Dearest Family,
HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO STEVE ON WEDNESDAY
- A St. Patrick's Day Baby!!! It will be easy to remember your birthday
and I'm wondering why your parents didn't name you "Patrick" - Ha!!! I
hope you have a WONDERFUL day doing something special - I'm sure your
weather will be pretty.
HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO EMILY ON FRIDAY -
WOW - this is the BIG 16th birthday. I'm sure your trip to Costa Rica
has been part of your birthday present and I'm anxious to hear all about
it. I had a message from Bob telling me about going to dinner with you
and your family and you had a good fish dinner - THAT'S WONDERFUL. I
know you will be able to drive now and we will worry about you SO BE
VERY CAREFUL!!! I know you are such a serious young woman and won't
take any chances.
HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY TO ALL OF YOU
ON WEDNESDAY AND ESPECIALLY MY "IRISH" FAMILY - it doesn't get more
Irish than O'Donoghue. I don't know when the Roy Mellor family is
returning from Costa Rica but I know they will have some Irish food
somewhere along the line - I will wear green in your honor!!!
THANK YOU, THANK YOU JOHN!!! I spent most
of last week working on my "Genealogy Picture Project" and I was SO
worried that I had done it all wrong because when it asked whether or
not to save it I clicked on "no". I have talked to him several times
while he has been in Washington D.C. this week and he got home on Friday
night. He called early this morning and said he would come and check it
for me. He got here about 9 a.m. and he was SO encouraging and said
everything was good - I have accessed about 1,000 pictures this week and
I would have been VERY sick if they weren't done right. I want so much
to keep working on it until I have all the pictures scanned and recorded
- they are such WONDERFUL memories. I appreciate John SO VERY, VERY,
MUCH!!! He was on the same flight as Marilyn Lucas last week and he
said they had a good visit - he said she looks good and is very happy
with her work and life. Barbie Lucas is a pediatrician in California -
they are both single. Ed Lucas has remarried to a foreign woman (from
Bangdaleish (?) I think) and she is a very shy woman - WOW, what a
contrast from Marge!!!
Our attorney, Wally Bournemeir, called and
wants an appointment to go over all my legal things. John can come on
Monday, March 22nd, so I will call Wally to confirm that date - 6 p.m.
I hope as many of you as possible will come and I will take you all to
dinner if that works out - probably after our meeting. I'm sure all of
you are wondering why it is important and maybe it isn't but I just want
to let you all know.
This has been a busy week for me. I visited
with Ellen Mae & Mel on Tuesday - they had just come home from
California and were sad but also at peace about C.R.'s death. I went to
his funeral on Thursday in Brigham City and it was different but very,
very nice. It was held in the mortuary owned by our friends and they
had a "jazz band" playing the prelude, postlude and special musical
number - they were very good and the selections were appropriate. Ellen
Mae had warned me that it was going to be different from any funeral I
had ever been to so I was prepared. C.R.'s four children and their
children were there and all of Ellen Mae & Mels' family - their son,
Robert had flown in from New York to go to California when he died and
then again on Thursday for his funeral. Their granddaughter was there
with her 2 month old twins and their other family members. Gene & Wayne
Rich and their family also attended and Wayne conducted the services.
Ellen Mae gave an excellent talk and so did C.R.'s children. It was
very interesting to me to hear about the outdoor accomplishments of C.R.
- he climbed almost to the top of Mt. McKinley and it was his goal to
reach the top but his accident stopped all that. He was completely
paralyzed from the waist down for 32 years.
Ellen Mae & Mel have been close friends to
another couple here in this area all their married lives and this couple
attended C.R.'s funeral on Thursday - in fact, they sat right across the
aisle from where I was sitting. Friday this man was cleaning up his
yard and getting it ready for Spring and took all the debris to the
"dump" - the managers found him lying on the ground outside his truck
and called 911. They revived him but he died enroute to the hospital.
His name is Jack Rampton - an orthodontist here in Davis County and a
very prominent resident. Ellen Mae came over yesterday and told me
about it - they had planned to go to Texas with them in a couple weeks
for their annual golf trip. YOU NEVER KNOW!!!
I finally got to Salt Lake to visit with Don
and I am SO impressed with the V.A. Nursing Home. It is by Fort Douglas
and is just beautiful on the inside. Don was in the dining room having
dinner when I got there so I waited and a nurse wheeled him in his
wheelchair to the large room where we could visit. He talked and talked
and he hasn't done that for a couple years - he really seemed "with it"
and knew all about the politics going on and other things - I WAS
THRILLED. There are alot of other men there and they all seem to like
him and I visited with one man whose room is close to Dons - he knew all
about Don's family and his background and was fun to talk to. I called
Cheryl and told her about my visit and she said "you can't imagine the
problems I am having with him - they called me a couple days ago and
said Don was out in the middle of the street on his way walking as fast
as he could go". That is hard to believe since he can't really walk.
They got him back in the home and Cheryl went right up to visit with
him. I hope he settles down and is more content because that is a
wonderful place for him - the orderlies can put him in bed and that is
practically impossible for Cheryl.
Ron, Ann, Russell & Jimmy have been in
Chandler, Arizona with Susanna, Steve & Jackson this past weekend. I
know they have had a good time - they hoped to do a little painting
along with their fun. Jeannie came over last Sunday and we had a good
visit and things are going good with their family - Ricky has been in
San Diego for Spring Break. I get a little news about Boyd on my
computer and this week it was fun to have a quote from Barji which said
"life on the PGA Tour has its ups and downs but I really love it" - WHAT
A TROOPER!!! I believe Barji will be home this week and maybe she will
find out if she is carrying a baby boy or baby girl - EXCITING!!! I
think how fun it would be for her to have a baby girl so she and Susanna
will have the same "kinds" to play with. Don told me when I visited
with him that his son Clint just had another baby boy - he said he would
even pay to have some granddaughters - Ha!!! He does have one and she
is a student at BYU. Bob, Claire, Michael, Laura & Stacy came home last
night and I know they had a good time in Costa Rica - I'm glad our
weather is better than when they left.
They are doing LOTS more construction in my
area and I am REALLY "boxed in". They are tearing up Shepard Lane for
the next two weeks so if I want to go South I have to go North and then
East and then South along the old Farmington road - it takes quite a bit
longer than going directly to the freeway. I went to the Temple this
morning for a training session after John left and it took me longer -
BUT I will only complain in my letters. I wouldn't complain at all
except that this is the third time they have torn that very same street
up - Ha!!!
That's all the news, I think. I LOVE EACH
ONE OF YOU SO VERY, VERY MUCH. PLEASE BE SO VERY, VERY CAREFUL IN
EVERTHING YOU DO - Grandma B XXXXXOOOOO