3rd Installment

(I was going to start this yesterday (Friday) but didn't get to it. This morning Gail and I went to the temple. It was a full session and most of the people were from our stake. It's nice going to the temple with people you know. I spent the afternoon working on my fish tanks. I got some more babies last night and I have some more fish holding. African Cichlids hold their babies in their mouth and then spit them out when they are old enough to be born. I sold 6 of my fish today for $37.)

21. My two oldest sisters were married when I was in 4th grade. Chriss married Tom Hannett and Tomie Lynn married Ed Mutchler. I became an uncle when I was 10. I got lots of experience baby sitting Lynn Ann and T.P. (Thomas Patrick) first and then Mike and David and Steve, Bonnie, Loraine, Doug and Shawn. I learned to change messy diapers at a young age. I don't know if this was a good thing or not. As I think back on it, I was probably not the best of babysitters but I was convenient and I was willing to do it for cheap. I don't remember getting paid but I probably did. One of the main problems was that I wasn't much more than a kid myself even as I got older. I remember roughhousing with TP and Steve one time by jumping on their beds in their house on Billings street. Not only was it not good for the beds but it was potentially a little dangerous. I had a protractor with a sharp point in my pocket. Luckily no one got a puncture wound.
22. I was lucky to have older brother-in-laws and younger nephews because I had always wanted a brother and ended up with several. Not that having sisters was all that bad it just wasn't the same. I am so blessed to have the three greatest sisters in the world. I have always looked up to them. (Except when I was fighting with Beck.) And even though I am their little brother, they have looked up to me as well. It has made me a better person trying to live up to their high expectations. I have enjoyed doing things with Tom and Ed and later with Zeke over the years. Because of Ed I learned to water ski and I got to experience many enjoyable hunting and fishing trips. We hunted deer, antelope, ducks and pheasants and we went fishing at Pactola and Orman dams and we caught Northern Pike in the Missouri River. I'll share one hunting story that comes to mind. I was road hunting with Tomie Lynn and Eddie, which means we were looking for deer while riding in the warmth of the jeep. Ed was driving and all of a sudden TL cries out, Oh! Oh! Oh! and Ed looks out her side of the jeep and says, Where? Where? Where? and then he proceeds to run into the other jeep that is coming at us. Luckily we were both going quite slow so there was no major damage. Come to find out TL was saying Oh because she saw the other vehicle coming and was trying to warn Ed. He thought she had seen a big buck. Needless to say, Ed didn't think it was all that funny. Tom Hannett is responsible for my having my fish addiction. On one of our trips back to Wisconsin to visit Chris and Tom, he gave me an octagon 10 gallon fish tank and stand. I thought Gail was the one who wanted to have fish and after all these years of me taking care of the fish I found out she didn't want them and she doesn't want to be bothered with taking care of any of my fish now. She told me that I had set the tank up at her office in 93 or 94 and she went on a business trip and whoever she asked to feed the fish had put a whole can of fish food in the tank and killed all the fish. It was a stinky mess when she got back and she no longer wanted a tank in her office after that. (I don't remember that incident so I'm beginning to question whether some of my other remembrances are real or not. I know that for years I had stitches over my eye but maybe I just imagined how I got them. It's scary what I remember and don't remember.) I didn't have as many opportunities to get to know Zeke as well. I remember meeting him and his first wife and some of their 8 kids after my mission. His wife passed away from cancer and a while after he and Beck got married. They had Nellie about the same time we had Nan and then they had the twin boys Tom and Rolla. Zeke passed away shortly after mom died and about the time Beck made her move to Kayenta, AZ to teach school on the Navajo Rez.
23. I was in 4th or 5th grade When we had the big Deadwood fire. Some one was burning trash behind the Old Folks home in Central City between Lead and Deadwood and sparks from the trash can caught the dry grass on fire and soon the pine trees started to burn and the wind whipped the fire out of control. They let us out of school early because of the seriousness of the fire spreading. My house was a mile from the school and I remember riding my bicycle home as fast as I could peddle. I could see the smoke billowing up behind the hill where we lived and I was afraid that our home might already be in it's path. When I got home I could see that the smoke was still over the hill from Blue Rocks which was about a half mile away. We were told to evacuate our home so we loaded up the car and headed fifty miles away to Newell to stay with Grandma Schell. Dad was asked to use the sound system on his car to help announce the need for people to evacuate Lead and Deadwood. We could see the smoke all the way from Newell and it looked like the whole Black Hills were on fire. It was a scary and exciting time not knowing if we would have a home standing to return to. Dad was able to observe the fire first hand and saw how the fire would jump from mountain to mountain and would go from one side of the road to the next. The wind would change directions and the fire spread every which way but no homes were lost in either town even though the fire burned all around. In some places the fire burned right up to people's homes and then the wind turned the fire away. There must have been several prayers being offered. Finally dad came and told us we could go back home. It was quite surreal to see the blackened hillsides and to see how close the fire came to the homes and businesses in Deadwood. It was also sad to see all the trees burned for several acres on one side of a mountain but it was good to see no trees touched on the other side.
24. I attended grades 4-6 at the Central School which was in the middle of town and we had like four classes per each grade since we had students from the whole town and not just the south east end of town. I liked my 4th grade and 6th grade teachers Mrs. Folgren and Mrs. Foster I think. I had Mr. Seivers for 5th grade and I liked him okay but he didn't seem to like me much at least it seemed that way. My grades were okay but I had some embarrassing moments. One time he belittled me in front of the class because I was a member of the Mormon church and he would often made derogatory comments about Brigham Young and all his wives. I don't even remember why. Maybe I did a report on the church or something. Another time I was writing on the blackboard and he pointed out in front of the whole class how dirty my hands were and he made me go to the bathroom and wash my hands. I did have dirty hands but it was because we played basketball outside on the playground for recess and it was hard not to have dirty hands. I think most of the other boys had dirty hands as well but it was quite embarrassing none the less.
25. In 7th grade I went to the High School on the upper end of town which was a 2 mile walk from my house. It was during these years that I got to be even better friends with Gerald Mosley. We would walk to school and home most every day for the next couple years, sunshine rain or snow. That's when we talked quite a bit about the church. He believed many of the same things I believed even though his church (Presbyterian) didn't. That was also the year I got meningitis and was unable to continue in band or participate in gym class. It was a tough year. (I had to go to study hall with Gary Oxford all year. I didn't really know why he didn't take gym other than he acted a little effeminate and seemed a bit fragile. At our 10 year high school reunion his bio read that he was an active member of the Gay Rights movement although it had a different name.) We didn't know much about alternate lifestyles etc. when I was in Jr High and High School but in retrospect I had my chances to learn but I found that I was much more interested in girls at about this age. The problem was that in 7th grade most of the girls were a head taller than me. It's embarrassing to dance with girls that much taller, but I digress. I had been playing the coronet for three years and was first chair. I had to quit playing because it put pressure on my brain. I tried out for percussion in band but didn't make it. (Chriss thinks it was because she was in band ahead of me and didn't do very well. Whatever the reason it was a disappointment to me.) Not being able to play play sports such as basketball or go to gym was also hard on me. I don't know how I got the meningitis but the doctors said that had they not discovered it when they did I could have died from it. The lining around my brain became infected and I would get terrible headaches, like migraines I guess. I would be sensitive to light and smells and they hurt so bad that I would get nauseous. I'm glad that I got over them and don't have them anymore.
25. I loved playing basketball even though I was one of the shortest in my class. I remember playing in the last game of the year in 6th grade and our team was down by one point. With 15 seconds left I stole the ball and drove toward our basket. Thinking that the time was going to expire more quickly, instead of driving all the way to the basket for the lay up, I stopped at about the free throw line and took the last shot only to miss. I felt terrible because there was still 5 seconds left and we ended up losing the game. In sixth grade I had the highest standing jump vertical leap, I had the school record for chin ups, I could climb the rope fastest just using my hands and I was was one of the only kids who could climb the peg board to the top. Even though I was small I was one of the fastest runners and I was really good at gymnastics (doing hand springs and tumbling). I also played little league baseball and was a good shortstop and third baseman. Losing a year in 7th grade and never growing taller caused me to look at other sports besides basketball. I tried playing football but was a bust since I was half the size of the other players. Why they put me at guard I'll never know. Needless to say what little time I did get to play I ended up on my butt and on my back most plays. Finally I started to wrestle the end of my freshman year due to Jerry Mosley and Pat Ryan. I beat the first guy I wrestled but was clueless to the rules and of how I won. I almost lettered my freshman year but only wrestled half the season. I became a pretty good wrestler but never the best. I did letter my sophomore year. I wrestled 95 lbs. Two of the guys I wrestled were state champs and while they beat me I gave them good matches every time. My Junior year I wanted to stay at 95 lbs and even made my weight for the first match of the season but our guy at 103 didn't make weight so the coach asked me to wrestle 103 and our junior varsity guy wrestled 95. I ended up winning my match but that meant I had to wrestle 103 the rest of the year. I had no problems making weight that year but I was wrestling guys who were a little heavier. I also had to wrestle the 2 guys who were prior state champs. They were seniors. I actually beat them my junior year in dual meets so I had made good improvements. I felt that I would have won state my junior year had I been able to wrestle at 95. Even though I had wrestled varsity all year, I didn't get to go to state that year because the week before region I was beat out at a challenge match by Paul Posey who was 10 lbs over weight. He barely beat me in overtime and then he almost didn't make weight at region. He lost his first match to a guy that I had beat handily during the year. The next year I told the coach that if a guy challenged he should be a couple of pounds within his weight. He agreed and no one could beat me that year. I wrestled 112 and qualified for state. I won my first matches but the other guys on the team lost and so they all got drunk the first night and I had to wrestle the next day. I did well and was beating the guy favored to take state 5 to 0 when he got a reversal and put me on my back with only a few seconds left in the second period. I figured I just needed to bridge and then I would get him in the last period. But the ref slapped the mat and said I was pinned. The coach and I didn't think so but it was over and I felt sick. He did go on to take state. I did try out for the BYU wrestling team and even surprised Chuck Henry the 118 lb conference champ when I was able to get the take downs on him almost every time. But I was more interested in dating Gail and didn't really have the discipline or dedication to keep going. I loved to wrestle but I hated the butterfly's before every match. I also didn't like losing weight I really think that I may have stunted my growth due to wrestling. One other thing I did in High School that most people don't know is that I was on the girls gymnastics team my senior year. (The boys didn't have gymnastics but the girls did.) I would practice with them after wrestling practice and while I did not compete with them, I did perform on the trampoline at half time at one of the home basketball games. When I ended my routine I did a double front flip and I had too much adrenaline so I over rotated. When I landed my momentum caused my to spring forward. I luckily caught the edge of the trampoline with my hands and did a handspring off the tramp landing on my feet on the floor. While I do have still photos of my routine, I wish I had a video of it now.
26. I went to Cub Scouts for a year or so when I was 8 or 9 with Jerry Mosley. We had our den meetings at Danny Trussel's house next door to where Gerald lived. Danny's mom was our den leader. I don't know why, but I didn't continue with Cub Scouting I joined the Boy Scouts in about 8th grade when I was about 14. I joined Troop 48 which was sponsored by the Catholic Church and the Knights of Columbus. Jerry Mosley was in Troop 49 which was sponsored by the Lutheran Church. In thinking back on why I didn't join Jerry's troop it was because Mike Watt's dad Eddie was the Assistant Scout Master and later the Scout Master. They lived just three houses up the street from me. Also I had become good friends with Pat Ryan in Junior High. He attended the Catholic elementary school which was across the street from Central School so we didn't know each other until 7th grade. I started to participate in a youth bowling league that his dad started. We went bowling every week and we had a great time. Pat was also in Troop 48. Well I really loved scouting. I remember one of my first camp outs. It was a winter camp by Hanna Creek above Cheyenne Crossing. It was cold and miserable like most camp outs in the winter. I made beef stew and naturally burned it on the bottom trying to cook it on an open fire. I would still get some of my meningitis headaches from the campfire smoke and lack of sleep but all in all I had some great experiences. I enjoyed going to the summer camps at Camp Broad Axe and getting to know some of the scouts from Pine Ridge who were Lakota. I became good friends with the Indian kids and was in an awkward position when we played cowboys and Indians. Or more like Custer at Little Bighorn. I would stand on the side lines as observer because I had friends on both sides. I earned my mile swim and never want to have to do it again. I enjoyed the various camporees especially when we went to Pow Wows on the reservation at Wounded Knee. I became a member of the Order of the Arrow Brotherhood and I earned my Rank of Eagle Scout when I was 17. One of my culminating experiences besides earning my Eagle was going to the Charles L. Summers Scout Camp in Northern Minnesota to do a week long 120 mile canoe trip up into Canada. I had to carry a 90 lb back pack when I only weighed 110 lbs. The nice thing was since it was mostly food it would get lighter every day. I was the cook and we had some great fishing and fish fry's. One morning it was raining and no one wanted to get out of bed. The guide and Scout Master told me to get one of the boys to help and to let them know when breakfast was ready. I got Greg Fleager to help since his sleeping bag had gotten all wet and he was in his tent shivering. That morning I couldn't find the chocolate milk mix but I found something that looked like it. When I mixed it up it was too thick for hot chocolate and I couldn't figure out what had gone wrong. Well when the rest got up I told the guide that something was wrong with the hot chocolate. Come to find out I had used the chocolate brownie mix. It was the craziest stuff. For some reason the tin cups did not get hot but it was like swallowing hot lava. Everyone was disappointed when the menu called for Brownies later and we had none. I'm grateful for the dedicated scout leaders that I had as a young boy which instilled in me a love for Scouting to this day.
27. I enjoyed singing in High School. I sang in the All-State Chorus which was a blast and I performed Charlie (the high Tenor) part in Brigadoon. I enjoyed participating in Drama as well. I was through music class that I became good friends with Janell Mackie my Junior year. She really liked me in 8th grade but I was trying to get Glenis Hornback to notice me so I petty much ignored her advances. Well Janell and I finally connected. She was a Seventh-Day Adventist and we shared similar values. She was the first girl I ever kissed and the time didn't think it was all that thrilling but she thought it was very special and called Pat Ryan's girlfriend Jeannie Carrol to tell her about it since we had been double dating. I went to church with her and she went with me but we were both very committed to our our faiths and it would have never worked out for us to truly fall in love. When we broke up it was my fault and I felt really bad and wanted things to continue. She was leaving to California for the summer and I did not see her off at the airport because I didn't know she was going or I forgot or something and she was upset with me. The crazy thing was that my sister Becky who was also friends with her family did go see her off and then came home and woke me up to tell me that Janell was mad at me for no seeing her off. We did not write any letters that summer and when she came back to school I took her for a ride on Eddie's Harley Davidson. We went to the Shamrock for ice cream and I had forgotten my money so she had to pay. Things just weren't the same. I tried to start dating again but she was no longer interested. I feel our break up was meant to be for in another year I would meet my real true love only this time our date was on a little trail bike and Gail was more forgiving of my faux pas,
28. I was an okay student. I got mostly A's and B's. I graduated 17th or so in my class of 120 people. I hated chemistry and vowed never to take it again and then ended up having to take several classes at BYU for my Pre-Dental prerequisites. I also hated to write papers because I can't think of what to write or I have a hard time putting my thoughts on paper before I lose them. I don't feel that I'm a very good writer and it is hard for me. English class both in high school and in college is where I perfected the art of procrastination.
29. I loved growing up in the Lead Branch. Some would say it was only a "twig" because we were so few in number. One of my first teachers in Primary and then into MIA (Mutual Improvement Association) was Marjorie Richards. She joined the church about the same time as my mother and has been a faithful member eversince as well. She is still alive today and is in her 80's. Thanks Marjorie. I'll be forever grateful for teaching me all those years sometimes when I was the only one in class. I remember having some major behaviors at Mutual and getting mad at my mother for some little thing and storming out of the church. Again it's a wonder that I ever grew up. Thanks for believing in me and supporting me through my childhood and adolesence.
30. I was the Sunday School Superintendent when I was 17. One week we had a visitor from Rapid City who was in the District Sunday School Presidency. He told me to always start Sunday School on time. The next Sunday there were only three of us at church, me, my mother and Marjorie Richards. We went ahead with our meeting and started on time. Mom played the piano I led the music. Mom gave the opening prayer, I taught the lesson and Marjorie gave the closing prayer. No one else showed up for 45 minutes so it was good that we started. Ah, the memories of our little branch will be with me forever. Those experiences have helped to make me what I am today.