October 18, 1993 Orem, Utah

Dearest John; Roy, Patrice, Emily & Timothy; Bob, Claire, Michael, Laura, Brett & Katie; Rick, Jean, Ricky, Barbara Jean, Mary Ann & Sarah; and Ron, Ann, Susanna, Jessie, Russell, LeeAnna & Jimmy:

I haven't written for a couple weeks so I want to mention Mary Ann's birthday on the 10th - I hope you had a happy 11th birthday and maybe a party - I'll bet you have already started your practices for the Nutcracker!!! Little Timothy will be three years old this Saturday, the 23rd, and after being with him for a week he seems MUCH older - it would be like raising another Roy with him - he is SO much like his Dad!!! Susanna will be 15 years old on this Sunday, the 24th, and I'm sure she will have a big celebration - she has a million friends!!! Roy & Patrice will have their birthdays on Monday, the 25th, and I hope they will have a big celebration too!!! Happy Birthday to all of you.

I don't know where to begin as I want to tell you about my "Vacation" in Little Rock. I didn't intend for it to be as much of a vacation as it was - I really wanted to help Patrice but her home was so immaculate and so well managed I didn't do one thing. I tried to rake a few leaves but little Timothy "tattled" on me and his mother insisted that I stop. If I could have made a "game plan" for a return to Little Rock since Daddy died I couldn't have had a happier experience - it was absolutely WONDERFUL in every way. I'll have to admit I was very concerned about how it would affect me and when I face things like that I have found the best thing to do is to keep really busy - WELL, I couldn't have been busier!!!

I arrived in Little Rock on Saturday afternoon and the children and Patrice were at the airport to meet me - I didn't know until I got there that Roy had gone to Washington D.C. earlier that day. Patrice had to make two trips to the airport that day and she had had some very important church meetings she had to attend and she still found time to fix a delicious dinner (pork loin roast, rice, vegetable and salad) - I loved it!!!

Sunday morning I went to our old ward meetings which started at 90'clock and it was so much fun to see many people I remembered. Joy Geisler met me at church and made sure I saw a lot of friends - the Adays, the Jim Browns, the Littlefields, the Hatches, the Millards, the Culwells, etc. etc. Bill Bailey is Bishop there now and is doing a good job - do any of you remember him? We left after their Sacrament meeting and drove to North Little Rock to attend meetings in their new Stake House. We had a hard time finding it but still made it in time and I was SO impressed with their Relief Society - I remembered more people there than I did in our Little Rock Ward - Nell Wiggins, Bessie Wilhite, Veda Lewis, the Molines, the Corpiers, the Wings, and lots of people I can't remember their names right now. I was SO sad to learn that Suzette Lewis Brown's husband was in a terrible accident and is in a wheel chair and is paralyzed from the neck down. They have two little children - a boy and a little girl.

Gayle gave us the "grand tour" of the building and it is the most elaborate church building I have ever been in and I was in many of them while we were in Montana. It has an elevator in the chapel to take people in wheel chairs up to the podium to share their testimonies. The High Council room looks like something you would expect to see in a High Government Office and it has its own private bathroom next to it. The Wings are doing good but I get the feeling that Gayle is running on empty.

After that, Joy I went to her favorite Chinese restaurant for lunch - it's close by her home. Then I went back to Roy & Patrices' home and Patrice had just taken an apple cake out of the oven and it was HEAVENLY. She had also fixed a delicious "chicken on the bone" dinner (and then I wonder why I gained ten pounds in one week). The weather was just perfect all the time while I was there and we spend a lot of time out in their yard - they have a wonderful patio with benches, table and chairs and a great playground for the children. It was so much fun to be out there with Emily and Timothy because they were so content with the swing set Roy had built, the sand box, the playhouse, the tree and all their toys and Emily has a darling little neighbor friend who loves to come play with them.

I walked to school with Emily and her little friend each morning and I LOVED that - they have to cross some dangerous streets so Patrice won't be able to let them walk by themselves - she'll probably end up driving them when the baby comes. They have a crossing guard who helps them go across Cantrell and I must tell you about her. Her name is Rosie and she is a small black woman but she is a dynamo. She has rules that the children must obey but I didn't know the rules and one of them is that you don't step off the curb until she says, "GO". Well - I stepped off the curb too soon and she just screamed "Lord, Jesus, baby you get up on the walk - do you want to get killed?" I didn't do that again!!!

I planned to stay home and "tend" Patrice so I did that on Monday and now I wish I had stayed home more but Roy came home on Tuesday and they surely didn't need me - he was on vacation for the rest of the week.

Tuesday morning, Chris came and got me and took me all over Little Rock to show me the new developments and we had a wonderful time visiting. I had been "very upset" about them not coming to see me but after I saw Marc I could understand - he really looks bad!!! After we had visited for a while she went to get Joy and the three of us went to the "Oasis" - I believe that's what it is called - for lunch. It is a large "retreat" used by different churches and organizations for special meetings and for individuals for meditation places - there is a restaurant for luncheons and lodges for people to stay in. It is run entirely by volunteers and it is in a beautiful setting and it was gorgeous the day we were there. Marc works out there one day a week and he was there on Tuesday so he had lunch with us - he barely ate his tuna sandwich - the rest of us had big lunches - and he could barely walk. I haven't seen him since his stroke but it was a shock and I cried as I hugged Chris and told her I understood why they couldn't come stay with me.

Wednesday morning, I went to visit with Pete. She is just the same - she had a slight stroke and the doctor put her on a low fat diet and she weighs 92 pounds. Her home is just the same as it was when we lived there except she has a new refrigerator - Ha! I also visited with Martene Funk who lives across the street - he was out in his yard when I drove up - he just celebrated his 80th birthday. I walked up the back of the driveway to our former home and took pictures of the backyard - it looks just the same too and I wasn't sad which was a big relief!!!

Then I went to have school lunch with Emily and that was SO much fun. I was very impressed with her school and her teacher and she is SO happy there - all the children come up to hug her when I walk to school with her. They have a special table for guests and it has a "red tablecloth" on it with a flower arrangement and the students get to sit with their guests - I though that was really special. We had turkey and noodles the day I was there and also an apple, chocolate pudding and rolls - it tasted just like the food I used to get when I taught in Little Rock and I love it but Emily chose to take a sandwich that day.

After that I drove to Little Rock to see Betty Young - Daddy's former secretary and she is beautiful - I'm glad she wasn't that pretty when she worked for Daddy - Ha!!! She is doing great but I'm SO glad I have my family and not hers - her only daughter just got a divorce and she had unhappy experiences with her only grand daughter.

I must tell you too that Roy turned his brand new Volvo over for me to use. I begged to use their "Vanagon" (is that right?) but Roy said it wasn't dependable. I LOVED their Volvo but I worried that I would get it hurt in some way.

Thursday was such a special day. I called Bobbye Dennis to tell her I was in town and wanted to see her and as she was looking at her calendar she said, "Oh, Barbara, the Leawood Heights Garden Club meets on Thursday morning". That was WONDERFUL and I got to see friends I haven't seen since I left Little Rock and they haven't changed at all. It was held at Dot Morey's home and Bob, you will remember their son who had a disease, I'm not sure if it was muscular dystrophy or multiple sclerosis, and he thought so much of you. I remember him coming to your Mission Welcome Home open house in a wheel chair. Anyway, he died about two years ago. Their other son is a minister in a church in L.R. Dot asked all about you and I was SO proud to tell her what you were doing - Angela Lateana also wanted to know about you.

After garden club, Bobbye and Margie Sims and I went to lunch at a place called "Trios" - I decided to be brave and ordered an artichoke, mainly to see how they would serve it, but I don't believe I would do that again. Margie is a special friend too. Then, Bobbye and I drove out to see Helen Bridges. She had invited us to come spend the afternoon with her and we almost did. She is the same Helen - her home is perfection and she was did. She is the same Helen - her home is perfection and she was in a tizzy because she was having to get a new bedspread that in a tizzy because she was having to get a new bedspread that would fit a king size bed when she had just had one made for a queen size. She had LOTS of picture to show us - she and Dean had celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary not long ago and they had pictures of that and their grand daughter, Mary Helen, had been married and they had pictures of that. Mary Helen is a very tall and large woman - beautiful though. Janie called while I was there and I visited with her for a little while.

Then, when I went home, Roy & Patrice said they wanted to take me to dinner at one of their favorite places - the "Dixie Café". I was starving because of the artichoke and everything tasted SO good - I had black - eyed pea salad, fried okra and chicken fried steak - how Southern can you get??? Emily and Timothy liked the rolls and cornbread - Ha!!!

Friday morning Roy drive me to the two Stake Presidents' homes to deliver the "Quads" I had bought in remembrance of Daddy and that meant so much to me. It was fun to visit with the Cobbs for a few minutes and then to North Little Rock and George Wing was SO nice as he talked about the great influence Daddy had had on the growth of the church to Arkansas. Dick Cobb said that too. The books are very nice and Susanna did such a wonderful calligraphy job on the front page - "In Memory of Jesse Lynn Mellor who served in Arkansas, 1964 - 1982".

We went to the Unitarian Church on our way home because I wanted to see the playground that Roy had built for them. I wish you could all see that - it is WONDERFUL!!! Their church is so much larger than I had realized - Roy took me in back of it to see the playground and I could see more of it than I could from the street. They have cement picnic benches in back as well as a great play area for the children - they have a lot of socials and I can understand why. I was reading the Arkansas paper while I was waiting at the airport and found an article about the church and they are celebrating their 200th anniversary of Universalism in America. This article told me more about the church than I have ever know - it was organized in 1793 for those who believed in universal salvation or the absence of hell and who were committed to live in the tension between humanistic liberalism and Christianity and who were active in liberal causes - whatever that means - Ha!!! Anyway, I'm happy that Patrice is so happy as she devotes so much of her time and energy to the church.

When we got home Roy & Patrice had lunch out on their patio and I sat with them wishing I could have what they were eating but Cissy & Charles were coming to take me to lunch at the Red Lobster. They had put Timothy down for his nap and before he got sound asleep, the Beyers came and woke him up - you know how loud they can be!!! We went for lunch and they had to contend with a sleepy little boy who couldn't go to sleep. It was fun to be with Cissy & Charles and I wondered how Daddy would have reacted as they told of tensions between Charles who is a Bishop in Hot Springs and Jim Griffin who is a Regional Representative - I enjoyed our visit so much but I was glad I wasn't involved.

When the Beyers left, I went to visit with Dorothy and Dan and they are just exactly the same as they were 11 years ago. They had been on a trip to the New England States and had just come home and I could tell Dorothy was tired. We had a wonderful visit and again I was so glad I have my family and not theirs.

The Leawood neighborhood is VERY upset about John Robert Bass- the divorce is final and Kaye (his former wife) got the house and of course, custody of the children but not much money to support them. They are also VERY upset about Chick Luten - his son, Randy, had to go to court almost monthly to get alimony money for his Mother. Betty Luten has bad knees but other than that she is doing good.

Friday night, Roy & Patrice took me to their favorite Mexican Restaurant - I believe the name is "Back Porch" and it is way out by Maumelle. It is a typical good Mexican Restaurant in its décor and the food was delicious. The children love it because they go and get their own bowls of cheese dip and chips and Emily especially likes the "Ooey Gooey" which is a warm brownie with vanilla ice cream on top.

Then we came home and I packed. Saturday morning, Roy took me to the airport and after a week of absolutely fantastic weather we were both worried that I would be "fogged in". The plane I was on left but the pilot said we were one of the few to be able to leave. I got home right on time and it was fun to find the "shuttle" in the airport - other times I have walked a long way.

Thank you SO much Roy & Patrice. I am VERY impressed with all you are doing - I can't believe that two weeks before your baby is due, that Patrice is taking school children to the State Fair, cooking a farm breakfast for Emily's class and waiting on her mother-in-law. They have wonderful compost for their garden, they save all their food scraps and Roy grinds up garden leaves. They planted pansies while I was there in such good looking soil.

Roy had a good anesthesiology meeting in Washington D.C. and he was able to do a little sight seeming - he went to the Holocaust Museum and other places and he had dinner with his first roommate at Brown who is now a neuro-surgeon.

John called us one night from England - I'll be glad when he comes home on Wednesday. I have talked to the Woolleys - they're doing good - I hope the Bob Mellors and Weinerts are too.

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