The Cardplayers

When Harry and I were first married and living in Salt Lake City, our dear friend Ronnie Horton got us a job ushering for the Salt Lake Symphony Orchestra. We got 4 tickets each time - and we loved doing the job - and being able to invite people to join us free of charge!

Those were great years - we did it for 3 or 4 years I think - maybe we quit ushering after Bonny was born and just went to the concerts? I do not recall. Harry had the opportunity to travel with the orchestra on their South American tour in 1971 - and that was an adventure. I stayed home with Bonny and had a couple of adventures on my own - not nearly as memorable as Harry's though!

The concerts for the orchestra were in the Tabernacle then - and we'd drive in and park on West Temple, on the street. As we walked to the Tabernacle, we passed a large cluster of old apartment buildings. They were fairly well cared for, but were old. Harry's great Aunt Vi had lived in them at one time - and we even visited her once.

Whenever we walked along the buildings, we would look down into the basement windows - we saw living rooms, kitchens, laundry rooms - and usually saw people in them. They seldom if ever looked up at us - and we tried not to stare. But it was intriguing to me!

I am not sure when we first noticed this one elderly couple (and what do you suppose - maybe they were all of 60 years old!!) They were always playing cards! It didn't matter what time we came by, they were there playing cards. When we were walking back to our car after the concert was over, their windows were dark. Maybe they really were old and couldn't stay awake past 10:30!

And so when I first found this old photo of my Grandma and Grandpa Stevens and my Aunt Dot and Uncle Steve - playing cards - my first thought was of the card-playing couple on West Temple in Salt Lake City.

Harry and I can be seen playing cards if you came up close to our kitchen or dining room windows - not every night though - and sometimes it's not cards, but Scrabble or Racko!!

What goes around comes around I guess!

Harry and Barbara (aka Harry and Bobbie!)

I had an Uncle Harry - and his wife's name was Barbara.  So I'm fond of saying that I have an Uncle Harry and an Aunt Barbara - even though she always went by Bobbie.

Funny how cigarettes and full ashtrays are so frequent in old 50's photos!

My Uncle Harry was something of a loner - not too sociable - but he looks pretty friendly here - and I remember him being friendly - at least I don't remember being afraid of him or anything.

And he was always good to my mother - his "little sister!"

My mother had her eye surgery over 2 years ago, and it was scheduled on Uncle Harry's birthday.  She felt like he was watching out for her!!

 A nice thought.

Some interesting trivia for your reading pleasure!!

I have been hunting for some specific photos - and of course I have not found them yet.  But I have found other treasures.  

This photo is part of a group panorama photo of temple workers at the Los Angeles Temple in 1969.  In the group of three men in the center, on the front row, the man on the left is President Benjamin L. Bowring.  I don't remember the name of the man in the middle, but the man next to the man in the middle is James B. Keysor.

Pres. Keysor is/was the owner of Century Record Mfg. Company in Saugus, CA.  I worked there for 9 months before I headed off to BYU  (9 months because I graduated from high school in January of 1963.)  He was friends with my parents, and he also lived with them in the Burbank Ward in the forties.  His son James Keysor Jr. was the man who hired me.  He and his wife also hired me as a baby-sitter and mother's helper when they had twin girls.

President Bowring is the man who performed our marriage ceremony in 1967.  Of special interest to us at least is the fact that he also performed the marriage ceremony for President and Sister Monson - before 1967 of course!!  He was in the temple presidency of the Salt Lake Temple at that time.

If you click on this photo and look at the woman almost in the center of the photo - on the third row with no one behind her - you will note a woman who bears a strong resemblance to my mother - as well she should, since she is my Grandma Stevens!  She was a temple worker when we got married - and took great pleasure in escorting me around the day we got married, introducing me to all of her friends!!  I now know what a pleasure it is to do just that!!

So there is the trivia trove for today - here's hoping I find the photos I am looking for!!

A quiet weekend -

Except for the chaos of "springing forward," there was not too much action around here. On Sunday I drove out with Greg and his son Jacob, and we went to church with Mom and Donna. We visited afterwards and then had a nice lunch. It is great to get to know Greg and his family better.

Saturday I hosted a little retirement luncheon for Eleanor Esqueda. Several people had conflicts, so several of the "old guard" were not there. But those of us who were had a fine time together.

I made the Weight Watcher's potato soup recipe - it was yummy - go for it!

Hope the week ahead is as quiet as the weekend - I had "prepared" for the time change, so I felt like that went well too. And I had a lovely facial on Friday after school - maybe that's what made it all so "mellow!!"

Where's the clue??

Copies of these two photos hang on the wall in the hallway. We took all the photos down when the floor guys came - and then rehung them. As we were putting them back up, Dad commented,

"I think these two photos were taken on the same day." Since it looked like it was Phoebe's birthday that was being celebrated, and since there were 10 candles on the cake,
and since we knew that the second photo had been taken at church for a directory or something, we Googled to see if October 11th had been a Sunday in 1987.


And indeed it had been a Sunday!! (Don't you love solving mysteries - or even just finding bits of trivia here and there!?)

I mostly just thought it was kind of remarkable that no one had ever pointed that out before.

Grandparents I loved!

Found these photos in the pictures at Mom's that I went through. The best part about them is that this is the way I remember them looking.

Don't know the years - but my Grandpa Stevens died in the early 60's so I'd say they are late 50's.

All that's written on the back of this one is Easter - but no year. Grandpa Clayton died in the early 70's - so this is before that time.

Having Eve here this weekend reminded me of how much I loved going to my grandparent's houses and visiting and staying overnight too. When you are one of many, some time alone - or with just one sibling - can be pretty significant. I have always been grateful that at least some of my kids really knew Grandma Connie anyway.