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JFR Notes - Leslie

Collected Memories

Leslie - Defending A Little Sister, July 1988
I had a friend when we were living in North Carolina that was always telling me what to do. I played with her all the time because my only other options were my sisters or Richard Powell.

One day my friend and I got into an argument about something and I had decided that I had enough of her bossing me around for one day-so I told her that if she didn't stop telling me what to do that I was going to go get my older brother to teach her a lesson.

Well, I never thought that she would say go ahead and get him, and while you're getting him, I'll go find my older brother. I still wasn't worried thought because I know from experience how tough Dick was. I know that he would be able to beat anyone up, especially if it was for his little sister.

As it turned out, her older brother was a few years older than my older brother and quite a lot bigger.

I still can't believe to this day that Dick actually went through the fight, but he did! Things didn't turn out very well for him as he ended up with a broken hand and a lot of bruises, but to this day I still appreciate the fact that he thought enough of me to come to my rescue. Thanks Dick!

I did have one other friend in North Carolina and that was Richard Powell. He was an only child and his Mom and Dad had really spoiled him, but he liked to play with dolls and have tea parties and I was really into those sorts of things at that age and he and I had a lot of good times playing together.

There was a famous actor that became popular just a few years after we left North Carolina and his name was Richard Powell, and I always think of my North Carolina Richard Powell whenever I hear his name mentioned in an old movie.

Leslie Stories - July 1988
I can remember when we lived in Oceanside, that a lot of Sundays after church we would all go over to the Dairy Queen to get an ice cream cone. They cost 10 cents and so we could all get one for a dollar. Chris always took the longest to eat hers, taking all the way home to finish. Dick would get so mad at her because she drug it out for so long. I remember sitting in church wondering if Dad would take us. It was always a treat and something that I really looked forward to.



(July 1988) The thing that I remember about Dad was his taste in cars. Mom always said that if there was a car going out of style, Dad would buy it. There is a Kaiser here in Hyrum and every time I see it I think of Dad.

I'll bet there are a lot of people out there that don't even know what a Kaiser is. And if you don't think Dad bought "odd" cars, who can remember the "Yellow Bus"? Didn't we look funny in it?

Leslie's Family Story - November 1996
I've tried to reach clear back in my memory to come up with something that maybe someone else doesn't remember, but I am 50 now and my memory doesn't reach back very far any more, not that it ever did, but now there is so much more to remember.

When we were living on Barnwell Street in Oceanside, the girls had a bedroom in the garage. There were two sets of bunk beds. When the wind blew, the garage door would rattle and it would keep us awake all night. At night when we were to go to bed, we didn't like to get up and kneel by our beds (too scared, too young, too cold, who knows why) and so we agreed that there would be no talking when we prayed, so we all decided that if we were ready to pray we would say "start", and when we were done, we had to say "finished". It sounds silly now, but it really worked well at the ripe old ages of 7, 9, 10 and 11.

One other thing I remember about that room was that Dad had an old book that had Bible stories in it. I have no idea where he got it or where it came from, but I do remember that there was no cover and no pictures. I can still remember him reading us the story of Job. I have no idea why that one has stuck in my mind, but I have reflected on that story many times for my own life. I attended a class on Job once and found out that Satan told God that the only reason Job was such a good person was because the Lord had never put him to the test, so the Lord told Satan to go down and put Job through the refiner's fire. Of course, we all know how the story turned out, and Job stayed tuned to the teachings and never blamed the Lord for his troubles. I have tried to remember that the Lord puts problems in our path to make us better people. It is not my wish to have to go through trials in my life, but when I have had them, I try to remember that there is something here for me to learn.

I remember when Dennis was born, and when he was a few weeks old, we took him up to Primary Children's Hospital and they didn't give us much hope for him. I fell apart. After the crisis was over, I remembered this experience of Dad reading us this story about Job, and at that time I told myself that there were going to be many times in my life when hard things were going to happen. When I received the news about Dad's death, I thought back to the day after Dennis was out of the hospital and was able to realize that the Lord is in charge and there will always be situations that I will have to accept and get through.

My cancer surgery 17 years ago was a shock; Brook being born with a stroke; Hailie and her heart problems; and, of course, Larry's heart problems of two years ago. The story that Dad told me 40 years ago comes back often and has helped me many times get through hard situations. Mom, if you know where that book is, I'd love to have it.

Larry and I wish we could be with all of you today. We'll be thinking of you and are sorry that we aren't there. For anyone wondering about skiing, let me know how much interest there is, and we'll plan it if you want to come. Shelley, give everyone this e-mail address and I'll let all of you know what the PLAN is. Love you all, Leslie.