Mom's Story - Final

Mom’s Story- Final

           

My activities in the community were too numerous to mention:  I served as President of the Snowflake Woman’s Club that year, I was involved in numerous committees for the Bicentennial celebrations, The Liberty Belles were in full swing and I was a member of that group; The Historical Society was active with many projects for them; The Smith Family asked me to serve as their President and we had a big Book project going… and on and on.  I loved everything I did, but there were hardly enough hours in the day to accomplish the many tasks.  One project we accomplished during this Bicentennial year that I was proud of, was that of planting 65 Honey Locust trees around the Memorial Home and up and down the street on Hulet besides up in Highland Park.  The work was done by some Boy Scouts with my aid.  Those trees are beautiful today and a nice reminder of our efforts.

            Christine finished three years at the “Y” with an Associate Degree in Interior Design.  Then she married James L. Smith from Farmington, New Mexico.  James, a dashing, handsome spirited boy with a keen mind and quick intellect was Christine’s idol.  Christine was my beauty, my joy, my spiritual tower of strength, and my artistic one.  She could challenge such a man.  They were married in the Arizona Temple June 12, 1979.  Little Cameron arrived on the scene a year and a half later, October 21, 1980.  What a joy the grandchildren are – all seven. 

Trips

            After Grandma Ericksen died in November 1976, Bill and I felt we had been relieved of a heavy burden, and were free.  We decided to take some hard-earned money and take a little trip to Mexico over an Easter Vacation (1977).  That was a lovely trip and even though we didn’t go on a tour, but rather on our own, we felt it was a great trip.  We had just finished reading the Book of Mormon, so seeing those magnificent Mayan ruins, brought the Book of Mormon to life for us.  Our travels took us to the far end of the Yucatan peninsula.  It was a glorious trip for us. 

           

Another little trip I took about this time was to Nauvoo for the dedication of the Monuments to Women.  Mayola had worked so closely with the Church wide project that it meant a lot to me to go and be a part of this historic dedication.  I took Christine with me, taking the Amtrak train out but flew back.  It was hot and sticky and we worked hard, but I’ll always remember that trip.

           

Snowflake celebrated its centennial year in July of 1978, and of course I was completely involved in that, having the responsibility of the advertisement.  What an effort Snowflake put forth to clean up and brighten up the Town.  To tell all the details of my activities during this time would be too much, but the highlight of the event was the visit of President Spencer W. Kimball.  The committee in charge of the celebration of which I was a part, honored me by asking me to be a speaker for the program.  Imagine my anxiety speaking on the same program as President Kimball!  But again, the Lord blessed me and helped me to be calm and peaceful.

            Christine spent one semester in Hawaii at the BYU college there.  So, for Thanksgiving of that year, 1978, we flew to Hawaii for a week’s vacation and to be with her.  Scully, my brother gave us the royal treatment – taking us to many of the beautiful outer islands I hadn’t seen before. 

            Also, Bill and I had a lovely trip to Toronto, Canada for a Dental meeting.  It was in the fall of the year 1977.  The leaves were just beginning to turn and the countryside was alive with color.  We visited Niagara Falls also.  As this was part of his old mission field, it was like a sentimental journey to go back there for him. 

            I have had a wonderful life thus far.  The Lord has blessed me abundantly.  I love the Lord and have tried to show my appreciation of His blessings to me, by my service to Him and my fellowmen.  Last Spring, May 1981, in my sixty-second year, I retired from the school as Librarian, after twelve years.  I now am looking for new mountains to climb, and new challenges as I begin this phase of my life.  My philosophy of life can be summed up by the words of the song, “I Love Life.”

I Love Life

I love life and I want to live

And drink of life’s fullness,

Take all it can give;

I love life, Every moment must count,

To glory in its sunshine,

And revel in its fount;

I love life, I want to live, I love life.

I love life,

It holds me in its sway,

My heart hears it, Music,

A melody gladsome and gay.

I love life, I’ll have none of Worldly strive

Oh but to live for to love!

I love life, so I want to live,

And drink of life’s fullness,

Take all it can give;

I love life, Every moment must count,

To glory in its sunshine,

And revel in its fount;

I love life, I want to live,

 I love life!

Mom's Story - 1970s

Mom’s Story – 1970s

Our Family Passport Photo

            By skimping and saving our money by June 1971 we had enough to take a glorious trip to Europe.  Jim, who was serving in the Armed Forces at that time, was stationed in Germany.  Through his urging and planning he was able to get us transportation on one of the big Army Jets, then by saving his gas coupons we were able to tour many of the countries of Europe in the six weeks we spent.  Jim had purchased a new Volkswagen bus, so Bill, MaryAnn, Christine, and I made the trip.  The only anxiety was that at Bangor, Maine, our plane blew a tire on take off and we were forced to land in Ireland where we waited seven hours while the landing gear was repaired.  The worry to Jim was great, but we were only lost one day of sightseeing.  To tell about this wonderful trip would be too long for this paper, but it is described in detail in my Journal.

            It was Thanksgiving 1971, that Mother suffered a massive stroke.  Dear Louise left her home in Wyoming and stayed three weeks with her during that critical time.  Our beloved Aunts, who were living around Mother in Mesa rallied to our aid to help also.  At Christmas time, Mayola and I relieved Louise and took our turn helping out.  We hired a wonderful little Mexican woman who came into Mother’s home and took care of her during the day.  Then another woman came for the night shift.  I kept the road hot from Snowflake to Mesa, every Friday after work I’d leave for Mesa to give our nurses some time off.  Mother made a remarkable recovery and it looked like she would be her old self again.  I brought her to Snowflake in June when school was out.  That summer I was completely involved in Community activities.  We had a huge Pioneer House tour with over 1100 people attending and which netted the celebration $1568.00 Both Jim and MaryAnn were in the Melodramas they produced.  Jim was home from the Service and had a Fellowship offered him at NAU School of Business.  In August of this year Bill and I spent two weeks in New York taking care of his eyes.  What a whirlwind of activities. 

            By the end of the summer of 1973, Mother was able to go back to her home in Mesa again, so we arranged to have someone live with her.  But Bill’s mother was now having difficulties.  She also suffered a stroke and was hospitalized in Phoenix.  Again, every weekend I spent driving back and forth from Snowflake to Phoenix.  This was a very discouraging time for these two wonderful women.  However, this year had its silver linings for while Jim was in Flagstaff, he met and fell in love with our beautiful Susan, who was finishing her degree in Home Economics.  If we had looked the world over we could never have found anyone so perfect for our family.  They were married December 27^th, 1973 in the Arizona Temple.  Jim completed his MBA degree.  I was busy with another great house tour for the 24^th of July, which netted over $1600.  Mayola was called to be the General Secretary-Treasurer of the Relief Society.  So many great events were happening to us during this time. 

            To add to the activities, I decided to buy some run-down apartments, which I thought would help us financially.  It took a lot of time and effort to fix them up, but they have proved to be a good investment over the years.  A lot of the old run-down furniture I refinished and recovered and gave Jim and Susan to help furnish their new home in Thatcher. 

            Our business began to pick up a little.  Dr. Scott Malan who was married to a Snowflake girl, wanted to come into our office with us, and we allowed him to do so.  At first this proved to be a hardship, for so many of our long-standing patients switched over to him.  However, over the years with Bill’s reputation for careful dentistry and his honest dealings, the patients have drifted back to us, and now Bill’s practice is as busy as it has ever been. 

            In 1974, Mother suffered another massive stroke and when school was out in May, I moved Mother to Snowflake.  Jim and Susan came from Thatcher to help me clean out her home.  The next two and half years caring for my dear Mother, was a nightmare both for her and me.  Her mind and body were both gone.  My girls were wonderful to help me over that difficult period, but Mary Ann had graduated from High School with honors and had won a scholarship to BYU, Eva had brought her sister, Louise, to live with us, and it was a hard period of time.  I hate to recall all the heartache connected with taking care of Mother.  I had a woman come and care for her while I was at school then I took over for the nights.  The nights were terrible for she was so restless that many nights I hardly got any sleep at all.  She was 89 years old and very feeble and sad.  I could hardly bear to see her like this.  I wrote in my Journal:  “I cannot write about the problems we encountered in our care of Mother.  They are too painful and something I’m not anxious to recall.  It has meant a great deal of adjustments for our family.  She is so senile and incoherent, and to make matters worse, she is nearly blind.”

Grandma Rogers in her last days

            The yard work around the place was staggering, with Grandma Ericksen’s place, the Memorial Home, the Clinic and apartments, besides our yard and garden.  I would take Mother out on the porch or in her wheelchair out to the yard to watch me work.  I worked early and late.  Work, work, work, that is all I knew. 

            During this trying time another tragedy struck our family.  Our dear sweet sister Louise died after two or three weeks of valiant struggle due to a brain tumor.  It was a terrible shock to us all.  She was such a pure, saintly person …too good for this life.  Less than two years later her husband, Royal, died suddenly of a heart attack.  It was July 1975, when Louise died, and Mother died in October of the same year.  Mother never realized that Louise was gone, but I’ve often thought what a reunion awaited her coming to the other side.

Grandma Ericksen was failing fast also, and required a lot of time and effort.  She died a year after Mother’s death in November 1976.

  Mary Ann was married December 20, 1975 to Alan Allred in the Arizona Temple.  Alan is a great boy, humble and righteous.  I could not ask for a better mate for my darling daughter.  But, she was so young, I couldn’t bring myself to think of her marriage at this time.  She loved school and and we wanted her to continue.  However, her marriage has been so happy that I’m sure it was inspired of the Lord.  The year closed with happiness and Thanksgiving.  I was thankful Mother did not have to linger longer, for life was no longer sweet to her. 

Mom's Story 1968-1972

Rogers Family in Hawaii

Mom’s Story 1968-1972

            In December 1968, Mother (Leonora Rogers) insisted that we all plan to go to Hawaii for Christmas.  My brother (M. R. –Scully Rogers) was living there and made the housing arrangements for us.  So for two weeks Mother’s entire family, consisting of Louise and Royal and their family, (except Marsha, who was living back East), Bill and I and our family plus Eva and Ivan and Grandma Ericksen, and Aunt May, all enjoyed the beauty of the Hawaiian Islands together.  What a paradise!  We saw everything and we received the “Red Carpet” treatment everywhere we went. 

Relief Society General Officers

            Mayola had been called to the General Board of Relief Society, so decided to sell her beautiful home in Scottsdale and move to Salt Lake City.  What a traumatic, sad time for her to break up the home she and Red had worked so hard to get.  I went to Scottsdale and packed her things for her, then Jim and Roger, Louise’s boy who was attending ASU, drove the moving van to Salt Lake and moved her into her lovely apartment on 10^th East. 

            We were having other serious problems.  Bill had discovered when he was in Portland as a dental student, that he had glaucoma in his eyes.  He had faithfully medicated his eyes but after twenty years he realized he was losing his sight in his peripheral vision.  His doctor in Phoenix recommended an operation.   This was the first time Dr. Aiello had done this delicate operation, and even though he did all he could the operation was not successful.  He was desperate so sent Bill to New York City to a world famous surgeon to have him correct the mistakes.  For two weeks, Bill was in the Flower Memorial Hospital on 5^th Ave. in New York City, while the dozens of doctors decided what was the best procedure to correct the problem.  Finally, he was operated on again and the lesion was closed using a high frequency radio beam to do the delicate work.  When he came back to Phoenix after the operation, the pressure in his eye again was extremely high.  So, Bill went back to New York alone to have it corrected.  The first time I went with him, and while he spent his time in the hospital, I spent my time seeing the great City of New York. 

Bishop Robert L Simpson

            There was a faith-promoting incident connected with this crucial part of our lives that I would like to relate.  As Bill’s eyesight began to fail, it was increasingly more difficult for him to work on his patients, so understandably our practice dropped off.  I had made up my mind that I’d go back to school and get my teaching certificate and library stamp.  This meant many extra hours of college work for me, but I began my Library work at ASU, coming home each weekend to take care of the family needs.  Our daughters were wonderful little homemakers during this time.  Of course, Bill was discouraged and wondered what would be his fate as far as his eyes were concerned.  It was Stake Conference time in Snowflake and Bishop Robert L. Simpson (of the Presiding Bishopric) was our visitor.  I had talked to President Taylor and he arranged a meeting at 7 a.m. Sunday morning before conference.  We met our appointment and Bishop Simpson and Bill visited about his condition.  Then he gave him a beautiful blessing.  In the blessing Bishop Simpson promised him that he would retain his eyesight for the rest of his lifetime.  What a promise!  This blessing has truly been fulfilled.  Finally, after all the trips to New York and Phoenix, Bill’s eyesight was saved and although he has lost a little vision out on the periphery, or side vision, he can see perfectly to do his work and to drive a car. 

            I attended school for several summers both at ASU and NAU plus taking many education extension courses.  Finally I received my Library Stamp plus a Secondary Teacher’s certificate, making a total of forty more credits to my degree.  The twelve years I spent at the Snowflake High School Library were some of the happiest years of my life.  I loved my work and the students and teachers with whom I worked. 

Elder LeGrande Richards

            These years from 1969 on were extremely busy years because I was at the height of my Indian Relief Society activities.  One of the highlights of my life, I think was when I was invited to speak at the General Relief Society conference on my experiences while serving in the mission.  I was so nervous about this great responsibility that I prayed constantly both in the preparation of the talk and for a good delivery as it was to be televised.  My prayers were answered for when I stood at that podium and looked out over the sea of faces, the beautiful women of the Church, a great peace and calm came over me.  I felt good about my talk, and had numerous women comment about it.  Sister Spafford told me I “stole the show”, but the greatest compliment I received was from Elder LeGrande Richards, who followed me on the program.  He said:  “What we need is a Sister Ericksen in every mission of the Church.”  A year later I was asked to conduct a twenty-minute seminar in the Lamanite department in teaching Shadow Leadership, at General Conference.  In 1972, after our big Lamanite conference in Snowflake, I was released from the Mission.  I had served six and a half years under three wonderful mission presidents:  President Hal Taylor, President Dale Tingy, and President Paul Felt.  Beyond a doubt that experience was the greatest of my life.     

Mom's Story -Southwest Indian Mission

Mom’s Story

Southwest Indian Mission

             There were house tours, landscaping classes, roadshows and hundreds of activities during these busy years that I was involved in, but the greatest calling I have ever received was to be the President of the Southwest Indian Mission Relief Society.  I had served on the Board under the presidency of Sister Helen Hill for a year or so before being called to be the President.  We, the Board members, would leave Snowflake Saturday morning and go to the Reservation, conduct leadership meetings and activities Saturday afternoon and evening.  Then were housed in the homes of Lamanite members.  Sunday was spent in Branch conferences.  It was a grueling weekend and we were totally involved in the work.  During the week we feverishly prepared for the weekend conferences.  Our families were placed second, but they were superb support.  Some months we clocked over 1100 miles travel –furnishing our own car and expenses. 

          

  Several important events stand out in my memory of those years that I served the Lamanite women.  In October of 1968, Sister Mary Ann Sharp, first counselor in the General Relief Society of the Church, called me and asked if I would be willing to write some Relief Society lessons for the Lamanite sisters throughout the Church.  I was overwhelmed, but attempted to do so.  She also wanted pictures to illustrate the lessons, and I had some Indian students do those for me.  They were beautiful.  This was a huge effort on my part, but through my experience with the Indian people I could see the need for a more simplified approach.  I and members of my Relief Society Board worked tirelessly over the lessons.  There were too many wonderful faith promoting events during this time while working with the Lamanite people for me to record here – you will have to refer to my journal for them. 

Belle Spafford

            In March 1968, near Red’s birthday, he died of a heart attack.  What a blow for my dear Mayola.  I shall never forget the sweet, little private funeral we held for him in her home before she took him back to New Orleans for burial.  Sister Belle S. Spafford, General Relief Society President, flew down to Phoenix to be with Mayola.  Mayola had just been called by the Relief Society to establish some Social Service Agencies in Arizona, California, Nevada, and Utah.  It was a big job, but she was well qualified for it. 

          

  As I saw the great needs of the Lamanite women, I was more able to help them.  Our calling as Board members was to establish Relief Societies throughout the Reservation and to teach the women the pattern of Relief Society.  Every year we tried to have a Mission-wide Relief Society conference, which were big events and took lots of effort.  As Window Rock was near the center of the Reservation many were held there.  We were nearly always honored with General Board visitors.  Two outstanding conferences were vivid in my memory – one held at Window Rock with Sister Spafford, Sister Sharp and Sister Gilbert attending, and one held at Snowflake with Sister Spafford and Mayola attending.  My, how we worked to get things ready for these conferences.  We held fashion shows, art shows, craft shows, mini classes on Nutrition, and Sanitation lessons in connection with our meetings, using the Indian talents.  Our husbands and children were enlisted to help serve the meals.  We left no stone unturned.  Every idea we were inspired with, we tried to act upon.

Navajo Women Waiting by Barbara Latham

            I shall not forget the wonderful convention in Snowflake.  We had over 600 Lamanite women attend, coming from all over the Reservation –Apache, Navajo, Hope, Zuni and Pueblo, and we housed them in homes around town.  It was a cold March day in 1972 and we had expended every effort even to enlisting the Stake Relief Societies around us to help:  St Johns, Snowflake, Flagstaff, and Holbrook Stakes.  These Stake Relief Society leaders were simply marvelous.  The women from Kayenta, about 30 of them, had decided to bring their bedrolls and sleep outside the night before the convention.  However, about midnight a knock came on my door and the Relief Society President from Kayenta was there telling me that the women were cold and needed to be housed.  I told them to come in and we spread beds all over the house for them.  The next morning we were all up early enough to feed them and get them out of the house before I served Sister Spafford breakfast.  The most wonderful aspect of this experience was that among those dear women was Eva’s mother, who was not a member of the Church.  Imagine the thrill for Eva to awaken the next morning and find her mother there.  Later, through this experience, Sister Long joined the Church. 

Grandma Ericksen's little white house and flower garden

            There were many other important events that happened to us during this time.  Bill’s father died suddenly in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, and his mother was lonely and lost.  We had an opportunity to purchase the little white house across the street from us owned originally by Aunt Janet Smith.  We fixed it up for Grandma and invited her to come to Snowflake to live.  It was hard for her to leave her friends, but over the years it proved to be a blessing for her to be near one of her children.  She lived there from July 1968, keeping it just like a “doll house” until she died in November 1976.  The last few years of her life were hard for her after she suffered a stroke.  She loved beautiful things and it was difficult for her to keep her yard and home like she always was accustomed to keeping it.  Bill and I helped her all we could. 

           

The school, under the superintendency of Steve Clayton had just passed a bond issue and in May 1968, the new, beautiful auditorium was dedicated.  In June a devastating fire burned the old gymnasium, and Seminary building, and the east end of our beautiful new swimming pool, and would have burnt the old Academy building had not John Ballard, single-handedly hosed that huge roof.  With the wind blowing about 60 miles an hour, to see that brave man on the top of that huge building trying to save it, struck fear in the hearts of the Townspeople.  But the building was saved, and the swimming pool repaired.  July 20, 1968, the Swimming pool was dedicated.  It was a triumphal day after so much work to accomplish the project. 

           

September 30, 1968, our Indian Mission was asked to put on a display at the General Relief Society Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah.  I’ll never forget how Mayola came to our rescue and put the final touches on our display.  We had gathered Art and Crafts from all over the Reservation to take up to be displayed.  Also, a year later, Sister Spafford asked our Mission to gather beautiful pieces of Indian Art for her to take as a gift to Thailand when she was serving as the President of the National Council of Women.  Later at another conference my Mother was asked to be one of the speakers.  How we prayed for dear Mother, but she was composed and beautiful and presented her talk in an inspiring manner.  She was over 80 years old, and told what Relief Society had meant in her life –in my eyes a fitting example of Relief Society.