Don Meets Leah by Leah R. Story

A farmer by the name of Oren Puffer lived on a ranch at a little place called North Creek. North creek was about ten miles from a little town called Beaver, in southern Utah. He was married to a lady named Eliza Ellen, but no one called her that. Everyone called her Nell.

They had six living children. Their first child, Carl, only lived about three months. Their two oldest ones, both girls, then they had another boy. The girls names were Stella and Rose. The boy they named Oren Teasdale, but everyone called him Ornie or Oren T.

The next child was a girl that they named Jeannette, but called Jenny. Then they had another girl, the first blue-eyed child in the family. Her name was Hazel. She had golden curls and everyone adored her, but when she was three years old, she got sick and went to live with her Heavenly Father and her brother Carl.

But before she left them, another baby boy was born. They named him Frederick Joseph, but they called him Ted or Teddy. About three years later another boy was born, they named him Donald, but they called him Don or Donny.

When Don was about three years old, Stella got married. When he was about four years old Rose (his favorite playmate) got married. Then when he was six years old he went to the little yellow school house and started in the first grade. He liked school and learned to read and write and to do arithmatic very quickly.

When Don was seven years old his sister Jenny went over through the Crosby field to get him to come see his new baby sister, born February 17, 1914.

Jenny told him that she had big blue eyes and was a doll! Well Don was anxious to see her, so he ran ahead of his sister. He clutched his school reader under his arm and ran so fast his coat tail floated straight out behind him.

He ran into the house where Mama was and climbed up on the bed to get a good look at his new baby sister. He was so excited! He teeterted up and down and said, "Shall I jump on her?" Mama was a very understanding mother so she knew he didn't really intend to jump on her, but was just all so excited. So she said to him, "Why don't you go sit in Mama's rocking chair, so Rose can put her in your lap and you can rock and love her.

Well that is just what Don did, and he loved her ever after!

Just the beginning...

I have been wanting to put together a blog in honor of Grandma Story for a long time. A place where we can share memories of her and publish her stories and poems. A place where we can come together more as a family, which I think would make her very happy. Please pass this blog along to fellow family members, since I only have a few emails.

I'll begin with just a simple memory and then I hope you will all pitch in and share yours. I remember very vividly our walks. It didn't matter how old I was, Grandma would still introduce me to Mr. Spruce and Mr. Quaky (she'd reach out and grab a branch for me to shake) and she'd point out all of the other beautiful flowers and plants along the way.  She knew every tree, every flower by name and noticed every subtle change. She heard and recognized every song bird along the way, stopping to listen to each song. She saw beauty in everything, even the dandilions in her yard,  she didn't have the heart to mow down because "they are just too pretty". She saw beauty and goodness in everyone.  She had some neighbors that were rough around the edges, yet she knew them all by name, knew their stories and loved them all. And seeing her, their harsh exteriors would melt away, they knew she loved them, despite of their struggles and weaknesses. I know that she wasn't always this way, but the storms of her life brought her closer to her Savior and she became more and more like Him in her later years. 

Being a busy mom of 4, I draw on this example. It is so easy to be distracted, disconnected and ungrateful. I have to conciously choose to take walks, to notice, truly notice God's many beautiful creations. To get to know and love all my neighbors and recognize the subtle changes in their lives so that I can be there to listen, to help. To see the beauty around me even though I may be surrounded with the opposite. Grandma didn't live in a beautiful house, or in a very pretty neighborhood. Infact, she lived on the west side in a run down neighborhood. None of the yards were really landscaped, her own backyard was honestly more than a bit shabby. But that is not what I saw when I went on these walks with my Grandma, I saw her little world through her eyes which made everything beautiful.