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When I was just about 16 year old my mom was injured as she was riding on the tractor with my dad as they were harvesting a field of grain. The power take off on the tractor broke and cut Mom's leg from the knee to the hip, almost to the bone. She had complications from that injury and never recovered from it. I was really naive, we were called out of school, to go see her in the hospital and even then it never occured to me that she could die. On the 11th of October in 1944 she died. I believe that was the hardest thing that ever happened to me. There was my dad, who was so broken hearted that he would go the cemetery and lay down on the grave and pound it with his fists. He never really recovered from losing his best friend and dearly beloved wife. The six of us children were devistated, too. Life was never the same again. Se stayed on the farm for about a year and Dad couldn't bear the place without Mom.

Shortly after Mom died, I was chosen to be the queen at the Gold and Green Ball. That was a special thing that was held throughout the church at that time. Leon was my escort, all of the boys my age were in the service. Wilma Christensen was my attendant and her escort was Elwin Christensen. Adah Culler was the other attendant and Jessie Hawkins was her escort. I made my formal dress for that. I wasn't very good at that thing at that age, I was 16 years old.
So he sold the place and we moved into Romeo town.

Dad sold the farm and we moved. When we lived in Romeo, I met Arlo. Nona and I were just getting out of school when Arlo and Moine, Nona's boyfriend and later her husband, were waiting outside of the schoo for us. That was the first time I went with Arlo. He had recently been discharged from the army. We spent the next 3 months getting to know each other. I knew him by sight when they lived in Romeo. I went to school with Betty, Jessie and Richard.

Arlo and I were married on the 30 March 1946 at the home of Grandma and Grandpa Dunn. He lived in LaJara. I had 2 months to finish high school, when we married. After we were married, I drove the model A to school when Arlo wasn't using it or I rode the train that went to Chama, New Mexico in the morning and returned to Alamosa, Colorado each night. I posted a letter on the blog that I wrote to Keith while he was overseas in the Navy. Irma gave me that letter when she was going through her things after Keith died. I had forgotten about riding the train.

Arlo and I had been married 4 months when He and I took Dad to Alamosa to the hospital to have a hernia repaired. We went to Aunt Ruth and Uncle Bill's, and ate dinner with them and went to a movie. Then we left Dad at the hospital. He had complications from that surgery. He had two more surgeries to fix the problems. He got lockage of the bowl and died from that. That left my brothers and sisters without a home. Losing Mom was hard, but losing Dad, left a big hole in our lives. There was never a home to go home to after that. Keith just got home from being discharged from the Navy, when Dad died. He was on his way home but there was no way to let him know that Dad had died. The aunts and uncles met every train and bus that came into Alamosa, until he arrived. He was in time for the funeral. I have said before and I say it again. We were a sad bunch of kids. keith went to Los Alamos, where he lived with Bud Richardson and family, Leon went with Aunt May and Uncle Charlie Schofield, to Farmington, New Mexico, Barbara went with Aunt Ethel and Uncle Don, to California, LaRue stayed with Grandma and Grandpa Dunn, and Doris Faye went home with Arlo and Me.

All of my life I have been so thankful to the Lord for the gospel in our lives. That was our real source of peace and It brought all of us together ever after that. We are a close family. All of us have been married in the temple and have our children sealed to us. In that there is peace, to know that we are an eternal family if we live worthy of that blessing.

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