MILESTONES--or maybe Highlights?  

---

GLASGOW, LANARKSHIRE, SCOTLAND

 

when we moved into our very own house (even a new one) in Drumchapel and I spied a friend outside

when I fell in love with a cylindrical satin-wood post-box, my favorite toy

when I played my first real song on the piano--what a thrill!

when I fell in love with Tchaikowsky at dance lessons

when I realized that our neighbors made mashed potatoes and custard in different, delicious ways and determined how (to tell Mum!)

dreamy Elie, Fife, Scotland, vacations with great friends and great games--and an accident

when I fell in love with fairies

when Uncle (Captain) David Jeavons brought me beaded moccasins and beautiful French doll

when my friend's dog bit me in the knee

when Mum bought me pink leather ballet shoes

when we visited the ballet and other concert dancing together, and pantomimes as a family at Christmas--what a thrill!

when I became able to draw and write "Hark! The herald angels sing!" on my favorite broad, sunny windowsill

when I learned to knit a lemon-colored cotton dishcloth at school

when Mother got me up in the night to experience the Salvation Army playing Christmas music in our cul-de-sac in the snow

when Mother and I walked down the road to buy our first Wall's molded ice cream "cone"

when I was able to wear my Panama hat and Australian flowered summer dress to school (sun in Glasgow!)

Oor Wullie and The Broons thick comic books from Dad's "Saturday Post," voraciously devoured at Christmas

 

GOLSPIE, SUTHERLAND, SCOTLAND

 

when we moved to Golspie and could walk to school under the trees, or along the sea wall

actually being in demand as a friend--Rita, Ann, Helen . . .

when we got ourselves into mischief after Brownie meetings

when our class chorus sang a host of Gaelic songs at mods

endless, timeless excursions into the countryside by bike as friends, with occasionally a fire and cooking!

when I got chased home at rapid pace by a white dog

timeless summer evening game of Rounders in the T-junction by our yard

1955 our magnificent acquisition--our Bedford Dormobile for the BIG TRIP through England

summer house exchange with a well-to-do family in Lenzie near Glasgow--gob stoppers & food poisoning

when a high school class (containing my favorite babysitters) got my composition read to them in class

being at home with teenage neighbor Louise and her friend while Mother and Dad did Scottish country dancing

Pipe Major McLeod's fantastic highland dancing class for a shilling a Saturday that I wanted to solo in . . .

amassing 100 penpals at age 8! Father helped me ditto letters. Still writing to one pal from New Zealand.

imaginative play around Dunrobin Castle, and roaming its woods finding cascades of snowdrops & daffodils

venturing up the chasm behind the Old Mill: flowering currant bushes above the little stream . . .

the thrill of learning Latin and discovering where so many of our words came from

having a superlative piano teacher--in Golspie!

entering piano competition

visiting Glasgow--excitement of first "love"

gaining a witness of Jesus Christ through Christian novels

 

ROGART, SUTHERLAND, SCOTLAND -- just 9 miles inland from Golspie

 

moving into a wonderful three-story granite house with all sorts of exciting features around it

becoming at 12 the youngest organist (harmonium) in the Church of Scotland

regular participantion in demo dancing for the school

"hir stockings wer of a scarlet reed"--description written of Alison Turner after we had read Geoffrey Chaucer

Crawford and I perfecting our game of lawn tennis (tailored to available space)

our acquiring a dozen chicks, with eggs in mind

knitting a suit (skirt and sweater) in luxurious chartreuse boucle wool

pineapples, a treat brought from Glasgow by Father

making walnut cake with cooked frosting, a la americaine, and discovering how to make cream puffs

dreaming up dresses to sew in the wood-paneled kitchen attic

Girl Guide camps at Dunrobin Castle--prize for dress-up competition ("Neptune's daughter")

--and at Edinburgh--shopping at Guide Camp?

participating in regional Girl Guide contests, e.g. bed-making and tent-erecting

joining Mother's Episcopal Church (why?)

joining the gang of youth being paid to cut tough bracken away from the newly-planted conifers on the hill 

deliciously flirting with George Priest at the Rogart summer fair

the Priests' party with "Rock Around the Clock"

the grand social side of trips up and down the hills to get to Girl Guide meetings

home exchange with a family in Winchester, Hampshire--Chopin on their grand piano; butcher boy whistles

serving as runner-up to Rogart Queen

Elvis Presley singles bought from the Co-operative

being allowed to attend (a very few) local dances!

adoring the singer Sam Cook's records

staying overnight with Father's friends the Glaisters, who had a boy my age. A fiasco over a history test!

summer exchange with Sabine from Darmstadt, Germany--beer, brown beads and a boyfriend

bicycle tour around southern England after paid stay at Common Colds Research Centre--with friend Rosemary

then stay in Bethune, northern France with Father's war-time friend's family

 

ST. ANDREWS, FIFE, SCOTLAND

 

first kiss at St. Andrews--Nigel the violinist

balls and boyfriends--walks along the sand in the sunset

the Chapel Choir and chrysanthemums

best friend Marilyn Miller

news, while dining at Chattan hall, that John F. Kennedy had been shot

sewing one of the new shift dresses by hand 

making two more shaped dresses for the summer at home

trip to Italy--sun, sand, turquoise sea and jewelry--and new friend Ronald

first St. Andrews girl got married!

on vacation at home got lovely deep turquoise fabric from Tain and made a suit

 

GLASGOW, LANARKSHIRE, SCOTLAND

 

postgrad course at University of Strathclyde, Glasgow--fell in love with study of architecture 

getting re-acquainted with Father's sister Lucy and Uncle Bobby, who lived in the family flat in Shettleston, Glasgow, with Grandma Lucy--about  whom I wrote a had-to-be-inspired poem that helped me deal with the fact that she was non-communicative

Glasgow Art Museum--the beginning!

special promise received at the big church in the overspill town ?Cumbernauld (see prior story)

trip across the Atlantic with Rosemary to sample life in the New Country

Greyhound bus tour by myself--all around the U.S. and across Southern Canada--99 days for 99 dollars!

 

LONDON, ENGLAND

 

Foreign Office job interview in London by lady with vase of  beautiful flowers on her desk

Art in London!!

Music in London!!

Everything in London!!  

Sharing first one, then another flat with 2+ friends

 

VIENNA, AUSTRIA

 

finding the Church !!! Amazing experiences . . .(story)

strong testimony of the Book of Mormon

falling in love with Austrian folk-dance and the Enenkels

being called to be youth dance leader in MIA--and sharing Scottish folk dance

attending Strauss balls in grand halls--the ultimate Vienna experience

"finding" my husband-to-be, Melvin Deloy Pack, on a snowy hike up a mountain

--and at MIA and the Carnival dance

joying over exquisite Mozart, especially operas, in Viennese halls

motor scootering together over the Alps--Christmas Rose flowers

meeting the parents, at the old Norgate-Jeavons family homestead in Bighton, Hampshire, England

visit to the London Temple, and Paris

New York and Utah--fielded by our mission president's family

 

OREM, UTAH

 

culture shock, and realization that Zion was not ready to be translated, yet

registering for BYU teaching certificate in sawdust-carpeted athletic hall

instruction re visiting teaching becomes a miracle for me

marriage in Salt Lake Temple

first Thanksgiving meal experience:  can a pumpkin pie really taste good?

cycling from BYU home up diagonal

proudest moment of BYU course: having the teacher play and laud my composed nursery songs

marriage in the Salt Lake Temple, with "my" two missionaries as witnesses

first taste of family history research when Bishop Brown takes van up to Salt Lake:  hooked

working for the BYU Language Training MIssion as French secretary: new friend Angela

pregnancy: it's a ??

 

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA

 

Scottish friend Sandy Luce overwhelms me with the loveliest quilted liner for my new baby's seat

Nikkala is born 1972 at the U of P teaching hospital. Pretty scary but the glimmerings of motherhood are detected.

Nikkala suffers from acute colic, and Deloy has to be away in Utah for a time. 

moving from Pine Street to Bartram Village "alone." Pistol fight outside the building (apt. hankfully on 3rd floor).

still attending Phila. ward downtown, in building made with the hands of early members

very special experience regarding the delivery of pulpit talks the way God desires

taking visiting teaching very seriously in this city of "lost" members

delight in raising our little girl

Benjamin joining Nikkala 1974 in a wonderful birth, and

my calling to be Relief Society president (I had experience as counselor)  Amazing experiences.

truck window getting busted after I leave a "Note to Daddy" in the window

take the plunge by transporting both 3-year-old Nikkala and 1-year-old Benjie over to Scotland for Jonathan's wedding.  First and only time of such!

 

BENJAMIN, UTAH

 

Move into a real house with 2 1/2 acres that Deloy can farm in! Acquire animals and birds, bees and garden.

Idyllic time for our little family, which swells to 5 with the addition of Jonathan 1976.

With the Lord's help. loving being Relief Society Cultural Refinement teacher

Twice singer entertainer with Scottish folk-songs for Relief Society functions. Very satisfying.

Nikkala starts school

Deloy's dad, Wesley, visits us alone one time and we all enjoy his fresh-caught fish and our wild greens

Wesley and Helen visit together also, as well as my own cousin from Wales, Peter Jeavons, and family, in the RV he remodeled himself--on Nikkala's fifth birthday

Calling to Deloy to return to Philadelphia to complete his PhD at U of P

 

PHILADELPHIA (II), PENNSYLVANIA

 

Living at Bartram again (near the place of the famous botanist John Bartram) but on outskirts of project

Purse snatched on our way home from library

Held up at gunpoint in our home--but with magnificent protection for our family

Nikkala finally arriving at a wonderful, enlightened and welcoming school, fantastic teacher Miss Shapiro

Church at Broomall suburb this time, and Nikkala makes a firm young friend in musician Valerie Hoiness

Here is where I receive a timeless lesson, myself, in Teaching in the Lord's Way

We get pregnant with 4th child, again care being at Salvation Army birthing center, a great place

Roger is born at the Booth--sublime spiritual experience

We find a gorgeous baby quilt with $50 nestling inside it; also food supplies; and baby shoes--what wonderful Church members did this?

Deloy and I prepare his 700++ page dissertation for publication.  6-hour sleep nights for some time. No computer preparation in those days.

 

WALLSBURG, UTAH

 

Huge house- and horse-sitting opportunity means we are closer to nature than ever, and can raise animals again and make friends in this village

We raise goats for milk, and produce broccoli heads the size of dinner plates

Miscarriage, and then 5th and final pregnancy "is" Carolyn, born at the time of the great melt-down (story) 1983

c.1985 Decide that for my sanity I must apply to Provo's Carden-Lee, a private school recommended by friend, to teach--either French, Latin or English--part-time.  This is a spiritual as well as a psycho-social decision. The principal chooses French and English, high school level. This is a blessed experience from many points of view, and Deloy's niece's great new husband joins the staff too.

Decide to take some English classes at BYU, just to be on the safe side! 

Can't resist Don Norton's class on Oral History Writing . . . and soon my employment by him to help with his multi-faceted work in the community.  First job necessitates putting both feet in: full history of Grant Heiner including interviews with a large number of family members. After that, most work is transcribing Don's interviews. I was in my element.

Serve in Primary presidency in Wallsburg, and feel the Spirit as I teach.

 

PROVO, UTAH

 

Our own 1 1/2 acres with house and huge sheds awaited us here. Garden, fruit trees of every kind, grape cultivation, berries of all kinds . . . We keep a milking cow, sheep, rabbits, chickens, pig(s), steer and then milking goats, and Ben in particular learns a lot by choice about economics managing some of these. Later on, Deloy builds his aviary for larger, showy birds and develops his indoor aviary also.

I receive a manifestation that I will (against all expectations) serve in Young Women. This quickly comes to pass when they reckon they need my help especially with a young girl with needs.

I serve for a second time in the R.S. presidency, ending up as R.S. president again.

Serve several times in just about all slots in Cub Scouts, sometimes more than one at a time. A little boy called Damian proves a blessed project.

Conduct and play piano and organ for the ward.

Enjoy the theater immensely

In 1998 have to relinquish callings to go, rather unexpectedly, with Deloy and Roger and Carolyn to Israel, BYU Center, for 5 months. Miracles allow me to negotiate the Jerusalem roads and then leave to attend my mother's passing in England--during a rare serious snowstorm in that city. Visit the Holy Land, Jordan, Turkey and Egypt.

First Benjamin and Nikkala marry in joy; then Roger and Carolyn follow suit. West Jordan, Timpanogos, St. George, and Salt Lake Temples are the magnificent venues. Nikkala's reception turns out to be in the exquisite garden of what will be Carolyn's future parents-in-law; Carolyn's reception at the Beehive House.

Nikkala and Carolyn and I travel to England 1996 and go all the way up to northern Scotland to see my old haunts at Golspie.  It is a wonderful time to see the ethereal wreaths of bluebells in the glen, etc. etc.

Deloy and I take over pilot program for teaching English to non-speakers in the stake.

2005 Deloy and I take off for Haiti on our humanitarian mission.  Only 5 months into that interesting challenge (with a miracle happening for us deep in downtown Port-au-Prince) we are pulled out, serve 2 months in Orlando, Florida, with Employment Services, then are transferred to Guatemala City to head up the small humanitarian projects for the Central America region. We try our best to do our best, with mixed results--but the experiences relating to teaching the Gospel are absolutely riveting spiritually. Very grateful for this.

We become a fixture at the Guate. MTC on Sundays, helping in what ways we can (story).

Deloy and I visit England 2010 to tour the amazing villages that used to house my ancestors in Hampshire and Dorset. Crawford volunteers to drive us--what a dear!

2012, I am able to contribute my editing skills to the ambitious documented book project for Deloy's ancestor     John Pack. Get to know Deloy's cousins David and Bert better.

I write my spiritual history as a Christmas present for the family

In 2013, Ben, Chris and Roger join me in re-visiting the haunts all up the eastern side of England/Scotland. This time we catch different , but equally breath-taking, views in Sutherland. Chris makes a wonderful record.

Calling as a family history consultant leads to much involvement, in 2013 especially, in helping ward members get going with Family Tree in all its aspects.  Many rewards from specialty classes on Sundays. 

                                                                                             ****

Well, this has turned out to be more of a chronology than I had anticipated.  I tried indicating the more pivotal events, then gave up, because there were so many! Thanks for the patience of anyone who read to the end of this!