I love those dear hearts and gentle people who live in my home town!

Daddy and his buddies making sauerkraut in the back yard.  Isn't he the best!

It's his birthday today.  He would have been 96.

Sure do miss him.

Even after all these years, I glance around the yard when I pull in the drive way, expecting to see him out raking leaves.

When we were together Monday, we came across some scrap books Aunt Pat had put together.  They were full of clippings and  pictures and announcements she had collected over the years about people from Providence. She had a whole stack of them so we each took a few home to look at.  I spent about two hours the other day going through them.  How fun to see all the things that went on after I had gotten married! ( I had the years  1979-1983)

With Uncle Clyde being the mayor for so many years, they really were right in the middle of everything that went on. 

Aunt Pat wrote a column in the Cache Citizen ( a newspaper that covered all the small towns in Cache Valley) all about what was going on in Providence.  It was surely a simpler (and better!) time when  the articles included things like...

"Friends of Cliff Anderson were happy to see him in church Sunday after his stay in the hospital" or "Lola Brisco is spending a few days visiting with her mother in Hurricane"  Or  "The Jolley family is on their way to Disneyland after winning the Cache Citizen write in contest" Or,  "Third Warders are busy brewing the sauerkraut for their annual turkey-sauerkraut dinner which takes place on Nov. 10"  or " The sparkle in Lori Jeppson's eye rivals the sparkle on her finger from the diamond she received during the holidays from Don Anderson"

Aunt Pat also wrote  a lot of articles for the Herald Journal.  She had a real gift for writing stories and poems. Her loving, humble and very clever personality shines out through her work.  I'll have to do another post with some of them.  Brenda has inherited the same gift and has written a lot of really great poems.  We came across  several she had written for mum and daddy over the years.  She wrote a poem for me when I got married that is really special to me that I keep in my book of remembrance.

Anyway, back to the scrap book...It warmed my heart to read about these things that happened, they may not seem newsworthy, but they made a big deal about them cause they really cared about their neighbors and what was happening in their lives.  I miss that.

I'm pretty sure she had every wedding announcement, baby birth, mission farewell and home coming, funeral, and just when ever someone did good included in that scrap book....and what makes it special to me was that these are the people I grew up with...they had a big influence on me and are what makes Providence home to me.

Wait...I have to do just a few more....these are awesome!  "Cattle thunder down main street in Providence as they make their annual trip to summer range up blacksmith Fork canyon." "Providence Third Warders are enjoying the new turquoise carpet throughout the church which replaced the very worn orange carpet."  'Providence men must be working extra hard these days because four of them have recently had surgery for hernias...walking carefully now are..."

Love these people!

A few more articles, I noticed...  Aunt Lovena...of course she was the costumer!  She sewed everything!... even down to Uncle Buzz's Sunday suit.  She was, and still is pretty amazing!

This is Joyce Bitters...We called her Joycie.  I picked berries for her every summer most of my growing up years. Her and Mel owned and operated a big fruit farm up on the bench.  Mel would come around about 6 every morning and we would jump in the back of his truck and he would haul us up there to work till noon.   Strawberries...50 cents a case...raspberries 75!

Corey Knowles ...my first crush.  He lived across the street and we kind of grew up together.  We would play kick the can and walk home from school together.

My friend Alan

Our neighbors, the Willits.  She was a very dear friend to mum and daddy and Vern spent hours talking over the fence.

This was the post master in Providence. He was such a kind hearted man.   I remember he would always have a piece of candy for my when daddy and I would stop in to pick up the mail. That is another memory that has stayed with me...one of my favorite things was to be able to go on the milk route with daddy.  I had to get up really early cause he started before the sun came up.  I can still remember the way his truck smelled...can't describe it, but it was good!  We would go all around the valley...clear out to Mount Sterling, picking up the full milk cans, then leaving empty ones for them to fill the next day.  When he had the truck of full milk cans, we would head over to Gossners to drop them off.  I was always intrigued by the conveyor belts and machinery that swept the full milk cans into the big building.  After he had loaded up the clean empty cans, we would go into the office there and get an ice cream, then head for home.  We always stopped at the post office on the way though to pick up our mail and grandma Braegger and Pat and Clydes mail too. I thought that wall with all the little boxes was just the coolest thing ever and really thought I was somebody when daddy taught me the combination to our box so I could open it.

Then we would head over to Grandma Braeggers house....which reminds me of another wonderful smell that is deeply imbeded in my senses.( Molasses cookies?)  She would always have a cookie for me our of her big aunt Jemimah cookie jar.  Then we would walk down the little path that led over to Pat and Clydes house to take them their mail too.  It was always fun to go see them....They were the kind of people who just made everyone feel special. 

This was an article in the paper about mum and daddy's place.  It won many awards over the years for the beautiful flowers and yard.  That's daddy and Bruce above and us girls and mum below.

(Wish these pictures were better...I don't remember seeing that one of Daddy and Bruce before...I guess they would be about 50 years old!...oh these weren't from the scrap book...this was one that was in mum's scrap book I am also going through)

Donette was my best friend all of our growing up years. I could write a book about the fun we had! 

These two were also really good friends all through school.

Aunt Dorella...still going stong !  She has lived a life of serving and taking care of others!  I hope she is enjoying letting others take care of her now!  ( I can just hear her cussing the fact that this is the situation she is in now)

Thanks Aunt Pat for these wonderful books...and for reminding me of what a charmed life I had growing up in this simpler time, surrounded by these good people, in this special place they call Providence.