My life, my hopes, goals, dreams, and aspirations. THE REALITY OF IT ALL. Written in the Autumn of my life, when the trials and experiences I've had have taught me much and with the Lord's help has made me a stronger person.
Eccl 3: 1-8 " To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant and a time to pluck up that which is planted; A time to kill and a time to heal; a time to break down , and a time to dance; A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; A time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silent, and a time to speak; A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war and a time of peace."
If you are reading this as a grandson or granddaughter, you already know me. If you are a great grandson or great granddaughter, you may just be getting acquainted with me. This is exactly what I want you to do and just perhaps I can give you some direction in your life. It would be wonderful if we could learn by the mistakes of others instead of making your own. Don't drift along the stream of life, letting it take you where it will. Take charge of your life. Believe me when I say, " There is a time and a season to make and attain goals that will direct your path back to your Heavenly Father. Don't be afraid to reach for the stars. Be all you can be!! Build on you talents and abilities. Pray continually and read the scriptures. Let your Heavenly Father be your guide and constant companion. Be of service to your fellowmen. Help the handicapped and less fortunate. Be thankful for your capabilities. Live a life that you can look back on and be proud. Stand tall and strong. If you're knocked down, get up and go on. Remember you have not failed until you quit trying! I like this quote from an unknown author:
" Good timber does not grow in ease,
The stronger the wind, the tougher the trees;
Of many winds and much strife-
This is the common law of life."
Now that I have preached my little sermon, I will go on with my life history. I would like you to get to know me as a person and not just what I believe.
I was born April 8, 1929 in my Grandfather Carl Severe's house, which was later Otto Nielson's house in Heman, Fremont County, Idaho. I was the first child born to my parents Oakley and Stella Lenora Severe Hunter.
My first home was a little log house which was built by my father that was to be converted into a garage but never was. It was located next to the Heman Church and across the road from the Heman School House. It was a two room house that held many happy memories. We all slept in one small bedroom. (The five of us) and my parents spent many sleepless nights because I was so afraid of the dark.
My dad was very strict in our home. There was to be no bad language. The worst word I that I ever remember saying was "bugger". I got a spanking from my dad and I never said that word again.
Prayer has always been such an important part of my life. I remember once when my brother Hal and I went to the timbers with dad and mom after wood. They told us to stay where we were while they looked for some trees. We got scared and started looking for them. We started walking and decided we were lost. We started to cry and decided to kneel down and pray that we would find them. When we stood up we could see them coming. We knew our prayer was answered just as it has been so many times in my life.
I never did like my birthday to come. Dad would spank me so hard, and I am sure he didn't know it hurt so badly. I never did have a birthday party. I'm sure if I had wanted it my mom would have given me one. I just never wanted a fuss made over me. After Arden and Alita and their family moved to Egin and Boyd and Nancy were living in Rigby, they had a surprise birthday party for me and I guess that made up for all the birthday parties I had missed.
I remember when I was baptized. It was in the fall and the water was so cold. My dad baptized me and Kirma White in the canal by the old Heman Church House.
After school was out in the spring we would move up to our dry farm at Foggs Butte for the summer. We loved it up there. Dad would drive our cattle and sheep up there to graze for the summer. We loved our little one room cabin nestled at the base Foggs Butte among the trees. We couldn't wait each spring to get there. Dad hauled water and got ice from the ice caves. Mom made cinnamon rolls and ice cream for our relatives who came to visit and for the sheepherders who came from nearby. When we moved in with Grandma Hunter and dad starting farming, he sold the Foggs Butte property. We missed it so much. I still long to live in the mountains in the summer.
I went to school in the Heman School. My first grade teacher, Miss Galbraith, was determined that I learn to write with my right hand, even though I was left handed. That was hard to do, but I finally mastered it. There was no inside plumbing so we had to go to an outhouse way out in the back. If we were thirsty us a cup of water on our way back from the outhouse. I took school very seriously and got good grades. Once I met my 8th grade teacher, Blair Archibald after I was married, and he told me I was one of the best students he had ever had. When I graduated from 8th grade, we had a graduation exercise and I was the Valedictorian. Mom bought a pretty plaid suit for me. Everything I had on was new and I was so proud of my store bought clothes. There were only three in my graduating class.
I worked hard in school and got all A's except for 2 B's on my freshman report card. I never did think my grades were high enough and I can't remember my parents ever praising me. I felt I got a lot out of high school and I wished I would have realized how important an education was. If I had just gone on to college and got my degree in Special Education. It's like they say, "Youth is wasted on the young". There is a "season" for getting an education. Once I told my dear cousin Delsa Kirby, who had graduated from nursing school and had gone on a mission, that I wished I had accomplished the things she had in her life. She said that if she had been in love with a handsome, witty boy she would probably have gotten married too.
I have always been a very shy, and a very private person, perhaps one that is hard to get to know. I have my faults and failings and I do have regrets in my life. I do hope my earthly parents and my Heavenly Father will forgive my mistakes.
I take myself too serious and wish I had a sense of humor and could laugh at myself. I do believe that I was blessed with talents that have helped me overcome to some degree an inferiority complex that has plagued me all my life. I am so thankful for my wonderful parents and the husband I have been blessed with. Without my parents' example of the love and support of Lou, my husband, I could have not accomplished what I have been able to do in my life. I have been blessed with some wonderful friends that have been there for me in times of illness and trial.
I will go on and describe myself a little more. I think I inherited some good qualities from my parents. I inherited being a perfectionist from my father and also my love of music and knowledge. My love of hard work on the farm from my childhood and the example of my parents. I am a "morning person" like my mother. I love to get up early and get my house tidied up and extra projects done. I love to cook and try out new recipes. I loved being a wife and mother and although I wish I be more affectionate, I do love my children and my grandchildren with all my heart. When my children were all in school, I was able to have the privilege of taking classes at Ricks College and it was then that I realized what a thirst for knowledge I had. When the last of my brood of seven, Rick, was in the sixth grade I got a job as a Reading Tutor for the Madison School District. Oh how I to teach those children who had learning disabilities. Up to that time I had been giving piano lessons and I still continued that even with my school work. I always worked by Lou's side on the farm. We've always said how we loved working together. We didn't have much time or money for recreation as I'm sure our children will testify to, but we did work together. Sometimes when it was 90 degrees and we would all start down a row of beets. It was a good thing that we could all laugh together or we would have cried. It was a good life on the farm and we did teach our children to work and we are so proud of each one of them. They are all industrious and good stalwart members of the church.
Those were the good years, Our health was good and we enjoyed our lives. My service in the church was mostly music. I played weddings and funerals and always had at least one organist job. I accompanied a lot of musical numbers and played the organ in the temple when we were privileged to be temple officiators.
When the last of children got married it seemed like this "season" of our life was going to be great, but it wasn't meant to be. Due to unforeseen circumstances it wasn't meant to be that we would prosper at the farming game. Lou and Arden had begun farming together and after a few bad years, it reached a heartbreaking climax and we lost the farms that we were buying. About this time my health problems began and the next five years things just to go from bad to worse. I know the lord helped us make it through, but I never realized how hard trials could be. I started out with a severe depression, which although was not life threatening was almost unbearable. Then Parkinson's disease began which sapped my strength until it was discouraging. I thought this was the worst and then my eyes began to deteriorate with Macular Degeneration. I felt that this was too much to endure. I had given up teaching and as my central vision dimmed it became harder and harder to do my handwork and things I loved to do.
I have spent a lot of time on my knees in prayer and Lou has been so patient with me that his love sometimes was all that kept me going. All this time we were still battling the P.C.A., which was the loaning institute that taken our farm away. Finally after much to our sorrow, we just realized that there was no use fighting anymore and we just had to give up and start all over again. They took all we had left of the machinery, the cellar unless we started buying the house from them, we would have no place to call our own. It is now the last few days in 1992 and we have just finished having another Christmas trying to keep our spirits up. They say discouragement is a sin, but it is really hard to keep up your spirits up when everything seems to go against you. Our family is a big support to us and they help us a lot. This is hard to put into my history as tears fall on the typewriter. These trials and tests are for our good they say. Who knows, maybe someday we will count them as blessings.
Eccl 3: 1-8 " To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant and a time to pluck up that which is planted; A time to kill and a time to heal; a time to break down , and a time to dance; A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; A time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silent, and a time to speak; A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war and a time of peace."
If you are reading this as a grandson or granddaughter, you already know me. If you are a great grandson or great granddaughter, you may just be getting acquainted with me. This is exactly what I want you to do and just perhaps I can give you some direction in your life. It would be wonderful if we could learn by the mistakes of others instead of making your own. Don't drift along the stream of life, letting it take you where it will. Take charge of your life. Believe me when I say, " There is a time and a season to make and attain goals that will direct your path back to your Heavenly Father. Don't be afraid to reach for the stars. Be all you can be!! Build on you talents and abilities. Pray continually and read the scriptures. Let your Heavenly Father be your guide and constant companion. Be of service to your fellowmen. Help the handicapped and less fortunate. Be thankful for your capabilities. Live a life that you can look back on and be proud. Stand tall and strong. If you're knocked down, get up and go on. Remember you have not failed until you quit trying! I like this quote from an unknown author:
" Good timber does not grow in ease,
The stronger the wind, the tougher the trees;
Of many winds and much strife-
This is the common law of life."
Now that I have preached my little sermon, I will go on with my life history. I would like you to get to know me as a person and not just what I believe.
I was born April 8, 1929 in my Grandfather Carl Severe's house, which was later Otto Nielson's house in Heman, Fremont County, Idaho. I was the first child born to my parents Oakley and Stella Lenora Severe Hunter.
My first home was a little log house which was built by my father that was to be converted into a garage but never was. It was located next to the Heman Church and across the road from the Heman School House. It was a two room house that held many happy memories. We all slept in one small bedroom. (The five of us) and my parents spent many sleepless nights because I was so afraid of the dark.
My dad was very strict in our home. There was to be no bad language. The worst word I that I ever remember saying was "bugger". I got a spanking from my dad and I never said that word again.
Prayer has always been such an important part of my life. I remember once when my brother Hal and I went to the timbers with dad and mom after wood. They told us to stay where we were while they looked for some trees. We got scared and started looking for them. We started walking and decided we were lost. We started to cry and decided to kneel down and pray that we would find them. When we stood up we could see them coming. We knew our prayer was answered just as it has been so many times in my life.
I never did like my birthday to come. Dad would spank me so hard, and I am sure he didn't know it hurt so badly. I never did have a birthday party. I'm sure if I had wanted it my mom would have given me one. I just never wanted a fuss made over me. After Arden and Alita and their family moved to Egin and Boyd and Nancy were living in Rigby, they had a surprise birthday party for me and I guess that made up for all the birthday parties I had missed.
I remember when I was baptized. It was in the fall and the water was so cold. My dad baptized me and Kirma White in the canal by the old Heman Church House.
After school was out in the spring we would move up to our dry farm at Foggs Butte for the summer. We loved it up there. Dad would drive our cattle and sheep up there to graze for the summer. We loved our little one room cabin nestled at the base Foggs Butte among the trees. We couldn't wait each spring to get there. Dad hauled water and got ice from the ice caves. Mom made cinnamon rolls and ice cream for our relatives who came to visit and for the sheepherders who came from nearby. When we moved in with Grandma Hunter and dad starting farming, he sold the Foggs Butte property. We missed it so much. I still long to live in the mountains in the summer.
I went to school in the Heman School. My first grade teacher, Miss Galbraith, was determined that I learn to write with my right hand, even though I was left handed. That was hard to do, but I finally mastered it. There was no inside plumbing so we had to go to an outhouse way out in the back. If we were thirsty us a cup of water on our way back from the outhouse. I took school very seriously and got good grades. Once I met my 8th grade teacher, Blair Archibald after I was married, and he told me I was one of the best students he had ever had. When I graduated from 8th grade, we had a graduation exercise and I was the Valedictorian. Mom bought a pretty plaid suit for me. Everything I had on was new and I was so proud of my store bought clothes. There were only three in my graduating class.
I worked hard in school and got all A's except for 2 B's on my freshman report card. I never did think my grades were high enough and I can't remember my parents ever praising me. I felt I got a lot out of high school and I wished I would have realized how important an education was. If I had just gone on to college and got my degree in Special Education. It's like they say, "Youth is wasted on the young". There is a "season" for getting an education. Once I told my dear cousin Delsa Kirby, who had graduated from nursing school and had gone on a mission, that I wished I had accomplished the things she had in her life. She said that if she had been in love with a handsome, witty boy she would probably have gotten married too.
I have always been a very shy, and a very private person, perhaps one that is hard to get to know. I have my faults and failings and I do have regrets in my life. I do hope my earthly parents and my Heavenly Father will forgive my mistakes.
I take myself too serious and wish I had a sense of humor and could laugh at myself. I do believe that I was blessed with talents that have helped me overcome to some degree an inferiority complex that has plagued me all my life. I am so thankful for my wonderful parents and the husband I have been blessed with. Without my parents' example of the love and support of Lou, my husband, I could have not accomplished what I have been able to do in my life. I have been blessed with some wonderful friends that have been there for me in times of illness and trial.
I will go on and describe myself a little more. I think I inherited some good qualities from my parents. I inherited being a perfectionist from my father and also my love of music and knowledge. My love of hard work on the farm from my childhood and the example of my parents. I am a "morning person" like my mother. I love to get up early and get my house tidied up and extra projects done. I love to cook and try out new recipes. I loved being a wife and mother and although I wish I be more affectionate, I do love my children and my grandchildren with all my heart. When my children were all in school, I was able to have the privilege of taking classes at Ricks College and it was then that I realized what a thirst for knowledge I had. When the last of my brood of seven, Rick, was in the sixth grade I got a job as a Reading Tutor for the Madison School District. Oh how I to teach those children who had learning disabilities. Up to that time I had been giving piano lessons and I still continued that even with my school work. I always worked by Lou's side on the farm. We've always said how we loved working together. We didn't have much time or money for recreation as I'm sure our children will testify to, but we did work together. Sometimes when it was 90 degrees and we would all start down a row of beets. It was a good thing that we could all laugh together or we would have cried. It was a good life on the farm and we did teach our children to work and we are so proud of each one of them. They are all industrious and good stalwart members of the church.
Those were the good years, Our health was good and we enjoyed our lives. My service in the church was mostly music. I played weddings and funerals and always had at least one organist job. I accompanied a lot of musical numbers and played the organ in the temple when we were privileged to be temple officiators.
When the last of children got married it seemed like this "season" of our life was going to be great, but it wasn't meant to be. Due to unforeseen circumstances it wasn't meant to be that we would prosper at the farming game. Lou and Arden had begun farming together and after a few bad years, it reached a heartbreaking climax and we lost the farms that we were buying. About this time my health problems began and the next five years things just to go from bad to worse. I know the lord helped us make it through, but I never realized how hard trials could be. I started out with a severe depression, which although was not life threatening was almost unbearable. Then Parkinson's disease began which sapped my strength until it was discouraging. I thought this was the worst and then my eyes began to deteriorate with Macular Degeneration. I felt that this was too much to endure. I had given up teaching and as my central vision dimmed it became harder and harder to do my handwork and things I loved to do.
I have spent a lot of time on my knees in prayer and Lou has been so patient with me that his love sometimes was all that kept me going. All this time we were still battling the P.C.A., which was the loaning institute that taken our farm away. Finally after much to our sorrow, we just realized that there was no use fighting anymore and we just had to give up and start all over again. They took all we had left of the machinery, the cellar unless we started buying the house from them, we would have no place to call our own. It is now the last few days in 1992 and we have just finished having another Christmas trying to keep our spirits up. They say discouragement is a sin, but it is really hard to keep up your spirits up when everything seems to go against you. Our family is a big support to us and they help us a lot. This is hard to put into my history as tears fall on the typewriter. These trials and tests are for our good they say. Who knows, maybe someday we will count them as blessings.
This is the life history that my grandmother wrote, and I believe my Aunt Margo retyped it and printed it out. I know that not every one got a copy so I thought I would post it, so more of us could enjoy our wonderful Grandma's life!
