Hello blog!
Life has been busy, but full of good busy things. This week especially has been a busy church week: a Relief Society presidency meeting, religion class, Compassionate Service committee meeting & 60th birthday lunch for our Relief Society president, a Stake Relief Society appreciation dinner (for all the RS presidencies - yummy Cafe Rio dinner and Better Than *** Cake), spending an afternoon with the sister missionaries, a Relief Society picnic in the park, and the opportunity to visit a homebound sister. Phew! And that's just Monday through Thursday.
(If you're wondering what the heck is Relief Society? Go here. I serve as the Relief Society secretary in my ward.)
I'm coming out of this blog silence because I just have to tell you about the most amazing thing that happened on Wednesday!
But first let's back up to Tuesday . . . I arrived at the compassionate service meeting I mentioned above, and as I got out of my car I was greeted by one of the elderly sisters in our ward, Ona. She said, "Oh hello! I've been thinking about you. Would you be able to go visit Myrtle Brown tomorrow?" After I checked my calendar and it looked clear I told her, sure. Myrtle is a 96 year old woman in our ward who lives with a caregiver and is homebound. Ona has taken it upon herself to make sure that she gets weekly visits from women in our Relief Society. There is service all around, I tell ya.
That afternoon and evening Ona was on the phone trying to find someone to go with me, but didn't have any luck. I told her it was okay, I could just go on my own. I had never met Myrtle before. But I have heard from many sources that she is a delightful lady, with the most amazing memory.
I pulled up to the house on Wednesday afternoon and met the caregiver. She showed me to Myrtle's room. Immediately she lit up and was so excited to see/hear me enter. (She has macular degeneration so her sight is fading). I gave her a hug and introduced myself as Shannon Brown. She had me pull up a chair real close because her hearing is also fading, so I sat down, leaned in, and we began talking. Instantly she noted the "Brown" connection and wanted to know where my Browns were from. Idaho. Nope, not a match for her.
She went on to tell me that she was born, raised, and married in Overton, Nevada.
A light bulb went on in my head. It was a shot in the dark, but I thought I would ask anyway. "By any chance to you know Carrie Andersen, or Rene Andersen?" (My great-grandmother Carrie, and grandpa Rene on my dad's side.)
"Carrie Andersen?! I know her! We lived just up the street from them! And oh yes, I know Rene and he married Margaret!"
Holy cow. I totally got the chills. And even teared up a bit at the mention of their names. That's my grandparents! And my great-grandmother. She was tickled with the excitemnet of this discovery and I was just floored.
"I remember Rene - he played the piano."
Yes!
"And Carrie was a quilter. Oh, she was such a caring woman."
Yes!
"My sister had some cows and one time they got loose and ate up Fay's garden." Fay is my great-grandfather, Carrie's husband.
At this point I'm just beside myself.
Then, she went on for the next hour to tell me stories, and names, and relations, and connections of all these Andersen relatives from Overton, Nevada. It was the most amazing thing.
"I remember when Rene and Margaret met. Margaret's sister Lucille Sevey was living in Overton and was an elementary teacher at the school. Margaret and her sister Phyllis came from Tucson, Arizona to stay with Lucille and help her. You know, this was the time of the depression so things were tough then."
She recounted that Rene and Margaret became a couple pretty quickly.
She commented that all the Andersens were short. And so many of them died of cancer.
She knew the names of every single one of Fay & Carrie's children.
She knew that the youngest of my grandpa's siblings, Uncle Phil, had passed away just last year.
"Now, when Rene left Overton he started a nut business." {Yes! My dad & uncle still run that nut business today!} "Oh yes, and every year Glen {Rene's brother} would bring back packages of Andersen Nuts -- almonds, pecans, and walnuts. And every year we would purchase some of those Andersen Nuts!"
She told me that she remembered when Margaret Ann was born (1937) -- Rene and Margaret's first child, my aunt. Myrtle was with a group of girls near Carrie's house. Carrie asked the girls if they wanted to see the new baby. So she took them upstairs and they got to see her. "We knew that anybody in Carrie's house got the best of care."
"You know that Fay was called on a mission for the church. There was an old pueblo home that Carrie converted into a boarding house and ran things to support the family while he was away on a mission. She was an ambitious woman."
She knew Carrie's maiden name was Hannig. And that the Hannigs lived in St. Thomas, Nevada. The government bought all of the homes and land in St. Thomas when they made plans to build the Hoover Dam, so everyone had to leave. Today the area of St. Thomas is all underwater.
She told me that she even attended Carrie's 90th birthday party. It was a big event.
She also attended Carrie's funeral in 1988. That totally floored me because I was at her funeral too! I was just 8 years old and I vividly remember my family packing up to drive down to Overton for the funeral. I even remember what dress I wore -- a black velvet dress with a white lace collar. Two additional memories of that trip: red ants on the sidewalk and homemade ice cream made with a hand-crank bucket.
And this is how the conversation went. She would tell stories and I would say "Yes!", having some vague recollection of hearing those details and connections before. But not really knowing them. I couldn't believe that I had just met this woman and here she was telling me my family history!
Then it got even better.
"You know that Carrie graduated from high school the same year as Rene. She had never finished school. So she went back and graduated with her son. You know, I think I have a yearbook with their photos in it."
She then directed me to a cabinet in the corner of her room and described where she thought the yearbook might be. Remember, her eyesight is failing so she couldn't really point it out to me. After much searching (and almost giving up) I finally found it, tied up in a grocery store bag.
Look at these treasures. Sure enough, Carrie and Rene are pictured together on the Senior class pages.

The class of 1932.

The Senior pages also included a small quip about each person along with a list of their activities.


How interesting that my great-grandmother was such a fan of Shakespeare.

But we all knew that Grandpa Rene was a big jokester.
The Senior Class Prophecy was a little bit random, but still interesting to read.



What a handsome man.

Myrtle also had a yearbook from the following school year, 1933-34, and on the faculty page I found Lucille Sevey - my grandmother's sister that I mentioned earlier.

Really, truly what an amazing experience! When I agreed to go visit this sweet 96 year old woman I had no idea the treasures and connections that we would uncover. And her memory! I was just beside myself at her ability to recall names, dates, places, and details. At one point I pulled out my notebook to jot down notes because I knew that I would not be able to remember on my own!
As the details and stories started pouring out I knew that this was a unique, special experience and I needed to remember it. I mean, really, what are the odds?
Near the end of our conversation she told me that the county fair was going to be this weekend in Logandale, near Overton. She said that I should go and make a trip up to Overton too. "Just tell people you're an Andersen. They'll know who you are!"
Myrtle is actually celebrating her 97th birthday in just over a week. 97. Wow. As I was leaving she told me, "I can't wait to tell my brother that I visited with Rene Andersen's granddaughter!" What a sweet lady. I look forward to visiting with her again sometime and sharing more of our connections.
What a small, wonderful world.