My grandma and grandpa moved to a little house in Gunnison when my mom was just a senior in high school. My mom stayed in Herimann and lived in the house my grandparents owned there, until she graduated. Then, after a short stint at Snow College, my mom and Sam got married. The lived in my grandparent's Herriman house afterwards. About a year after I was born, my grandpa got my dad a job at the coal mine, SUFCO, where he worked. That is when we moved to Centerfield.
Because my grandparents lived so close, I got to spend alot of time with them when I was little. I remember my grandma used to watch me while my mom continued her education at Snow College. I loved to go outside and "work" with grandpa in his shop - both in Gunnison and later, in Herriman. He would give me pieces of scrap wood and an engraving pen and I was content. He was an excellent craftsman. He made us all kinds of furniture and wood toys growing up. I still have a wooden duck puppet, and a rocking horse that he made me when I was very little.The strongest memory I have from their time in Gunnison, was of a dust devil in the lot across the street from their house. I had seen The Wizard of Oz and was terrified that it was going to blow the house away. Grandpa didn't try to explain that a dust devil couldn't blow the house away. He just grabbed his pitch fork, and explained that a pitch fork would destroy a dust devil. I believed him. We sat on the front porch with the pitch fork defending the house, until it went away.
Only a month before I turned 5, my grandma and grandpa moved back to Herriman. My grandpa had retired, and they built a house next door to their old one (which my uncle Richard had bought from them). I was devastated. I missed them so mu
ch! We visited them often, and I cried every time we had to leave - even when I was a teenager.
ch! We visited them often, and I cried every time we had to leave - even when I was a teenager.For a few years, when I was a little older, I would spend a week every summer in Herriman with Grandpa and Grandma. They spoiled me. They took me to the zoo, the circus and Lagoon. I loved being able to spend all day with my cousins who lived next door. I was always really jealous that they got to live so close to our grandparents!!!
Another thing I loved about summertime in Herriman, was grandpa's raspberry bushes. He had a million of them! He loved raspberries. And so did I. My grandma would can them, and we would eat them in the winter when we visited. Canned raspberries are the best!!!
My grandma also had raspberries patches growing up. She and her siblings would have to go out and pick them to sell. My grandma said that during the great depression, times were hard and her dad came home one day and said that they were going to have to raise the price of raspberries a whole penny. Her mother cried and cried over that.
Grandpa had a hanging swing on the deck in back of his house. He had taken an old boat seat cushion, and screwed it on to the wood, so it was nice and comfy. We used to love to sit out there and swing. He used to tell me stories about his childhood.
He told me about his brother who died when they were just kids. Before his brother died, he was always really sick. One day, he was feeling a little better, and went outside to sit on the porch. He was watching my grandpa play when some neighborhood kids came by and started to make fun of his sickly brother. Of course my grandpa had no other choice than to beat them all up. :)
He also told me about a horse he had as a kid. One day he got on his horse, and it started to run. He pulled on the reigns to try and stop him, but the horse wouldn't stop. So my grandpa started kicking him to make him go faster. The horse ran all over town. Every time it would slow down my grandpa would kick it make him go faster. Soon, he was so tired that he had to stop. Which was was my grandpa was shooting for. He said after that, the horse was to afraid to ever do it again!
Grandma used to tell me stories too. She told me about how they used to cut blocks of ice from the lake in the summer for the ice house, to keep their food cool. They would have to keep the ice covered with sawdust, so it would last through the summer.
She told me alot of stories of growing up during the depression. She told me about how they would save everything. She and her mother would make dishcloths out of flower sacks. And the kids had to help out with everything. Except, the girls weren't allowed to go out to the farm in the spring when the animals were giving birth.
Her dad was not impressed when she started dating my grandpa. Although most of their "dating" was done through the U.S. Postal service. My grandpa was in the Navy, and serving during WWII. My grandma sort of "eloped" with my grandpa. She left Herriman, and met up with him in California, where they got married.
My grandma liked to tell me about the first house they bought in Lark, when they moved back to Utah. They got a GI loan for it, and their payments were $50 a month. My grandma was so worried because it was so much money, and she didn't know how they were going to be able to pay that every month!
My grandma was always quilting, and always sewing. I have several quilts, pillowcases, dishcloths, tablecloths, etc. that she has made for me. I get so many compliments on them! I am also kicking myself for never having her teach me how to quilt!
My favorite thing that she ever made for me was my "tooth pillow". It was a little pillow with a pocket in the front that you would put your tooth in when you lost it. I still have my tooth pillow!
My grandpa passed away in January 2000. But my grandma is still alive and living in her house in Herriman. I try to call and talk at least once a month. She is doing well, and keeps me updated on all the Herriman happenings! I really miss my grandpa and am sad that he never got to meet my kids. My grandma assures me that he did meet them, in heaven before they were sent here. She says he would have insisted on it. I am sure that he would have!
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