Report from Barton Heights this morning...Rusty has the snow all plowed out around our house and also for some of our neighbors...We both shoveled and pushed snow from sidewalks, deck and paths yesterday...No more snow in the forecast, just below zero temperature in our winter wonderland.
(Continued) It was there, (Saltair) that Mom met and started dating Dwaine Fields. She accepted an engagement ring when she was 16 and set a wedding date. Her older brother intervened, trying to convince her she was too young to marry and was getting married for the wrong reasons. “Blanche, you are very young,” he said. “If you postpone this marriage, I will fill a cedar chest for you, then you can have a better start in married life.”
Years ago a common practice for young girls was to start making items for the “hope chest” that they received in their mid teens. The chest was filled with dishtowels, tablecloths, sheets, pillowcases and other common household necessities many of which had been embroidered on by the young girl herself. The items in the cedar chest and any wedding gifts would give the couple most of the small items they needed to set up house keeping.
Blanche, anger in her voice replied, “No thank you, your offer comes too late: I don’t need your kindness.” She married on November 25 1925, thinking she had found someone who loved and cherished her.
Mr. Fields (Dwaine’s father) managed and worked a gold mine outside of Salt Lake City in Big Cottonwood Canyon and after Blanche and Bus married, he hired Mom to cook for his crew of miners. Mom, an excellent cook, having plenty of experience at home, now received a wage for the long hours she put in. Comments from the hired men such as, “Blanche, this is the best chicken and noodles I’ve ever eaten and please could I have just one more slice of your homemade bread,” were not uncommon. These comments boosted self worth but Mom’s marriage seemed doomed from the beginning.
Over the next three years she gave birth to two daughters, Loraine and Barbara. During this time she discovered the man she thought would love her forever was a womanizer, preferring other women to her. He soon moved out of the house leaving her with two girls to raise alone. Mom filed for divorce in 1929 shortly after Barbara was born. She and her two girls moved back to the family home, a ranch managed by her parents and their older sons. Mom’s two younger sisters, Jessie and Peggy still lived at home, while Lavinia had married and moved away. To be continued...Hugs To All...OWAV:)
Reposting the following photo, I think Mom would have been close to 16 in this photo.
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