My parents were grandchildren of pioneers who came across the country by covered wagon. They settled in Utah and Arizona. They converted to the Mormon religion.

My childhood was filled with stories from my grandparents about their parents being pioneers. We used to sit around the fireplace and my grandfather would tell us stories about covered wagon days. It wasn’t that far away at the time because it was his parents that did it.

My father picked cotton and caught rattlesnakes during the depression. The rattlesnakes were used to make anti-venom. Both of my parents picked cotton and started drying during the depression.

I don’t really remember the end of World War II because I was pretty young, but I do remember going to San Diego and being carried as a baby onto an aircraft carrier. It was a big deal then that all of the troops came home. My father and mother both worked on the dairy.

We moved to El Monte, California when I was two years old. We had a dairy and a walnut orchard and raised rabbits and chickens. We killed our food. Every Saturday morning, my parents would pop the heads off of a couple of chickens and kills some rabbits. Then we would go into town, drop off the animals to be cleaned, plucked, cut up into pieces, then we would pick them up on the way back. My mother had to boil water and carry it out to wash the clothes. Then she got a ringer-thing.

I think my childhood is something that most people haven’t experienced. I lived in El Monte until I went into the military service.

I am the youngest of four. I have a sister who is twelve years older than me and I have two brothers spaced between that. I was kind of the black sheep of the family. Only one of my brothers stayed a Mormon. My sister became an Episcopalian eventually and I am not sure with the other brother. It depends on who he is married to.

Stories from my Youth
My grandparents told me stories. My mother’s father used to drink a little bit even though he was Mormon. Somebody came to him and said “we would like you to be the bishop of the local church.” He said, “I am not good enough.” They said “Well, get good enough.” So he did. In my life, there have been times where I felt like I wasn’t good enough, but I would think of him and I would get good enough. I wanted to be good enough for Matt and to have a good relationship. And I think he has done the same. We have been monogamous for almost twenty-one years.