I made my first memories in Spanish Fork, Utah as well as my first friend (well that I can remember at least). The Bowen family moved in next door and they had daughters that were my age. Sydney and I got to be good friends, it didn't last the test of time as we moved a few years later, but she was the best friend a girl could have had back then.
I learned how to ride a bike when we lived there. I basically taught myself. I would ride down the road to the elementary school and back. I mostly remember riding to my Grandma Teichert's home and back. I was really close with her. I didn't have that same connection with my Grandma Clark. Mary Iola Ashby Clark was in a nursing home and was in her 90's when I was 7. Shirley Anna Allen Teichert was in her 70's and was more accessible by bike. She also had those mint white chocolate things that are pastel colored with the little white sprinkles on them. I loved those. I loved going to her home and escaping the crazy house I lived in. I remember riding with Sydney, her sister Morgan, and my sister Gillian to Stone Drug, a drug store down a few blocks from home, to get lunch. I loved their burgers and shakes. It was a fun childhood. Until things got real and I lost both of my grandmothers within 6 weeks of each other in 1998. I was 7 years old and their deaths were hard on me. I didn't have any grandparents left in my life. My Grandpa Clark died before I was born and my Grandpa Teichert was out of the picture. I had only met him once and only have one picture with him on his paint horse when I was 4. It is a shame I don't remember it. When we found out Grandma Clark died it wasn't as hard. She was much older and sick and dehydrated. It was a sad situation to see her go in such a way, but a relief for her to no longer be in pain. Grandma Teichert was harder. Much harder. She passed away first, and for a little girl who was close to her, that was hard to wrap your mind around. It was the first death I had really truly experienced and can remember. My mom and her sister, Elizabeth, had moved her up to Park City where Liz could better take care of her. We couldn't do the same since we had Ammon to take care of (being in and out of hospitals a LOT). Mom had gone up the night before and when we woke up and got ready for school she called saying that Grandma had passed. Gillian and I walked to school with the Bowen girls sobbing. We eventually were able to move on and see that both grandmothers passing was for the best. It wasn't until later that I found out that Grandma Teichert had congestive heart failure. She had scarlet fever as a kid and it had messed with her heart. She was released from pain and was now in the loving arms of our Savior, in heaven. I still miss her though, 20 years later. Now, I mentioned Ammon. He is my younger brother by just shy of 4 years. When he was born he had to have major surgery. He has many medical physical disabilities that caused him to be in and our of the hospital basically all his life. Those first few years though were rough. My folks were up in Salt Lake at Primary Children's Hospital all the time. It was hard to be separated from them all, but that is a story for another day. I have a lot of great memories from Spanish Fork but I will get into Ammon and how his life has impacted mine when I get into my high school years. We moved from Spanish Fork to Elk Ridge, Utah in March 1999. I finished 1st grade in Spanish Fork, because what parent wants to take their kids out of one school and into another when they only live 20 min away and have multiple students going down to those schools? That would be a hassle to handle. Crazy enough once we went to middle school, we all stayed in Spanish Fork schools, even though we should have gone to Payson schools. It wasn't until Salem Hills High School was built that I broke with that tradition. I don't have a lot of crazy important memories from Spanish Fork other than those above. Most of my growing up happened in Elk Ridge that it only makes sense that my memories are heavily born there.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Kaitlin Clark LanhamWife and mother. Dance enthusiast. Amateur baker. Archives
March 2020
Categories |