Long ago and far away!!

A few months ago I was posting something about my BYU days and mentioned a young man we knew there named John Johnson. And I knew I had a photo of him - in fact, I knew just what the photo looked like!! But I couldn't find the photo.

John Johnson, Barb Clayton, Janet Jackson, Joy Jensen
I cleaned out a hall cupboard this afternoon, planning to make room for sheets and towels. And as I was clearing stuff out, I discovered a pile of 10 or 15 posters I had made when I was YW President. Some were of events like Youth Conference or Girls' Camp. Some were for lessons on friendship - as in "College Friends Then and Now." (I am so catchy and original!!)

And there was the photo of John Johnson - November 3, 1963, BYU Homecoming. I remember thinking Homecoming was a strange kind of event - since I went to a brand new high school - it opened the day I started - I'd never heard of Homecoming. (I tend to still think it's a kind of overrated event.)

John was the young man who was from Virginia. He was a superb dancer, very snappy dresser, knew so much about popular culture that I'd never even thought about or heard of, and he's the young man who introduced me to Pete Seeger, Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, and the whole peace/anti-war scene.

And I've often wondered about where he is now. (The photo simply does not do him justice - but it's the only one I have.) I'm pretty sure he didn't go on a mission. He was also the one I took a history class with - and our seat mate was D.Todd Christopherson - they knew each other from "the east coast!"

All this info - from cleaning off a shelf. I may tackle more shelves!!

Believe it or not, these photos are related!

December 7, 1941 was "a day that will life in infamy" as President Roosevelt so aptly declared. It is the kind of historical event that elicits a response detailing where you were when you found out about Pearl Harbor. It was Kennedy's assassination for my era - the current event for this era is probably 9/11.


But whenever December 7th rolled around, my mom or dad would always talk about how they were coming home from my cousin Judy's baby blessing. Anyway, they would talk about driving along and having the news interrupt the radio program they were listening to. I'm not sure I understood the significance of this event in history for many years. A few years ago my students read a wonderful adolescent novel called Bat 6, about a small town girls' baseball team - and the events in their small town after Pearl Harbor. It's a well done piece of writing, but I had to do a lot of background work so that my students could understand the significance of the plot line.

I called my mom to clarify the events - to quote her, "We were driving home from Montebello, after Judy's blessing. We were going to Los Angeles - we lived in what is now Crenshaw, on Santa Barbara Street. We were driving in the Taraplane. Your dad always drove a Taraplane. It was a beautiful warm, sunny day. It was around 11 a.m." (I thought I had a baby picture of Judy - she was my Uncle Harry's daughter - but I couldn't find one. So this is a picture of Joan - who was a 5 month old baby when Pearl Harbor occurred. She was riding in the car with them - undoubtedly not in a car seat!! She was probably in my mother's arms!)

Years later I went away to college, and my roommate Marlene, shown here with an unknown gentleman - we knew him then, but his name has been lost to history I guess!! - anyway, her birthday was on December 7th, so we would have the Pearl Harbor discussion then too. Needless to say, I don't forget when Marlene's birthday is!

Many years after that, we moved to Monrovia, and we met up with our dear friend Polly!! (Shown here with another dear friend Shirley, but her birthday is December 28th.) Anyway, Polly was the kids' piano teacher - and our beloved friend. We miss them a lot since they moved away. I served as Polly's counselor in the Relief Society and loved my association with her. I also walked with her - and Shirley - and LaMar and Aulvie for that matter - for several years, until I started working full time. And Polly's birthday is December 7th also.

So Happy Birthday to Polly and Marlene. And thank you to the brave men and women who died defending our nation. So many young people today don't even know what Pearl Harbor stands for - so if you get the chance, educate some young person about that!