JANUARY 1978
1 January 1978 Sunday
Supposedly this is the first day of 1978 but it seems like just another day to me. Fran and I had trouble getting up this morning because we stayed up too late last night waiting for the New Year to come in. It seems so different down here in Texas from Salt Lake City. I guess in other parts of Fort Worth they were celebrating but here at Gates of Spain on Ridgmar it really was quiet. We have been thinking about moving back to Salt Lake. There are things about Utah I really miss which I didn't think I would, especially the mountains. I really miss the mountains. I was rather grouchy this morning from being so sleepy and so we did miss getting me to Priesthood but I am glad we made it to Sunday School on time because Greg Burr made a mess of the program. I had to conduct again because Terry Moore is still on National Guard alert. Greg was supposed to have gotten the Sacrament gem thought if I got the two and half minute speaker but he didn't so I had to find one real quick. The rest of the program went okay with Christine Porter speaking and Bishop Call presiding. In Sacrament meeting we had a missionary farewell to a Sister Simmons although I didn't really know her. We sat with Ann Keene and Shirley Mitchell. After Sacrament, Fran had to stay for a Youth Committee Meeting so I took Linda Ausland home and Gary Ausland later took Fran home. The church frowns on married people going with people they are not married to but Linda lives at the complex. She is going to look after Sam for us when we are in Salt Lake City next Sunday. Fran is getting really excited about going through the Temple for her endowments.
2 January 1978 Monday
Fran had the day off from work so we went for a drive around Ft. Worth. It's been awhile it seems since we last been out driving. We were going to go to the show to see Close Encounters of The Third Kind but since the tickets were $4 each so we decided we better wait a bit until we come back from Salt Lake to save money. In the evening we went to see Stake President Leithhead at his home where we were interviewed for our Temple Recommends. He thought Fran wouldn't be able to be endowed and sealed all on the same Saturday. This really upset us and caused us anxiety as we wanted to be sealed on our wedding anniversary. We had a restless night and found it hard to fall asleep.
3 January 1978 Tuesday
This morning I was called into work. I was so tired from not getting any sleep last night worrying about our being sealed on our anniversary. I substituted for Mrs. Jacob's Physical Science and chemistry class. It was a long day because I taught from Second Period straight through until 6th. At night Fran and I didn't do much of anything. We are kind of run down. Stressed out probably. Before going into work the morning, I called the Salt Lake Temple and they said that Fran would be able to be endowed at 7 Saturday morning and we would be sealed at 11. So that was a big worry off our minds.
4 January 1978 Wednesday
Fran had the day off but I went into work and substituted for Mr. Large. I taught three health classes and on P.E. class. After school I found out that I won't get paid until the 20th this month. I thought I'd get paid on the10th. That puts a cramp in paying rent this month. At Mutual tonight Fran had some trouble the Naholeyvah boys causing trouble with the Beehive Girls. I felt like writing a poem as I felt nostalgic tonight. Youth Sweet Youth. Youth comprises nothing but sweet farewells. Long memories of short times, Long grief from short pleasures. To be a child again. A Sweet youth with sweet friends, Gone-vanished even before I knew. Time swept before my eyes like Shiny castles before the roar. the morning is over and dusk is brightly coming on. Shiny an glimmering in iridescent neom To replace the sunshine of before.
Additional Material
Obviously I was missing John Cunningham and the brief time we had together and spending the summer of 1970 building sand castles with Ralph Ludders at Huntington Beach as I exorcised or tried to my love for John seeing the waves come and wash the Sand Castles away.
5 January 1978 Thursday
I went into work at 8:15 again substituting for Mr. Large's health and P.E. Classes. I told Mr. White the Principal that I wouldn't be able to work as a substitute until I return next Tuesday. There was this boy named Doug Morris who seems to be really interested in the gospel. He says he doing a sociology paper on Mormonism but I think his interests lie deeper than that as we spent a whole class period talking about the church. After school was over I came home and finished cleaning the place until Fran got off work herself at 6. We decided not to have the Auslands take us to the airport because we would need our car next week when we return home. Also we decided to kennel Sam rather than him be left alone in the apartment even if Linda came over to feed him and walk him. We had almost $500 saved for our trip but out plane tickets cost $368 of that. Also it is costing us $2.50 a day to park our car at the airport and $3.00 a day for Sam to be tucked away at the vet's kennel in White Settlement. When we dropped Sam off he looked so forlorn when I left him. I'm sure he thought we were deserting him and it nearly broke my heart when his eyes followed me out. So off we went to the Dallas-Ft Worth International Airport where we parked a remote parking area and had to take a people mover transit back to the terminal. We didn't have to wait too long for our flight to board although it seemed long. We left about 10:30 at night and flew into Denver about Midnight. We had an hour layover in Denver and reached Salt Lake City at 2:30 Central time but 1:30 Mountain time. Paulette and her husband Kent were waiting at the airport to greet our arrival and to give us a ride into the city. That was so good of them.
Additional Material
Looking back now I think the kid Doug Morris who was 17 years old was more interested in me than the gospel. Perhaps he recognized in me something within himself unexpressed.
6 January 1978 Friday
Fran and I were both dead tired and yet hyper at the same time since we had worked all day yesterday and been up so early. Paulette Gasparac drove us over to Murray Van Waggoners where he was up and waiting for us to arrived. He was so excite d to see Fran again that we had to stay up a while visiting with him. Neither one of us got to bed any earlier than 3:30 Texas time. We slept upstairs in Tina Van Wagoner's old room. I know Murray and Paulette are both super happy to see Fran gain and Fran is happy to be back in Utah. Fran was up really early this morning around 5:30 while I slept in until 8. She wanted to visit with Murray and make a lot of phone calls. When I was up, we made a lot of plans as Fran wanted to spend the day shopping with Paulette, so I made plans to go down to the Genealogical library to see what I could find . I caught the bus and was down there around 10:30. The only productive thing I found was where Fran's family lived in Wisconsin before moving to Minnesota. However the census for Washington County Wisconsin was so poor and faint that I could hardly read the microfilm. But at least we now know where the Fuchs are when they came over from Germany. Later around 4 I was bored and came back to Murray's home on 1300 East. Fran was still gone so I walked up to the U of U as I wanted to see the Huddle and how it had changed after I left. The only person still there was Cindy who worked there when I did. She told me of an incident where Ron almost got into fist fight with Art because Art had called me a creep. Don Garrity had quit just last Wednesday from the custodian crew so I didn't get to see him. I guess on the whole, things are the same at the Huddle and hadn't changed. the Huddle bums with the same faces still hang out there. Afterwards I walked back down to Murray's and he said that Fran had called and said she would pick me up at the Genealogy library at 9. So I took the bus again back down town and while getting off at the ZCMI Center , I encountered Paulette and Fran as they were still shopping. I joined them and I bought a set of doctrinal reference books at the Deseret Bookstore for $10. About 9 Paulette took us back to Murrays . We went to bed about 10:30 to try and get some rest for the big day tomorrow.
7 January 1978 Saturday
Today is Fran's and my first wedding anniversary and we were sealed in the Salt Lake Temple a1 about 12:30. Fran was up this morning at 3:30 . She said she just could not sleep anymore since she was so excited. I slept in until 5:30. When I was up I got ready for the day. Fran's friends Linda Suazo and Norma and Lavelle Tripp were supposed to pick us up at 6:15 to take us down to the Temple but by 6:30 they still hadn't come, so we were nervous and anxious because we didn't know if we had to be right at the temple by 7. Fran was so anxious so we took the bus to downtown and walked from the ZCMI Center over to the Temple Entrance where we met up with Norma and Linda. So we were at the temple by 7 however it was almost 8 before we were ushered in to begin a session. There was a very large group there for the session so they had to split us up. Linda and Norma were Fran's escorts for her washing and anointing before her endowment. I'm glad she got the two of them because she needed them both to hold her up. Lavelle Tripp and I waited and sat in the chapel until Fran had her Washing and Anointing completed then we began an Endowment session at 9. It was so crowded with so many people getting endowed and sealed. I only got to see Fran once during the session. Fran and I were able to be in the Prayer Circle together however and that was thrilling. In the Celestial Room it was absolutely beautiful and Fran looked so radiant. Fran was concerned whether I heard her new name properly so we decided later before we leave we would have a short veil ceremony so I could hear her name again. We then were escorted to the Sealing Room number 6 down the stairs leading from the Celestial Room. We needed another witness so a Missionary named Lyman was asked to be our witness. In the sealing room, Piper Holmes was there and also a friend of Fran's Les Waters. The sealing ceremony only took about a half an hour. When we left the temple about 1 in the afternoon, the outside world seemed so drab. Richard Namenworth, Fran's Jewish friend from New York City, was outside waiting to see us also. We wanted to go to the Provo Temple for another session but we couldn't get down there in time so Linda, The Trips and we went to a restaurant in Midvale called Jacob's Mill and had a bite to eat. Afterwards Linda wanted us to go out to Grantsville to spend the night with the Suazos. So we did. It was real pretty out in Grantsville and we all stayed up to about 10:30 visiting. before going to bed.
8 January 1978 Sunday
We were up at 7:30 so we could go to Priesthood and Relief Society in Grantsville. We also went to Sunday School with the Suazos before Lionel drove us back to Murray Van Wagoner's later in the day. In the evening we went over to Paulette Gasparac's for dinner and then went with her to her Rose Park Sacrament meeting. After Sacrament I went back to Murray's house while Fran wanted to go with Paulette over to Connie Newman's for a late night girls gab session. I went to bed at 11 alone. I don't know when Fran came in.
9 January 1978 Monday
Fran and I went through the temple again. The session was over at 3 in the afternoon but it didn't take nearly as long as it did on Saturday. We spent more time in the Celestial Room as they weren't in such a hurry to move people along. We went to the Sealing Room and looked into a mirror that made us look eternal. In the late afternoon there was a mix up over whether we were going out to dinner or not. Evidently last night Fran and the other girls made some kind of plans without consulting me. Connie Newman actually went out and bought $30 worth of food to prepare for a dinner for us. Well it was really dumb of her because she never asked us about our own plans. We already committed ourselves to go down to Provo to spend the evening with Meg and Steve Madsen. Around 7 Paulette came by and drove us down to Provo. We had to change our plane tickets to Tuesday Night. We needed to be back to Slat Lake by 8. Kay Wiker called and wanted to drop by to see us tomorrow also. We were finally down to Provo by 8;30 and it was raining. It seemed really strange for it to be raining in January. It sure was good to be with Meg and Steve again. Kathy Ryan, an old member of the 41st Ward was also staying with Meg and Steve. we only stayed up until 11.
10 January 1978 Tuesday
I spent much of this day up at the BYU bookstore buying little souvenirs to bring back to Ft. Worth. Steve Madsen had to go into work today so we didn't go to the Provo Temple until after 5. Meg and Steve joined us about 6 after we had done the preliminary ordinances for Garland Fuchs, Frans brother I was baptized and confirmed for Garland and was washed and anointed for him. We went through just one session with Meg and Steve. The Provo Temple shows a film rather than live actions like in Salt Lake. I think Fran really enjoyed the film better . After passing through the veil into the Celestial Room, Fran and I had a short veil ceremony again so I could hear Fran's new name once again. I did hear it right the first time but Fran's peace of mind was restored. After leaving the Provo Temple we decided to not go back to Slat Lake but rather spend one more night in Provo and fly home Wednesday. We stayed up really late visiting until about 12:30
11 January 1978 Wednesday
Fran spent much of the day with an old friend named Frances Walling while I visited with Meg while Steve was at work. It rained for most of the day and it still seems strange to me for it to be raining in January. When Steve came home from work, Meg and Steve drove us back to Sat Lake where we arrived at 7:30. Paulette came over at 9 to take us to the airport from Murray's to catch our flight. We didn't want to leave and it was hard leaving Salt Lake City again. It was a mistake to leave last year as I guess in our hearts we have to admit that Salt Lake is our home.
12 January 1978 Thursday
We arrived into the Dallas airport about 3 in the morning and we were shocked to see teh entire airport coated with a thick layer of ice. We took the people mover back to the where the Pinto was parked it took about an hour to scrape enough ice off to even getting the key into the lock an off the wind shield to see well enough to rive home. The Pinto barely started and I could only drive about 25 miles an hour even of the freeway because the roads were slick and the bridges were covered with ice. We went to bed as soon as we arrived safely back to the apartment. I was up at 10 however to go get Sam so we wouldn't have to pay for another day at the kennel and I brought him home.
January 13th through 31st of January
The rest of the month of January we spent contemplating whether we should move back to Utah or not. It was a real let down returning to Texas where we had no real prospects and after being with our friends in Utah it was discouraging been in Ft. Worth. The clincher was when Murray Van Waggoner called and asked to come back to Utah and live rent free with him. Ft. Worth was so expensive and we were already behind on rent. Our values were also different as that Texans loved bragging about how much they paid for something while we were trying to live as cheaply as we could. So we weighed the pros and cons of leaving. We really loved our Ft. Worth Ward which valued us and that was the hardest part of leaving. Fran hated her part time job and my substitute teaching was unpredictable. Then on the 20th of January I got a call from mom saying that Grandpa Williams had passed away. He died in a rest home at Cherry Hills near Yucaipa about 5 in the afternoon. Dad and Minnie were in the room with him when he passed. Mom had been with him but as she stepped out to use the restroom, when she came back Grandpa had died. He died of complications from Pneumonia and plain old age. He was only 75 years old but had been on a steady decline in health for almost 2 years as he gave up any interest in life and primarily gave up eating. Everyone in California was really taking his death hard since it was the first death in the family that I can remember. Grandpa was buried in the Rose Hill Cemetry in Whittier and many of the relatives from Texas showed up for the funeral. Mom bore the brunt of dealing with grandpa's death because she had to tell Grandma Williams who had just gotten out of the hospital herself from a mild heart attack. Aunt Marie didn't want to tell Grandma because the death of her own mother ten years before was still painful for her. So mom was elected. Dad took Grandpa's death really hard and mom said he broke down in the funeral parlor at the viewing when he and mom were alone. Dad said "I never told my father I loved him." The Williamses boys are just not demonstrative that way. Fran and I were in no financial shape to attend the funeral as we had no money having spent our savings going to Salt Lake to be sealed. We didn't even get our rent paid until the 15th and between flying to Utah and paying rent we are flat broke again. That when we decided to take up Murray's offer of staying with him so we could try too get up on our feet. We called him on the 22nd which was his birthday and told him we would return but we needed some help with the move. Murry sent us $300 and we paid off most of our bills, quit our jobs and began to pack up. About the 24th of January my Pinto finally bit the dust. Driving it home from the airport must have really damaged it as a cylinder in the distributor shaft broke. We had no money to fix it so we just gave it to Mindy and Bubba who is a mechanic of sorts. We made plans then to travel back just in Fran's dodge station wagon but we shipped most of our things by UPS and that took a lot of time. Bishop Call hated to see us go but I felt like it was the right decision. We had to leave our Queen Size bed behind that we had bought from Anne Keene for $40. On the night we were to leave we were so tired so we decided to spend the night in the apartment and leave on the first. On the 31st we went and spent the evening visiting with Bro and Sister Gurley. They are such sweet people. We left about 9 when at Albertson's we saw this woman having car trouble and stranded. Fran convinced me to stop and see if I could help and to our surprise it was Sister Emmons! She was just as surprise to see us. We helped her start her car by opening the choke and sister Emmons said she felt like Heavenly Father sent us to help her.
Additional Material
Vice President Hubert Humphreys died on January 13 at the age of 66. He was the 38th President of the United States under President Johnson and was Presidential Candidate against Nixon in 1968. He was an early skeptic of the Vietnam war.
Carl Betz the husband on the the Donna Reed show died on the 18th at the age of 56 years.
These were the songs that were played constantly on the Radio with the Bee Gees having Stayin' Alive, How Deep Is Your Love, and Night Fever. Baby Come Back and Grease by Frankie Vallie were also popular. I hated Debby Boone's You Light Up My Life which was played ad nauseum.
FEBUARY 1978
We left Ft. Worth quite early for having been up so late last night doing last minute things. We knew we were losing our deposits at the Gate of Spain for breaking our lease. The trip to the farm didn't take too long with Fran pulling a much smaller U Haul. We stopped first in Peacock, Texas in Stonewall County where I talked to a man named J.O. Kidd who was related to the Bilberrys. In Jayton we stopped at the public library where I looked at a book on the Bilberrys and their trip to New Mexico in 1886. I was thrilled when the librarian gave us an old extra copy of the book as she was going to throw it away as it was falling a part. We reached Hart Camp about 8 at night and we spent the night with Grandma and Grandpa. Grandma informed me that the dried milk we stored spoiled and was given to the hogs so Fran's Year Supply of Food she had to have was gone without us using a bit of it except what she had canned. We stayed with Grandma and Grandpa until the 3rd when we reloaded everything and Grandma gave us $40 for gas money for along the way. We left out early on the 3rd and drove into Albuquerque where we spent the night at a Motel 6 where we could sneak Sam into the room. On the 4th we drove from Albuquerque to Monticelli Utah where we sent the night again for $6. The muffler on the Dodge came loose and we had to tie it on with some rope. In Monticello we called Murray Van Wagoner to let him know we were on our way and would be in Salt Lake on the 5th. and he said that he had fallen getting out of the bathtub and cracked some ribs. It was our United Parcel packages that caused him to fall getting out of the bath tub to answer the door. We felt really bad but it was just one of those things. Finally we arrived back in Salt Lake City without incident and the city was just beautiful. Murray was so glad to see us but he didn't look well. We spent all of Monday unpacking and visiting with Murray
7 February 1978 Tuesday
Fran and I mainly lounged around the house resting after our long trip home and visiting with Murray. He seemed to really perk up now that Fran was back although he's been coughing up brown blood and that bothered us thinking he should see a doctor. We moved upstairs into the bedroom across from Murrays while Sam stayed tied up outside or in the car.
8 February 1978 Wednesday
Fran and I spent the day unpacking still and resting. Murray's back porch is filled with our things. Lillie Andersson, Murry's neighbor came over and cleaned the house for Murray
9 February 1978 Thursday.
Murray felt well and strong enough to go grocery shopping with us. We first stopped at Walker Bank and then went to Albertson's on 4th East and 2nd South. Murray paid the entire grocery bill and he seemed to be enjoying himself and felt good about getting out of the house. For dinner I fixed a really nice spaghetti diner and Murray ate with us and Fran said he ate more than usual as he must have really liked it. In the evening we watched the Dirty Dozen on TV but Fran an I were tried and went to bed early about 9.
10 February 19978 Friday
Fran and I woke up at 7:30 and Fran thought it was curious that Murray would have left the upstairs hallway light on. We came down stairs and we found Murray had died. He was on his couch, next to the front door, sitting just as if he had dozed off. Fran ran next door to get Mrs. Anderson and she hurried over to help. We called Murray's doctor but he would not be in until later that morning. We called California to let his sons know that Murray had passed . They couldn't catch a flight until later that night. Mrs. Anderson said that Colonial Mortuary had taken care of the arrangements for Murray's wife so we called them and they came out and took Murra's body to the funeral home. As they were taking him out I kissed his forehead goodbye. It really hit home that you take nothing with you when you go. Murray had to leave all the things he loved behind. The rest of the day fairly dragged on until some of the Van Wagoner clan began arriving about Midnight. Fran and I stayed up with them until about 2 in the morning talking to the family and letting them know what had happened. We spent much of the day just in a daze. Just last night we had a good spaghetti diner and watched some TV. . We haven't even been here a week and we had so many expectations of spending time with Murray and what we could do with him. Fran is just crushed. Murray was her comfort and refuge. Now its gone. Joyce Murray and Virginia came over also as they were also deeply effected as they . loved him also.
Additional Material.
It was determined that Murray died from a blood clot that traveled from his leg to his heart
11 February 1978 Saturday
Fran and I were up fairly early and fixed the Van Wagoner family some breakfast and visited before they began to get deep and heavy into the funeral discussions. we left for the day as it was a family discussion. Besides Fran can't stand Tom Van Wagoner's wife and she doesn't want to be around for the will and such, That night we went to the show and saw Close Encounters of the Third Kinds. I thought it was great but I also thought Fran couldn't get her mind off of Murray's death. Back at the house they held a wake of sorts with plenty of food and booze. Fran and I just went upstairs to bed feeling like outsiders in our own grief.
12 February 1978 Sunday
Today is Fran's 33rd birthday which was very disappointing because we were still dealing with Murrays death and the family being all here. . We went to church however. The Van Wagoner's bought her a string art Owl design for a present. That's about all the birthday she had today. Tomorrow is the funeral.
13 February 1978 Monday
Murray was buried today and we have only been in Utah a week. Murray's service was beautiful, plain and simple. His grave was dedicated and both sons Tom and Jim spoke about their father's life. I was one of the pall bearers for Murray. It had snowed yesterday and the graveyard was covered with snow. Mt. Olivet Cemetry is so pretty and Murray was buried not far from where he spent his life
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