#52 Stories- Week Four

 Prompts:

1.  Tell a story about a toy you remember from your childhood.

Judy:  The toy I first thought of was the toy doll I didn't get.  The Christmas I was eight years old, I did not get a doll.  Now, I wasn't much of a doll child.  I much rather play outside then with dolls.  However, I remember feeling bad about not getting a doll while each of my three little sisters did get one.  I loved the Drowsy doll that I think Robin got and I spend most of the day playing with it and afterwards whenever I wanted it (as I remember.)  Years later, I talked to my mom about it and she can remember the whole thing very well.  She had struggled to decide whether to get me a doll or not, but decided that I didn't really play with them (like I mentioned) so they had decided against it.  Then she had felt bad because she had seen me love the doll so much and play with it all day.  By my birthday in July, I was definitely out of the doll phase and on to the Barbie/Tammy dolls.  I didn't ever have a Barbie doll because my mom thought they were too "sexualized" so Tammy dolls were more balanced shall we say.

(Here is what Drowsy looked like.  The internet is an amazing thing.)

2.  What is a book that meant something to you as a child and why?

Judy:  Two books which are actually on my top 14 books of all time--

1.  Heidi-  I read it when I was in third grade and it was the first book that made me cry when I read it.

2.  Secret Garden-  I picked this book out of the school library because I liked to read mysteries and it sounded like a mystery.  I read lots of Trixie Beldon and Nancy Drew at that time, but no new ones were in the library so I was just searching the shelves.  Secret Garden sounded like a mystery so I checked it out.  I loved the book, but I remember thinking at the end that this was a different type of book than I had read before--like maybe it was famous or "real" literature.  It wasn't until a few years later than I learned that it really was famous and real literature.

3.  Tell a memory involving a car.

Judy:  A picture is worth a thousand words---

One car---usually one adult and eight kids heading to Church!

Imagine that picture as we all hopped out in the parking lot of our Church!

I think that happened for about 3-4 months until we got another car to replace the station wagon.  I did like driving this car around town when I was alone in it.

#52 Stories- Week Three

 Prompts for Week Three:

1.  Tell a story about a family tradition.

Rick: I’m sure others might mention this same tradition, or maybe they won’t because it is so obvious. But I’m choosing it anyway.

On Christmas Eve, we gathered with our Christmas stockings and began a procession to hang up our stockings. We would hang them up in age order, from oldest down to the youngest. Then on Christmas morning, as soon as all were awake and ready, we would gather again for the stocking processional. However, in the morning it would be in reverse age order, from youngest up to the eldest, each retrieving their filled stockings in turn.

 

Part of being “ready” on Christmas morning meant wearing socks. The rules on Christmas Eve were more relaxed, but on Christmas morning, being dressed in socks was specifically part of the tradition.

 

Linda and I have adopted the stocking processional and the Christmas morning socks in our family as well. Many years back, we added the tradition of taking a picture of our Christmas morning socks – from the top down, all gathered in a circle, each of us putting one socked foot into the picture. We often choose crazy or colorful socks to wear. We wish we had started the “picture of the socked feet circle” tradition earlier. It would have been fun to have the whole series of pictures as children were added to the family and as their feet grew.

Judy:  (We did do the same thing on Christmas Eve and the wearing of sox.) Turning eight was a big deal in our family.  Of course, it was connected with the opportunity to be baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints which was in itself a very important event.  I took that very serious and I was very happy to be baptized in the Jadwin Chapel in Richland, Washington, on July 3, 1963 by my dad.  I was confirmed on the following Sunday, July 5^th.

The other tradition in our family was that on your eighth birthday (or around that date) you got to pick a restaurant and an activity to go do with Mom and Dad alone.  You were in total charge.  This was a very unusual experience in a family of eight children with limited funds.  Going out to eat was very unusual for us at that time.  I picked a Waffle House in Richland (I am not sure it was a “The Waffle House” but it was a restaurant that featured Waffles.)  I had a waffle with ham in it and I still remember that it was an amazing waffle with yummy syrup (not like Valerie’s memory of the Spaghetti from her 8^th birthday memory shared earlier.)  We then went bowling.

We had the intention of doing this—but as I remember it , we didn’t.  Tosha arrived right at the time of Jessica’s eighth birthday and while we did her baptism and had a gathering at our house afterwards which was so great, life got very busy and I don’t think we ever did the dinner/activity with her.  Then we were just moving to Texas when Scott turned eight—another crazy busy time—and if you don’t do it for the first two—can you really start the tradition for the last three?  So no, we didn’t keep this tradition.

Valerie:

We always did the stocking processional with our kids and most of them are carrying on the tradition. We also took our kids out to dinner when they turned eight. We love sharing that when it was Justin's turn he had his choice of international flavor in Israel but he chose McDonald's. I guess his actual baptism made up for it--it was Israeli-flavored, in the River Jordan.

As I think of other traditions from our growing up, I think of weekly Family Nights, always attending our church meetings, and nightly scripture study and family prayer. I think of singing around the piano and playing games. I think of a lot of laughing, all of the time.

2.  Write the story you have heard about how you were named.

Judy: How I heard it was that Dad liked the name Judy Ann and told Mom while they were dating/engaged that their first daughter was going to be named that.  She said she was so in love she would agree to any name at that point, but felt I should have the option of Judith—just in case it suited me better.  Dad doesn’t know why or when he started liking that name just that he did.

3.  Tell about a birthday gift you received.

Judy:  When I was turning 11 or 12, I really REALLY wanted a certain stuffed dog that was popular that year.  I wasn’t a big fan of stuffed animals even then, but for some reason I really wanted that toy dog for my birthday.  Even now, I remember how intense that feeling seemed to me.  I would think about it when I woke up in the morning and when I went to bed at night.

Finally, a few days before my birthday, I couldn’t take the suspense anymore.  I had noticed some sacks in Mom and Dad’s room on the shelf in their closet.  So, when no one was home, I got a chair and peeked in the sacks.  I was so relieved to find the exact dog I wanted. As I remember, this was the first time that I ever had peeked at gifts before my birthday or Christmas.  I was excited to see it there, but I put it all back and waited more patiently for my birthday.

However, on my actual birthday, I remember opening the present and not really being excited—because I already knew.  I learned my lesson that year that part of the joy of gifts is the unknowing and the sharing the surprise with the gift giver.  Since then, I have not intentionally peeked at hidden gifts.

A Toast to 3405 Carlton

The actual typed version--written by Mom and Dad Giberson

(I presume)

 A TOAST TO 3405 CARLTON 

REMEMBER WHEN-

                we came to Texas?

 REMEMBER WHEN-

                we all stayed in two rooms at the Howard Johnson motel and we hardly got to use the pool because it rained so much?

 REMEMBER WHEN-

                we all lived in six rooms on Kimberly Street and it seemed like we could never get away from each other because the walls were so thin?

 REMEMBER WHEN-

                how good it was to move into town so we didn’t have so much driving to do, and how good it was to s-t-r-e-t-c-h out and have room, and/or privacy whichever one wanted?

 REMEMBER WHEN-

                how small the crabapple trees were in the bac yard in 1971?  Bet you don’t.  It is hard to imagine unless you see a photo.

 REMEMBER WHEN-

                we had a party and the children got to choose the families and we had the Gores and Voyles and Lovetts and …and gosh, I don’t remember who all.  It was a houseful!

 REMEMBER WHEN-

                Mom and Dad decided to have a party for the kids and we made an individual invitation for each one and we moved the table into the den and served you dinner?

 REMEMBER WHEN-

                the night we Phantomed the Hendricks and almost got caught and the Brinks Phantomed the Hendricks and DID get caught?  And then the Brinks came to tell us about it and we thought it was so funny?

 REMEMBER WHEN-

                how Rick said the prayer that night and at the end he said bless that nobody will find out that we are the Family Nite Phantom?  And it was hard to keep from laughing?  And after he said, “Amen, we laughed –and he said I saved that until the end because I knew everyone would laugh! And we laughed some more.

 AND SPEAKING OF TOAST, REMEMBER WHEN-

                we had that toaster that wouldn’t pop up and Judy put the toast in and we went to Sunday School, and then she remembered the toast and had to call our neighbor to go save the house from burning down?

 REMEMBER WHEN-

                the high priests put in the new kitchen floor?

 REMEMBER WHEN-

                Mike getting stuck in the laundry chute?

 REMEMBER WHEN-

                the four youngest would get out the Fisher-Price people and the Hot Wheels and the Childcraft and the “maze rug” and make up stories and build all over the den?

 REMEMBER WHEN-

                the pie cherry tree and the pies we used to have?

 REMEMBER WHEN-

                how Dad made sure everybody was up, with socks on, and we had to line up on the stairs for Christmas morning—youngest first, of course.

 REMEMBER WHEN-

                Robin, Valerie, and Lynette played Beat the Car at night?  (Don’t tell Mom the details!)  And they taught Rick and Scott?

 REMEMBER WHEN-

                Todd and Mike used to jump off the garage roof onto pillows and Mom thought it was normal and Dad thought it was horrible?  And years later Rick and Scott practiced for the Egg Drop from the upstairs window?  (Lose more eggs that way.)

 REMEMBER WHEN-

                Mom and Dad moved to the downstairs rooms, and Dad had to paint the louvered shutters---Well, maybe some things are better NOT remembered? 

REMEMBER WHEN-

                we had all those Family Home Evening Theatres?  We had “judges” who were special guests and they had to perform too?

REMEMBER WHEN-             

                we did “A Day in the Life of Hamlet’?  And probably our most famous case “The Case of the Missing Case?”

REMEMBER WHEN-

                Todd made a bedroom in the attic, complete with floor and light?

REMEMBER WHEN-

Mom opened up the drawer in the bathroom and there were baby squirrels?  And remember when Joe Lockwood cut the squirrel out of our closet?  And he was so paranoid he set for three days in the corner of the front porch (the squirrel, not Joe! 

REMEMBER WHEN-

                Thanks for the memories, for all the fun we’ve had…

Postscript by Judy:  How did this list not include the bees in the upper back siding--that was memorable as well!