Grandma Henke

We love our motor home!   It has been home for a week.   Little poochie loves it too.    I’ll try to post some pictures before we leave my sister’s and get back on the road without Internet access.

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When we were raising our children, Ivins was considered very small town even though it was deemed a city.   There was a lot of empty land around us that was full of volcanic rock, red dirt, desert brush and cottontail rabbits.   At night you could hear the coyotes yipping and it wasn’t unusual to have a strong skunk odor in the back yard that would cause you to run through the house closing windows.   The next city to us was several miles away and down in a little valley nestled along the Santa Clara Creek that went on to join the Virgin River that then wound its way down to Nevada.   Many empty fields beyond Santa Clara you came to St. George.   In the middle of St. George, about 10 miles from our home, was the police department that serviced all three cities..    (Now all of these cities are connected by homes that have filled those fields.)

One afternoon I had a spunky little five year old daughter who for some misdemeanor or another had been sent downstairs to bed for a nap.    I don’t remember where the other four kids were but the house was finally quiet!    About an hour or so later the phone rang.   Here’s what I remember of the conversation:

Me:    Hello?

Male voice:   Is this Mrs. Henke?

Me:   Yes it is.   Who is calling?

Male voice:  This is the St. George City Police Department.   Do you know where your little five year old girl is?

Me:   (Rather shook up as you can imagine … heart begins to race)   She’s downstairs taking a nap.

Male Voice:   Are you sure?   Would you like to check?

Me:   What?   Why are you calling?   (Wanting to run downstairs but stuck to the phone by only a 20 foot coiled cord).

Male Voice:   We have a little girl here who we think is your daughter.  She was picked up on the Santa Clara road by a local man and his wife and refused to give them her name or tell them who her parents were so they brought her to the police station.   She said her mother’s name was Edna.  One of the officers here thinks she might be your daughter.

Me:   (Almost passing out)   Oh my gosh!   That’s impossible?   Kimi is downstairs taking a nap!

Male Voice:   (Speaking away from the phone)  “Is your name Kimi?”

Male Voice:   (Spoken sternly)    She said her name is Kimi.   I think you better come right in to the station and talk to us.

After hanging up the phone I dashed down the stairs and into her room, which, as you might guess, was empty except for a hand written, phonically spelled note, that read something like this:

DER FAMLY,

I  H AV  RUND AWAE BEKUZ YOU MOM HAVE SPOELD MY LIV.

LUV KIMI

I burst into tears and ran outside to find her father.    “KIMI IS AT THE ST. GEORGE POLICE STATION” I blubbered.  “WE HAVE TO GO RIGHT NOW!   HURRY!  HURRY!”   I wept all the way into the city wondering if she was okay, if she was frightened, how I could be such a failure.   Would they think I was unfit and put her in a foster home?   How had she, a small for her age 5 year old girl, gotten out of the house and clear to Santa Clara without me knowing? 

We found a dirty, tear streaked little Kimi sitting in a huge chair looking very unhappy when we were ushered into the police chief’s office.   She practically leaped into my arms and we both cried more. Thankfully, the officer was understanding and kind and saw there was no need to chastise us further and we were soon on our way home.    She’d been angry at me and had slipped out the back door so she could run away from home through the fields.   By the time she’d decided she’d rather be home she was lost in the high sage brush and became very frightened and worried about coyotes and wild animals.    She wandered for quite some time before she remembered she could say a prayer and she knelt and asked Heavenly Father to help her get home.   Afterwards she came to the edge of the crest that looked out over Santa Clara and somehow made her way down the hill of black lava rocks onto the main road, where she was picked up by some concerned parents (thank goodness).

I remembered when I was about her age and decided to run away.   I packed a little suitcase full of my doll, a pair of undies, and a book, and faced my family and told them I was leaving.    They all looked at me and said, “Oh?  Where will you go?   We’ll miss you.”      

I said, “So, I’m leaving.”   

“Goodbye,” they answered.  “You can come back whenever you want.   We love you.”

I left the house rather deflated and carrying my little suitcase walked down the driveway to the side of the road.   Tears started streaming down my face as I tried to decide which way to go, up or down.   Woefully, I turned to the left and started up the road, keeping so far away from the pavement I was almost walking in the weeds that lined the empty field.  Before I was more than a half a block away I heard footsteps behind me and turned to see my Dad.

“Do you mind if I go too?   I’ve had a rather hard day myself.   Or … we could both go home and see if Momma would like to go for a ride and get an ice cream cone.   What do you think?”

“I want to go home,” I sobbed.   “I don’t want to run away”

Dad took my little hand in his and we turned and walked back home.   I have always remembered Dad’s strong, big hand holding mine as he told me how glad he was I’d decided to stay.

I held Kimi on my lap in the car on the way home from St. George (before the days of seatbelts) and told her how happy I was that she was my little girl and that she was safe.  She snuggled into my arms and fell asleep.

My little girl is now the mother of four … one of which is a spunky little five year old girl.    Uh Oh …

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We just got back from 8 nights in Pine Valley where we had our trial run in the motor home.    It was absolutely beautiful … peaceful … quiet … relaxing.    Don’t ask me why I don’t have a picture to post because I don’t have a good answer.   I was just too busy relaxing!   Every night about 7:00 a family of deer came through the meadow across the street and nibbled on the grass near us.    The birds were all colors and beautiful to listen to.

I had fun sketching, reading, playing games with Lynn, and watching the beautiful bubbling water rush down the mountainside in the spring creek.  We were tempted to stay another week but our holding tanks filled up and we had to come home to get them cleaned out.   Now we are busy packing up to leave this coming weekend for Washington.    Hopefully we will find places on our way where we can check emails and add to blogs … and THIS time I will take pictures.

Oh … little doggy loved it also and she was very obedient.    She has finally learned to go potty while on the leash and we had no accidents or problems.    She has always been a very private little girl, not wanting anyone around when she does her duty so this is a major break through!  We had to take her to the vet on the way home, though, because  she picked up a sticker in her ear and it got infected.  Time to get out the doggy clippers and shorten that hair!

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My grand daughter, Aubree, tagged me on Facebook to do an ABC’s of myself and then tag 25 other people.    I decided to do it here on my blog and link it to Facebook.    I hereby tag anyone who reads this!    Link to me so I can read yours!

A. Animals

B. Blogger

C. Children

D. Dessert

E. Eternal Marriage

F. Family

G. Grandchildren

H. Humorous

I. Insomnia

J. Jesus Christ

K. Kind

L. Lynn

M. Motherhood

N. Neighborly

O. Overweight

P. People with Disabilities

Q. Quiet time

R. Retired

S. Spiritual

T. Testimony

U. Understanding

V. Vacationer 

W. Weight

X.  Xanadu

Y.  Young at heart

Z. Zany

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I had such a head ache all day yesterday and pain through my bronchial area that I haven’t been much more than a couch potato.    I tried going to bed with it all but it all seems worse when I try to go to sleep … so instead I fiddled around on my computer most of the night.    I didn’t realize it the night was over until I heard the chorus of birds just outside our living room window.     They are singing their little hearts out and I notice that it is 6:00 in the morning.   The sun will be peeking its smiley face up in the east soon and night will fade into day.     Isn’t it amazing how that all works?

I think sometimes it is good to stay up all night just to realize what happens when the rest of the world is asleep.    It occurs to me that I have never worried when I’ve gone to bed whether or not the sun will rise … It always does … It is dependable … right on schedule.    I wish I was as reliable as the sun and the moon.   They never take a break, never leave their posts, and, of course, they never complain.   They do what they were created to do.  Let that be a lesson to me!

“The sun will come up, tomorrow … bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow … there’ll be sun.”

Thank you God.

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