From Grandma Arlynn's journal when Deb was born...

These are notes from Grandma Arlynn's journal when Debbie was born.  Nice to read her thoughts regarding you guys!  Much love from me Mom

Rosemary Mathews

Grandma Olsen was given a journal for mother’s day in 1982 and she kept it faithfully until 1985.  It’s possible there are other journals out there, but this is all I’ve found so far.

I have been scanning the first few pages and found some entries I thought you might enjoy.

May 24th  Bill called at 8:30 to tell us Rosie had a baby girl.  Born at 6pm weighted 7 lb 10 oz.

May 25th We went over to the Brigham City Hospital to see Rosemary and baby girl.  She’s a little doll.  Lots of brown hair.  We picked up Timmy and Ben at the neighbors and brought them home for a few days.  Their full of life, but are so sweet with each other.  Good kids.

May 27th I washed the boys clothes and in the afternoon went to the doctors for a reading on my blood pressure.  My heart was still beating irregular but my pressure was down to 170 over 86.

May 29th I cleaned house and washed so the boys clothes would be clean to take home.  They were so happy to be going home to see their new baby sister.  After supper we took them back to Brigham.  They had really missed their parents and Luke, Marlies and Becky.  They were so happy with the new baby.  She’s a little doll.  We were glad that we could tend them while Rose was in the hospital.  They are sure lively guys but were good kids.

I’m guessing there are other entries but these are just the first few pages.  She talks about Brian’s graduation from Law School in May as well as my 21st birthday. 

On mother’s day she said “received lovely gifts and cards.  I am so grateful for our families.  Each one is so precious!

She was quite the lady.  Sure do love her!!! 

Love Leeaine

Genealogical Questions 16 &17

Did you ever go hungry as a child?  

Bill:

No. My favorite foods were mush (cereal) and steak (both of my parents cooked.)

My favorite dishes that Mom cooked were spaghetti and chili. Mom use to go to work when as a family we needed something.  Often, she would continue working once she got established in a job. Dad never talked about money. 

My Dad never went hungry even though he was alive during the depression. His Dad worked for the Government as the Assistant to the Attorney General and later was elected as the Attorney General when Bill was about 8.  But the family had what they needed when Woody was a child.  

My Mother did suffer during the depression.  Her Mother was always on church welfare as she was divorced before Lorraine was born. Lorraine use to eat bread and milk for breakfast, lunch and dinner when there was nothing else. Lily Mae's family had a farm so she could always get milk and flour to make bread. Lorraine would have to go to the welfare building to pick up the food they got because her Mother, Lily Mae, was ashamed to go. Lorraine wasn't able to have children until after her teeth were pulled.  She told both Bill and Rosemary it was because she was malnourished as a child.

Rosemary:  

No, I never went hungry.  Infact, I probably had too much to eat because I was chubby.  When Mom died, I suppose my Dad wished he could go hungry because as his cook, I fixed lots of hot dogs and fish sticks.  (Even though our freezer was full of beef and pork).  You see, I didn't know how to cook meat.  At 11, that summer's 4H classes taught us how to use hot dogs.  Hot dogs in eggs, hot dogs and fried potatoes.  Dad finally said "Rosemary, I think I have had enough hotdogs." So, then I started on fish sticks. When Arlynn came to live with us 18 months after my mom died, Arlynn fixed meat and potatoes every day for dinner.  Dad and I both loved that.  

I also loved the school lunch meals.  Emily was the older lady that cooked lunch at the Paradise Elementary School.  I remember gazing in wonder at the huge potato whipper that made mashed potatoes.  I also remember her cinnamon rolls.  It makes my mouth droll just to think about them.

Dad encourages me to tell you this story:  When we were on our honeymoon, Dad wanted to impress me.  So, he took me out to dinner at Fisherman's Wharf.  He ordered for me because I had not grown-up eating fish (except for fish sticks.) He ordered Crab alle Neurenberg for me. He knew I liked gravy and creamy things.  Dad order a Sword Fish Steak for himself.  When the meal came, I was really looking forward to it.  The waiter set my food in front of me first and after an alarmed expression I loudly said "what have you done to me".  Everyone around us turned to look at us.  Dad said, here I'll trade with you.  I agreed, thinking "now that's better".  He was really embarrassed.   

What were your favorite toys?

Bill:

We lived in Herlong California until I was 4.  I got a tiny steam roller.  They were constructing roads where we lived and they were using a great big steam roller.  I use to get my tiny steam roller and play alongside where they were constructing the road.  I got an electric train when I was about 8.  I had a lot of fun with that. My sister got a wind-up train and I never thought about how I was privileged over her until typing this up. 

The rest of the time, my favorite toy was a basketball.

Rosemary:

I loved dollies.  I can't remember names for sure, but I think one was called a "tony doll". She was beautiful.  Burnette hair. I am quite surprised that the name came to my mind.  After all, it has been 65 years since I have thought about a doll. I also loved paper dolls.  Sharon and I played with these kinds of dolls all of the time.

I was really spoiled at Christmas time when my Mom was alive. I was the only child still at home.  However, once she was gone, I spent my sad Christmas alone with my Dad. He gave me a Lone Ranger Game and a blue bathrobe.  I was still not sure if there was a real Santa Claus; I soon found out there wasn't.  Dixie gave me a beautiful ballerina doll one Christmas. I still have it.  I want Kloey to have it as my oldest granddaughter.

John use to give me books.  I liked that.  He gave me a book right after Mother died.  Something to the effect "everything a Mother would want you to know".  It was sweet.  I'm not sure if I actually read it. For Christmas he gave me several different volumes of the "Little House on the Prairie" books.  Maybe that is why I still love that show. I am sure I would have put my Zane Grey novels aside for Little House.

After Mom died, I loved my horse.  Dixie, my horse, wasn't exactly a toy, but I rode her a lot.  I would leave her tied up at the fence during the day; that way I could ride her up to the yard to dump vegetable skins, etc. to the pigs or I could ride her to the Thomas Market that was 1/2 block away from our house.  I would leave her standing to the side of the steps that led to the market and then go in and make a purchase.  I would expect her to wait there for me (Like Silver, the Lone Ranger's horse) without being tied up.  It worked pretty well.  I remember taking eggs to the store and trading them for candy.  I don't think Dad ever knew.  (There is a picture of this Market in the Archives of Cache Valley. A-0437a: Paradise, Utah, Mae E. Thomas store. Lot 5 Block 22 Plat A, Built 1894

Gen 18&19

 

1. What were your favorite games?
2. Was there any fashion that you liked the most?

Dad: 

1. Basketball was my favorite sport. (He played City League and Church Basketball until he was about 55 years old.) I played almost every day in my backyard.   Most of the time by myself.  Usually, Mathews1 beat Mathews2. (Dad (Woody) built the wooden backboard and we carried it from one house to another.  Originally it was on the garage but the ground was uneven so then we moved it to the street. The curb was there.  I sprained my ankle a couple of times. Often, I played with my friends Bruce Couch and Dan Augustine (the tuba player.)  Because there was only 3 of us, I would stand Bruce and Dan and I won more than I lost.
   In high school I ran the mile in track. One time I was out running at Stewart Indian School. (It was South of Carson City.) They had a kid that ran the mile and we were pretty good friend.  One time we were out running on the back roads at Stewart.  We came across a rattlesnake that was crossing the road.  We killed it and then I took the snake to school and put it in a girl's locker.  I hung it over her coat hanger. The next morning the boys all gathered around watching her to see what would happen.  The girl was talking to the rest of her girlfriends.  She reached into her locker to get something and touched the snake. When she looked in her locker and saw it, she screamed and ran down the hallway.  We boys laughed like crazy.  The principal searched for who did it.  He never found out.  She wrote in the year book (over my picture) about her experience with the snake. Dad is laughing as he tells this story. 

2. My favorite fashion was "nude", but I didn't see it very often; I still looked. I never thought of fashion.  Fashion is for girls. 
   

Mom:

1. I loved to ride my horse, Dixie.  I guess Dad and I are thinking sports.  I also played tennis at the court on Paradise Town Square.  When in school at Paradise I played softball and volleyball.  That was lots of fun and we were pretty successful. However, my favorite "game" as a girl was a dice game called "Skunk".  I think it was 6 dice you had to roll at one time and then quickly total the number of points you'd add up from each dice.  I became really fast at addition during that time.  Even after I married Dad I could total numbers like that very quickly.  I think he was rather amazed that I actually had a "math" skill.
2.  We always wore dresses to school.  Both elementary and High School. Darlene, one of my friends from Paradise School, wore huge skirts that her Mom would starch and iron.  There was lots of ironing in those days.  Our family tradition was to go to Ogden to shop for school clothes.  When Arlynn came along the tradition continued.  She loved "brown" and favored brown things for me.  It didn't go too far, but I remember her first taste was usually brown.  In the cold Paradise winter, we wore warm coats, gloves, hats and leggings.  Because I was the largest of all of my classmates, I got to test the winter ice to see if it was solid enough for us to go skating.  In my early years I remember one day testing the ice along our way home from school.  It was not solid and I fell through to the muck and mud beneath the ice sheet.  I sunk pretty deep and went home muddy up to the knees of my leggings.  It has kind of left a scar in my mind.  I'm sure Alyce, my Mom, was not too happy as well.  
   

         While in high school we girls ratted and teased our hair.  Yes, we looked like we had helmets on.  One     of my friends from Paradise turned rather wild and began ratting her hair so much that you could see daylight through it. She also wore lots of makeup.  I don't remember wearing makeup in high school.

Medical concerns

 Grandpa:

diabetic

stroke

heart disease (stints, later quadruple bypass)

blood clots

Rm: 

Trigeminal neuralgia (French name is “tic della rue”) 

cyclic neutrapinia (low white blood count. Immunity issues) 

parathyroid disease

Grandpa’s highest position was Vice President and General Manager at Teleflex Defense Systems, Spanish Fork Division.

His Masters Degree was in Mechanical Engineering. His under graduate degree was in Nuclear Engineering 

Genealogical question 14&15

 Dad: Now a days, I like to read Church Doctrine books /and Apostles life stories. A long time ago my favorites were action/ war stories.  I read everything from Sparks to WEB Griffith and Louis L'Mour. I have kept paperback books that I purchased while in Brigham City.  I have over 2,000 books in our basement now.  Some are hardback as well.

Mom:  I like a variety of books.  I have really enjoyed histories of the life of Joseph Smith.  I am currently working on a large, thick book Joseph, a rough stone rolling.  I am also reading Exodus by Leon Urus, The Hobbit, and The Infinite Atonement.  I am not putting pressure on myself on any of the books.  The religious books especially.  I will read a chapter or 5-6 pages and call it good. I like a good adventure story, but try to avoid bad language, torture, and abuse of people.  I like a good romance novel and don't mind a bit of war violence.  I like historical novels as well. 

Favorite Song or Lullaby?

Dad:  I enjoy many different categories of songs.  

Country and Western, Home on the Range, (hahaha) I like songs by Neal Diamond, Celine Dion, Barbara Streisand, and Whitney Houston.  

My favorite church songs are How Great Thou Art and I stand All Amazed. I loved to sing patriotic songs as well. The Star-Spangled Banner and the State Song Home Means Nevada. 

My favorite opera song that I sang is "Drink Drink Drink" from the Student Prince. I also loved to hear Mom sing Dove Sono from The Marriage of Figaro. 

I was in choir while in high school.  We had a wonderful male music teacher, Al Saliman. He could walk around the football field on his hands. We sang "No Man is an Island at my high school graduation.  It was a joy to sing with Al. When I was at UNR before I went in the Army, I sang with the Institute Choir at church "The Sierra Singers". I remember crying through the song I Need Thee Every Hour."  After the Army, I sang in the choir at UNR and I really enjoyed singing the Messiah.      

I loved some of Mom's choir songs Amor De Mi Alma by Z. Randall Stroope and Water Night by Eric Whitacre. 

My Mom (Lorraine) sang on the radio when she was a teenager. She sang like a baritone.  As she got older, she sang like a bass. Mom used to whistle while working around the house.  It was really neat.

Speaking of family, our missionaries (Luke, Marlies, Tim and Ben) each sang the same song at their Mission Farewell.  I can't remember the name of it, but it had real meaning to our family. 

Mom:  Music?  How do I cover such an important part of my life?  I have at least 15 chuck-full scrapbooks describing my musical journey through out mortality.  An important thought that I would like to share is that until about a year ago, I never really realized what a special musical gift God had given me (and the opportunities to use it that he placed on my path through life.) I was struck with awe, as the reality of this very special gift from God became clear to me.  "I must be someone special to have God trust me with this gift."  I thank Father in Heaven every day for this special gift and the other gifts of the Spirit He has given me.

Non classical songs:  Medley from Oliver that I sang with 2 very talented friends in Brigham City;Wagon Wheels high school duo with Sandra Obray Sorensen, I Would Trust Her from Pajama Game (duet with my cousin, Kim Allen); My Funny Valentine at a Stake Dance; Several Church solo songs. O That I Were an Angel, The Lord's Prayer, I Walked Today Where Jesus Walked, How Beautiful Upon the Mountains. 

Opera:  Donde Lieta from La Boheme (I loved it because it was easy for me).  My favorite opera that I performed was Tosca. I performed in over 20 operas during my career.  19 or so roles were the leading lady roles.  I still don't know if I have seen as many operas as I have performed.  I was so naive.  I didn't have an inkling of the great opportunities given to me.

While preparing for operas or recitals it was so much work, that I found it wasn't so much fun.  It was more fun to sing with friends and family and do lighthearted music. 

Genealogical 12 & 13

 Rosemary Mathews

Leisure

I don't remember any leisure time with my family at the Olsen home in Paradise. My Dad worked so hard during the summer.  The only thing I remember him doing was reading around the kitchen table occasionally when it was dark and he couldn't work any more.  In the winter he read quite a bit, always magazines which were about farming. He also worked on paying bills.  Every night, rain or shine, he watched TV at 10 pm when the news came on. He was especially interested in the weather. He listened to the Farming and Livestock reports on the radio station KVNU and to Paul Harvey's "and now the rest of the Story'' at noon while eating his meat and potatoes (That was dinner on the farm.) He would turn off the radio once the news was over.  Arlynn would like to listen to music.  He had no interest whatsoever in listening to pop music. 

We did occasionally visit long lost relatives who lived in Cache Valley.  I would go along with my parents and be soooo bored. But I never complained.  I wish so much that I could remember the people we visited.  I only had one gramma and we did visit her.  I think my Dad tried to visit his Olsen and Oldham Uncles and Aunts.  They were always older and seemed lonely.  My Dad had a tender heart that way.

I only remember taking one vacation with my family.  We went to California.  Dixie, Alyce, Lloyd, and the Welches--Harry and Viola. We went to Knox Berry Farm (Disneyland wasn't around then). We stayed with the Mildren and Vernal Norman family in Orange County. I remember the long drive and falling asleep on the shoulder of one of the Welches.  There were 6 of us. It was crowded for such a long trip.  On the way back we stayed at a motel in Vegas.  No freeway at the time.  Sometimes I think it may have been on the old Boulder Highway that still exists in Vegas.  We travel it occasionally when we are at Becky's house in Henderson. Dad and Mom traveled a bit during the winter. They enjoyed the Farm Bureau Conventions. Alyce and Lloyd traveled to Florida and Cuba to a Farm Bureau Convention in 1956.  My Mom was struggling with the first signs of cancer.  She didn't know what it was at the time.  She died the next May 7, 1957. Lloyd and Arlynn attended Farm Bureau Conventions during their years together.

Chores I didn't like

I had a lot of chores.  Especially after Mother died.  I worked some in the house in 1957, but mostly I helped my Dad outside.  I did a variety of things, like moving sprinkling pipes, driving the truck while hay was hauled, mowing the lawn, cleaning eggs, rolling hay bales, etc. I learned to drive a jeep when I was about 11.  That made up for some of the work I had to do.  I also had a horse, Dixie, which I loved to ride.  I found comfort in that horse, even though she bit me once and stepped on my foot another time. I suppose the chores I disliked the most were (1) shoveling wheat and barley from the back of our large hay truck into the large container that held the end of the auger.  The auger would then carry the grain up into the silos or grain bins.  That work was so itchy, dirty and hot.  The grain heads would fasten to my clothes and I would be miserable. (2) moving the sprinkling pipes was a big job.  I think Daddy moved them in the morning and it was my job to move them in the evening. Dad would use a tool and grab the sprinkling pipe in the middle to move it to its new location in the field.  I would have to take one end and then the other. The problem was when the field had already been harvested, left in the field were sharp, stick-like projections that would scratch and dig into my ankles.  That was pretty miserable. (3)cleaning eggs was no fun.  I wacked an egg or too and it went mushy in my hand and ran to the floor.  One time I found it was easier to simply pull the loose rug over it than to clean the egg up.  (Sorry, Grandma Dunn.) Dad always gathered the eggs.  I was afraid the chickens would peck me. 

Genealogical Question 12&13

 Dad:

Leisure

When I was young my Dad would read to us.  Mom read by herself. 
Dad read Swiss Family Robinson and Robinson Caruso to us. When we got older the only thing that I can remember that we did for leisure was to read.  We'd all read by ourselves. My sister read comic books.  I would read all kinds of things.     Dad would take us hunting and fishing.  Once in a while Mom would go with us.  That ended the time we went up the Carson River and backwoods into the mountains. On the way in Mom warned us about not driving through a bunch of rocks that were on the road. Dad didn't listen to her and drove on and knocked the oil pan off of underneath the car. Mom was really torqued. Dad had to walk into town. He was able to catch a ride.  He was looking for a way to fix the pan. The drainage lip on the pan was bent and all of the oil drained out. Dad worked very hard at trying to repair the lip.  He soldered all around it.  He also bought a thermos plug that is used as a stopper for bottles. We were way back in the mountains for 2-3 days while he fixed it.  I went fishing while he worked.  Carol played around the camp. Mom "sort of" forgave him. We started home.  On the way we drove over some sage brush and it wrecked all of his hard work.  Then he took the stopper and put it in the pan and IT WORKED!  It only took about 10 minutes.   Then we drove all of the way home. That was the last time Mom went with us.    Dad and I went deer hunting a lot. We really enjoyed it. We didn't usually take drinks. (Dad would drink his coffee.)  If I was getting thirsty my Dad would tell me to put a stone in my mouth and suck on it.  It would delay my need for water. Usually on Sunday afternoons we'd all go for a ride together and look for birds.  Red winged and yellow headed black birds.  That was an enjoyable time.  We usually sang.

Front Porch

When I was in the 7th grade Carol and I would sleep outside on the porch in the summer.  It was really warm inside because we didn't have any air conditioning.  When I was a freshman at Carson High School Carol went in the house.  I stayed out "for as long as I could".  I ended up staying out all year. I hadn't planned to stay out that long.  My Dad suggested that if I put canvas over my blankets, I would stay warmer.  Dad put some sort of a blind over the porch screen so that the water wouldn't come in. I had the "blind" up in the summer and down in the winter. I stayed there all year round for 3-4 years. Mom made sure that I made my bed every day. 

Work

When I was about 14 we put a new furnace in our home on Spear Street. We were changing the furnace from coal to oil. All of the work had to be done under the house.The crawl space under the house was pretty tight.  I hated this job. We could only crawl on our tummies. The tubing was in four-foot lengths and had to run from the furnace to all the rooms in the house. We had to tape every junction and all of the elbows while under the house. We made holes in the flooring of the house in order to connect the elbows to the heat vents.  Every joint had to be connected.  We worked on it from when Dad got home in the evening from work and all-day Saturday and Sunday.  I remember it as the least favorite because I remember only working and not playing at all. I lost my temper and told Dad *"I have got to go out and play".  I ran out the door and went over and played basketball with Bruce Couch. 

Later, during the remodeling of the house, we tore out lathe and plaster walls and put-up wall board.  We changed the living room and the dining room into one room. We tore out the wall between the kitchen and the pantry and the wall between the kitchen and the back porch. We remodeled the bathroom and put in a shower.  All of these remodel "jobs" required a claw hammer, a wrecking bar and more.  Dad didn't know anything about electricity. It was trial and error. Dad figured out how to get the electricity to the back porch and kitchen. We put in a new electric stove. We put in some paneling. (The remodeling was a huge job.)  The back porch was my bedroom before we remodeled.  I moved down in the earthen basement (which had been a coal bin). My old bed room became the dining area and a sunroom. We also waterproofed the shingles on the roof.  The roof was very steep, we had to tie a rope around our waists (the rope was tied off on the other side of the house to prevent us from falling). We had to spread a substance like tar over the roof to water proof it. After the roof was finished, we had to paint the outside of the house.  We had to build scaffolding so that we could stand on planks to paint the house. (I didn't do much painting.) Mom painted the lower portion of the house. (Where she could reach.) We also had to cut down old elm trees.  We cut up the trees for fire wood. We used the wood from those five big old trees in our fireplace. 

All of this work combined took us about six years. I spent my childhood to teenage years working with Dad.  I only had to work on Saturday and Sunday for four hours after I had reminded him "I had to be able to play". My Dad, Woody, was amazing.  He was a very hard worker, he was very smart, most of the time he was slow to anger but if he got mad, LOOKOUT!, he was really mad.  My Mom, Lorraine, was just the opposite.  She was quick to anger but got over it pretty quickly.  Bill says he inherited both of those qualities.  (sigh)  My Dad taught me many things during this time. I used those skills throughout my life.