My Girls

The day came when Ann was old enough to go to school. She felt so big and proud but I shall never forget how I felt as I leaned on the gate and watched as she and her little friend trotted down the street hand in hand.  They looked so very small and I couldn't keep back the tears.

My neighbor, Lydia, moved from the greystone house on the corner to a house or her own two blocks to the north. Another family moved into the corner house by the name of Stoddard. There were four girls and three boys, two more were added later. It seemed to me that they were always at our house from early morning to late at night. They hung over the table while we ate and we never could go anywhere without them. Orville was a much more tolerant person than I. He loved children.   He didn't mind what condition they were in, he never refused to take them with him if they wanted to go.  If we planned a family outing or picnic they seemed to have a sixth sense and were all right there when we went out to the car and of course Orville would always pile them in. They always brought the current baby with them and it was usually wet and smelly and when we reached our destination they all ran off to play, leaving the baby with me.  I used to grow so tired of those children. I felt quite resentful. Now I wish I had been more charitable. After a few years they moved to Tooele.

When the girls were at the end of their grade school years we used to have as many as 20-30 children playing on our lot on the old threshing machine, the woodpile and the barn. The place was always filled with the laughter of children.

There were ten special girls of the same age who were friends and schoolmates and they called themselves "The Ten Old Maids". I heard them making plans for the future.  They would always be friends and never get married. I smiled to myself. I knew that time would take care of that.  When they were in their teens in high school a group of boys about that age were attracted to the girls. They began having parties at our house, at the farm or the grove or wherever fancy took. Ann used to help organize these affairs. They came here so often they were like our own boys and girls. Orville and I used to sit in the kitchen and enjoy the fun. Now they are all married with children and grandchildren. They were all married in the Temple.

How time passes. Ann graduated and went to college at Cedar City. She worked part time at the Southern Utah Parks Service. Ann was always a very generous girl. She shared what she had so willingly with Mary and Joyce. Her Dad used to say, "That dear Ann would give her heart away if she could." Mary and Joyce used to help their Dad at the farm. He used to brag that his girls could beat any boys on the farm. Orville did love his girls. The time came, however, when they became boy-conscious and refused to drive tractors, etc, so their Dad had to hire extra help when he needed it.

Joyce was the first of my girls to be married. She married Alan Gale, one of the boys in "The Gang". He was attending the College of Southern Utah and Joyce just graduated from high school. They were married in the St. George Temple. Ann was next. She married John Messer of Cedar City. Mary followed soon after with Merrill Lowe, another of the above group. She and Ann were also married in the St. George Temple. They have always been good girls, always active in the Church and they have each raised good families. I am proud of them and love them very much.