Hollis continued to work in Nevada, Iowa , at a tv repair shop. He returned to Keosauqua the night before we were to leave for Arizona and our wedding in the Mesa temple. A July storm had centered over the area and buckets of rain had come down. The road to his parent's farm was being prepped for back topping and dirt and gravel now a mucky, rutted mess. He needed to return to his parents home to get written permission to be married . Arizona had a law that women must be 18 or older and men 21 unless notarized permission signed by parents.
Hollis had not quite been a member for a year and his temple recommend needed to be signed by the Mission President . We all got into dad's big Mercury and our first stop was in Independence, Missouri were Hollis got his temple recommend signed. Mother had bought me this cute sleevless sundress earlier that summer and I was wearing it when the mission presendent had me come join Hollis. His eyebrows went up when he saw my attire; gave me a brief lecture about from now on I would have to wear more modest clothing. I assured him that I understood.
We stayed at Aunt Bessie's home in Casa Grande. Kathy and I slept with mother and the night air was hot and still. Aunt Bessie had some of those big black fans that were placed in the room to cool and stir the air. Hollis had to sleep with Dad.......He had , nor had he had any pajamas.. but while still at BYU I had jokingly sewed a night shirt with cap for him and that is what he wore to bed..sleeping with my father..Dad never said a thing.
Mother did not give me any preparation for what would happen in the temple. There were not temple preparation classes either. So I was shaking like a leaf when the first ordninance of washing and annointing done...I don't think I understood a thing.
My wedding dress was second hand , purchased from Dad's Utah friends while I was there..It had a full skirt that was to be worn over a hoop skirt. Of course this was not worn in the temple so the dress came way down on the floor. You have to understand that at that time Mesa did not have the film that allowed participants to stay in their chairs as the endowment progressed. Instead we were moved from room to room and the murels on the wall were magnificent. However my dress was frequently stepped on. At one time someone whispered to ''Keep moving!'' and I had to whisper back, "I cant', you're standing on my dress!" So much of the time I was simply mortified that so much attention was being directed at me.
Hollis took me through the veil and we gathered in the Celestial Room. My family was gathered around and then dad turned to Hollis and with a very serious face asked if he really wanted to do this. (I think he was meaning marriage for eternity) Now was the time to back out if He wasn't sure. WHAT!?.... Dad witnessed the marriage certificate.
Mother was elated. During the gathering in the Celestial Room mother and dad got to greet several friends that remembered them . One of dad's friends asked if Nellie was his daughter..mother was dying the grey in her hair and dad had not....
Dad then drove us to Uncle Lynn's house just around the corner from the temple. He gave us the keys to the Mercury and his gas credit card. Kathy, mom & dad were to have Uncle Lynn take them to the train station for their trip home. I carefully laid the wedding dress across the back seat and Hollis and I took off. We got out of Mesa and Hollis stopped to have the oil changed before the trip home...It took hours! Hollis told me the attendants at the station so the dress in the back and decided to postpone our honeymoon for as longs as they could.. I think we were there for 3 hours.
We got back to Ames, Iowa with fifty cents between us. After a small reception we set up housekeeping in a sublet apartment in Ames. That first week all we had to eat was leftover wedding cake....Hollis told me before we got married that he could support himself while going through school but if I wanted to eat , sleep or have a bed I would have to support myself...so I did..I became a stenographer at Iowa State University , Library, Order Dept.. For this I was awared a PHT (Put Hubby Through) certificate.
We were active in the Ames branch at Church. I was called as a BeeHive teacher....and so the story will go on...later.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Love at home
That summer Hollis was true to his word. The missionaries came to the farm house each evening to him his the lessons. I was scared that he would reject their teachings and then reject me so I sat in on the discussions but did not contribute much. After teaching the Plan of Salvation the missionaries left and Hollis made a comment. "If I were God, that is how I would do it." He further explained that the Gospel was simple in it's purity. He had been active in early highschool in the MYF, Methodist Youth Fellowship, but got burned out when more influencial members dictated to the minister what should be preached or done in the parish.
I will always remember the first time I heard Hollis pray. The missionaries had given the lesson on prayer and then turned to Hollis as asked he would like to say a prayer. I almost jumped up and shouted "No!' For fear that he would be embarressed..His prayer, however, was awsome.
It was not long that he committed to baptism.
Hollis was baptised in the Mississppi river at Nauvoo, Ill. The missionaries took him to change clothes in the Times & Season's building then drove down a dirt road to the edge of the river. On the way back to Keosauqua Hollis related that it was then that the missionaries thought it was wise to tell him that not only was tithing important, and Hollis was agreeable to this ; but that then there were fast offerings, ward budget , building and missionary funds that would be expected. He related he almost had secound thoughts.
We were on our way to Nauvoo when the Methodist minister came by the Hervey farm and told Bob and Helen that Mormon girls dated non-mormon boys to get them into the waters of baptism then they would drop them like a "hot potatoe". Maybe he had heard the phrase "flirt to convert." He was too late with his warning..Hollis was comitted.
I was accepted into BYU, Provo, Utah for that next fall semester. Hollis and I were constant companions. He was my best friend and we did just about everything together. Mom, as I said , liked Hollis and pointed out that while I was wearing his class ring it would not be fair to go off to college without giving him a opportunity to look elsewhere if that is what I was doing. So drama queen that I was, and probably still am, I gave Hollis is class ring ..but with the understanding that we would keep writing to one another. Oh, what patience he already had for me.
Dad later said he sent me to the "Y" to be sure I would not find a good Mormon boy out there. It was already too late. I was truely smitten . Letters traveled via post office along with goddie boxes and I even taped messages to him...yeah, I even sang to him...How pitiful is that?
At Christmas time I was not sure how I was going to get home. I found a ride on the message board and hooked up with some kids who were returning to Ames, Iowa..in a 1944 Olds. Traveling across the mid=west during winter blizzards was not a wise thing to do but I wanted to get home to my sweetheart. In Nebraska we hit an ice storm . The owner of the Old car was tired and wanted to stop and rest somewhere but I was sure this would ruin my ability to meet up with Hollis before he left ISU so I offered to drive. I did not get very far before the back of the car waffled and there was nothing to do but let it slip/slide slowly into the ditch . We did not even have to get out of the car before we saw a farmer on a tractor coming to pull the car ahead of us out of that same ditch a few hundred feet ahead. He just came on down the road and pulled us out...
The Owner then creeped into the next town , stopped at a service station and put on chains.. but by the time he got them on the sun was up and road melted and chains no longer needed...
That Christmas I got my engagement ring. Mom was acting funny all day and fussed about my getting ready on time for my date. Hollis picked me up and we went to Spurgeons Jewelry and we found a modest ring. I thought it was gorgeous. Mr Spurgeon said it had a small speck but I could not tell it. Later I found that Hollis had sold all of his ham radio equipment so that he could purchase the ring..I was humbled, he really loved his K0TCC , cq, cq, cq talk across the country
more later
I will always remember the first time I heard Hollis pray. The missionaries had given the lesson on prayer and then turned to Hollis as asked he would like to say a prayer. I almost jumped up and shouted "No!' For fear that he would be embarressed..His prayer, however, was awsome.
It was not long that he committed to baptism.
Hollis was baptised in the Mississppi river at Nauvoo, Ill. The missionaries took him to change clothes in the Times & Season's building then drove down a dirt road to the edge of the river. On the way back to Keosauqua Hollis related that it was then that the missionaries thought it was wise to tell him that not only was tithing important, and Hollis was agreeable to this ; but that then there were fast offerings, ward budget , building and missionary funds that would be expected. He related he almost had secound thoughts.
We were on our way to Nauvoo when the Methodist minister came by the Hervey farm and told Bob and Helen that Mormon girls dated non-mormon boys to get them into the waters of baptism then they would drop them like a "hot potatoe". Maybe he had heard the phrase "flirt to convert." He was too late with his warning..Hollis was comitted.
I was accepted into BYU, Provo, Utah for that next fall semester. Hollis and I were constant companions. He was my best friend and we did just about everything together. Mom, as I said , liked Hollis and pointed out that while I was wearing his class ring it would not be fair to go off to college without giving him a opportunity to look elsewhere if that is what I was doing. So drama queen that I was, and probably still am, I gave Hollis is class ring ..but with the understanding that we would keep writing to one another. Oh, what patience he already had for me.
Dad later said he sent me to the "Y" to be sure I would not find a good Mormon boy out there. It was already too late. I was truely smitten . Letters traveled via post office along with goddie boxes and I even taped messages to him...yeah, I even sang to him...How pitiful is that?
At Christmas time I was not sure how I was going to get home. I found a ride on the message board and hooked up with some kids who were returning to Ames, Iowa..in a 1944 Olds. Traveling across the mid=west during winter blizzards was not a wise thing to do but I wanted to get home to my sweetheart. In Nebraska we hit an ice storm . The owner of the Old car was tired and wanted to stop and rest somewhere but I was sure this would ruin my ability to meet up with Hollis before he left ISU so I offered to drive. I did not get very far before the back of the car waffled and there was nothing to do but let it slip/slide slowly into the ditch . We did not even have to get out of the car before we saw a farmer on a tractor coming to pull the car ahead of us out of that same ditch a few hundred feet ahead. He just came on down the road and pulled us out...
The Owner then creeped into the next town , stopped at a service station and put on chains.. but by the time he got them on the sun was up and road melted and chains no longer needed...
That Christmas I got my engagement ring. Mom was acting funny all day and fussed about my getting ready on time for my date. Hollis picked me up and we went to Spurgeons Jewelry and we found a modest ring. I thought it was gorgeous. Mr Spurgeon said it had a small speck but I could not tell it. Later I found that Hollis had sold all of his ham radio equipment so that he could purchase the ring..I was humbled, he really loved his K0TCC , cq, cq, cq talk across the country
more later
Sunday, September 14, 2008
New Understanding
While at BYU I took the opportunity to get my patriachial blessing. Bro. Fairbourn had move his family to Provo and was kind enough to take me to the stake patriach's home.
The original has long been lost so I need to write to Salt Lake to get a copy but I do remember reading it over and over. One of the statements made was that I would have many children that would hold my name sacred. I always wondered what that meant. I did not live in Utah so I figured I would the be the General Primay president and while I had 6 children I did not think that constituted "many children" for me that seemed just a normal number. Even when I worked in the Primary on the branch , ward or stake level I did not feel that this was what was meant.
It finally came to me . This blessing refers to the many children of my patients. I feel that it is truely awsom to have been apart of their lives and look forward to seeing their parents on the other side when it is my turn to cross.
Oh, yes, I hope my children also hold my name sacred....Love, mom
The original has long been lost so I need to write to Salt Lake to get a copy but I do remember reading it over and over. One of the statements made was that I would have many children that would hold my name sacred. I always wondered what that meant. I did not live in Utah so I figured I would the be the General Primay president and while I had 6 children I did not think that constituted "many children" for me that seemed just a normal number. Even when I worked in the Primary on the branch , ward or stake level I did not feel that this was what was meant.
It finally came to me . This blessing refers to the many children of my patients. I feel that it is truely awsom to have been apart of their lives and look forward to seeing their parents on the other side when it is my turn to cross.
Oh, yes, I hope my children also hold my name sacred....Love, mom
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Special Song
Thursday I called a widow to check up on her. She had asked me to sing at her husband's funeral which I agreed to do. I sang "Goin' Home" by Fischer. She told me that many of the people there came to her and told her they had never heard that song before but it had touched them. "That has now become JP and my song, thank you for singing it." That sentiment will keep me going a little bit longer in hospice. mom
pss
I asked Hollis after we were married why he called me that one more time since I had turned him down so many other times...He replied he knew I was interested when I brought in that transistor radio with the batteries in upside down...I guess I need to thank mom for that one.
Mom really like Hollis. When we came home for visits we would stay with the Gano's farm house. Mom and Hollis would stay up long after the rest of us went to bed talking about religion and whatever. He would not stay at the Gano farm after she died..it just wasn't the same there without her.
Mom really like Hollis. When we came home for visits we would stay with the Gano's farm house. Mom and Hollis would stay up long after the rest of us went to bed talking about religion and whatever. He would not stay at the Gano farm after she died..it just wasn't the same there without her.
post script
It was after we were married a few years that I finally asked Hollis what made him not give up on me after I refused his offer so many times. It was then I learned that the only thing wrong with grandmothers transistor radio was that the batteries were put in backward.. He told me he then knew I was making a pass at him and that I was interested...I have to give that one to Mom. She like Hollis a great deal.
Mom and Hollis would stay up late into the night talking about Church doctrine while the rest of us had long given up and gone upstairs to bed. Hollis could not go back to the farm house after mother died.
Mom and Hollis would stay up late into the night talking about Church doctrine while the rest of us had long given up and gone upstairs to bed. Hollis could not go back to the farm house after mother died.
cont....
Sandy Schoeni was dating an ISU student also, Larry Dixon. Dad was on the school board at the time and word had come out that the trips to Chicago or New York were no longer going to be sponsered by the Schoolboard. Sandy and I put our heads together...We went to the Schoolboard with a proposal that the Seniors go to Ames , Iowa to VEISHA as an education toor and incentive to get the students interested in going on to college...Actually Sandy and I wanted a way to go to the Balls with our boyfriends...But it worked!
Mom even let me stay an extra day with the understanding the Hollis would put me on the bus from Ames to Fairfield on Sunday afternoon..Wow! We went to church at the Ames Methodist Church sunday, I wasnt too impressed.
Some months earlier at the end of the summer before Hollis and I were parked in the driveway at our house...Early morning..and had a long discussion about the concept of God. I never liked to lose an argument, I had been on the debate team my Junior year; is there any wonder that there are lawyers in the family? It was at this time that I realized that my testimony was weak. It was mostly based on my parents teachings. Mother started to turning the back porch light off and on , her signal that enough was enough. I vowed to myself that I would never be lacking a testimony again.
Dad must have been concerned about my dating a non-lds boy. I think he was the one that instigated the assignment to me for a talk at stake conference with the topic of "Why I want a Temple Marriage...." That got me to thinking..wow, choices
So as we were driving back from Ames to Des Moines to pick up the bus I began the conversation that while I loved him a great deal I could not marry outside my church, Then, I started to cry. He stopped me by looking at me and saying, "What makes you think I'm not interested in your Church?" What!!!....In shock I heard him tell me that he had been attending services in the Ames Branch and was making arrangements to take the missionary lessions during the summer at my house! I had a lot to think about on the ride home.
Mom even let me stay an extra day with the understanding the Hollis would put me on the bus from Ames to Fairfield on Sunday afternoon..Wow! We went to church at the Ames Methodist Church sunday, I wasnt too impressed.
Some months earlier at the end of the summer before Hollis and I were parked in the driveway at our house...Early morning..and had a long discussion about the concept of God. I never liked to lose an argument, I had been on the debate team my Junior year; is there any wonder that there are lawyers in the family? It was at this time that I realized that my testimony was weak. It was mostly based on my parents teachings. Mother started to turning the back porch light off and on , her signal that enough was enough. I vowed to myself that I would never be lacking a testimony again.
Dad must have been concerned about my dating a non-lds boy. I think he was the one that instigated the assignment to me for a talk at stake conference with the topic of "Why I want a Temple Marriage...." That got me to thinking..wow, choices
So as we were driving back from Ames to Des Moines to pick up the bus I began the conversation that while I loved him a great deal I could not marry outside my church, Then, I started to cry. He stopped me by looking at me and saying, "What makes you think I'm not interested in your Church?" What!!!....In shock I heard him tell me that he had been attending services in the Ames Branch and was making arrangements to take the missionary lessions during the summer at my house! I had a lot to think about on the ride home.
Highschool Sweethearts
He came to my attention with his long legs propped irreverantly on the card catalog file table. I was a Sophomore and studyhall librarian ; he was a Senior. I scowled at him. His sister was in my class so I knew who he was and that he was dating Wanda Sheets. But I noticed him.
He first asked me out for a date that next winter. I had heard he had broken up with Wanda and was excited to date a "college man". We went to Fairfiled to the movies at the Coed. I must have made a big impression because when school restarted I heard he and Wanda were back together.
That summer he called a few times for a date, but I had to turn him down because the times he choose I was busy with a church activity. I must have moaned and whined to my mother about him, that I really wanted to go out with him but he had to think that I did not want to. That is when she sent me to Beer's TV Repair to have Hollis fix my grandmother's little transitor radio that mother had given her for Christmas. It was not long after that that Hollis asked again and this time I was free.
Mother guided me throught this romance, reminding me that the Hervey's did not have a lot of money and that Hollis was putting himself through college and suggested that frequent dates should be in our livingroom watching television on our snowy set and eating popcorn. There were other cheap dates: like swimming at night at the lake along with some of the other college kids home for the summer.
Hollis and I were an item my Senior year...I would drive to the postoffice before school started to check to see if there were any letters with Pearson House logo on it. I would send care packages of cookies and draw little picture stories to send instead of doing homework. I was smitten.
He first asked me out for a date that next winter. I had heard he had broken up with Wanda and was excited to date a "college man". We went to Fairfiled to the movies at the Coed. I must have made a big impression because when school restarted I heard he and Wanda were back together.
That summer he called a few times for a date, but I had to turn him down because the times he choose I was busy with a church activity. I must have moaned and whined to my mother about him, that I really wanted to go out with him but he had to think that I did not want to. That is when she sent me to Beer's TV Repair to have Hollis fix my grandmother's little transitor radio that mother had given her for Christmas. It was not long after that that Hollis asked again and this time I was free.
Mother guided me throught this romance, reminding me that the Hervey's did not have a lot of money and that Hollis was putting himself through college and suggested that frequent dates should be in our livingroom watching television on our snowy set and eating popcorn. There were other cheap dates: like swimming at night at the lake along with some of the other college kids home for the summer.
Hollis and I were an item my Senior year...I would drive to the postoffice before school started to check to see if there were any letters with Pearson House logo on it. I would send care packages of cookies and draw little picture stories to send instead of doing homework. I was smitten.
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