Family Reliance

We all are blessed to be part of an extended family that accepts the responsibility of caring for each other and sharing with each other when necessary. I believe this is the essence of the teachings of Jesus and the basis of religion.

My Grandfather Davis passed away when my Father was a young teen. Dad entered the workforce after completing the eighth grade in school. He became the sole support for my Grandmother and his four younger brothers and sisters. Dad worked on the railroad wrecker out of Elko Nevada. The winters were lonely and frigid for a young boy away from home. The summers were worse. The intense desert heat with no relief from the Sun. All he earned was sent home to his Mother.

Later he transfered to Portola California on the Feather River Canyon portion of the railroad. He met my Mother in Salt Lake City when he was was 24 and she was 19. They were married in 1929 after Grandmother Dewar passed and Dad was working in Salt Lake City. They provided support to Grandmother Davis until she passed in 1936.

There was no Social Security or pension system available during those years and without the support of my Father and Mother and the sacrafice they made my 2 aunts and 2 uncles along with Grandmother Davis would not have had any financial resources.

In 1952, when I was 7 years old, my Father had a very serious heart attack. He was out of work for at least 6 months and Mother stayed home with him to provide care. I lived with Aunt Elizabeth and Uncle Wiley during that period. I remember visiting home on Saturdays. All of my Aunts and Uncles came by to see my parents on Saturday. When they left they each left a $10.00 bill on the table. My Mother kept careful record of their generosity and when Mom and Dad were back to work each family member was re-paid.

On my birthday that year my aunts and uncles bought me the most beautiful bicycle in the world. It was red, white and blue and I rode it with pride until I was 16. It was top of the line and had a battery powered horn and lights, unheard of in the neighborhood. I felt very special to receive such a gift.

While I was on my mission in California I received a phone call from the mission president requesting that I go to my Uncle Rod's house for dinner on Sunday. I was in Reno Nevada and was delighted by the invitation. When my companion and I arrived all of my California cousins were there and we had a glorious Davis family party. Near the end of the evening Uncle Rod took me into the bedroom and told me that my Father was in the hospital and was not expected to live. He said he had spoken to the mission president and I could be released 2 months early to be with my parents. It was my choice.

I knew immediately what my Father would want me to do and I finished my mission. When I arrived home two months later I found my Dad in failing health but he had waited for me to come home. He lived for several more weeks. He and I went to the "roller derby" at the fairgrounds and he lived to see me start classes at the U and to get a good job.

After his funeral Uncle Rod took me to the back yard with my cousin Ed. Ed's Dad (Uncle Dave) had passed two months before my Dad. Uncle Rod told us how much he loved his two brothers and how close they had been. He spoke of my Father as though he was Uncle Rod's Father. He then told now that his bothers were gone he was now our Father. We were to come to him for anything we needed and to look to him for guidance.

That is what my family was like. That was the value of their lives. Now all of my Aunts and Uncles and most of my cousins are gone. But the memories, example and traditions live on through me, your Mother, you and now your children. We are a family.