Two of the Most Amazing Women

One Sunday in Malad 2nd Ward our teacher did not show up. Being high school seniors the leaders decided that we should combine classes with our parents.

The question was posed, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" Various answers, "teacher, rancher, rich, etc." I was about the 5th kid to answer and I said, "A Grandma."

I still think that is the number one occupation of a lifetime. Along with my life with Jon, this is the ultimate joy of my life!

After I gave that answer in Church one of the adults said, "You must have incredible relationships with your grandmothers."

Definitely.

So just for the heck of it, I am going to blog my two grandmothers. I think they would get a kick out of it!

GRANDMA THOMAS Mary Pierce Thomas "Ma"

Mary Pierce Thomas--an elect Welsh lady

Grandma Thomas was affectionately known throughout Malad as "Ma." Everyone called her this. I was named after her, something I am very, very proud of...

Grandma lived just below Malad Elementary. If I missed the bus or decided to walk home, I would stop off at her house and call my mom. She had a cool table with a chair attached that we sat on to use her huge black phone. In those days, there was no such thing as rotary dials. We simply picked up the phone, an operator would say, "Number please." I would then reply, "One-six-five Please." Our phone number was 165, the store's number was 180."


Grandma never walked. She had a cute little skip or jog. When I would knock on her door, I could hear her little skip and soon was welcome by her wonderful smile. She had a little box on her kitchen wall filled with suckers, or as we called them, all-day-suckers. I always got one when I visited--red. She knew what I liked.


If Grandma was not home, she had a key on a nail of her house railing. I have no idea why she locked the door. Everyone in town knew where her key was.

Her living room was large living/family room. It was always neat, clean and classy. On her walls was a huge mirror, a cuckoo clock (sometimes she would move it ahead so I could marvel and giggle at the little bird), and a framed letter from President Franklin D. Roosevelt expressing his condolences on the death of my Uncle Fred during World War II. People in Malad would often say, "Ma never recovered from the death of Fred."

Grandma grew up only speaking Welsh in her home. She learned English when she went to school. She attended up to the 8th grade which was usual for girls at that time. She and my Grandpa Dave Price Thomas homesteaded land north of Malad. This area is called, "Daniels", "Elkhorn", or "Head of Malad." It was one mile square and had a spring on it. A few times my dad, brothers and I hiked this land and drank out of the spring.

Grandma was amazing and I smile when I think of this sweet, soft-spoken, Welsh lady. She was an amazing cook, she loved the grandkids, and her family was everything to her.

EVERY Sunday my dad would take us to her house to visit. It was his only day off and he would take her a small sack of groceries. We would pull up to her house and she would come jogging from across the street. My Aunt Nettie Bollingbroke lived directly across the road from her. She would go over to eat Sunday Dinner with them and visit until Stan or Uncle Boyd showed up.

The street she lived on was interesting. On both sides of the road from 4th North to 3rd North lived Thomas's: Ma, sister-in-laws Aunt Lil' Thomas Caldwell, Aunt Janet Thomas Thorpe, Cousin Bill Thorpe, his mother-in-law, cousin Hazen Gilgen (mother was a Thomas), Cousin Tom Parry(mother was a Thomas), Martha Maag (her mom was grandma's first cousin), The only one not belonging to the clan was non-relative Ward Thomas, but that is okay because his name fit.

The best Sundays were when the Blaisedells (Aunt Lucille) from Bountiful came to spend the weekend, usually once a month. My cousins Pam and Wendy Blaisdell, Jill and Dixie Bollingbroke, Ann Davis and I played Army in the basement. Jill was always the General because she was the oldest. She had us clean house or make her something to eat or drink.

I made Pam cry once because I called her a Carrot Eater. That's the only time Grandma got angry with me. I felt awful.

Maybe once or twice a year we would get out Grandma's Ouiji Board. It always scared me because it knew the exact color of the next car to pass the house and one time it wouldn't answer when we asked where Dixie was because she was in Church. Oh, dear! The cousins still giggle about our adventures every time we get together.



GRANDMA PETERSON: Margaret Camp Peterson "Maggie"

Grandma Peterson was amazing. She was my best friend growing up. I visited her every day. How blessed I was to have a grandma nearby that I could walk to her house, play games, eat her food, and later take my lunch break from the store (and watch General Hospital with her).

She had a tough life. She had 10 children when her husband left her. My mother was the youngest daughter (5 at the time) with three younger brothers and 6 older siblings.

The Peterson Family were quite well-to-do and lived in Ogden. Grandpa Peterson was the main railroad conductor on the Union Pacific Railroad between Ogden and Las Vegas. They had a large home and a fancy new car. One thing led to another and gambling soon took much of the money and possessions.

He left Grandma for another woman. When she found out he was married and had 10 kids, she left him and started paying Grandma money to raise the kids. In the early 20's there was no such thing as mandatory child support, alimony, or even welfare of any kind. A woman was on her own to fend for herself and kids.

She and the 10 kids moved to Samaria where the Camp family tried helping them. Grandma was independent and hated taking help from her brothers and sisters. She went to work. She worked for various people cleaning their homes and also in cafes. She told of the day some man was making sassy remarks to her in the Cafe and she took the wet cloth used to wipe the tables and slapped him across the face. She worried all day that her boss would fire her which would have been devastating. The boss said nothing and no one in town ever made inappropriate remarks to this single lady again.

One job she that paid all the bills and kept the family afloat was with the Whiting Road Construction Company. They built the first paved road from Idaho Falls to Arco. She was hired as the cook for the crew. The first day on the job, the men came in hungry and dirty. They just sat there. No food. Grandma wouldn't feed anyone with a hat on or their hands not washed. And she demanded respect with no swearing. The men soon learned. They changed.

It wasn't long before they realized they had the best cook in the West and the most amazing bread maker on earth. The Whitings loved Grandma and visited her at least once a year.

Grandma married a man who farmed ground on the Fort Hall reservation. I was about 4 when she married this Everett Saul. They lived on a farm and I loved visiting her. When my brother Tim was born, he did not have the reflex to swallow. Mom spent every day in the Logan Hospital with him while his life was slowly slipping away. Marvin and I went to Fort Hall to stay with Grandma.

We didn't know her husband's name so we called him "hey you." We fed the chickens in the morning and collected pop bottles along the freeway in the afternoon. Grandma's bed was too tall for me to get into so Marv's had to boost me into bed each night. I was four, he was five. I almost threw up when grandma served me milk from the cow complete with cream floating on top. I drank water the rest of the stay. We road the Greyhound bus to Malad since Grandma did not drive.

Everett was very abusive to Grandma. My dad went up one day and brought her to our house. Everett charted a plane and flew over Malad looking for her. My dad and he met face to face. I later heard my dad say that he called him a "son of a b....." and told him to get off his property. Pops was frightened of what this crazy man would do to the store, him, grandma or us kids. He always had a gun nearby for some time after this altercation.

My dad bought the house next door and Grandma Peterson moved in. I was five years old. She was so grateful to my dad. When she died, her Will said, "Everything goes to Stan."

Grandma had a back porch full of toys. I later found out that she would go to the junkyard and find them. I didn't care. They were fun.

Each Saturday she baked homemade bread for my dad and fried two chickens for my mom. Every once and awhile she made my dad an apple pie. Her cooking was amazing, everything from scratch, no recipes.

She and my dad had a special relationship. I was in his butchershop one night and he showed me some bankruptcy forms. He had just built a new store in Malad and things were not going as planned. He was upset. He finally told me to go home. That was the last I heard of it. Years later, I heard that Grandma had taken out her life savings ($1000) and gave it to my dad. This was in the 50's and that was A LOT of money. It saved the store. I guess they both saved each other's life or livelihood. My dad ALWAYS spoke highly of Grandma Peterson.

It was difficult to see my Grandma get older and not be able to live on her own. She entered the Malad Rest Home when I was in college. I often visited her. My mom fixed up my sister Connie's bedroom for Grandma to come live at our home. She would not hear of it. She would not be a burden to anyone.

She enjoyed the rest home because three of her sisters and sister-in-law were there also. They watched Lawrence Welk together (on the TV my dad bought and donated to the hospital) and they quilted. I still have several baby quilts that they made. These masterpieces are not tied quilts or machine stitched, it was all by hand and beautiful.

Grandma died peacefully in her 90's. I loved her and had the most amazing relationship with her.

Everyone should be so blessed to have wonderful Grandmas!!!!