Life Story Part VI
My Thoughts on Each Birth--Jay
In the year 2007 (when this was written) which is the only year that all of my “children” will be in their forties, I am writing a remembrance on their birthdays about each of their births and early childhoods as a part of my continuing Life Story.
Jay is our third child—and second son. He was by far the easiest birth of my four children. I think part of the reason is that he is only 22 months younger than Annett so my body was getting used to the birth process; although, that could have nothing to do with it, too. Who knows? Anyway, Jay was born on June 18, 1962 in the Lovell, WY hospital. I always said that right after we got to the hospital, Jay just “fell out.” The infamous rapist, Dr. Story, was my doctor for the whole nine months and for the delivery. (He spent 20 years in the penitentiary at Rawlins, WY after being convicted of multiple rapes as a doctor.) Annett was also delivered by Dr. Story because Dr. Croft was out of town when she decided to be born.
We had already picked out the name of Jay Wallace Averett for a boy which I have been glad about ever since. We wanted to name him after his Dad, Wallace Johnson, since Andy had my maiden name (Black) as a middle name. I am so proud of Jay’s name even now as I sit here typing this remembrance.
I was in the hospital for a few days while Grandma Nonie took care of Andy and Annett. I remember that Wally brought the kids up to the window of the hospital to see me as no children were allowed inside in those days. I was so glad to see them. However, Annett was not happy. When we brought Jay home, Annett cried and was angry and jealous for some time. Up until then, she had been the princess and now there was another small person who was taking over the attention.
We lived in the little cinderblock house next door to Granddad and Grandma Averett. When Wally got out of the Army in December 1958, we moved into that house which was owned by Wally’s Aunt Blanche. The house had two tiny bedrooms, a tiny bathroom, a kitchen without any built-in cabinets (it had free-standing metal cabinets), and a living room with a wall heater. I painted every room a different color and Wally laid asbestos tiles in the bedrooms (bad move). We carpeted the living room and Wally’s folks bought us a green two-piece couch for Christmas. We went to Haskell’s Furniture and picked out a few things we needed including a chrome dinette table and chairs, a TV stand, a living room chair and a bedroom set. One of the first things I wanted was a portable dishwasher which we got at Dick’s Appliance. We also got a Westinghouse front loading washer and dryer. Everything we bought was purchased on time payments as we had no money. Our rent was only $50 a month, so that was cheap, and Wally was making a whopping $500 a month.
Wally’s ’53 Oldsmobile needed to be overhauled after our trip home from Virginia when he was discharged from the Army, so we just let it sit. The first couple of years we were able to get by with only the Mule Creek car that Wally used for work. Later, we bought a used red Chevy Impala from the Superintendent of Schools who lived down the street. Thinking back on that time, I don’t know how we managed financially. Wally was always trying to make a little extra money by plowing gardens, selling kitchen cabinets, and scheming at anything and everything to try and get ahead. I know I borrowed money one time from Joyce when we didn’t have any for groceries. I’m sure Granddad and Grandma helped us too. They were always generous with us.
Well, with three kids in one tiny bedroom it was crowded. For the first few months we moved Jay into the little wicker bassinet in the living room at night. He was a good baby and so cute. We all loved him so much. Annett got over being jealous and became my helper. Andy became a great TV watcher (that’s a joke). At about three months, I tried to wean Jay off of the formula and on to regular cow’s milk. Well that didn’t work. He was definitely allergic to cow’s milk. So, we continued with the formula as long as he was taking a bottle which was about eighteen months. He even had problems with the formula and was quite a “burping” baby—throwing up all over me, his crib, his blankets, the rug—you get the picture. Eventually, he outgrew that but continued with the allergies, especially in the summertime.
On November 11, 1962 (Veteran’s Day) we moved into our new house on 6th Street in Lovell. We thought we would never get a house of our own as Wally didn’t make enough money to qualify for an FHA loan. That year, the government started a new loan program in rural areas through the Farmer’s Home Administration for people who could qualify for poverty. We did. They gave us $13,500 for the lot and the house. It was a big lot that ran a half-a-block down the back. The house was a pre-fab from Americana Homes in Billings, MT. We hired Gerald Brinkerhoff to put it up for us, but we ended up doing lots of the work ourselves. I remember putting Jay in the playpen and taking him with me to paint. The house was only 1144 square feet, but it seemed wonderful to me. As soon as we could, we borrowed $3000 from the bank and Wally finished the basement with a small bedroom, a shop, a bathroom, a laundry/bedroom, and a big family room. It was out of the ground and we loved all the light and space.
I remember sometime when Jay was still under a year old, he got sick and both he and Andy were in the hospital at the same time with pneumonia. Annett is the only one who didn’t get pneumonia at sometime in childhood. By one year Jay was crawling everywhere and was soon walking. He was not a talker because he had all of us to do everything for him. Wally and I thought that Jay would be our last child as three was a good number. We had our two boys and our little girl. That’s all we needed. Jay was our baby for five years until April 11, 1967 when Julie was born in Calgary.
Jay was a sweet, good-natured baby, greatly loved by all of us. But, he had a special bond with Granddad Stan. After Stan’s boss, Burt Walker, moved to Billings, Stan bought the kids a small Shetland pony that we named Pet. We didn’t know it at the time, but Pet soon had a colt that we called Jet. Granddad loved to take the kids out to the shop in Byron to visit and play with the ponies. After Andy and Annett started school, Stan came by our house in the morning almost every day and picked up Jay so he could spend the day with him. Wally was gone much of the time drilling wells for Mule Creek, so Jay was a good companion for Granddad. I was happy that they could be together as I knew it wasn’t going to last.
Wally was not happy with his employer, Mule Creek Oil Company, and after eight years, in the fall of 1966, he found a new job with Husky Oil in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. When we moved it was hardest on Granddad. He really loved all the kids, but especially Jay. In March 1967, a couple of weeks before Julie was born we let Jay go to Lovell to stay with the grandparents while we waited for Julie to come. It seems now like he was gone for a long time. He was not quite five and I missed him so much. I didn’t have an easy pregnancy with Julie, so it was probably a good thing. I remember during that time, Jay and I used to lie in bed in the mornings after Andy and Annett left for school and I read books to him. I didn’t feel good enough to do much, so I liked reading to Jay in bed.
By July of 1967 we were back in Lovell in our own house. Wally had a new job as an engineer in the Byron-Garland Field for Marathon Oil. Shortly after moving back to Lovell, Annett, Jay and our little baby Julie all got chicken pox. Alice Cook came over with her kids who had been exposed. We immediately took them to the doctor for immunizations which helped them have a much milder case than they would have.
That fall Jay started kindergarten. It was the first year that kindergarten was offered as part of the school system. It was in the old white church building next to the school. I don’t remember much about that year of school for Jay in Lovell. However, the 1960’s were a time of experimentation in education and Lovell was no different. The fall of 1968 when Jay started first grade, the school had changed to a new reading program called Initial Training Alphabet. It didn’t make any sense to anyone and was dropped after a couple of years. The problem was, Jay didn’t learn to read. He started the second grade in Lovell before we moved to Cody in October of 1969 and was still not reading. The second grade was no better as Jay had already lost a year and didn’t seem to be able to make it up. By the time he reached third grade, we were living in Cody. His teacher, Mrs. Harrison, was a member of the Church and a wonderful teacher. Anyway, she taught him to read and by the end of the year he was reading at grade level. What a blessing a good teacher can be.
After 18 months in Cody, Wally got a District Manager’s job for Clinton Oil Company in Casper. Crest Hill Elementary school where the kids were enrolled was into the great “centers” teaching method. It meant that the kids went to centers where they basically taught themselves. Of all the teaching methods that didn’t work, that one was the worst. Jay went to the centers and didn’t learn much of anything. It was a nightmare. I tried to fight the system for him but finally just gave up. I remember in 5th grade he was assigned a project to do in several different centers. Somehow I found out at the end of the grading period that Jay hadn’t turned in any work. I went to the school and ask them why they let him go the whole time without ever checking to see if he had been working on his project. They told me that it was the responsibility of the student to get the project done. What a joke!
Jay struggled with school all twelve years. Schools are not geared to kids who struggle and he was not able to have the success he deserved there. He had to wait and work for all the success he has had in his life. I know he works harder than anyone else wherever he is, and for that, he has been blessed over the years with many new opportunities.
Even as a kid, Jay was a hard worker. I remember he worked at Taco Bell and at Joe Egley’s filling station in Casper. He wanted a nice car and almost drove us nuts with his whining about it. We had Granddad’s old pickup and we thought that was all he needed. Finally, we were able to swing a used Pontiac Firebird. It was a hot car and Jay had several tickets which resulted in his license being suspended. That car was a real money pit as I remember—I believe he had at least three transmissions. We should have made him drive the old pickup.
For his senior year we sent him to Utah Tech in Orem where he lived with Annett. He did well there and got all the credits he needed to graduate from Natrona High School in Casper. At Utah Tech he found that he had an ability to understand how things work in the mechanical field. Later, when he was exposed to computers and other equipment, he worked until he figured out what to do with them for his jobs in the gas metering and pipeline industry.
Jay always had friends. Kevin Smith was killed by a train before he reached his twenties. Joe Landis died when he crashed his parent’s car into the side of a hill due in part to drug and alcohol problems. Randy Watson, a classmate, and the Johnston boys from the church were other friends. Some friends were good and some weren’t. The greatest blessing has been that he found Tammy. She didn’t want him then but later when she came to Provo and we were living in Orem, they started dating and got married soon after that. We have always been thankful for Tammy. She is a wonderful wife and mother.
Jay is a blessing to me and our family. He has some of the best qualities of both Wally and me. He is industrious and does whatever it takes to get the job done. His physical appearance is more like Wally’s. His disposition is more like me. We are not very patient and tend to want perfection. Jay has concern for others welfare and happiness which I have very much appreciated since Wally’s death in 2003.
Jay, I am very proud of the man that you are. Your children are precious to me. Seeing Jaylynn graduate magna cum laude at Texas A & M was a real highlight in my life. Charlie reminds me so much of Granddad Stan and Sam has my mother’s name, Pearl, which suits her. She is a real gem. You and Tammy have been able to give your children, at much sacrifice to yourselves, good educations and support on their way to adulthood. That is a good thing.
I told you when I was there visiting some time ago, I have learned two great truths from the scriptures—especially since I have been a widow; first, “Let not your heart be troubled” it will all work out in the end (and if it doesn't work out, it's not the end) and second, “I have overcome the world.”
I love you and Tammy so very much.
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