Beach Haven

Week of 6 June 1983

Crystal had several ball games in this early summer time frame. So far whenever Mom mentions a game they seem to come out on the losing end, but with fun times nonetheless. This week was no exception. Several of Crys’ friends stayed over-night at the house, Stacy and Kristina. At least I assume they were friends of Crys. Lisa checked in, seems she was staying with our friends the Barlows temporarily. Mom notes time with Lisa shopping for furniture and housewares to get her started. Mom spent time going on walks with Irene Richan. She went on a diet and marked some of her weight-loss progress. This week, as always, contained a long list of inside and outside chores.

Dad had a Navy Reserve weekend that week which was followed by starting a round of graveyard shift that Sunday night. Mom spent Sunday at church, choir, doing genealogy, making supper, and watching a little TV. Looking over all Mom and Dad did on any given week I have to say I get exhausted just reading about it. On another day she mentions going for a brisk walk after some gardening, then stopping to visit with ‘Mary’ and another day visiting with Nedra. Someone else reading this will likely know who Mary is. I believe Nedra would be Nedra Green. This combination of working for a living, doing chores to make home-life better, then checking in on others is a pattern that will seem familiar to all of us who knows Mom. She has always been this way. We would do well to try to emulate her.
​
Let us also not forget Dad who was handling work and chores as well. He put in extra work when he could to bring in a few overtime dollars. The way Thiokol handled things back then was through rotating shifts. Dad would work a month on days, a month on swing, and then a month on graveyard. This rotation went on for him for several decades. On top of that work he served in the Navy Reserve to bring in a few more bucks, and still managed to find some time for us in the family now and then. My time with Dad was usually associated with one work or church project or another. When I was younger  in Pennsylvania he would include me going fishing or hunting, though a busy work schedule kept him from that more than he wished. When I was older and we were in Utah I let myself get too distracted with my own life and didn’t go on those excursions like I should have. Missed opportunity.

Week of 30 May 1983

Mom describes a long trip to Indiana to figure out (settle up?) with Lisa’s first husband. As it turns out he sold all her stuff and pocketed the money. He told several obvious lies, and it was clear the relationship was over. From everything Mom wrote, and stories I’ve heard after the fact, this person is a real poor excuse for a human being. He said things that made it clear he was trying to evade responsibility to Lisa or her future baby. When the trip was over they had driven 3500 miles in three days. Mom summed up the experience by writing, “It was a hard and sad trip."

Upon return from Indiana, Mom found downtown Salt Lake City full of sandbags due to flooding. She and Lisa went to the home of our friends, the Barlow family, in Bountiful. To get there they went through water that got deeper than the top of their car hubcaps.

There was a ballgame for Crystal’s team that week Mom attended. She listed out a number of things she needed to buy for several of us children. She helped Lisa work with a lawyer friend named Ben Hadfield to deal with her marriage. They decided on divorce over annulment.
​
The rest of her notes revolved around a long list of tasks (as she writes about most weeks). Much of the list involved helping Lisa move and getting her settled into her new apartment.