Friday, February 28, 2014

          It was a long full day, but great work happened in the temple!

          Today is my grandma Rebecca Ford Cook’s birthday.  She is my dad’s mother and the only grandmother I knew as a child.  She was born February 28, 1881, in Centerville, Utah.  She married Thomas Simpson Cook and they moved to a homestead near Idaho Falls—then it was Eagle Rock, I think—soon after 1900.   The road from Eagle Rock to their new two-room home was just a rut-filled wagon trail and the whole area was covered in sagebrush.  What a challenge. 

          My Grandma and Grandpa Cook (I never knew him since he died before I Was born) had 11 children, nine of whom they raised losing two as infants.  They raised their family in the same home that I was raised in, although it underwent a lot of remodeling and updating over the years.  The two original rooms of the house remain although they have been modernized.  After my dad married and purchased the home and family farm, Grandma moved to Idaho Falls with her two unmarried daughters and lived there until her passing.

          Grandma was such a cute and spunky lady with sparkly eyes and a kindly disposition.  I knew her only with white hair which was carefully coiffed with waves and combs.  When Shirleen and I stayed with her when we were little, she would fix us cream of chicken soup in a little white ceramic pan with red trim.  It was served with little oyster crackers—the only time we ever had them—and then she peeled an apple, starting at the center and doing the whole thing with one long peeled strip.  We were so impressed!  She slept in a wonderful comfy feather bed that had to be fluffed each morning and her room had a clock that ticked loudly when we were sent there to have a “rest.”  As a young girl, she played the piano and mandolin and was quite accomplished.

          My aunts and uncles used to gather at our house to have dinner and celebrate her birthday; and as little kids, my siblings and I loved these get-togethers.  The Cooks were a jovial, happy group and laughed until they nearly brought the house down.  We helped serve the birthday dinner and do clean-up and loved being able to eves-drop on the night’s activities!

          She passed away March 24, 1966, when I was a senior in high school.  It was during the biggest drill team event of the year, so I always remember when it was.  She was a great lady and her life spanned the years from pioneer days to the days of modern living—running water, electricity, cars, paved roads, etc.  I wonder what she would think of today’s world—48 years later. 

          To my children—you each have at least one copy of the life history for this great grandmother of yours provided through Jeff’s efforts.  It will supply the facts that I may have remembered not-quite-right.  I actually googled her name and she came right up with vital records and a photo, but no history.  That was fun!!