He wasn't Grandpa Bob, but he was a great Grandpa Stevens!

Harry is known to our grandchildren as "Grandpa Bob."  He tells "Grandpa Bob" stories when they come to spend the night.  The stories always include chocolate milk and Milanos too.  He is becoming pretty "famous" with the kids - and they love the stories.  (One time Esme asked him to repeat a story - he was at a loss - he just makes them up as he goes - and doesn't think about repeating them!)

My own Grandpa Stevens was not a story-telling man, but apparently he hung up diapers - as least he did one time when this photo was taken.  But I have some great memories of time spent with him.  He had a 3-hole golf course in his back yard and would let us "play golf" with him when we were there.  He'd let us help him water the garden too.  He worked for GM and got a new car every year.  When they came out to visit, he'd give us and our friends rides around in whatever new car he had then.  Riding in a new car was pretty special - especially the year it was a Cadillac convertible.

One special memory from my childhood was the Christmas he and Grandma gave me roller-skates.  Our small house was surrounded by concrete sidewalk - not sure why, it was just built that way.  He had me put one hand on the wall of the house and he held my other hand.  He walked with me around and around the house until I was steady enough to skate on my own.  I was maybe 7 or 8 and I can still feel the stucco of the walls under my fingers.

I was visiting with my mom today, and she shared a story I've never heard.  She said the year she was 5 or 6 she got a tea set and small table and chairs for Christmas.  She said she can still remember her dad sitting with her and having a tea party that day.  It was water and crackers she said, but he stayed with her and played for quite a while.

There are other stories about my grandpa:  he said children should be seen and not heard, he said women didn't belong in college, he said my mom shouldn't have had so many kids, and he often said that if she and my dad would just stop paying tithing they could get ahead!  (He was pretty critical about our church membership.)

After he died, my grandmother went to his clubhouse to gather up his golf clubs and other personal items.  Several of the men there asked her how her grandson was doing.  She asked which grandson they were referring to, since she had 8.  They replied, "The one who's on a mission for the Mormon church.  Harry talked about him all the time and admired his diligence and service."

Sometimes I guess you just never know everything there is to know about a person!

 

Aunt Audrey

This is a photo of my Aunt Audrey.  She was probably my favorite aunt.  I'm not sure why, but she was very kind, quiet, and soft-spoken.

She was married to my dad's brother Ted.  They had four children - Pattie, Peggy, Phyllis, and Jimmy.  Pat was my age, and when I ran into her at BYU, she wondered what I was doing hanging out with Harry Terrill - he'd been the home teaching companion to their family's home teacher - which they called a Ward Teacher back then.

In 1967, after Harry and I got engaged, I would often stay out here in the San Gabriel Valley instead of having Harry drive all the way back and forth - and his folks didn't have a spare room, so I stayed at Audrey's house.  She was a lovely hostess and always made me feel welcome.

Ted and Audrey were divorced at one point, and Ted actually died at a relatively young age, but Audrey never sounded bitter or unkind.  She seemed to take everything life had to offer her in stride.

My most vivid memory of Audrey is an odd one, but it has stayed with me over the years.  They were out at our house once for some kind of family meal.  Audrey was helping dry the dishes.  I was so intrigued with the way she flipped silverware from the towel in her hand  into the drawer as she dried it.  I kept trying to learn how to do it  myself - it took me a few years, but I eventually mastered the skill!!

I also recall going out to visit their family.  They lived in an upstairs apartment, with a landing.  And they had a back porch with a retractable clothesline.  I remember on the way home saying "Pattie and Peggy are so lucky.  They have stairs and a landing and a clothesline you can pull in."  And my mom saying, "Poor Audrey.  All those stairs and having to put up with Byron (my dad's younger brother)  coming over all the time and having to have her wash out there for all the neighbors to see."  Interesting what a difference perspective - and station in life - have on how we see things! 

Audrey died a few years ago.  Alice and I went to visit her one summer - she had moved to Utah to be near her daughters.  And the next summer my mom and I went to visit.  I'm glad I did.  She was just the same lovely person - it's wonderful when you can count on your favorite aunt!!

What goes around, comes around - and aren't we glad it does??

Agnes got an American Girl doll for her birthday yesterday - and she was pretty excited!

 

25+ years ago her mom got a Cabbage Patch doll for her birthday - and she was pretty excited too!!

Sometimes it's just not too hard to bring a big smile to a little girl's face!

(The funny story about Phoebe's doll - which I'm sure I've told before - is that we went to buy it and there was only one left.  I picked it up - and noticed that it was $37 - which seemed outrageous to me.  I walked around the store debating whether to get it or not - saying to Bonny and Harry F. - "Your dad will flip when he finds out what it cost!"  And then Harry F. said, "Well, you could buy it and take it outside to the parking lot and sell it for $75 - and there's a line of people following us around to see if you are going to put it down!"  Harry the Dad did indeed "flip" when he heard the price.  But when he saw the look of pure joy on Phoebe's face when she opened it up, he said, "Well, you sure called that one right Barb!")