personal recollection of this marriage and the length of it is unknown as well. I was very surprised to learn of this unknown union. Additionally, the family is in possession of four published songs written under the pen name of Jade Greene, circa 1946. Her son Richard recalls another called We'll Win the War in '44 but there's no proof, also Joy says she wrote one about a handsome man. He is in possession of one of her stories which I thought was ruined and thrown out after her death. He told me Rose's father owned a '46 Chevy.

40 + 60 = 100

I can't keep up with the Poyners but if I'm near correct Doris has some 100 family members. Forty were in attendance at the 2009 family picnic and another 60 makes an amazing 100 for Doris's Centennial Reunion next year. Who knew? Some of us have remarried and have blended families and helped raise children not officially adopted and these are included. Can someone who knows the exact number of children of all the families do a count as well?

Family Picnic 2009

Thank you to all family of Doris who came together for the first annual family picnic held at Holbrook Heights Community Park, Concord, California, on what would have been her 99th birthday. Four of a possible five children of Doris were in attendance with most or all of their own families. Richard, Phil, Joy and Olie, all living in the Bay Area, were there. Personally, it was a thrill to look around and see the descendants of my mother all together for a good time. It was about 72*, sunny and breezy making sitting in circles in lawn chairs a pleasure. The pot luck was plentiful and varied. Some cooks thought they were cooking for the entire bunch of us and there was more than enough to share with the pool manager and lifeguards. I may just have a giant sign next year for the Centennial Reunion saying "COMMUNITY GAMES (I GET THE KIDS BEFORE THEY LEAVE FOR THE POOL)." Because a tournament of 3-legged race, beanbag toss, drop the clothes pin in the bottle, etc., did not happen I have all the prizes I was planning to give away stored for next year. Did anyone find a magnetic dart and beanbag? They were lost at the picnic. I propose beginning around 10 a.m. The children could sign up and already decide on a partner ahead of time and begin a triathlon by 11 a.m. in the pool before many people come, for a race either the length or width of the pool. Additionally, Oklahoma Centennial hats were donated with "100 Years" on them! I also forgot to give these away but did manage to give away the Giants cups for the children with the second name tag sticker attached. Elizabeth forgot hers if she still wants it. Because Richard, Rick, Evelania, Linda's family, the Roberts, the Genters, Donna's family, and I were in Oklahoma during their Centennial for Bev's funeral I'd like to offer a hat to all of us first at our Centennial Reunion. Otherwise, all extras will be given away in another drawing. I won't make you hang onto a sliver of paper next year. This was a dry run and just signing in was plenty without waiting for a number. Due to the unique creativity of Jade and Christine http://www.ourfamily2010.com/ was born. Please contribute your pictures, stories, and become a member. The signage was also Jade's idea, bought by Joy. T-shirts like the one I was wearing will be available for purchase for 2010 as soon as they're offered. Also, there's the matter of food. I chose to make Mother's jello salad and sure enough Joy noticed it. My husband Michael made a great chili for us, another of her favorite dishes. For 2010 and beyond it seems appropriate to take a look at my blog about Doris's Cooking and make one of the dishes she cooked regularly. There is also the idea of having someone BBQ for us and so we would need suggestions. Mexican sounds good to me even though we never ate it growing up. The side dishes we bring could be what she made, again from Doris's Cooking. I don't think I need to bring the 5-gallon orange water dispenser either since most had their own water and sodas. I could bring a smaller thermos though. I will be reserving the inside portion of Holbrook which includes 10 swimmers and 20 non-swimmers in the fee which by the way Joy has offered to pay. The reason we didn't play volleyball is because it was not set up by anyone. Also, what I thought was T-ball in a box was actually a pitching machine that required batteries! I also had miniature pool and checkers for playing at the tables. Any and all suggestions are welcome for 2010. I counted 40 members of Doris's family and one guest. I loved looking around seeing you enjoying yourselves, eating, laughing, Richard telling stories, visiting, sunbathing, playing ball with your children, playing with them at the playground, watching them swim or swimming yourself. I do laps a few times a week and love the pool. Thank you to Paul for helping collect borrowed tables, unloading, setting up the pop-up shade tent, manning the pinata which was a huge hit, and packing up everything with me. The Mecklers, then Paul and I were the last to leave. We've lived in Concord nine years June 3 and for the Centennial Reunion it will be our 10th year. So circle June 12, 2010, as soon as you can. For those who missed this year's picnic we look forward to seeing you next year.

Saying aloha to 50-state journey, by Lee Cataluna, Honolulu Advertiser columnist

Saying aloha to 50-state journey, by Lee Cataluna, Advertiser columnist

By Lee Cataluna

It took Olivetta Chavez nearly 50 years to visit all 50 states. Last month, her trip to Hawai'i completed her list.

The first 48 she saw in one magical summer. She was 13 years old in 1960. She and her mother and her younger sister left from Vallejo, Calif., as soon as school got out. Her mother bought a green sleeper trailer, hitched it to her '55 Chevy and set out to see the country.

"She had a big map of the USA on our living room floor in Vallejo and penciled in her route," Chavez said.

Chavez was trusted to hold the road maps as they traveled. To this day, she loves reading maps.

"My mother just wanted to see everything," she said. "She had a real wanderlust. If we saw a sign for something, she'd pull over."

Two years after that adventure-filled summer, her mother died at age 51. Chavez and her sister went to live with relatives, but her mother's love of traveling lived on in her. She drove around the country in a '68 Mustang convertible in her 20s, went hitchhiking in Europe by herself for a year, and worked as a chambermaid and dishwasher in Switzerland before coming home to the Bay Area.

But it took a while to get those last two states in. Last year, Chavez, a senior clerk typist for the city and county of San Francisco, found a great deal to Alaska. Last month, she and her husband finally made it to Hawai'i, even though the people they were supposed to stay with didn't come through and her husband struggled with poor health. They budgeted, booked a room deal on Orbitz, ate out only one meal a day and took in free entertainment at the International Marketplace.

"Every morning between 6 and 7, I would go to the beach to swim and read," she said. "One morning, I walked on the beach as far as possible toward Diamond Head, looked up and saw the people standing on the top and said I want to do that."

So she did. She kayaked, took the bus all over the island, made friends in church and saw seminary graduates loaded up with lei.

"That was a neat thing to see," she said.

She even found the mythical hula pies she had heard so much about. They ordered a slice at Duke's in Waikiki and shared it with two spoons.

During her two weeks in Hawai'i, Chavez thought of her mother often.

"Hawai'i was probably the only state she didn't get to," she said. "She would have been pretty starstruck."

Now that she's seen all 50 states, she already has her next trip in mind. She wants to come back to Hawai'i.

"We loved it," Chavez said. "I was enchanted."

Reach Lee Cataluna at lcataluna@honoluluadvertiser.com.

Mike Bashey, son of Harold Bashey, on Doris

I will tell you what I know and still remember: Your mother was an attractive woman and was dressed very classy in high heels with a coat that went down to her ankles. The coat had fur (looked like fox) that was a collar and continued down the front of the coat to the bottom. She had on one of those hats that was round shaped like a bowl and fit tight on her head. The picture was taken somewhere rural--with fields behind her. I mention the detail because she looked pretty classy to me. She looked of average build and was alone so I couldn't tell how tall she was.


My dad was born in 1901. His parents were pioneers in Tacoma and built their home there in 1889. He said he was married to Doris for a short time, but the marriage was not approved by either her folks or his strict German mother. They met at a dance hall named "The Spanish Castle" (a high-end popular dance hall at the time) halfway between Tacoma and Seattle. They lived together in Tacoma. No children. After they separated, my dad continued to live in Tacoma and traveled a bit. He never mentioned what Doris did after the separation. My mother must have met her some years later and said Doris was a pleasant lady and they were about the same age. Let me know what else I can tell you. Sorry about the delay. Mike

From Olivetta: Mike also told me over the phone that the newlyweds had a car and traveled to California. He says they also went to Alaska, probably Anchorage. So when she went alone in the early 50s it may have been the second time, not the first.

Timothy and my memories, by Linda Smith

I never knew my Great Grandma but I remember stories that my Grandpa told me about her. My Mom is typing this for me. She called me and got the information....NOTE: which wasn't much.... he was busy pulling his racecar engine out and putting in a new one for this Saturday.

But he said what he remembered was how she would up and go somewhere all the time. Grandpa said my Mom is just like her when it comes to that. Tim said that Grandpa really loved his Mom and that I should love my Mom and treat her good as he did to his Mom.

Ok well that is all I got out of Timmy. I have posted pictures of his girls on here and his racecar and also video's of him racing.

The boy has no fear. From reading what Rose wrote.... I think he got that from his Great Grandma Doris.

Mom's love of animals, by Rose Greene

I got my love of animals from Mom. We often had either a cat or a dog, and one of my favorites was Sultan, a beautiful Siamese. Before he died, he came to say goodbye to me while I was on the back porch and I petted him for the last time. I had the feeling I’d never see him again as I watched him walk away. The same thing happened to me when I lived at the little house in Fremont. My favorite black cat, Snuggles, hadn’t been coming around but came to me as I was leaving to go somewhere. I instinctively knew he was saying goodbye to me as I loved him for the last time. I never saw him again. The most memorable pets we had when I was young were the four Pekingese puppies Mom brought home (with the intention of raising puppies and selling them). That never panned out, but we fell in love with them and enjoyed their company and playing with them for a couple of years, until Mom went to the hospital. Beverly found homes for them.

Travelling with my mom, by Rose Greene

One of the most fun memories I have is when Mom took Olie and me to Canada the first time. We stopped at a park along the way on a hot day (I think it was in one of the East Coast states) and it had a shallow stream about 15 feet wide with slate stones and slabs covering its floor, and it was shaded by trees lining its route. The stream meandered down a gradual hill and the stones and slabs had a thick coating of green algae on them that were very, very slippery. All three of us waded into the stream and began climbing up, carrying our shoes and laughing and squealing as we slid all around, moving very slowly because it was so slippery. We climbed for a long time, until we were too tired to go any farther. We were soaking wet from all our falls into the water, but we were still laughing as we went back to the car. That was such a fun experience!

Olie is probably right that Mom took a steamship through the Inland Passage to Alaska. The story of hers that sticks out in my mind is when she was walking down the street in Juneau and reached out and petted a huge pure white Husky. It’s owner’s mouth dropped open in shock, and he told Mom that the Husky had never allowed any other woman to ever touch him.

Christmas with my mom! By Rose Greene

Mom loved Christmas. Many of the Christmas trees we got were purchased the day before Christmas because that’s when they were cheapest. We’d spend hours decorating it, and sometimes that tree would stand in our small living room through February. The needles would be dropping all over the floor, and we’d finally have to take it down and put the decorations away until the next year.

My mom was a clown, by Rose Greene

Mom had developed a clown routine, made her own costume and marched in parades. She used the full regalia of clown makeup, wearing a goofy hat, an oversized chartreuse shirt, big billowy men’s pants with long suspenders, and the typical oversized shoes. She made costumes for Olie and me too (the fabric was quite scratchy), and we marched in one parade with her. Olie and I followed the 5-mile-long parade route pushing our little baby buggy and handing out flyers to the onlookers (I think Mom was getting paid to have us hand them out). The 3 of us met at the end of the parade route and collapsed on the grass too tired to move. After that parade, Olie and I used our clown outfits for Halloween. I remember the last Halloween we had with Mom. She dressed up in her clown outfit with full pancake makeup, and Olie and I had dressed up in goofy clothes, too, and she made us up like clowns. Mom danced, laughed, joked and played around with a rubber lizard on a string, doing her clown routine. We all laughed so hard that day and had so much fun. You should have seen her! She was a great entertainer and was such a joy to watch! We have a short video of some of it. (Joy still has the little doll a friend of Mom’s had made for her of Mom in her clown outfit.)

Black Widow Spider, by Rose Greene

It seemed to me that Mom was fearless! Not long before she was hospitalized, she and I went looking for something under the house and Mom found a big black widow spider. She wanted me--who was terrified of spiders--to kill it with a board, but I couldn’t bring myself to get close enough to even get a swing at it. So Mom had to kill it herself and didn’t hesitate.

Friends in our neighborhood, by Rose Greene

All the neighborhood kids would gather at the Ancheta’s house to play hide and seek or tag. We had a blast. The hill we lived on was steep whether you approached it from the front or the back of our property, and I remember many times heading up the back of that hill on the way home from school with a bunch of other kids (including Olie who was always ahead of me). Many of the kids could walk straight up without stopping, but I had to stop and rest at least a couple times.

Anise weed grew really tall in our backyard, and we and our friends would jump off the porch into the anise weed over and over again. Needless to say, we smelled like anise weed and we’d have to take a bath.

I won a bicycle! By Rose Greene

Olie had been saving her money to buy a used red bicycle for a few months. One evening I went out to retrieve a few pennies I had stashed in the car so I could give them to Olie toward the purchase of her bicycle. I was so excited that I caught my fingers not only in the car door but in the door to the house. Sometime later, we were watching one of our favorite kid’s programs, and every Friday they would call a viewer and ask a question. If it was answered correctly, you could win a brand new Schwinn bicycle. As the man chose the card, I just barely saw the address on it, and he called me. The question was something like "what profession stuffs the hides of animals for display"? He gave me 3 choices and I had no clue, so I asked Mom, who said it was a taxidermist. Olie picked one of the other choices and, even though I won the bicycle with Mom’s correct answer, Olie was still miffed at me for not choosing hers. She was also a little jealous when a couple weeks later my brand new bike showed up, and all she had was an old one.

Birthdays, by Rose Greene

As we were growing up, Mom would throw a birthday party on or near our birthdays. She invited all our neighborhood friends, she’d bake a cake and make homemade banana ice cream (using canned milk!), and everybody loved it. We played games and had a good old time.

I was born in the back room of a bar! By Rose Greene

Mom owned several cafes over the course of her life, and she was a marvelous cook. Her spaghetti, chili beans and macaroni and cheese was out of this world. She never measured anything, but her food was always scrumptious. Occasionally her wonderful made-from-scratch fudge would come out a little runny, so we’d just eat it right out of the pan with spoons. It still tasted just as good! Her bar-café, The Blue Room, had three round blue mirrors behind the bar. I had one of them for many years, but it recently broke. I haven’t had the heart to throw the pieces away.

Disneyland and Knott's Berry Farm

Posted by Rose Greene at 10:14 PM on April 16, 2009
I may be remembering wrong, but I think the first time we went to Disneyland was perhaps the year it opened or the year after it opened (I would have been perhaps 7), and I think we stayed with a friend of Mom’s. I seem to recall getting hives after spending a day at Knott’s Berry Farm in the sun (back when Knott’s was more carnival like, with lots of booths and displays and just a few rides--it was also fairly new). What stands out in my memory is that there were real Native Americans at Frontier Land (in a simulated village with teepees and all). We had our pictures taken with some of them. I seem to recall Mom had to drag us off of Huck Finn’s Island because we were having so much fun playing and exploring. I remember how excited we all were to go under water in the submarine that first time. Even though the "sights" were fake, it was still magical to us. Riding the big steamboat for the first time; Cinderella’s Castle; Space Land (whatever it’s called). I don’t think they had It’s a Small World yet. We got there right when it opened and we stayed until we were ready to drop from exhaustion. It was a one-time thing back then--not a few hours this day and a few hours another day. We got one shot, and we took full advantage of it, seeing and doing everything we wanted to.

We were older the next time we went with Mom (I might have been 9), and I do think we stayed with Bob and Jean Reeves (Aunty Gladys’ son), who were living in the area at the time. We went on all the rides we wanted to and saw everything we wanted to and didn’t quit till it was almost dark. Mom was up for anything and everything and went with us on probably every ride. We hit Knott’s Berry Farm and did everything we could. And Mom drove the whole way--straight through in her usual fashion. We sang songs and played games to pass the time because we had no radio.

Drive-in Movies, by Rose Greene

Mom took Olie and me to our local drive-in theatre every weekend for several years when we were young. She was friends with the man who was the gatekeeper there, and he let us in for free (I still have the red Cupie Doll he gave me for my 6th birthday). So we got to see every popular movie made during that time. We saw Gone With the Wind there, although I think Olie and I slept through a lot of it because it was such a long movie. Our favorites were musicals and comedies with greats such as Debbie Reynolds, Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, Donald O’Connor in Francis the Talking Horse movies. War movies, dramas, thrillers such as The Night of the Living Dead and The Day the Earth Stood Still; many movies we wouldn’t have gotten to see if not for the kindness of that gatekeeper. On one occasion, during a really funny scene, the three of us pulled our Sugar Daddies out of our mouths to laugh, and Mom’s upper and lower dentures were attached to her Sugar Daddy. We roared with laughter, and we were laughing long after everyone else, so people around our car were staring at us, wondering what was so funny.

My Mom's Singing, by Rose Greene

When we went to Church at the Vallejo Second Ward, I remember how proud I was sitting next to Mom when singing the hymns. Her beautiful soprano voice could be heard above the entire congregation. She loved singing and, when she sang, she was not afraid to sing out and let everyone hear her. I remember beaming with pride. Her voice was so wonderful! I hope she is singing is a heavenly choir now.

A&W Root Beer

Mom would stop on our trips at this familiar place.

Anniversary Clock

Mother loved the anniversary clock though I'm not sure she ever had one.

The Lord's Prayer Was Recited Before We Drove

Our Father, who art in heaven,hallowed be thy name.Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heavenGive us this day our daily bread.And forgive us our trespasses,as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory. for ever and ever. Amen

My last letter from my mother

Doris E. Conklin
Fairfield County Hospital (Solano)
Fairfield Hospital

Postmarked January 18, 1962, 4:30 p.m. with a 4-cent stamp and Pray For Peace

Miss Olivetta Conklin
515 Bonita Ct.
Vallejo
Calif.

Dear Olivetta, plus your family + friends,

Thanks for all the lovely thotful cards you been sending them.

Really not much writing in me.

Isn't the pansy here darling.

June finally had an all red headed girl. real nice letter.

Bootsie having a wonderful time.

Don loves Teenie much as any now he build her a doghouse.

Just can't write no more --

Love you all
Mother

(I have ANS written on the envelope but no date so I don't know whether my letter to her arrived before she passed away. I left in the original spelling and punctuation. I'm sure it was difficult for her to compose her thoughts by then. I treasure this last letter from her to me.)

Disneyland and the Matterhorn

Mother knew a good thing when she heard about it. Disneyland opened July 17, 1955, and she drove us there in her new '55 Chevy soon after, then again in a couple years. We'd stay with our cousin Bob Reeves and his wife Jean and sons who lived in the general vicinity. We have movies of us to some attractions that are no longer there. One ride in particular I will never forget. We were coming down the Matterhorn and Mom's hairpins all got dislodged and instead of her normally stately appearance her hair was all hanging about her like she'd been through a storm. Years later I would work in Zermatt, Switzerland, where the actual Matterhorn dominates the landscape, and where Rose would come to meet me to hitchhike around Europe together.

Mt. Ranier

Mt. Ranier is an active volcano located in Pierce County 54 miles southeast of Seattle, Washington. Doris decided that it would be a great idea to walk to it and hike up. Of course the more she walked the further away the mountain still was. She finally gave up on the idea.

A tapestry of traditions--Readers share their favorite holiday memories

A short but sweet tradition
It's the '50s. Mother would trade a box of cards she sold for our Christmas tree. We'd walk home from school to find it decorated in the corner taking up much of the 9-by-12 living room in rural Vallejo. There were bird feet straddling tree limbs and star reflectors for the large colored lights. Cotton tufts were the snow. One year, my younger sister and I got cars we could pedal around the yard - one was a fire engine. I remember waking up in the middle of the night and calling out to see if we could open presents. She finally let us,
and I know it was still way early. My dilemma was how Santa would get in with no fireplace. Brick cardboard was placed near the floor heater, and I was assured he would find a way in. I knew Mother for 16 Christmases.
Olivetta Chavez

Home For the Holidays: Readers' Reflections

... Is where we were welcomed
For me, the word "home" conjures up a tiny house on a hill in rural Vallejo, near Glen Cove, where my younger sister and I lived with our mother, a single parent. The term "single parent" was not yet coined back then. She sold cards and gifts to her customers and delivered them in her '55 Chevy. She'd trade a box of cards for a huge tree that filled most of our living room. We always got a big gift for Christmas, like a little car we could fit into, or a portable keyboard.
When she died when I was 15, my sister and I were welcomed at the home of my oldest brother, his wife and two daughters. This was home until I moved to San Francisco for my first full-time job at age 17.
We lost our legal guardians within nine months of each other last year. Now home is where my husband and I live and our children return. It's so important to have a sense of home and to be welcomed.
OLIVETTA CHAVEZ
Concord
Published Christmas Eve 2008 in The San Francisco Chronicle

Laffing Sal at Playland at the Beach

Mama would stand looking up at Laffing Sal and begin to laugh herself and I didn't know which one was funnier. What a wonderful memory. She loved taking us places and Playland was such fun.

Singing Together

We often sang together and played games like spotting license plates from all the states on our trips. She'll Be Coming 'Round The Mountain was a favorite and I hope we'll sing it at the picnic!

Sulton the Siamese Cat

Mom would come up the hill on Renida Street and turn the car around to face down hill. On one occasion Sulton had come out to meet her and Mom drove over the cat. We fixed a bed in the house but Sulton went out one day and never came back. Rose and I were under the house exploring and found its skeleton some time later. Sulton had gone off to die close to home.

The Number Thirteen

Thirteen was Mom's lucky number. She was born on the 13th and also one of her children, Rosella.

Contests

Mom was a great one for entering contests. She won a Sealy Posturepedic mattress by naming it O liv Etta. I think we won a bicycle too. Taxidermist was the answer to one of the questions. I tried to get Rose to answer my way and if she had she would have lost.

April 30, 1975 Nostalgic Phrases: or, Remembering Mama

Get me the big spoon.
Get me my feet.
There's the Big Dipper.
Want a Sugar Daddy?
Turn right at the Barrel Club.
Put her in second to get up the hill.
We're going to Washington.
You'll get a quarter for every box you sell.
Look at Bootsie!
Help me put on my girdle Olivetta!
This washer is a lemon.
Where are we on the map?
Shall we sleep on the side of the road tonight?
You were named after your Grandmother. Her name was Olive Rosalind.
Let's dance!
Let's play some baseball.
Go under the house and light the pilot.
Where are the clothes pins?
If it rains I'll pick you up in front of the school.
Turn on the water.
Butter the pan.
Get me the phone book (to beat the fudge on).
Shall we have chili or spaghetti?
Want to go to the Auto Movies tonight?
I'm going to build me a round house someday.
Let's make some fudge.
Put this in the freezer.
You'll miss me when I'm gone. (I do.)
Goodnight Girls.
Want to crawl in with me?
She's my little Hindu.
You stupid ass!
My little Piute Indian.
You're nothing but a Siwash Indian.
Let's get some Scotty's donuts.
Wash the big yellow bowl.
Go upstairs for me.
Look at the sunset.
There's a full moon out tonight.
Want me to brush your hair?
Time for your bath.
Start walking after Sunday School and I'll pick you up.
Clean the house for me girls.
(The above has been typed exactly as I wrote it years ago. I cannot even remember these phrases now without the help of my journal and isn't it great to recall them to mind now? I admonish you to get a journal and write in it daily or weekly to preserve your life events and feelings at the time.)

July 10, 1971, From My Journal

I am Olivetta Lucille Conklin, born November 2, 1946, to Doris E. Thomas and Joseph Geno Conklin in Vallejo, California. First of all, it is my wish to keep alive on paper many of the stories my mother told my sister, Rosella, and me as youngsters. In my mind they are beautiful. Though my niece, Jade Kaarlyn, will not know her grandmother who died, she may read and be told of her and grow to love her as we did.
(It's quite remarkable that Jade chose to put this wonderful Web site together, don't you think?)
My mother, Doris, was second to the youngest of four daughters of Olive Rosalind Pitcher and Watt (Washington he disliked) Thomas. Joyce, being the eldest, followed by Gladys (my favorite aunt), then Mom, and the baby, Ruby. I have known all of my aunts well with the exception of Ruby who died of yellow jaundice when I was a little girl. But I still remember her well.
So this family lived in the state of Washington and Grandad was a lumberjack. They lived on a farm and had two big plow horses, named Jake and Bill. Mom could ride those horses alright but they were so big she had a heck of a time getting on them. So she'd practice jumping from the rear almost killing herself every time. I don't think she ever made it! Mom loved those horses. She told us about them many times.
Ruby was definitely the baby of the family and Grandmother, who I never knew, seemed to favor her. So this one time something was snitched and Mother was blamed. She was paddled but good and only after the punishment did the true guilty one confess. Well, Grandmother gave Mom a stick of gum to show how sorry she felt and Mother divided that stick into five pieces; four for the girls, and one for her mother. Mom said that Grandmother was overcome with emotion and went into her room and cried and cried.
Back to Grandad for a while. What a hard worker. And what he said in his home was law. Well, this one time "Timber!" was yelled out but he just didn't hear. The giant tree came crashing down smashing him into the soft earth. His teeth were pushed right back in his mouth but he was alive. After that it was false teeth for Grandad.
I wish I could remember who it was that lost their false teeth in the manure and retrieved them again. I think it was Grandad but how could my smart grandfather have let a thing like that slip out?
I can't remember much more about her childhood so I'll write now times I remember about her when I was a child.
My mother reared Rose and me entirely by herself. At the time I took it for granted but when I look back on it I wonder how she managed.
Mom was a talented woman. She sang, whistled, danced, played the saxophone, wrote music and lyrics, and wrote novels under the pen name of Jade Greene. She was so active. Anything Rosie and I did she was right there with us. She played softball with us, hiked, swam, you name it. And she was also a beloved clown in the parades in Vallejo. She made Rose and me clown costumes, by hand, which we wore. Somehow we didn't quite make the parade like she did though.
Mother managed to buy a small, two-story house for $5,000 when we were babies. It was perched on the top of a hill, Renida Street. Our number was 135 and the mail boxes were all in a row on an elevated plank at the bottom of the hill, Warren Avenue. When we went after the mail that hill seemed more like Mt. Everest.
Talented as she was she could never quite channel her abilities. She did get a song published once, "Humpty Dumpty." So she made her living selling which was mainly greeting cards, Christmas cards, and gifts. She would get an order and drive over with all her boxesful. If Rose and I sold any we'd get a quarter on every dollar. That was good money. It was always a desire of Mom's to have a bus so that customers could come in and she wouldn't have to lift box after box in and out of each house.
Many times when she would have to work on a Saturday she'd drop us off at Vallejo City Park and we were told we could cross the street to the little store to spend our penny but that was it. We loved those days in the park. One time some girl asked me what nationality I was because of my dark coloring and I replied proudly, "American."
Mom had a close friend named Alma. When I think back I don't know why she didn't scold us because she had an awful temper. But Rose and I continually went back and forth in the house from where we were waiting in the car, to ask for a penny. And she gave it to us every time!
Getting back to the park we were always summoned by two honks of the horn. And that usually meant Scotty's potato donuts. That was a great treat.
Speaking of her temper. My brother, Phil, made Rose and me a pink step chair for the bathroom so we could reach to brush our teeth. Well, the way I remember it, when Mom wanted something and we couldn't find it she'd either throw something or kick something. Well, it so happened that this step chair was in the living room under a stack of opened newspapers and she kicked the newspapers. Just then the post man knocked to deliver the packages of the gifts she sold, and what a scene. That soon-to-be ingrown toe nail gave her grief the rest of her days, but she never lost that temper!
I was about to be spanked one time with a strap when the phone rang. Seizing the opportunity I took the strap out the back porch and threw it in the tall anise weeds behind that big, green wooden thing. When she got off the phone I had the pleasure of choosing my own switch which unfortunately grew in the front yard. Being smart I thought the thinnest one would be to my best advantage. Not so.
We had a number of fruit trees and an almond tree on our acre. There was apple, nectarine, fig, artichoke, and sweet peas. Those are flowers though! At one time there was a little chicken coop in the back but I never remember it being inhabited. We usually had a little dog around, Blackie and Brownie were names of different ones. We had a Siamese cat named Sulton, too.
And then Mom decided she could make some money by raising Pekinese pups. There was Bootsie, Smokie, Tommie and Teenie. How we enjoyed those dogs. Bootsie must be the one was a pregnant lassie but she lost it. Tommie was so darned homely but Bootsie and Teenie were precious.
When we were little girls Mom made some of our clothes by hand. This tiny orange--checked dress I had even outdid that girl in the frilly white dress with the big bow at the Solano County Fairgrounds annual Easter egg hunt. Mine was still prettier than hers!
At a very young age when we had rented the bottom part of the house to another family, I found Mother crying upstairs on the bed. How awful that made me feel.
In the summer or nice weather we'd lay out in front on that white shag rug. Mom would pluck the hairs in her chin and I would ask why I didn't have any. She'd say not to worry, I'd have them someday, and she was right!
One of her big dreams was to build her own home, all round. Every corner would be rounded off, right down to a round bed. Who ever heard of such a thing! At that time a round bed was unheard of and now her Dreamhouse is a reality, but not her own.
We were given swimming lessons at an early age and participated in many meets at the Vallejo Plunge. Mom would buy a summer pass there and we'd swim every single day.
She also made sure we had tap dance, ballet, and baton twirling lessons. We got our love of dancing straight from Mom herself though. Right down to the charleston. And our love to travel must come from all those trips we took up to Washington when Grandad was sick. Snow or shine we'd be on our way. We'd start honking the horn at that little general store on the corner in Yelm down to Joyce and Gilbert's and drive in on their huge driveway which circled in front of their house. Mom loved to surprise people so she'd never say she was coming.
Mom bought us a small, portable organ for Christmas one year. And we were given toy instruments so that if we learned to play she'd buy us a real one. I got a toy sax and Rosie wanted an accordion.
My big, relentless dream as a child growing up was a nice house. I was always ashamed of it and in reality I shouldn't have been. But Eileen Bell, or Donna Shirey, or Barbara Ancheta always seemed to live in a nicer one than ours.
Birthday parties--wow! What an occasion. Being mine is two days after Hallowe'en everybody dressed up but I recall they were all surprise parties.
Phil took Rosie and me for a walk to his house but half way there we had to turn around and come back because he had forgotten something. We were so mad. But when we got back there was a big surprise birthday party for me. Mom made her banana ice cream and one of her cakes. We played drop the clothes pin in the bottle, pin the tail on the donkey, who can blow the biggest bubble, ring around the Rosie, all those good games.
And of course Christmas. That was the beginning, to come home after school to find a ceiling-high tree in the front room window all decorated. Mom had usually traded some Christmas cards for a nice tree.
Rosie and I would curl up on either side of Mama on the couch and we'd sit for hours and look at the tree. It was always so magnificent.
Getting back again to Mother's childhood experiences.
One day she was with her sister Ruby and they had seen how bees were cared for. Donning their mother's apparel of hat with lace, long gloves, etc., they set out for the bees. Stung from head to toe they were and eyes were swollen shut.
And then the garder snakes in the strawberry patch. She looked like a tom boy but that didn't keep the boys from chasing her with snakes. So Grandad told her she must pick one up by its tail and chase after them. It took some nerve but she got it and they never chased her again.
Known as Babe Ruth in the neighborhood and also called Dorass Thomass by the daring few, Mother was an excellent swimmer.
She told us many times of swimming Five-Mile Lake. When she got across there was no place to rest so she began the long, tired-out swim back. Upon reaching the bank she saw someone drowning and the people stood around gaping at what they saw. Only after Mother dove under a whirlpool to save the swimmer did the people go into action and then it was discovered Ruby was the drowning stranger.
In those days before Women's Liberation was even thought of and when the man really was the head of the house the Thomas family had gathered for dinner at the table. Grandma got to giggling and Grandad excused her from the table and would not allow her back until she had control of herself.
And then there was the time Mom was goofing off at the table and sent to her room for the night. Grandma sneeked food into her room.
Mom had her own band at the age of 16 and she whistled on the radio. It's a wonder she lived to that age with a father that was a logging man.
She was riding the logs and Grandad drove Jake and Bill. She fell between the logs but her cries for help could not be heard above the grinding roar of the logs and horses. When she was discovered at last her jeans had to be cut from her bleeding legs.
Mother had rheumatic fever at a young age. She told us how her mother lined chairs up backwards to form a walkway where Mother could try to walk. With faith and prayers she did walk.
Growing up for Rose and me was continual travel and we loved it. We drove to Washington often if Grandad was ill. One time in the mountains the ice and snow was quite bad and she skidded and landed in the bank going the opposite direction. We are reportedly to have asked excitedly if she wouldn't do it again!
Mom knew Fred, the man who was in charge of maintaining the grounds at the Auto Movies. He gave us free passes all the time. On one evening of particular hysterics while we were sucking on Sugar Daddys Mom took hers out to laugh and both her uppers and lowers were steadfastly attached.
One of my fondest memories of childhood is that of waking up in the backseat of our light green '55 Chevy as Mom drove along on one of our trips. Rose and I would lay with our feet at each other's head.
One time we turned into a gas station and suddenly cars seemed to pour into it too. Mom said simply, "I bring good luck." She really believed she did too.
She told us about the time she was passing an accident, stopped, found a man pinned under the car. She lifted that car by herself and was able to get him clear of the car. We can do anything when we have to.

She Wanted Baptism

We were brought up Christian Scientist. However, Mom always wanted to be baptized like it says in the Bible. Don wanted us to take the missionary discussions and we did. We couldn't afford the 50 cents for a Book of Mormon so the elders gave us each one anyway. I still have Mom's copy with the elders' names and addresses written inside. We had been taught the gospel of Jesus Christ and were baptized at the same time by Don in Napa, California. The year 2011 will be Rose and my golden baptismal anniversary.

Sink or Swim

One of our babysitters was the Vallejo Plunge where we learned to swim. On our road trips we would stop in any body of water and swim. She always did her side stroke and never got her head submerged. After swimming in the Swanee River we were told at a little grocery store that it's infested with poisonous moccasins. Mother, however, did not like being in a vessel on water!

Hair

I'm glad I remember the feel of Mom's hair as I brushed it. The top part was longer than the back and then rolled and pinned. Her hair was auburn as a young woman and became salt and pepper in middle age. She did dye it auburn late in her life and asked me which I liked best. I told her I liked the natural look better. I had long hair until I asked her to cut it when I was in 8th grade. She did but then didn't speak to me for two days she was so hurt at the loss of my hair. Now I'm growing my hair to donate in her name. It's longer than it's been since that first cut.

A Round House

Long before its time Doris wanted a round dream house with everything round inside. And she loved views. Our kitchen faced west and the kitchen window in the door was only about three feet by three feet so she'd stand there admiring the sunset. I said she should go ahead and build her dream house. The only problem: no money.

The Christmas Tree

Mom would trade a box of Christmas cards for a tall, huge tree and have it decorated by the time we got home from school. Yes, we walked home from an early age. She had silver star reflectors for the large colored lights, used cotton for snow, and little birds perched on the limbs I recall. One year we got cars we could ride around in and another a portable organ. We got to open one gift Christmas Eve and would be very anxious for morning to arrive. Brick-like cardboard was tacked on the wall by the floor heater. How did Santa get in with no fireplace? We were assured he'd find a way. And he did!

Sew What?

Doris hand sewed us clown costumes and basic pale orange Easter dresses. I remember being out at the Solano County Fairgrounds for a huge egg hunt and looking around at all the frilly dresses little girls were wearing and still being so happy wearing the dress my mother had made just for me. When Kimberly and Evon were born she made turquoise blue netting for their beds to keep flying insects out.

Doris Wore Dresses

The only time I can remember seeing Mom in pants was to work in the garden where she planted flowers and had a small patch of lawn. We also had a crab apple tree and almond tree in the front yard and a nectarine tree off the back porch where Mom hung out laundry on a clothes line. There was an artichoke plant and loads of tall anise weeds in the back where we'd play hide and seek, but I don't remember eating any artichoke. She'd make nectarine upside down cakes and we got used to picking out the ants as we went along. She canned too and we'd listen and count as the jars sealed.

Sugar Daddy

I have to beat Rose at posting this as we both remember it well. We lived at 135 Renida Street near the cemetery and the Vallejo Auto Movies. Doris, our mother, knew Fred who lived in a trailer at the drive-in and was a caretaker. He gave her free passes. So it was common to dress in pajamas under our clothes, take our own snacks and treats, and go to the movies. One night Mom was sucking on a Sugar Daddy candy pop and started laughing at the movie. When she took the candy stick out of her mouth both upper and lower false teeth were attached. I may have been five or six years old at the time and have never forgotten our laughter over this.

Doris's Talents

Mom had her own band at the age of 16. She could sing, whistle, play the saxophone and the drums. She wrote music as well as stories. Her pen name was Jade Greene. I have copies of original music. She was a saleswoman and had a business of Christmas cards, all occasion cards and gifts. Boxes full of gifts were either piled in our '55 pale green Chevy to make house calls or against the wall in our tiny living room. If we wanted to earn money we'd sell a box of cards for $1.00 or $1.25 and make a quarter. This was good money considering a candy bar was 5 cents. She also earned money as a professional clown and we'd walk with her in parades in downtown Vallejo. I remember pushing a doll buggy with a sponsor's name on the side. Mom painted house interiors and cleaned homes as well. Her bedroom was painted chartreuse and she let us paint ours flamingo red.

Doris's Cooking

Mom may have prepared more than these dishes but all I can remember are: spaghetti with meat sauce simmered a day or two, chili, cornbread, macaroni and cheese, corned beef hash, tamales from a can, avocado on mayo sandwiches, corn on the cob, corn chowder, jello salad made with banana, pineapple, grated carrot, diced celery in the large yellow mixing bowl. On occasion she would make fudge, always without a recipe. If it was runny we'd eat it with a spoon--too hard we'd chistle it out. "Get the big spoon and the phone book!" This meant she was ready to add butter and beat it on her lap in the living room. She also made her own cakes and homemade banana ice cream for our birthday parties.

Jake and Bill

Doris was raised on a farm in Woodland, Washington, I believe, and their two horses for Grandad's rig were named Jake and Bill. What she tried time and again was to practice running and mounting one from the rear. I can see this in my mind's eye.

Doris Shared Her Gum

Doris told us this story when we were children. She had been falsely accused of something when she was a young girl and when one of her sisters finally confessed, Doris was given a stick of gum by her mother, Olive Rosalind. Instead of taking it and gloating she divided the gum into five pieces and shared with her three sisters and mother. Olive went to her room and cried and cried.

Doris the Wanderlust

Mom was always driving Rose and me to Washington to see her father, Watt, and her sisters Joyce, Gladys and Ruby. She went to Alaska when we were young leaving us in Yelm, Washington, with our Aunty Joyce and Uncle Gilbert. We loved it there driving the go-cart in the woods, swinging, playing in the ant hill. The first time she drove us to Ontario, Canada, to meet her father's relatives I was nine years old. Her dream was to go into every state and to accomplish this she had a big map of the U.S. on our living room floor and she penciled in her route. So when I was 13 we set out on this last trip of trips through every state visiting every place of interest imaginable on our way to Ontario, including Mexico. Her cousin Pearl and Pearl's husband Paul would entertain us around the piano singing and playing accordion I believe. Pearl made rhubarb pie and to this day I have a fondness for it. This was the summer before we joined the Church on March 25, 1961, and then Mom died ten months after our baptisms, not before fulfilling her dream of seeing all the states. To my knowledge Hawaii is the only state she didn't visit. Hawaii joined the Union in 1959 and she died in 1962. As a postscript, Mom would often run out of funds and her oldest son Don would send her money. This happened for Alaska as well as our trips to Ontario.

We Got a TV

When we got a TV in the early 50s I got on my red bike and rode around the neighborhood telling all our friends that we had a TV. It was a black and white tube TV of course. So when it stopped working Mom would take one tube at a time to the shop to see if the tube had burned out. This could take a while. In the meantime it was common to set up a card table in the living room and play board games like Chinese checkers, checkers, word games played with dice, Cootie, 7-up which is a card game, etc. When the TV was working we'd dance and learn new steps watching Dick Clark's American Bandstand, The Lawrence Welk Show, or Ed Sullivan. Our favorite show was The Mickey Mouse Club and Annette was our favorite Mouseketeer. Before TV we listened to the radio and spent time in our front yard in the sun.

Get a Switch

Mom did not take any back talk. That was one thing that would get us a spanking. We had switches growing in the front yard and if she didn't use a yardstick on our bums she'd send us out to pick out our own whipping switch. We thought the thinner the switch the less it would hurt, which is not the case.