East to West Coast Gratitude: Going Back in Time

WHAT? WAIT! Please grab those “hands of time” and slow down the clock for me. My life is passing way too fast. I started off this New Year with a goal to make more substantial progress on the family projects that we brought back here to New York with us to do. I really want to work on the video transfer project but since I am technologically challenged I have to wait for my schedule to coincide with the person who said he could help me understand the workings of my computer. Meanwhile I started going through my old journals to see if there was anything worth saving for posterity’s sake. This “little” project has sucked me back into time and I have spent HOURS typing up and these old entries and reliving forgotten memories. The following entry is one of many from the years we spent in Sacrament, CA. Living in this old trailer on the Jensens' property holds many happy memories for us.

April 22, 1980

"The last week has been very busy. When we got home (from a trip to Montana), our good friends, Kent and Lynette Jensen, mentioned, not thinking we would take them seriously, that the old trailer they rented would be vacant in a few days. Stan and I discussed seriously our living in an old, 8’ x 40’, 1½ bedroom trailer and decided to do it. Our main reasoning was 1. The rent was cheap, only $l35 and that included utilities, (We were paying $250 plus utilities for a two bedroom.) so we could continue to try and get out of debt and save or get ahead; 2, We would be out of the apartment living and have a yard for Don to play in with terrific neighbors like the Jensen’s; 3. We could also plant a garden, and 4. We could still stay in the ward. So for these main reasons and many smaller ones we told the Jensen’s we’d “take it” if they would have us. I don’t think that they could really believe we’d even consider living in such small quarters, especially, Kent. But they seemed more than glad to have us as neighbors and tenants if it was what we wanted; that made us feel real good.

So the last week I have spent cleaning, sorting, packing and unpacking. We moved into the trailer last Saturday with the help of the Jensens and I’m still sorting and putting away. We had to put the majority of our things in an old attic and storage they had here. I’m trying to get us down to just the things we really use the most so that we’re not too crowded. . . . Don sure does seem to enjoy it here and spends a lot of time outside playing.

We bought a really nice hide-a-bed couch for $360+tax wholesale. Stan and I sleep on the couch, Don in the ½ bedroom (which is a bed in the hallway) and the bedroom will be for the baby and extra things.”

July 16, 1980 (Our second son, David, was born on June 20, 1980)

“We’re glad that it’s been an unseasonably cool summer thus far this year. We’ll have a few hot days followed by several cool days. The last two days have been about 100 degrees and our little trailer isn’t much cooler. We’re really glad we moved to the trailer for many reasons, it feels like the right move for us. But I must admit there have been a few challenges besides small quarters. First it was the slugs in the bathroom and the moths (I hate moths.) and the musty smell at night. Now it’s the roaches and the ants. The roaches aren’t bad. I only see one or two every other day. But these little bitty ants are something else. Yesterday I found them inside the honey bottle, peanut butter jar, and the unopened jar of salad dressing. Most of the time I take it all in stride but there are a few bad days when it’s very frustrating.”

What great memories of a new little family, good friends, lessons learned while trying to save money, and the value of having a yard to live and play in.