anniversary

Today we celebrate our 59th anniversary.  Fifty-nine years ago we drove from Betty's home in Pocatello to the Logan, Utah temple.  Garold's parents, brother Keith and sister Ruth were with us.  We had planned to be married in the Idaho Falls Temple, but a few days before we left Oregon to go to Idaho, we learned that temple was closed, so we went to Logan instead.  This turned out to be better in many ways--especially because this is where Garold's parents and grandparents were married.
Our plans to celebrate?  This morning we are going to the BYU Museum of Art to see the new exhibit:  Sacred Gifts: the art of Karl Block, Heinrich Hoffman, and Franz Schwartz.  Norma's friend, Dawn Phesey, curated the exhibition and has spent several years travelling to Europe to get permission to borrow works of art from churches and museums for this show.  This evening, we will plan to go out to dinner, perhaps to one of the restaurants in the Shops at Riverside, because they have such a wonderful light display during the Christmas Seasons.
Grandpa asked me this morning which year of the 59 was the best.  I told him this year--because every year we grow closer to one another and treasure our time together more.  All of you--our children, grandchildren and their husbands and wives are the greatest treasure of our marriage.  Happy holidays to you all!

Dear Family,
Like the beautiful and abundant snow shown in the photo of our home, our lives have been abundantly blessed this past year.  Not only at Christmas time, but throughout the entire year, we feel deep love and gratitude to Jesus our Savior who came as a little child to a lowly manger in Bethlehem and then died on the cross in order to secure eternal life for us all.  In our stumbling way we hope to emulate His example of kindness and love and give honor to the Holy Spirit and God our Heavenly Father.

May the Lord’s choicest blessings abide with all of you this Christmas and always.  And may He continue to do so in 2014 and comfort you through any challenges that may come in the New Year.
 
We love you all very much and treasure the memories of last summer in Talkeetna.

Grandpa Garold and Grandma Norma

Eight-one (plus) things we love about Grandpa

Feel free to add to this list.  I thought you would all like to see the nice memories we have about Grandpa.
Doni

Eighty-one (plus) Things We LOVE about Dad, Grandpa, Garold

1. Garold presented me with a beautiful musical jewelry box one Christmas with gorgeous inlaid woods which I love. Sarah

2. Garold and Norma came down to LA towing a small U-Haul when Erik and I were going to move back to Provo and helped us move. Sarah

3. Garold paid my $20 parking ticket at BYU when we were poor students, I think in part because the cop put "male student seen leaving A lot" when I had super short hair and he had pity on my embarrassment. Sarah

4. Often Garold will hide a puzzle piece in his pocket so that he will be able to put the final piece in.  It sort of bugs me but is endearing just the same.  Sarah

5. Garold and Norma surprised us a few Christmases ago with a beautiful hand-carved and painted nativity! Sarah

6. Garold helped me get my degree by watching Henry once a week during my Physics class. Sarah

7. “The Hook” Erik

8. Me: “Dad, can I borrow your [tent, fishing pole, bike rack, old golf clubs, etc.]?”
9. Dad: “Well, I’m going to make you an offer you can’t refuse.  Why don’t you take my [tent, fishing pole, bike rack, old golf clubs, etc.] and keep it, and here’s a [ground cloth, tackle box, used bike, bag of used golf balls, etc.] that goes along with it.” Erik

10. Magic smile.  Erik

11. Hearing from friends: “We just went to do sealings at the temple and your dad was our sealer.  It was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had at the temple!” Erik

12. Telling people I meet at BYU for the first time: “I’m Garold and Norma Davis’s son,” and knowing that it will instantly increase my status and respect in their eyes. Erik

13. Dad finishing his first marathon (Deseret News) and collapsing on a table in Liberty Park, tired, sweaty, bleeding, and haggard.  Then Dad persisting and training to qualify for and run the Boston Marathon. Erik

14. Walking ten paces behind Grandpa down the Getreidegasse because he was doing something kooky to make me feel less self-conscious and I was just hoping no one would think I was with him. Erik

15. I only remember one time when Dad was really angry with me, and that was when I said or did something (I don’t remember what) that was somehow disrespectful of Mom.  He let me know very clearly that that would not be tolerated.  Erik

16. I love that he Is always in a good mood. Jeff
17. I remember him helping me across streams that were too deep for me.  Jeff
18. I am glad that he taught me to love the outdoors, rivers, and fish. Jeff
19. Playing catch for hours. Jeff
20. Pitching 100s of baseballs. Jeff
21. Helping make the best pine wood derby cars. Jeff

22  Will:  “I just love his ice-cream that he makes.”

23               I love playing chess and speaking German with Grandpa. I love how we let each other win sometimes. Henry

24               I love how he teaches me how to golf in his front yard. Henry

25               I love how he buys a new jeep almost every year. Henry

26               I love his carvings and how they go with grandma's paintings. Henry

27               I love the wooden things he has made for me. Henry

28               I love the times he has gone fishing with me and gutted my fish for me. Henry

29               I love the lessons he has taught me about the truthfulness of the restored gospel and about the things that are     truly meaningful in this life. Henry

30               I love how interested he and grandma are in what I am doing and in my academic and musical life. Henry

31               I love how he was so proud of me when I went to Germany and still proud when I came home. Henry

32               I love Grandpa so much. I love his carving of "The First Vision," which I have hanging in my room. Henry

33               I want to be like Grandpa when I have kids and grandkids. Henry

34               I remember being really small and grandpa would catch us on his lap and make us say the magic password in order to be freed.  The password was "Grandpa's super, grandpa's wonderful, grandpa's the greatest!"  Gwen

35               Grandpa introduced me to good things like Jeeves and Wooster and Calvin and Hobbes. Gwen

36               I love coming to grandma and grandpa's house and talking to them both about current events or art or music or literature. Gwen

37               I especially love it when grandpa shows me his new carving projects.  I remember when I realized that he is a great artist, and I love seeing what he is working on. Gwen

38               I love walking or driving by grandma and grandpa's house and finding grandpa practicing his golf swing in the front yard.  The entire time we were living at their house we found those hollow golf balls in trees and buried in the yard.  Gwen

39               I love 'The Cousins,' the tree house grandpa made, and I always took pride in showing it to my friends when I was little. Gwen

40               Grandpa always cheats in Monopoly.  :) Gwen

41               A few summers ago, grandpa led Caitlin and me on a wild fishing adventure at Christmas Meadows.  I can't say that I treasure the memory because it involved a lot of tripping and falling in the mud, mosquitoes, being fish hooked, and grandpa was the only one who caught a fish, but it was still nice of him to let me come along. Gwen

42               Grandpa introduced me to Leslie Norris, which is a friendship that I will always love.  Gwen

43               When he put the white border up in my room in our Avalon House – Nora

44               His big hugs – Nora

45               Calluses on his hands- Nora

46               Always flies to Ohio for my big events – Recitals, Graduation, sometimes birthdays – Nora

47               Creativity with the Santas - Nora

48               When we lived in Boulder and I was three or four years old, Dad would come home from work and take off his suit coat, put it over my head and wrap me up in it, then spin me around in circles.  He would run around the house, room to room, saying, “into the bathroom, down the stairs, through the kitchen…” but that was never where we really were.  “Down the stairs,” I could tell, meant that he was faking steps, bending his knees with each step.  Then he would set me down and I had to guess where we were.  To this day, I love the smell of the inside of his suit coats. Lorelei

49               Dad used to set me on top of the refrigerator and open his arms to catch me when I jumped. Lorelei

50               Dad let us read in sacrament meeting, though he retained veto rights over the books we’d choose.  Tolkien and Lewis were always approved. Lorelei 

51               After every dinner, Dad insisted that we remember to say “thank you” to Mom for the work she had done to prepare the meal.    Lorelei 

52               In Salzburg, Dad had responsibility for making complex travel arrangements for big groups of people.  I cannot believe that a professor of literature had a task that really should have been given to an Events Manager.  But he is a very careful, detail-oriented person.  One time, he had a big payment from a lot of students and saw that American Express was offering a slightly better rate of exchange than the bank he knew well and trusted – maybe a couple of Groschen difference.  He convinced the bank to give him the better rate and explained to me that he felt a responsibility to be very careful when he was working with someone else’s money. Lorelei 

53               When we toured the catacombs under the city of Rome, you had to be aware that Dad might jump out and scare you at any time… or his own hand might reach out from around a corner, hook him around the neck and pull him into the darkness. Lorelei

54               Dad taught me to eat slowly and enjoy my meal.  There was no point in eating quickly, because you would have to sit there until he was done, anyway, even if all your friends were in the front yard waiting for you. Lorelei 

55               At Stonehenge, Doug Parker read in a guidebook that there were 37(?) stones that ringed the central structure.  “Let’s count,” he said, in typical Doug-Parker-OCD manner.  “We’ll go this way, you go that way, and we’ll meet on the other side.”  I walked with Dad, who counted, but then subtracted one when he reported his number to Doug.  “That can’t be right,” Doug puzzled.  “Let’s try again.”  This time, when we met on the other side, Dad added one.  I think he let us walk around in circles four or five times before he broke into giggles and had to confess.   Lorelei 

56               When I was in high school, the Church took a stand against the Equal Rights Amendment.  Dad and I sat down for many hours, talking through the church’s publication, thinking about where we agreed and where we disagreed.  He gave my opinions the same attention he gave to the publication.  He helped me search for ways to find common ground with someone, even when my conclusions are different.  Lorelei 

57               Bill, Jeff, and I went skiing at Alta and took Dad’s first nice car, the yellow Audi.  One the way back, we put on the chains because it was snowing heavily.  It didn’t sound right – we kept hearing a thunk, thunk against the side of the car – but we stopped a couple of times and the guys couldn’t figure out what to do differently.  So we shrugged and kept moving.  When we got back to Provo, the side of the car was all scratched up.  Dad was so mad that he used the strongest insult I have ever heard from him:  “Nincompoops!”  Lorelei

58               Dad once claimed, and insisted against all arguments, that the only movies ever made that are worth watching are Gregory’s Girl, Breaking Away, A Thousand Clowns, and Bugsy Malone.  We tried taking him to Aliens 2, to get a little excitement in his life.  He gripped my arm and screamed out loud a few times.  I thought that might give him an appetite for more adventurous movies, but it only cemented his opinion.  Never again, he declared.  Lorelei

59               When Fiona was a baby, she used to have trouble breathing.  One time, Grandma and Grandpa were visiting us in England and we rented a car to tour the English countryside.  In Wells, we were at a B&B and Fiona just could not breathe well – the more she cried, the harder it was to breathe.  Grandpa took her in his arms and walked up and down the floor, probably for over an hour, gently singing to her, “Oh the fox went out on a chilly night…” until she was able to calm herself well enough to finally get some rest.   Lorelei

60               When my marriage began to fall apart, I felt more vulnerable and lonely than any time in my life.  On a long car ride, Dad listened to me and talked to me about the kind of respectful ways husbands and wives – all family – should treat each other.  I had always seen him and Mom treat each other with respect; he reminded me that that shouldn’t be viewed as some unusual situation, but that we all have the right to be treated well by the people we live with.  This conversation gave me confidence for many years.  Lorelei 

61               I can always count on Dad for a book recommendation.  “What should I read next?”  “Have you finished all of the Trollope novels?  Anyone who says they have read them all is lying.”  Lorelei

Happy Birthday, Dad! 

As I stop to reflect for a few minutes, so many positive memories of experiences with you come to mind—not just things that were meaningful or enjoyable at the moment, but things that have had a lasting influence on my life—Wordsworthian “spots of time”—moments that continue to have a “fructifying effect” long afterwards. 

62               I think back to when we lived in Boulder and I was first in the Cub Scouts, or when you and I participated in “Indian Guides.”  I remember clearly that when I took part in a Scout Pine Wood Derby you took the kit we were given to make our cars and immediately set out to improve on it—getting better axles and spraying them with silicone, hollowing out the inside and adding fishing weights.  I won every race until they disqualified my car. That was also the time of our first backpacking trip together. And those are small memories, perhaps, but for me they point to years of love, support and togetherness.

63               I also think about how much I learned from you, about how our travels and discussions as a family opened whole new worlds to me that I am still exploring. Learning German, learning how to travel and communicate, prepared me for my mission, for my studies and even for a career in which I have spent most of my adult life. All of those doors were opened for me because you were always open to learn, explore, and teach. I am aware every day that my life is so much richer than it ever could have been otherwise because of all of the doors you opened for me.  With your inquisitiveness and openness to the life of the spirit and the mind, you made a far better life not only for us, but also for your entire family.  The richness of your love, support and teaching clearly has extended to the next generation as well.  This summer in Alaska it was very clear to me how much all of your grandchildren has benefited from the life you have lead.

64               So, this is just a brief note to say how much I love and admire you, to try to acknowledge in a small way how well I know that my life is richer and better because I have had you as a Dad.

Bill

65               Kia – He tells the best jokes

66               Nate – He tells the worst jokes

67               Kia – He’s a good phone photographer

68               Nate – good tree house builder

69               Taught me a love of camping and the outdoors in general - Nate

70               Let me go in his shop and watch when he was building things - Nate

71               Made me walk across a ladder suspended between the 2 decks at his house - Nate

72               Grandpa used to ready Lord of the Rings and the scriptures out loud.  I couldn’t tell them apart or understand what was going on in either of them. - Nate

73               Grandpa taught me the importance of being education, having experiences and learning things for myself. –

Nate

74              I love his old stories - Caitlin

75              He has little of hair- Caitlin

76              Built the best tree house ever and let me help build it- Caitlin

77              Guided me around Vienna twice, translated for me and was my research assistant- Caitlin

78              Always tells me he’s proud of me- Caitlin

79              Great sense of humor- Caitlin

80              Taught me how to fish. One time I was trying to catch a fish for so long and I got frustrated and gave up.  He took my fishing pole for a white and then he handed it back to me with the line still in the water and told me to come try again.  When I took the pole back I realized there was a fish on the line! - Caitlin

81              Takes me golfing- Caitlin

82              “The Hook:” – Caitlin

83               I like that Garold uses his skills like wood-working to help others – Jason

84.   Dad let me work beside him on lots of different building and craft projects.  We built and refinished furniture, fences, cabinets, railings, craft projects, painted and restored.  I learned how to work, how to measure and cut and how to whistle.  He would always be whistling, usually a cheerful hymn.

85.  Dad and Mom have always had good friends who knew us and cared about us.  Many times, when I have needed advice I have gone to Dad, who would take me to talk with a friend of his.  Together we worked out lots of tricky decision-making problems.

86.  Dad taught me to be interested in the world around me, to ask questions and to find answers. 

87.  Dad took me to Europe when I was 13 years old.  I will never forget the excitement of exploring Paris for the first time with Bill and Becky, John and Allison Brown. 

88.  I feel so lucky to have spent so much time seeing beautiful places, hiking, camping, touring, biking with Dad. 

89.  I have always been proud of Dad’s athletic prowess, a trait I didn’t inherit, sadly. 

90.  I don’t ever remember Dad actually being angry with me and he never, never was unkind or cruel. No one has ever had a kinder, more loving father. There are so many more things I could say about Dad.  I guess I’ll have to wait until next year.

Doni