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.