Sunday, September 4, 2011

Your History.......from a Parent's Perspective

Earlier this week, while reading a history about Grandma (Lois Fae Linnebach) written by her mother, Grandma Ethel (Ethel Frances Jolley) I had an epiphany.  It made perfect sense to me and I don't know why I had never thought of it before nor had I heard anyone else speak of it.  Grandma (Lois Fae Linnebach) had written a short bio of herself at one time which we in the family are fortunate to have.  However, most of it deals with her life after age 20.  That's where the history written by Grandma Ethel comes in, which had she not written, we would have missed out on so much of Grandma's early life.  Did you know she made her own clothes from Junior High on?  Did you know she took candy from strangers or that she was born at home?  We would not have known any of this and more had Grandma Ethel not written "My Daughter Lois."  This got me thinking.  How much of my first 5 or 6 years do I know about?  How much do my sons know about their first 5 or 6 years.  Some good stuff happened during that time to them that they probably don't remember, and if they do, it's only because someone told them:  David singing for Grandma Blanche, Travis getting lost at the Los Angeles Zoo or Kevin getting blood all over the back seat of my 1980 Datsun 200SX (with sunroof and custom horn.)

Conclusion:  I believe parents should write a history of each child from the perspective of that parent:

  • Actual Birth...did your mother want to kill your father during labor
  • First words, firt steps, first discipline
  • Favorite foods and vice versa
  • First friends
  • Etc.

Assignment:  ask each your parents to write a history of your early life.  Don't delay.  The day may come when they can't.

Here is the history that Grandma Ethel wrote about Grandma.  I will attach some cool photos of Grandma at the end in some of the clothes she made herself.  Tres chic!!!!!!!

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MY DAUGHTER LOIS

by Ethel Linnebach

It was July 24, 1930 and Art had planned to take me and our 15 month o1d little boy, Glen, just up one of the canyons so he could fish.  He loved to fish and it didn't cost anything but the gas and we always had such a good time.

This morning I felt the pain as I was expecting our second child and woke him at 6:00 a.m. and said I guess we can't go fishing today as this is the day we have been waiting for.  Grandma Linnebach had sent me to her doctor.  His name was Dr. John Sharp.  We ca1led him and the wonderful nurse and friend I had had with my first baby.  Her name was Allie Smith.  She was trained to go the homes until the doctor was called in.  I wasn't
afraid this time because I had Allie and I knew what I had to do.  So at 2:00 in the afternoon we had a 7 lb. beautiful baby gir1.  I loved the name of Lois and my beauty operator I had, before I was married, and I liked very much the name Fae and that is where I got the name Fae.

Well, Grandma and Grandpa Linnebach came for dinner on a Fast Sunday, and Grandpa blessed her and gave her her name, he had a hard tine with modern names if they weren't right out of the bible. In those days the doctors came to the house to deliver babies and only charged $35.00. Even that was hard to pay because it was right in the depression and there was not a job to be had. It was very hard for Art as he had been a contractor when we were married.  Grandpa and Art had built our house a year before and let us move in.  Art had brought the plans from California.  We were very lucky to have a roof over our head as some of our friends even camped in the canyons in summer because they had no money for rent.  I made all my baby clothes and they were cute with laces and ribbons.  A man came to the door one day and I let him take her picture in our big chair.  It was the only picture until we were fishing at Fish Lake and she was in a dish pan in front of our tent taking her bath.  I took a few pictures from then on with a small camera I had.

When we lived on 9th East and rented there Glen was born.  I was unhappy because I didn't know anyone and I didn't have enough to do.  So one morning Art said we are going down to Emery and get your litt1e sister Ruby.  We had discussed having her come to live with us and had asked my Brother Evan and Thelma, his wife, if she could and they agreed.  She was 11 years old.  We came home through Manti and I was able to find my mother's old Singer machine at my uncle's place so we brought it home and then I was happy because I had my little sister and I could sew, which I loved to do.

Lois was a good natured baby and easy to raise, but by the time she was 15 months old, I had another little baby girl (Carol Ann).  The first sick spell and scare Lois gave us was when she was two years old.  We had been to Liberty Park to a Linnebach party and had come home, it was very hot.  We had two vacant lots east of our house where Art planted a big garden.  He was out in the garden and Lois was walking up the sidewalk to her dad and I was looking for her.  I called her and she didn't respond when I called so I ran to her and she was out on her feet.  We rushed in the house with her, she had a convulsion.  We had her in the basement cooling her down and a neighbor had me put her in a tepid bath and then I had to run to the neighbors to use her phone to get a doctor.  He was a child specialist and came and I don't remember what we did for her only that I remember he ordered a nurse to stay at our house for a week and take care of her.  It was a terrible scare, she was fine after that.  Next time we had a scare she was in the second grade at Woodrow Wilson School. The school nurse had us take her to a doctor and she had a murmur in her heart.  He had me have her take naps every afternoon for a whole year.  She grew out of it.  But then we had to have her and Glen's tonsils out at the same time.  I took them to County Hospital and both got along alright.  On our street and close by there were several girls she played with and were friends with until they graduated from high school.  There names were Bonnie Manwill, Jane Bebout, Joyce Mines, Ora Lee Lemon and Beverly Eby.  Lois remembers only having one birthday party on our lawn and, of course, there was the cake, ice cream and homemade root beer.  I had her hair cut in a cute little wind blown hair style and that was the only time I remember her having short hair. She always wore it long.

When she was in the fourth grade she got athletes foot from wearing Keds, so she couldn't wear them anymore.  She mostly more saddle oxfords.  One day all the girls were at the Manwill's house and Carol had tagged along, because there wasn't one girl her age on our block.  Somehow they chased her home and she ran into the backend of a car driven by a nice young boy who stopped and took us to the hospital.  She had a big gash on top of her hairline.  She has the scar to this day.  The carnival used to come and set up not far from our house on State Street.  Well, we usually took the children to them but his time Lois wanted to take her money and with here girlfriends.  When we arrived she had gambled it all throwing dimes into dishes.  She was a very reliable little girl and I guess I took advantage of her.  We left her with the children, Maureen was the baby, while we went to Allie Curtis' place to a party.  When we returned home Lois was crying along with the baby who had the earache.  I felt bad.  So daddy blew smoke in her ear and I but warm cotton and oil in and everything was alright.

She tended children for many people.  One was our neighbor Cleo Gosdis who had three or four boys.  She loved Lois and they were good friends to her and our family.  She needed a bicycle so she could get to far away places to baby-sit.  So she earned the $14.00 to buy her first used bike.

She had a candy man who walked past our house nearly everyday and he thought she was a cute little girl and we knew he was alright so we let her take candy from him.  She also had a favorite uncle, Aunt Louise's husband, Uncle Al.  He loved her and thought she was perfect.  He always made a fuss over her.  She looks a lot like Louise now and even her sunny disposition.  Art had to make money where he could so he bought a big brooder and raised beautiful fryers which we sold once a week.  She was in her teens now and she had to come home and help clean the water troughs and pick chickens on the weekends.  She hated it and would cry.  It didn't seem to bother the other children.  She went to Granite Junior High and Granite High School where she matured into a beautiful girl.

She was a wonderful seamstress and made all her own clothes, even in Junior High. When she was in High School she bought fashion patterns and made beautiful dresses and suits.  She attended the University of Utah a few semesters and took dressmaking.
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Lois is second from the left.  Next to her are Aunt Leah and Aunt Melba (Grandma Blache's sisters).  Check ou the cars.


Lois is the second from the right on the bottom row (in a two-piece...shocking). Bonny Manwill is next to her on the end.

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