The beginnings of sisterhood in my life - but not the familial kind

This is a photo from Horne Hall, December 1963. We all got up at 5:00 a.m. to exchange gifts before we headed home for the holidays. My roomies in order: Joy, Judy, Marlene, me, Pat, and Janet.

I was thinking about the gifts that Pat gave each of us. I certainly don't remember what I gave people on that occasion, but I have never forgotten how Pat had gotten little, tiny glass figurines that represented each one of us - and then she wrote a poem about each one of us. I don't have the figurine anymore - but I think maybe the poem is somewhere in my "stuff." But I remember the first line,

"Here's Barb, with her chic new "double-bubble,"

Marlene wore her hair in a "double-bubble" which means she teased the bottom into a bubble. Then she teased the top into another bubble on top of it. It was indeed chic. And for someone who'd spent the last several years looking like Mary Martin in Peter Pan, it was quite a change for me to adopt the hair style.

Pat was a wonderful roommate - she was a couple of years older than us - she was a junior in fact - and she was hard-working and serious and so kind and helpful. And she washed her hair with Tide. (I tried it a couple of times, but it was pretty harsh, so I gave it up.) And she is the reason I was an English major.

Pat: What is your major?
Me: I don't know, maybe math?
Pat: Math is hard.
Me: Maybe French?
Pat: Language majors take more time.
Me: Maybe English?
Pat: Good choice.

As I think about the role of sisterhood in the lives of LDS women, I realize that I came to love other women the way I loved my sisters as I lived with these girls for two years at BYU. I was really learning about the sisterhood that is Relief Society, but I didn't know that then. And I'm not sure that the church or BYU even realized the role this played in shaping our future interactions in the church.

Women can be each other's best friends - or worst enemies. And Relief Society provides a divine forum for learning to become one another's best friends.

I will always be grateful for those college years of living, loving, and learning to grow together as women. It was a good training ground!

I felt that our Women's Conference today was a beautiful testimony of growing and learning together as women of God. And it all started way back when!!

Thinking about "Little Women"

We went to Centre Stage Friday night and saw their performance of Little Women. I had seen it at the Pantages a few years ago, and their performance was really just as good - and we had better seats!!


When Annika was born, Ara came to me and said, "Grandma, now we are our own Little Women."


When Harry and I went to Boston one year for the marathon, we went to Concord and visited Orchard House - Louisa May Alcott's home. It was everything I expected it to be. In fact, I kept waiting for Jo to come bounding down the stairs!



And I often think of my 4 lovely daughters as a great group of Little Women.


(I have 5 sisters, so we don't exactly fit the mold, but we like to think that we are a group of Little Women too!!)

So when I came across this photo of the wonderful Burdick sisters, from Eliza's wedding reception, I thought that they certainly qualify as a bona fide Little Women group!!

(And they always look so fashionable and well put together!! They probably don't scorch their party dresses and have to carry one soiled glove all scrunched up!!)

(And that's Desirae McKendrick Badger in the middle!!)

Do we sense a theme here?? I have several aprons to sew by next Saturday - I think I will watch Little Women while I sew!!

"The Way We Were"

All this talk about decades makes me realize that I don't really think in decades. People talk about clothes and music and hairdos and movies and TV shows and frankly, it all kind of blurs for me. I navigate decades the way I navigate period - with landmarks.

For me, clothing is a landmark, not a description of how people dressed. For example, I found this old, rather bad photo in a box of other photos. It has no real markers as to where it was taken. Dad said, "Well, those were my first glasses. That's why they are so big and shiny. And that would be Centerville."

And the salmon-colored dress is one I made at Margaret's School of Custom Dressmaking - also in Centerville. I loved that dress. I loved making it. I loved wearing it. I loved how it made me feel. And I have no idea what I did with it when it quit fitting me - or when I quit wearing it. I was pretty thin until I got pregnant with Eliza. But all my memories of wearing this dress are from Centerville.

And that would be the 70's.

And I usually didn't wear it with this jacket. I had made a lovely floral quilted vest that I usually wore with it. And I don't know what happened to that vest either. What I do know is that I loved how that vest looked so much that I keep trying out wearing vests. Even though they really don't "work" for me anymore.

All this info from one rather bad photo.

The power of the visual!

Food for thought

The photo has little to do with the post - I just like to use photos I haven't used before. This is Christmas time - Eliza could probably tell you the year!!

And since it's a shot of her before her violin recital, it may have something to do with the post.

I googled "Karen Lamb" after Anna May quoted her in the daily "Need to Know," and apparently she dispenses quotes!!

No matter - I like what she said - if indeed she's a woman - she could be a corporation!!

"A year from now you may wish you had started today."

Pretty compelling thought, yes?

"Turn around and you're a young wife . . ."

I come across random photos from the Young Women days. I get very nostalgic. Maybe it's just me, but I remember those years as a wonderful time.

Especially on the heels of having seen some of these same young women - now wives and mothers and returned missionaries - and I hope the work we did with them helped them become the wonderful women they are today.

I know the whereabouts of all of them except Crystal.

A little something to live by:

I continue with my random photo syndrome - but when I found this photo - of our ever-insightful Calvin in August of 2007 - I also found this quote I'd copied down.

"Remember, you're braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think."
Christopher Robin

Happy Belated Greetings to Richard!!

I don't think I am ever on time wishing Richard a happy birthday!! But then, when your birthday is on a holiday, I guess that is what happens. This is a photo of how the family looked when Richard was the "baby" of the crew. I remember his birth. I remember sitting out on the curb waiting for Dad to come home and tell us about the new baby!!

This is the one and only time I ever went fishing - we went with Richard and Julie - must be '75 or so.

Ah, the famous beach shots from Oxnard!!

This was Dad's funeral in 2000.

And this is the shop - a rite of passage for Clayton males!! (I actually worked there too at times - doing filing, but I didn't get a swell apron!!)

And this is Richard's baby picture. Mom says he was the best baby she had - easygoing and didn't fuss a lot.

Even though the greetings are tardy, they are nonetheless sincere - hope it was a great day - and that the year ahead is the best!!