JUST LILLY AND ME

I was a senior in High School when Lilly first came into my circle, this pretty little sophomore came up to me and wanted me to write in her yearbook. I was very flattered by this obviously smitten young thing. She was obviously smitten with my many charms. I think I drew a little cartoon in her book with some silly little caption about maybe getting together at some future time. How little did I know? In those days I was still getting around on bicycle, but my buddy, Karl Mortenson, had a car. We had gone to the movies at the Mesa Theater when we noticed a group of girls sitting down in front of us. Having each other for courage, we moved down behind them, flirting with them. I noticed the most outgoing girl among them, and focused all of my considerable charm on her. I shortly asked her if she would like a ride home after the show. Now, if she had said yes, I had no idea what I would have done with Karl, but she turned me down. But, she did it in such a way that left me knowing that there was hope for future developments. After that summer, I started my freshman year at ASU and I was now a college man. I even had a car, a 1936 Ford with fender skirts, a fresh paint job, and a neckers knob on the steering wheel. I was very cool, even before that word meant what it does today. Anyway, one evening I got a telephone call from a girl in my ward, inviting me to a birthday party. Not for her, but for one of her girl friends, one I might possibly remember, a Miss Lillian Crigler. A surprise party for a girl I hardly knew. No gift required, just please come. I was very flattered, obviously my considerable charms were coming into demand. At the party were many of Lillian's friends, we had a great time, and then we piled into one of the cars and drove down to a A & W Root Beer stand where we met Lilly's then boyfriend, Gene, who was mad, because he had to work. Then we drove out to the Mesa City Cemetery with Lillian sitting on my lap, we were very crowded. As I hugged that sweet young thing, laughing, joking, just having a wonderful time, I fell in love. I didn't know much about dating, about having a serious romance, but I was falling seriously, deeply, and permanently in love. It took a few weeks for Lillian to break Gene's heart. I remember his picture remaining in her living room for some while, but Lillian and I began seeing each other nearly every day. I think our first real date was a picnic on the slopes of Camel-Back Mountain. We had a wonderful time, and this soon became a pattern for our times together. Lilly's father became very angry with her, he did not like Mormons, and told Lilly she could not see me and continue to live in his home. If you know my sweetheart at all, you know what happened. She moved out. We were just thrown together more. I soon forgot about school, and everything else, but we started talking about the future, and I remember telling Lilly about finishing college, and about going on a mission. I didn't see how I could possibly get married before the age of 28 or so. Little did I know? Then Lilly told me that Gene had asked her to marry him. I kept my shock under control and told her that if that was what she wanted, to go ahead, I left, Once again, that was the wrong, or right thing to say to Lilly, depending on how you look at it. It wasn't long before I thought I was in a whirlwind, Lilly was everywhere, she was at my MIA meetings, laughing and having a good time with her girl friends, all of whom seemed to be in MY WARD. It also wasn't long before we were right back together again, this time for keeps. It wasn't long either, before my Dad told me I either had to marry the girl, or leave town. I had no job, wasn't doing well in school, and could see only one way to go. I would join the Air Force. I had always wanted that anyway, so that is what we did. I say we, because Lilly was with me every step of the way. She hadn't been feeling too well, and had been to see a Doctor. She was told that it was an amoeba, nothing to worry about. So I went off to Texas. We later named that little stomach problem, Pamela.Lilly was my first real love, we had been totally committed to each other from nearly the first time we had met, and so there were never any regrets, things just worked out that way. We were married in San Antonio, Texas on the 24th day of July 1954. By the Bishop. I went to Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio Texas. I was then shipped to Biloxi, Mississippi and Lilly and Pamela joined me and we became a family.
In Biloxi, we first lived in a small duplex quite a ways from the Base. I rode a bike to work and we enjoyed good friends and the Gulf Coast. Going out on a boat and fishing with a neighbor was great fun. We lived a simple life not having anything we didn't make ourselves, out of pine limbs and orange crates. After a while we moved to West End Homes, a public low cost housing development. We had many good friends, many of whom were members of the Church. We became active in the Ward there, and Lillian was baptized there. It was there when I built my first Radio Controlled Air Plane and tragically lost my left eye. We were living there when Randy was born, and because of the loss of my eye, I was forced to change my career field, and learned Electronics. We lived in a base housing unit after that, until an assignment came from Ellsworth A.F.B. in South Dakota. We bought a small homemade two wheel trailer, and pulled it to Arizona and then to South Dakota with our 1950 Ford. There we lived in an apartment near the school of Mines in Rapid City. Later we moved to a small rent house right off the end of the runway at Ellsworth A.F.B.
My Father became very ill and I received a Compassionate Transfer back to Arizona. I worked on the Radar at Luke A.F.B. out towards Wickenburg. The old Auxiliary Field was wonderful to work at, as a small crew of us was way out in the Desert with no one around but the desert critters. During the rainy season, we were flown to work in an Air Force Aircraft. Our family lived in Avondale, where our Vanessa was born. After about a year, we were shipped over seas to Japan. We were stationed at Itazuki AFB on Kyushu Island, near the large city of Fukuyoka. Our first home was off base in a Japanese built home, called Shire Baru. Our little Bonnie was born there, later we moved into a much larger Japanese home in Kasuga Baru. We soon moved to base housing where our little boy, Rulon was born. Our tour off duty was up in 1962.
We were sent back to the States, assigned to Otis A.F.B. on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. On our way through Arizona, Lillian and I received our Patriarchal Blessings, and went to the Mesa Temple for our family sealings and our Endowments. A short visit at home and then moved to Massachusetts.
While in Massachusetts we lived in a big two story home on Cranberry Hwy. In a town called Wareham. This was where our Rhonda was born. We were on Old Cape Cod for a number of years, and so we moved twice more. Our second home was out on the Cape in Cautamet, a cold and drafty old place, and then out to Otis A.F.B. in base housing. These were happy years making new friends, serving as Branch President in the Cape Cod Branch, a great Squadron, and many airplane Buddies.
My next assignment was kind of strange, first, going to an Army Satellite Communications School at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey where we lived in a Beach cottage by the Boardwalk, in Manasquan, New Jersey. I was the ranking man in my class, and so I had to march a large group of Air Force, Army, and Navy men to and from class. I was required to stay in the barracks for a while, and was very happy to finally get my family there. School was over in the spring, and we packed up with orders for a stay in Arizona, to be followed with orders sending me overseas. We purchased a home on West 6th Drive in Mesa. Once again, I went to work at Luke AFB. Working at the Radar site. After just getting settled down, I received orders for an unaccompanied tour at Dyabikir Turkey. After getting all packed, those orders were cancelled, and we received new orders for Brandywine, Maryland. We sold the house, and headed for the East Coast once again.
Brandywine was a small Air Force long haul receiver site, near Waldorf, Maryland. Lillian found us an old farmhouse on a run down grown over, wonderful tobacco farm. This was where I was ordained a High Priest, where we started our Twig, which is a very small Branch of the church, and where our son, Ronald was born.
After four years, we received orders for Aviano AFB, in Northern Italy. We flew from New York to Milan, Italy. From there, another flight to Venice, and then by van to Aviano. What a lovely place. Right up against the Swiss Alps. Near the Adriatic Ocean. And close to the City of Pordenony, where our Rachel was born in an Italian hospital. This is where Randy and I first tried Hang Gliding. This is where we met with the Italian Saints, with American families sitting on one side of the Chapel, and Italians on the other. We were able to live in a three story Italian Home with marble floors. We were in the small village of Roverado. The church bells awakened us on Sunday mornings, ringing all over the valley. The only word for it is Belisimo (beautiful). I developed skin cancer problems and was eventually sent back to Lackland AFB, in San Antonio, TX. Lillian and the children joined me, and after the operation, I was sent to Luke AFB again. We purchased a home in Mesa, on the corner of 8th Ave. and Elm Street. That is where I retired from the Air Force as a tired old Master Sergeant. I worked for Our Bishop, Moroni Mac Elhaney, as a Masonry Contractor Estimator and general Gofer.
After a very short year, No, it was almost two years during which our Pamela married David Morgan, our Vanessa married Burke Donaldson, Lillian and I served in the Alma Ward where I was Ward Clerk and Lillian worked in the Primary. I obtained work as a D.P.S. Communications Technician. After training, I received an assignment in Safford, AZ. Lillian and her Mother went ahead to find a house. They returned telling of an old house in Central, Arizona. Which would be perfect for our family. And as always, Lilly was right. We moved to Central, AZ. It turned out to be a house that had been moved down from Morenci many years before. There had been many tack-on additions, the roof had so many different angles and there was so many windows, it just looked strange. But, we loved it. Randy had been called on his mission while we were still in Mesa, and he departed for Japan. Our children started school in Thatcher, we began the long process of clean up, fix up, and this became our first real home. Our Son Rulon, died of cancer in 1977 and he is buried in Central.