Born in Utah, Raised In Montana, This is Part One of the Life of Janet Ethel Anderson--January 1933 to August 1956.

College is Cool

In June of 1951 Mom, Dad, Carole and I packed the Cadillac and left for Utah to pick up Marilyn and all her luggage from BYU. We stopped at Jeanne and Stan's home and were entertained with boating on the lake and playing with baby Stevie.

Marilyn, why so much stuff?

You can't make that fit!

Raine and Kay at Silvergate.

















Marilyn had so much luggage Stan was sure Dad could not get it all in.


However, by loading the top high and filling the trunk he somehow managed. On the way home we toured Yellowstone and saw Old Faithful, the Morning Glory Pool and other attractions like the bears on the road.









All done, We're on our way!









For many years we had vacationed in Silvergate, Montana where Dad was planning on building a cabin. We loved the area and always enjoyed Yellowstone. I have pictures of us being at Silvergate with my friends Kay and Lorraine so our families must have all vacationed together.






I thought that I probably just wanted to get married after high school but Harry being a Catholic was a BIG problem. My brother Dick spent a good deal of time talking to me about going to college and becoming a secretary. I think he knew if I just went one year I would love it. I am sure my parents encouraged him to talk to me. I was enticed by his stories of being a secretary to some high corporate executive and flying around from place to place as Dick painted a rosy picture for me.


I did apply and was accepted at BYU. I was very nervous about going to BYU--we had not had Seminary and so I felt perhaps my knowledge of the Gospel would be inferior to the other students. It was also hard to leave home. Of course, Marilyn was going to BYU and that would help but I would be living in Allen Hall and she was living off campus. Jeanne and Stan and their family lived in Orem and that would be a great help, but it was a few miles away and I had no car. 


I really do not remember the exact status of Harry and I when I went to college. I do not have any letters saved from the first year but I had the sheet music to "I Can Dream, Can't I?" and "Perfidia" and would play them on the piano at Allen Hall. They would have definitely have pertained to Harry. Berta went to MSU in Missoula and Kay went to college in Colorado. Kay and Chuck had been gonig steady for a long time and he was attending college at Pullman, Washington. Lorraine went to Montana State and then married after one year.  Myrna stayed home and worked. Her boyfriend Donny was in the Army.


Allen Hall 1951
I will never never forget the feeling I had that first night in Allen Hall. The freshman had to arrive early but none of my roommates were there yet.  I stayed in my room, feeling so lonely as I could hear girls in the halls who obviously knew each other and were having a wonderful time. I think this was the loneliest I had ever felt in my life. I was not brave enough to step outside my door and say hello to anyone.


Janet, Helen, Christy

Georgia
from Nevada

The next day my roommates arrived. Christy from Hood River, Oregon was very friendly, I really liked her. Georgia from Ely, Nevada was also neat but our other roommate Helen from Nevada was sort of a misfit with us.  I saw her years later at a Primary Conference and she was really a very lovely person so I don‘t know why I did not see that in college. In 2007 she was extremely helpful to Linda at the Family History Center  in Salt Lake City and it was quite by accident we realized we had been roommates at Allen Hall in 1951 at BYU.

The first Christmas home from college we had a big dinner party at our home.  We had lots to share about college life with those who had stayed home and worked.

Berta, Raine, Sieve, Kay


Sieve, Kay, Phyllis


Myrna, Judy Charlotte, Raine

The rooms were small at Allen Hall. We had two very small closets and about six drawers for all four of our clothes. This had previously been a boy's dorm. We had two sets of bunk beds and the room itself could not have been more than 9 by 10 or so. We had great meals though and I began to put on a little weight. We liked to sneak down to the kitchen and snitch ice cream and we kept bread and peanut butter in our room. There was a huge study room upstairs so that helped and you could play the piano in the dining room. There was also a store about a block away which had big, red apples for a nickel and the little licorice babies I loved so much.

Janet, Georgia, Christy










I would rue the day when I said to my new roommates, as we were walking to the store and discussing romance one evening, that I really wanted to get a broken heart someday. What a dumb thing to say.  I would have that wish fulfilled several times in the future.















I am on the right...












We liked to suntan on the roof in the springtime--I have pictures of that. There were many afternoon dances to which everyone went stag and they were horrible. There were so many girls lined up on the side. You really felt like a wallflower most of the time. After being popular and having lots of friends it was a big change to come to a big college. In spite of that it was always fun with lots of talking, giggling, and activities.

Homecoming was special with a visit from Colleen Hutchins who was Miss America and formerly of BYU. I also joined Marilyn's social unit Fidelas but they had so many rules about being late and meetings and such. I really did not like it.

As a freshman I took a genealogy class I really liked.   I went to Ogden and Aunt Erica entrusted me with the family records.  It is a choice memory to see myself accepting this old book and she telling me to take care of them and that this was my mission.

Favorite Coat
From then on I began to take the bus to the Genealogy Building in Salt Lake to hand copy information from the books of records. Since the bus was only on Thursday nights and that was the same night as Fidelas I stopped going to the social unit meetings. Before I quit though we were able to be in a musical performance of "Carousel" with another male social unit and that was a so much fun. I really enjoyed the whole experience though I was not a good singer and I was very shy about acting.  I had always wanted to be a singer but I just could not forget my fears long enough to really emote. The fellow who directed it has been head of the Cedar City Shakespeare Theater for years and is very successful.

What I loved most of all at college were the Devotionals that were held every Tuesday morning in the field house. A General Authority would speak to us and I really began to grow spiritually. When I went home at Christmas I bore my testimony to say how much I loved BYU and how spiritual it was. As soon as I said that I started crying and I could not stop. I am sure my family was shocked as I never cried in front of anyone. This has been the nature of my crying--I hold it all in but if I ever do let it out I have a hard time stopping.

Church at BYU was held in the Joseph Smith Building and we met as a large branch rather than small wards. Once they asked to have all the heads meet right after opening exercises. Christy and I could not contain our giggles as we imagined all those heads rolling into the meeting.

Favorite Brown Velvet
Christy had a huge crush on a boy from her home town who did not pay any attention to her and she began to sleep in the daytime to avoid thinking about it. One prank that we used to play was to tell each other tall tales and see how long we could get them to believe us before they caught on. Usually it was harmless but one time Georgia and I told Christy a tale about this boy she liked and when she realized it was a lie she was very hurt and angry and stalked off up to the study room. We both felt very badly and for the first time in my life I had to humble myself and go apologize. Georgia never did and Christy and I became very close friends after that. I can still see those stairs I had to climb as I forced myself to go speak to her. It was very hard.

You were required to take a religion class each quarter and it was always so good. I loved the feelings that those teachers gave me. I also found that I was not so behind in my gospel learning even though I had not gone to Mutual or attended Seminary.

Georgia had a boyfriend called Einar who supposedly was kidnapped and it had something to do with when he was in Korea. It was very mysterious. She was madly in love with him but before she could land him so to speak she had a short fling with another fellow. Georgia was not particularly beautiful but she had a lot of poise and confidence in herself. She was the only one of us that was accepted into Cougarettes.  We later drove to the wedding of Georgia and Einar in Ely, Nevada and it was the worst snow storm I have ever driven in.  We had to open the windows and lean out to see where we were going a good part of the time.

The selection process for Cougarettes (a service organization who wore uniforms and ushered at games and activities) was a horrible experience  for me. You had to sit in front of about a dozen people while they asked you questions. I obviously did not do well. It is a sad memory to see them sitting in front of me asking me questions and I not being very clever in my answers. It was a very humiliating experience as I felt so inadequate. I also took piano lessons at BYU and surprisingly learned to play quite well. I had taken as a child for awhile but this was much different.
Jeanne, Stevie, Doug, Stan

It was always nice to go out to Jeanne's and eat dinner and spend time with her babies when the college scene was too heavy. I also worked at her husband’s Dairy Freez after I had a car in my junior year. Jeanne and Stan were very supportive and a great help to me since I was so far from home. Stan was quite the jokester and one time after he had hassled the boys about something he said, "Janet, have I ever given you advice about having children?" I said, "No" and expected some great wisdom.  He then said, "Don't".  He could always make Jeanne and I giggle.

Unfortunately. I did not have any special boyfriends my freshman year but we all decided we should ask a boy to the Preference Ball and it should be someone we had a crush on rather than just some geek that hung around us. So I got up my nerve and asked this cute boy who did not know me from Eve, so to speak. He was digging a ditch working for the school and I just walked up to him and asked if he would go. He was very nice (probably shocked) but said he already had a date. This was another humiliation. I have no idea whether he really had a date and I do not remember if I went to the dance or not.

At Christmas time our parents said we could come home if we came on the train. For some reason I had to get excused from my English test and it was no problem because I was doing so well!!! And this was in an advanced English class. College for the most part was not difficult for me. The first two years the classes were required classes to graduate and you did not need to choose a major.   It was knowing what major I actually wanted to choose that was the problem. 

At any rate going home on the train was a very neat experience. It took about 24 hours and went straight up from Utah and then across Montana from one end to the other. We had to sleep in our chairs. The train was stopped for hours in the snow near Butte but it was beautiful scenery. Fortunately there were soldiers on the train and they were very flirty and gave us lots of attention so it was really very flattering and not boring. Strange it was not hard for me to be friendly in that kind of situation.

The first year at BYU I made an appointment to get my Patriarchal Blessing. It was November 19, 1951 with Amos Newlove Merrill. It was a most sobering and humbling experience. He talked for such a long time and I could see the stenographer writing so quickly as he talked. I can still visualize in my mind, the room, Patriarch Merrill and remember how I felt. My Patriarchal Blessing has been a great guide to me. It said I was going to marry someone who wanted to take me to the Temple (but it surely took me a long time to find him). I was also blessed that I would be safe as I traveled up and down the earth and that the hand of the Lord would be outstretched to save me from harm and accident and sickness. I can certainly testify that that has been true.

Off to BYU in Fall 1952
The first time was driving home from BYU with Marilyn in the Plymouth one Christmas. Twice on that trip we had some perilous moments. Once was when we were coming to a bridge and Marilyn accidentally turned off the lights as she tried to get them to go brighter. It was in the South Pass area and no moon. It was so black I thought that was the end for sure. Another time she came around a curve too fast and went off the road into the gravel--that was really a miracle getting us out of that one. I remember Stan warning us about driving and I said, "Oh, don't worry, we never go over 75!" and his eyes widened and he began a lecture. I was totally serious. It did not seem so fast to me. Now I realize in those cars it was way too fast.  

Another time that blessing was fulfilled in my college days was when I was a junior at college and we had gone home for the Thanksgiving wedding of Marilyn and Arky.  She had graduated and was working in the Idaho store and Arky, whom she had met in Glendive, (as he was there with the "oil people" as we called them) was working in Glendive. 

Evidently he asked her to marry him and so she came back to Glendive.  It was a beautiful ceremony that my father performed in our living room.  The old house had been enlarged and the living/dining area was very large and lovely with those gorgeous crossover white curtains that I loved.

At any rate it was decided that I should have the car Marilyn had been driving (the green Plymouth) and would drive it back to school.  The Thayne's would be driving behind me just in case I had any problems.  Just before we were at the South Pass area in Wyoming I really had to go to the bathroom.  We did not have cell phones in those days, of course, so could not communicate and I mistakenly thought I could dash in to a gas station, go to the bathroom and still get out ahead of them.  Just as I approached the highway, however,  they went sailing by me and did not see me on the side of the road.  Now they were ahead of me and did not know it.  I tried to hurry and catch them but wasn't able to, so there was nothing I could do but to just keeping going and hope for the best.

An Answer to Prayer in the Mountains

Everything was fine until I was slowly going up one of those high hills in South Pass and another car hurrying to get to the top decided to pass me and then just near the top quickly cut me off.  I braked to avoid being hit, lost my momentum and slid back down the hill. When I tried to go up the hill, I would just slide back down.  I even backed up the other hill and tried to get a little speed but to no avail.  I was essentially stuck at the bottom of the hill and there were really not too many people driving that area in the winter so I felt very alone and frightened.  I had never driven this long a distance by myself and it was winter out in the wilderness of Wyoming.  I began to pray very fervently to Heavenly Father to help me think what I should do.  It finally occurred to me that I couldn't do anything but Heavenly Father could, so my prayer became one of "I can't do this but I know you can get me up that hill, please take me up the hill as there is no other way I can make it."  Miracle of miracles my car began to slowly climb up that hill and we made it to the top and I just kept rolling.  There was no doubt in my mind but that my prayer had been answered.  It has been a great testimony to me through the years of the love our Heavenly Father has for us and the fact that faith precedes the miracle and we need to believe in Jesus Christ our Savior.  He is there,  he knows your needs.

But back to college my first year, acne had long been a real problem and although I had gone to a doctor in Glendive it had not really helped. I can't imagine how anyone would ever want to date me but somehow it was overlooked. I did go to a doctor in Salt Lake though and he took me off milk, chocolate and ice cream. He said he never drinks more than 2 quarts of milk a year. He told me I didn't ever need to wash or cream my face but to wet pack it with cold water and he put me under ultra violet light and gave me some kind of shot to kill the poison. He also said you could use as much make up as you wanted and if you didn't get it all off at night it didn't matter. Then he told me it would definitely all clear up once I was married and had a baby. But he was hopeful if I followed his regime it would clear up now. Yeh, right.  However, he was right about it clearing up once I had a baby!

One summer at home I did not work for Dad but worked as bookkeeper for Dr. Aby, the veterinarian. I even helped him operate on a dog and nearly fainted. One day I let some dogs out of their cages for exercise and someone opened the door and they all ran out. It was a panic getting them all rounded up and back in the cages. Another day one of the oil men brought in a skunk and asked him to de-skunk him. He said he would. Unfortunately, I thought he had already done it and after lunch I was being very friendly with the skunk. When he came back he said I could help him do the de-skunking and I was flabbergasted. I liked working for Dr. Aby but I had a hard time organizing him and his paperwork. His wife said he hated to see me go back to college.  When I attended the funeral of my nephew many years later she told me again how much he appreciated me working for him.

Fall Quarter of 1952 I lived off campus with Marilyn, Renae, her sister Ruth, Mary and Marian. In some ways it was nicer but I still went to the dorms a lot to see Christy and my old friends. Ruth and I did things together and I was working a lot on the genealogy. Across the street from our house were the boys from Lovell, Wyoming and Darrell took a special interest in me. I like him as a friend but that was all. Wally told me the difference between Marilyn and I was that I liked boys and she didn't. Carole reminded me that Claude had just died the year before and so that could have been reason for her indifference. I hadn't thought of that. I did date Darrell a little but just as a friend. When Marilyn and I came through Lovell to BYU we would usually pick up someone from there to bring to college. Once we arrived in time for breakfast and I was shocked to see they had steak along with their eggs and toast.

At Christmas when I came home I could see that Dad was really in trouble in the office. His regular gal had gone and although I had worked there all summer and had it fairly organized it was bad again. It was decided that I would stay home winter quarter and train my friend Lorraine to do the work. She had started dating Norm who was about four years older and was living in Glendive. This worked out very well.

Colleen and Marta from
New Mexico
One of my teachers wrote in my year book that I always looked as if I was having so much fun. She hoped I always did. Have I? I think I have.


Colleen from Utah-
Me, Bad Haircut and Perm
When I went back to college in the spring one of the new Family Life Living Units was open and I moved in. It was getting acquainted with four new roommates. Colleen from Utah was in my class and I had known her before. However, the other girls were all first year. Marta from New Mexico, Gerry from San Diego, Louray and Dale from Arizona. Louray was an ice skater and Dale was a real beauty. At one of the first orientations one of the upper class men got his eye on her and she married him the following summer.

San Diego Gerry
We decided to brighten up the place and bought colored ribbed bedspreads with a contrasting rug. Our room was yellow spreads and a black rug. Gerry and Marta's was rose and pink and Louray and Dale's were brown spreads and yellow rug. Gerry was an immaculate housekeeper so we all towed the line and really kept our place looking nice. Gerry would always talk the boy who waxed the living room floors to come in and do ours so they really sparkled.

Colleen had a special budget system of using cash and putting it all in separate envelopes. She tried to budget me. That was hard. For extra money I collected cleaning in the building and gave it to the cleaner when he came once a week. I also worked at Stan's Dairy Freez. My dad always impressed on us that we needed to work to help pay our way. Colleen made extra money by car hopping at one of the drive-ins. Marta's parents really kept her in cash and so we usually borrowed from her. Marta and Gerry were the best cooks and so we all learned from them. We took turns cooking supper and put money in one pot for the groceries. We kept our own milk and snacks labeled in the fridge. It worked out pretty well and we even enjoyed entertaining boys for dinner.

Spring 1953 was the Idaho Boys. Christy was dating Doyle and his friend Del Mar started dating me. He had been to Korea and was 22 but acted young. I was now 20! He had not gone on his mission yet and was preparing for that but not serious about much else. We hiked to Squaw's Peak which was a tradition in Utah. I also became concerned at Conference about the warnings of food storage and stabilizing ourselves with money.

I was Jan
Del Mar from Idaho
A fun trip that spring was to visit Doyle and Del Mar's farms in Idaho. On the drive up we girls had to go to the bathroom and did not want to ask the boys to stop. When they finally stopped for gas we were dying and they thought we were dumb for not telling them. I stayed at Aunt Lucille and Uncle Lorin's home in Idaho Falls the first and last night and at Doyle's Grandma's house Saturday night. Christy stayed at Doyle's, Di stayed with me. They fed us so much food I gained 5 lbs I think. We got a flavor of what farming is like and the smell of the silos was terrible.

Also the wind blew a lot but they were all so nice to us it was really a fun trip. Friday night we went to an old fashioned wedding dance and Saturday night we went to the Idaho Falls Tabernacle dance. I really enjoyed being with Del and quite liked him. He reminded me of my brother David.

Ellie, third from left with ribbon in her hair
I stayed for summer quarter to catch up on what I missed and we had to live in the Campus Dorms and eat in the cafeteria. I roomed with Eleanor. She was a German girl who had been in Germany during World War II and then came to the United States as a Nanny. She had a beautiful singing voice. One thing that was fun at Campus Dorm was that Janie Thompson (a song writer, entertainer, and performer) lived there and people were always gathering around the piano and singing. I worked at the switchboard and so met lots of people and was working at Stan's Dairy Queen in the evening.

It was so hot in the dorm that when I came home at 11 or so Ellie would often still be awake and we would sneak over to the Y crab apple orchard and pick apples. She was dating someone who really thought he was great and I dated his friend a little, who also thought he was pretty super.  I was not interested but Ellie really loved her friend and was planning on marrying him. His father was a dean. He was also quite a salesman and even sold me some insurance!

It was so funny to watch Ellie dress for a date because she had a thick waist and would try to minimize it with a waist cincher. She had been to the Temple so it was her garments, her bra, her girdle, her hose, her waist cincher, her slip and finally her dress!

One night I came home from work and there were wads of toilet paper all over the bedroom and Ellie was crying. She said they had been to Panguitch and I wondered what that could possibly mean. It was a town ( I did not know Utah) and they had had a wreck there and she was very upset and kept crying and blowing her nose and throwing the toilet paper down on the floor.

I told Marilyn she should have stayed for the summer quarter because there were so many boys around and not so many girls. One week I actually turned down 7 dates!! I took tennis and quite enjoyed it. Del Mar came down to visit before he went on his mission and wanted me to come up there once before he left but I don't think I did. When he came back to see me just before he went to the missionary home in Salt Lake I was working in the Dairy Freez and saw him drive by. It immediately came to me that I really didn't like him that much. What was I doing? I was still thinking about Harry, that is what.

Anyway we did go out and I did drive him up to the mission home to tell him goodbye for the last time and Stevie, Jeanne's three year old, went with us. We were sitting in front of the Temple and the wind was blowing and Stevie was sitting out on the hood of the car for some reason. We watched and heard him as he looked up in the sky and said, "Jesus, stop the wind blowing."

I looked younger than I was and so I would get asked out by boys younger than I--and occasionally I would go with them. One was a boy from California that parted his hair in the middle. I had never known anyone that did that. He also wore the sweater tucked in with flannel pants and suede shoes like Del Mar. You had to be careful not to step on their suede shoes when you danced. The Salt Lake drag was a popular dance and so fun. You would step and go around at the same time and our ballerina dresses would fly up around our back. We sometimes went up to Lagoon and danced to the big bands. That was really neat.

Lorraine was marrying Norm on August 30 and I was to be the Maid of Honor and needed a dress. It ended up being a beautiful yellow lace dress that I wore and it was a lovely wedding. I could only be home for about 10 days because I had to be to school for fall quarter. I had obtained a job being a proctor for the Freshman testing and also with the counseling service during Freshman orientation.

That summer I was intensely writing to Harry about the Church. I was getting him to take the missionary lessons and really try and learn something. It was hard. We needed to know what we were doing and not just keep things drifting back and forth and back and forth.

However, a new boy came into my life, Ivan  from Arizona. He was at school early for football and so I met him as I was on campus early also. He was a transfer and a center on the football team. He was very nice, he took me home from a Victory Dance after the football game that we lost.

There was about a three week period when I was so busy with work and school and getting moved back into Heritage Hall that I did not write to Harry and he wrote me a scorching letter saying he hated me. He figured I had changed my mind again about him. I wrote him right back and told him simply the truth of why I hadn't written but didn't see how we could go on after what he said to me. He called on Sunday and apologized and said he hadn't meant it but was very mad when he wrote. I said, nothing doing, too much had been said to ever be forgotten. I guessed he would never get into the Church now.  He did say he had gotten some books on it.

Janet, Colleen, Marta, JoAnne
I had also stopped writing to Del Mar.  I didn't have time to give him justice and I never felt we would go anyplace in the relationship anyway. I had gotten a letter from his mission president cautioning me, evidently Del Mar was spending too much time thinking about me instead of his mission and then it seemed his letters were almost fanatical. What a life!

In the meantime, Ivan is hanging around and I am ironing shirts for him and another cute Arizona boy (Bob) from across the street (for money). My roommates are trying to decide which one I do the best job of ironing for. Ivan went to Conference with me and I wore a really nice red knit suit. Knit suits were worn by young girls as well as the old ladies in those days and fit the figure very well.  He asked me to come and watch them play at Thanksgiving in Salt Lake.

A picnic with Gerry and Marta--
Plymouth is in background.
We found a little yellow kitten and took him into our living unit. We called our kitten Baby Coz after Cosmo the Cougar. School was really intense that quarter so I didn't see how I could have a job after my other ones were over except I kept up the cleaning job. Taking care of the car was always a concern but I made friends with Lafe at the gas station and he was very helpful. The car sat out all winter but there was never a problem starting it. In spring of 1955 Darrell from Wyoming bought the station.  My Dad had told me to look for someone at a station I could trust and always take my car there.  I think I did that.

Our apartment became the show place. President Wilkinson brought over several dignitaries to see the Heritage Halls and always used our apartment. We had the Governor of Utah and the owner of J C Penney and others. One time I was sitting on the bed and President Wilkinson kept patting my head as he talked.

We had quite a system. When the dorm mother would call and say she was bringing someone we would spring into action and straighten our beds and put everything away as quickly as possible, spruce up the kitchen and bathroom. Any stray things at the last minute would be thrown into Dale's closet and anyone who was showing the apartment was to stand in front of that closet with the door closed and show only Louray's closet. It worked quite well.

I did go to watch the football game in Salt Lake along with some of my friends. Unfortunately so did everyone else and there was so much traffic. A car stopped suddenly two cars in front of me and I bumped into the car in front of me. It didn't hurt that car much but I had to pull over to the side and a policeman came to my aid and fixed something in the radiator so it would run and he told me to not drive so close and go to the game and have a good time. What a nice guy! We all had Thanksgiving together afterwards.  But we had lost the game!

Back Row Roommates Colleen, Dale, Janet,  Gerry, Louray, Marta with our Dates. My Junior Year.

We girls all asked boys to the Preference Ball. Ivan was with me and we really had a fun time. Ivan and I lasted about three months. That seems to be the length of relationships, if you are not serious after three months it comes to a halt or at least that is the way it is with me. No use lingering on. He was really a nice guy though, just not THE one. He was not the typical footbal player either.  He was also in dramatics, played the violin, sang a little and was Student Body President at his previous college.  Nice guy but  I do remember he said I was not romantic enough! Hmmm.

'Little brother' Bob on right
I always had boy friends that were just friends. There was never any mistaking whether I liked a boy friend as a boyfriend or just a friend. They knew. Another guy named Bob was like a little brother and always fun to be with. Alma and I went to the movies and discussed everything. He was disillusioned with life but we both liked movies and Good and Plenty candy. He was older and a little strange but a nice friend.

All the boys from Arizona in the dorms across the street were friendly and nice. They, plus Louray and Dale, cooked me my first Mexican food. It was so good but the next morning I had such a stomach ache I had to call and not go in to my student teaching. Oh, yes, after changing my major a couple of times I was now in education and preparing to be a teacher. I dropped my idea of bookkeeping and being a CPA when I could not understand the slide rule!

Loved My Squaw Dress
Anyway the Mexican food made me ill and as I hung up from making the call I actually became dizzy and dropped the phone and broke it!

Marta's mother made us beautiful squaw dresses. I loved mine. A very nice guy named Milo from New Mexico asked me out and I like him but that was all.

That 'Cute Boy' Asks me for a Date
In the spring of 1954 Bob began to date me. I had a horrible hair cut and permanent so I don't know why he started dating me then, I had eyed him for a long time. He was one of those Arizona boys. I think it lasted about three months also. He was Mr. Formal the next year.  Many years later I met a lady who knew Bob and she said she was going to tell him what he had given up. She thought I was so pretty.

In my senior year at BYU Doyle from Colorado came to visit Gerry and decided he liked me instead and so started coming to the school I was substitute teaching at and wanting me to go out with him. It was really weird. I think he was looking for a wife to take back to the ranch and I thought about it for about 10 seconds. A ranch would be nice but…

I really enjoyed my second quarter of student teaching. It was right there in Provo and such a great teacher to work under. I learned so much.

In one of my letters home in 1955 I said that I had had three proposals from Freshman. I surely don't remember that but was I kidding or what?

My senior year I had to start interviewing for teaching jobs and deciding what I was going to do. Evidently Harry and I were writing again and I was thinking of teaching in Billings to make one last attempt at our relationship and religious differences.

McGill, Nevada really wanted me to teach there and Billings acted as if they may not need me. Vernal, Utah offered me a contract.  Even San Diego was there but I did not think I wanted to live in a city so I passed on them.  Strange that is where I would end up for most of my life!  I thought I wanted and needed to go home.  My advisor told me to try for Billings and use my Church affiliation to help and the fact that I had a degree would probably make the difference. 

Student Teacher
I received an A in my student teaching and in 
most all my other classes that quarter except for Nutrition. It was the driest, most boring class. I think it was the teacher.

I took two really good missionary classes my last year. In one I was one of the few girls in there and had fun with the guys, especially Charlie--his grandfather was the Penrose that wrote a lot of the Church songs. In my other missionary class we had to learn the scriptures and how to use them in missionary work. To get an A you had to learn 200 of them!!

I can't believe I have forgotten them all. I also bought some silverware that I would pay for after I started teaching.  They gave us students an amazing deal and I also bought a rose china place setting which I never enlarged on.  Pink was not my color!!

Fall 1954
A thrill we had spring quarter of my senior year was to entertain two of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra players in our kitchen. They ate with us and then we went to the concert. I really enjoyed it. Milk was down to 14 cents a quart in spring 1955!

After Mother's Day that year I was really feeling sentimental about my Mom and this is what I wrote her--

I have been so unappreciative of all you have done for me for so many years that I'd just like to enumerate some of the thoughts I have had this day. I think the thing I appreciate most is the way you have always let me make my own decisions and think the way I wanted.

I don't ever remember you telling me I was all wrong, even though I was and I have made so many foolish mistakes. You have always been so patient and sweated things out in silence knowing that you have taught us what is right and know we must live our own life. I think this attitude of yours has taught me to depend on myself more than any other thing. I have also been thinking of how I used to refuse to work when Dad asked me too or refuse to talk in Church and yet you put up with it and just kept giving.

I guess if Dad had really punished me as some parents it would have been easier to justify our actions but you both let it go--treated us as adults to choose for ourselves. If I could only go through high school, how differently I would act with the wisdom I have now. It seems everyone goes through this same cycle, part of growing up but I have certainly been foolish. I know the only way I can ever repay you or show my love is by living a good life and this I will strive for with all my heart, mind and strength. I'm also remembering how you and Dad have been so patient in explaining any business, church, or etc. matters that I have asked about. Never too busy to do what your children asked of you, though they were often too busy to do the same for you. And also the way you didn't chastise when I wrecked the cars, etc.

It is a patience that is hard to understand and often easy to take for granted. And you, Mom, the way you have never pressured for details on my personal life though I know it’s very important. I do wish now I would have felt such that I had confided to you all the problems and happiness' I did have. Again maybe it was just my age but I know I've always been too proud and rebellious for no reason.

I really think though Mom and Dad I've weathered those childish storms and I'm ready to take my place in the world with a firm testimony of the gospel and a deep respect and love for you and the family. It's hard to put into words all I do feel. And they may even sound silly reading them. I hope I won't fail you and myself from here on out but that I will fulfill my mission in life to the very best of my ability, with your continued love and faith I know I will. I love you both very much.

Your loving daughter, Jan

This is interesting because I don't think I was really all that bad.  I didn't always like to talk in Church or work at the store when I already had something planned, that kind of thing, and I suppose I did live a very selfish life that revolved around my friends and I did not confide much in my Mom. But I was not a rebellious child as far as I can remember. In fact, when Carole skipped school we were all really concerned because we would not have done that.

Elementary Education Major
English Minor
College graduation is a lonely time remembrance for me.  Most of my roommates were younger than I so were not graduating and had already gone home for the summer.  Even Colleen had gone home as she was graduating at the end of summer.  I saw my friend Charlie but he had a lot of family and friends so did not have time for me.

My parents were there for the graduation, of course, but we did not understand where to meet each other after the ceremony so I was wandering around looking for them.  I finally just walked home alone and they were there.  They had frantically been looking for me also and finally decided to just drive to the dorm and wait for me.  They were standing on the balcony watching  for me as I walked up and we went to a Chinese restaurant to celebrate.

 I have never forgotten that lonely walk across the deserted campus.  It set the precedent for so many things I would do alone in my life.


















A Miracle in the Mountains

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Carlsbad, Ca, United States
Montana to San Diego to mountains of Lake Almanor to Rancho Bernardo to Treeo in Utah and back to Carlsbad, CA in Nov '22.