Spunky Youngster...

Eighty one years, a spunky little redhead Velma, joined the Hall family which included , an older sister Rula, and her former schoolmarm mother, Alice and a jack of all trades, farming father Ira. Born just 8 days before the big stock market crash of 29, Velma’s formative years coincided with the Great Depression. In spite of lost farms, meager possessions and precarious economic times, her sharp intellect, nurturing nature and tenacity counterbalanced life’s trials and she grew into a responsible, caring, perennial optimist.

Describing her family life in mom’s own words she said “We had a blessing on our food every meal (and we all ate at the same time). We had family prayer prior to breakfast and supper, kneeling at chairs turned away from the table. We were expected to carry out our given responsibilities to very best of our abilities. It didn’t matter whether it was a talk for church or a household task the same effort was expected.

Father, as we called him, worked long hard hours to provide for us. We always had horses, cows, chickens, pigs and sometimes ducks, geese, or turkeys which required daily attention prior to beginning the field work required to raise row crops. Irrigation was also a daily job. Alfalfa hay, grain and pasture were every year crops. Corn, sugar beets, potatoes or beans might be the other row crops. They all were labor intensive.”

Somewhere around age 5 mom became convinced that she needed to eat the sparkling icicles dangling outside from the roof. Hanging over the roof’s edge, she methodically detached the icicles and dropped them to the waiting arms of her 3 year old brother, Kimball. To her dismay and frustration he dropped or missed every one. As might be expected, mom soon followed the icicles and fell. She was concussed, sustained a broken nose, and multiple bruises and contusions. She managed to walk to the house where grandma was sewing and tapped her on the shoulder before losing consciousness. Her survival was in doubt for several days and the results of these early injuries affected her for the rest of her life.

This incident demonstrates several key characteristics of her character. Mom loved nature and all its beauties, whether it be a dazzling icicle, a beautiful sunset, garden flowers, a majestic mountain range or a sparkling mountain stream. She would set goals; tasting icicles, getting an education, raising a family, making art, or remodeling and with the determination and drive she inherited from her fatherl, and the kindness and understanding she got from her mother, she set out to obtain those goals, no matter the difficulty, time or personal cost.

Mom was 4 when they lived at the Rice place between Elba and Malta. A nearby canyon had a creek that provided the family drinking water. The water was only about 4 to 5 inches deep and had a big cedar tree right by the road. The water was clear and Cooooolllld ! One night after mom and Rula were sent to bed, they went out the back window and spent some delightful time crawling in the ditch in their nightgowns. Boy did they have fun! When grandma and grandpa found them they were in BIG trouble. Later, that same night they had some visitors who had children their age, which was a rare treat. However, because of the water escapades, they were not allowed to play with them… a frustrating, but natural consequence.