AUNT JENNIE

AUNT JENNIE

My Aunt Jennie lived across the street from me when I was growing up in Blanding, Utah. She was married to my Uncle Ben, who was my Dad's oldest brother.

I will give you a little history for background so you'll know where everything fits. Uncle Ben (Benjamin Grant Black, born January 24, 1880) married a woman whose name was Vilate (I cannot find what her last name was) January 24, 1906. Uncle Ben and Aunt Vilate had two sons together: Melvin Aldro, who was born January 3, 1907, and Roy Alvin, who was born September 2, 1908. Aunt Vilate died in September of 1909.

In 1912, Uncle Ben married Aunt Jennie (Jennie Malinda Brown, born October 21, 1890) May 29, 1912. I am supposing he wanted someone to help raise his two sons and I imagine he also wanted some companionship. (Aunt Jennie was not a pretty woman. She was very plain but, oh my, she was a whirlwind when it came to getting things done. By the time I was born (I am the baby of my family) Aunt Jennie had dentures. My mother told me Aunt Jennie was much better looking after she got her dentures because, and I quote: “Aunt Jennie's own teeth were very “bucked” almost sticking straight out”. I really doubt that but I guess it is possible. My mother didn't like Aunt Jennie very much so she may have exaggerated.

Aunt Jennie loved and cared for Melvin and Roy as though they were her own. In 1912 Aunt Jennie gave birth to Verl Grant and in 1914, a daughter, Vilate. Aunt Jennie was expecting another child in November of 1916. In August of 1916, Uncle Ben went to the saw mill for something and he took his two older boys with him. Melvin was eight and Roy was seven. I do not know the details but Roy was doing something (perhaps running around and not paying attention to where he was going) and was killed. Uncle Ben and Aunt Jennie were heartbroken, as you may imagine. Delsa was born in November of 1916; Leon Brown was born in March 1919; Orene was born in October 1920; Eldon Brown was born June 1923; Halvor Brown was born July 1925. (Notice: All the boys had middle names but none of the girls. Same thing in my family.)

Uncle Ben fathered nine children. Four of those children died before I was born in 1933. I've already told you about Roy's death. Their daughter, Vilate died in July of 1925; Orene died in September of 1923; Eldon died in February of 1928.

Halvor died in December of 1944. He was in the army and was killed in Germany during the Second World War. (Uncle Ben and Aunt Jennie had four sons serving in the Military during WWII.) Delsa died of cancer in June of 1966.

Uncle Ben and Aunt Jenny outlived six of their nine children.

Uncle Ben's house was a brick and mortar house (I probably should say: Uncle Ben's house was an 'adobe and mortar house'.) Our house was “board and batten”. As it turns out, our house was warmer in winter than their house was. Our house was much smaller with lower ceilings and the wood stoves did a great job of keeping us warm in the winter. Their house was a little cooler in the summer than ours. For many years Uncle Ben was the custodian at our Elementary School until he had his 65^th birthday. At that time, Uncle Ben retired and my Dad became the custodian. I was 11 at the time. Daddy was the custodian until he had his 65^th birthday.

Uncle Ben also had a field where he grew alfalfa for his stock (cows, horses, lambs, etc.) so in addition to being custodian at the school, he also had to take care of his fields. Aunt Jennie planted and took care of their sizable garden every year. In addition to taking care of the garden, she took care of her home (it was always clean), prepared the meals, did their laundry, took care of the milk after the cows were milked (I do remember that Uncle Ben did have his sons milk the cows). In those days people mended their clothes if they somehow got torn, or if a seam came undone, or if a sock had a hole in it and Aunt Jennie did all of those things. She always made time to visit sick people and take food to them; attend various meetings and “gather local gossip”. Her kids didn't help her very much. They always seemed to be quite lazy. Not only were they lazy but they were very rude to their mother. They sassed and back-talked her. I felt sorry for her because not only was Uncle Ben unkind to her and he never chastised his kids when they were rotten to their mother. He could have prevented their behavior toward their mother but he chose not to. (My Dad would never have tolerated any of his children being rude to our mother.)

We lived across the street and we could often hear Uncle Ben yelling at Aunt Jennie for one thing or another. For instance, she would prepare meals for him. When he was working at the school he would come home at 12:00 noon for lunch. She always had lunch ready for him but, occasionally, he would dawdle over something and the meal she had placed on the table would cool down slightly. If it got too cool he would shove the plate away and yell at her, saying “Taint fit ta eat!!!”. If he came to the table promptly and the food was hot (he apparently never checked to see how hot it was) he would put a spoonful of food in his mouth and burn his mouth. Then he would spit the food out and yell, “Taint fit ta eat!!!”

In spite of the awful treatment from her abusive husband and children and the death of so many children, Aunt Jennie always wore a smile on her face. She always had an upbeat attitude. If the peas in her garden were ready to eat (or any other of the vegetables) before ours she was always quick to share. My Mom seemed to resent Aunt Jenny when she brought some of her crops over to share. One time mom became so angry that she told Aunt Jennie to go away and never come back. Then she cautioned me that I was never to go over to Aunt Jennie's house for any reason. That really ticked me off because I loved Aunt Jennie, so when I knew my mom was in the kitchen and would be busy there for a while, I would sneak over to visit Aunt Jennie. Fortunately, I never got caught.

I remember when Uncle Ben and Aunt Jennie installed a hot water heater at their house. It wasn't an electric or gas water heater. When it was installed a plumber installed pipes through the “firebox” in the kitchen stove. When there was a fire in the kitchen stove, the water would be heated through those two pipes running through the firebox. Somehow it circulated so that there was always hot water in the water heater. Aunt Jennie was so proud. I don't remember why I was at their house at that particular time but Aunt Jennie said to me, “Now if you ever need any hot water, you can come over and get a bucket full and take it home.” (We had to heat every bit of water on our stove and there were times when it just didn't get heated fast enough. Saturday night baths was one of the times). So, frequently, I would take a big bucket over to Aunt Jennie's house and get it full of hot water and take it home so I could have hot water for my bath. I carried hot water for other family member's baths, as well. That was such a typical thing for Aunt Jennie to do. She was always thinking of others people's comfort and well-being.

There were times when my mother had to be away. After my three older siblings graduated from High School and went elsewhere so they could find work, I was the only girl at home. My Dad was a really good cook and did many things but he was extremely busy and needed to be elsewhere, so I had the privilege of doing some cooking. We never bought bread from the store. We always made it at home. A couple of times I got up early and made bread before I went to school (my band class was at 8:00 a.m). I had planned to shape the loaves when I went home for lunch but I was worried the bread would rise too much before I could get home after school to bake it. Lo, and behold, both times I made bread in the morning, Aunt Jenny came over and shaped the loaves so they were already rising by the time I came home for lunch. I don't know how she knew I had made bread—perhaps Daddy mentioned it to her. When she saw I was home for lunch she came over to tell me that she would bake the bread so I didn't have to worry about it---and she did. When I came home from school the bread was done. She was always helping others. I cannot tell you how much her help was appreciated by me.

Aunt Jenny was only about 4'10” tall but she was a dynamo. She was always on the go doing something, and generally that something was for someone else.

At Thanksgiving the year I was 12, there was just my Dad, Mom, George and I at home (I don't remember where Durant was). At Aunt Jennie's house there was just Uncle Ben, Aunt Jennie, Delsa an Delsa's small son, Larry. Aunt Jennie and Delsa thought it would be fun for us to get our two families together for Thanksgiving Dinner. My parents agreed. (My mother had made something of a truce with Aunt Jennie after several years of not speaking to her.) For Thanksgiving Dinner my mother usually made chicken noodle soup which we put over our boiled potatoes along with green beans (that my mother had bottled when the beans were ready to be picked). She also made a bread dressing which I liked. Mom always made a squash pie for my Dad. She didn't put any spices into the pie---just sugar and a little salt. Fortunately, she put yummy whipped cream on top of the pie. I didn't like the pie but I did like the whipped cream. A couple of times while Grace was still at home she made a lemon meringue pie and that was delicious.

For Thanksgiving dinner, Aunt Jennie and Delsa roasted a couple of chickens (a few people in town ate turkey. (I don't know where they got them. No one in town raised turkeys and our local grocery stores didn't have frozen turkeys—the stores didn't even have freezers at that time.) Those roasted chickens with the stuffing were a real treat for me. We also had mashed potatoes and gravy and some veggies. I made some rolls. For dessert, we had pies. I don't remember what kind. I also do not remember what else we furnished besides the rolls, but we did contribute to the meal. The food was delicious and we had a good time. Uncle Ben was on his best behavior. Don't get me wrong, Uncle Ben was always good to me, as well as my siblings. He was just rude and mean to Aunt Jennie. How Aunt Jennie managed to keep a smile on her face is beyond me, but she did. We got together for Thanksgiving three years in a row. I don't know why we stopped.

When I was 12 I began working as a “mother's helper” for the lady who lived across the street east of our home. Her name was Vivian Redd. Her husband had cattle and did very well. Sister Redd's health wasn't the best and so I helped out on Tuesday afternoons after school (I did her ironing on Tuesdays) and I worked on Saturday, cleaning her house. Her husband's name was Jasper but everyone always called him “Jap”. Their children were adorable and I loved working for her. I also appreciated the money I was paid. The year I was 14, Vivian asked what we were doing for Thanksgiving. I told her we were going to Aunt Jennie's house. Vivian asked if we were having turkey. I said, “Oh, no. We will have chicken”. Vivian told me they were having turkey. I mentioned that I had never tasted turkey so she invited me to come over after my dinner at Aunt Jennie's house and she would save a slice of turkey so I could learn what turkey tastes like. It was delicious. That was the only time I tasted turkey until the Thanksgiving after I got married. (I was married November 5, 1951. Jack and I traveled to California because he had to report to his Marine Base (El Toro) on the 12^th of November. We bought a turkey for Thanksgiving dinner and I cooked it along with the rest of the dinner. We had three guests. All things considered, the entire meal turned out very well.

Even though my Dad and Uncle Ben were brothers they were quite different. My Dad was loving and kind to everyone. Uncle Ben yelled a lot. My Dad only yelled if someone was in danger. The two of them did have one thing in common. They both had “twinkly” eyes. None of their children had twinkly eyes but I have four grandchildren with twinkly eyes. I know! I know! Twinkly eyes has nothing to do with Aunt Jennie.

So, I will get back to Aunt Jennie.

Halloween wasn't a big deal in those days as it is now. I had never heard of “trick or treating” until I was 12. I didn't have a costume and neither did my cousin, Aleene. But, we did go trick or treating the year we were 12. We only went to one house and that was to Aunt Jennie's house. We yelled “trick or treat”.

Aunt Jennie came to the door with a big smile on her face, and said, “Well, what kind of trick will you do if I don't give you anything?” We didn't have anything in mind so Aunt Jennie gave each of us an apple and that was the extent of my trick or treating. Aunt Jennie always had a terrific attitude.

Aunt Jennie was always willing to listen. And she always wanted to know what was going on in my life. I always knew someone would listen to me. (My mother wasn't speaking to me most of the time after I was 14. Generally, I did not know why. But mom was the same way with her other two daughters so why would she be any different with me? Mom always favored her sons.)

Aunt Jenny was something of a “worry wart”. In one of my stories I told about the big bonfire my brothers, Durant and George and I had. We had been gathering dry tumble weeds and piling them. We smashed them down a lot but it was still a very high pile. Then, we set them on fire. It was an amazing blaze. It didn't last very long but it was magnificent while it lasted. Aunt Jennie was watching, of course, but she was watching because she was worried the fire would spread. We had a couple of hoses hooked up to taps so we could handle it but that didn't make Aunt Jennie feel any better. Everything was great. The fire died down and we sprayed the ashes with water to be sure all the hot coals were doused. The next day Aunt Jennie told us the dreams she had about burning tumble weeds rolling down the streets. I guess she really was worried.

After I graduated from High School I immediately moved to Salt Lake City so I could find work. Whenever I was able to go back to Blanding I always went across the street to visit Aunt Jennie and Uncle Ben. When my husband and children and I came to Blanding, we always went to visit Aunt Jennie. That was part of the routine. My husband and children also loved Aunt Jennie and looked forward to visiting with her. She was always delighted to see us and welcomed us into her home.

Aunt Jennie took wonderfully good care of Uncle Ben as he got older and became somewhat feeble. She worried and fretted and did her very best to make him comfortable. Uncle Ben died at 93.

After Uncle Ben died, Aunt Jennie thought she should go to the Care Center in Blanding. I guess she didn't want her kids to have to worry about her. She admitted herself into the Care Center. But, she didn't behave like one of the patients. She was perfectly capable of getting herself out of bed and dressed. She spent her time going around to the rooms to help the other patients. I visited with her when we went over to the Care Center to visit with my mother. My Mom needed to be there and needed help. Aunt Jennie helped everyone else. I don't know how long she was there but she finally decided perhaps she really didn't need to be there. Her son, Leon and his wife Marge, had quite a good size piece of property and they got a single wide mobile home and put it on their property. (They may have used some of the money from the sale of Aunt Jennie's home and property to buy the single wide.) Aunt Jennie didn't want to live with them (and they were probably happy about that) but she did want to be close enough to someone so if she needed help she could get it. She moved into that mobile home and set up shop. She knew she needed something to do---but what? Then she had an epiphany. She thought: What was the hardest thing for me to keep up with when I was a young mother? She remembered it was hard to keep her mending done. She had a sewing machine and other things to help and she began to tell people what she had in mind. It didn't take long for the word to spread in Blanding and young mothers began to bring their mending to Aunt Jenny. Aunt Jenny kept busy and it made her happy. She even put new mens jeans when the zippers wore out or jammed and couldn't be zipped up or down. When those young mothers asked how much they owed her, she would say: “Whatever you think it's worth.”

She was receiving Social Security and SS is what she lived on. She saved the money she earned. She paid her tithing on that money and saved the rest. A new Chapel was needed in Blanding (those were the days when Ward Members contributed time and money to get the new building) and she donated the rest of her “earnings” to the new Chapel. She was so proud to be able to contribute as much as she did. She didn't tell us how much she contributed but I understand it was a pretty good amount. Aunt Jenny was happy being on her own. Bret and Heidi also went to Blanding and visited with Aunt Jennie in her “single wide”. Eventually, she began to get feeble enough she couldn't do the mending anymore. Aunt Jennie died on June 30, 1990 at age 99, a little less than three months shy of her 100^th birthday.

I loved Aunt Jennie a lot and I learned a lot from her. I think I learned “the power of positive thinking” from her. The fact that she buried six children and took abuse from Uncle Ben and her children all those years and still kept a positive attitude and a smile on her face indicates to me that she has attained a very good place in Heaven. She surely deserves it. Love you, Aunt Jennie.