Here's some bits 'n pieces from a write up I'd forgotten I'd done about our courtship and marriage... I'm looking for some photos I saw of us in Yellowstone as we "honeymooned" on our way back to St. Louis. Hope to find them by next week's post.
This starts out as we leave the wedding luncheon at Aunt Tess's and Uncle Austin's in Ogden on Wednesday, June 14, 1961:
As Walt and I drove away in our blue ’57 Plymouth, (that Walt had bought in St. Louis just before driving back) the cans clanged loudly going around the corner with the white shoe polished inscriptions on the windows “JUST MARRIED.”
As we returned to Salt Lake, Walt was looking at some of the cute girls walking down the sidewalk. I poked him and said: “Hey, you’re married now!”
“Just because you’re on a diet doesn’t mean you can’t look at the menu,” was his teasing reply.
This poor medical student was happy to find a motel on the northwest side of town, several blocks north of the West High School for $5 a night. It was called “Bob’s Motel” and years later became infamous as the motel where kidnappers held John Huntsman’s son. [I think it's been torn down now.]
We drove to Provo the next day where Walt was excited to introduce his new wife to his cousins, DeLamar and Mary Jensen. They insisted we stay for supper, which helped on our strained budget. I loved them instantly and have always felt especially close to them.
Friday we drove back to Wendell, where Walt’s family had fixed up a “honeymoon suite” in Walt and Dale’s old bedroom.
Dale was on his mission in Argentina, and Walt really missed having his buddy brother there for the wedding and reception.
Saturday, June 17, was the wedding reception in Gooding, which was a full house drawing from both Wendell and Gooding.
My matron of honor was Ramona Jensen Farr, my best friend, who had moved from Wendell to Ogden after our freshman year at Wendell High School.
My bridesmaids were my sister, Janice, age 12; my high school friend, Lucile Hunsaker Campbell; my college roommate Sonja Gibbs; and my second year college roommate, Isabel Peixhoto, from Brazil.
(Yes, Sonja and I stayed friends, even though I got that “eligible Wendell bachelor.” She went on a mission and soon after her return, while teaching school in Arco, married a young engineer; they moved to PaloAlto, California, where they raised their family.)
[Walt has two sisters, and one brother.]
Janice still remembers what a stir Walt’s sister, Bonnie, (who lived in Boise) caused when she and Chuck entered the room with her short blond hair, her thin model-like figure, wearing a skimpy black sheath that showed off a lot of her tan, and her flamboyant personality. [We all loved Bonnie, and have missed her since her early passing in March 1990, just after she turned 60 on February 15, 1990. Phyllis has done her temple work.]
June 18, 1961: Sunday we were happy to honor our fathers, Ray O. Petersen and Arnold G. Albertson, on Father’s Day. They had been the witnesses at our wedding.
June 19, Monday: We spent this week in Idaho, Walt working during the days with his carpenter dad, and I would drive to Gooding, to write the thank you notes for our wedding gifts, sitting out in Mom and Dad’s hot shed where we were storing the gifts we didn’t have room to take back with us.
[My folks had just bought this little house at 917 Wyoming Street, moving from 910 Utah Street. It had a big, old honey-producing building behind it. I remember how sweltering and stuffy it was sitting there each afternoon to send thank yous to our family and friends for the wonderful wedding gifts. We found out later we were so thankful for "all duplicates" of towels, pillow cases, etc., because they all got used.]
June 23--Friday: Sometime during this week we rented a small U-haul trailer to take things back to Missouri.
All of a sudden Grama Jane decided she needed a new dinette set, so gave us their old one with the yellow Formica top and two chairs. Mom and Dad Albertson gave us their old couch and an easy chair. I had my white cedar chest from high school graduation. Walt’s folks gave us one of their old beds they had in the basement. We appreciated each item. We were ready to set up housekeeping in the big city!
The last week of June: We honeymooned through Yellowstone Park, staying one night in a little log cabin there.
We planned to stop to see one of Walt’s missionary companions in Wyoming. However, LaMar Satterfield was gone on vacation, so we stayed that night in Rawlins, Wyoming.
On the final night before we got to St. Louis, we stayed in a little town in Missouri with Linda Thomason [her Dad, Bud, was Grampa Ray's partner in Wendell with the motto: "Bud and Ray will build it your way"] in her and her husband’s 2-bedroom trailer, where they were living. She cooked us a nice supper.
Our first few days in St. Louis we stayed with Walt’s missionary friend, Dexter Davis and wife Kaye until our apartment was ready to move in to.
I spent that first week job hunting and was blessed to be hired by the Hematologist (physician over the blood bank) at the Jewish Hospital. It was directly across the street from our apartment. So for the next two years I had a 30-second commute to work….down the stairs from our 2nd story apartment, crossed the street and went in the door and down the hall to my office.
Since I knew nothing about medical terms, I typed Dr. David Miller’s dictation with the medical dictionary in my lap. Sometimes I would take the letters home at lunch, and if Walt had been able to come home from the medical school (which was just around the corner the other direction from our apartment--so he also walked there each day) he would help me figure out what the medical terms were that I couldn’t understand. The office had an IBM selectric typewriter which was the latest in technology then!
The photo above [opps, sorry it wouldn't "publish" to the post, so I'll try again next week] is the first page of a booklet I made about our "First Christmas." I'm standing by our '57 Plymouth with the U-Haul trailer the day we arrived in St. Louis.
