Places We Call "Home"

 “Then the disciples went away again unto their own home.” (John 20:10)

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Janice Kapp Perry recently wrote of all the homes where she lived and shared a link to her song, “Coming Home” (Meridian Magazine, April 17, 2014).  

Within my heart there is a sweet remembered place
that I call “home”
A quiet place with memories time cannot erase though years have flown
A place where childhood days
were filled with love and faith
That gave me strength go out on my own
And though I’ve travelled far upon this earth
The things of greatest worth, I learned at home
A place so dear to me
that it will always be
The time and place where seeds of love were sown
With memories of love still burning bright
There’s really nothing quite like coming home
Where the music of my soul
was formed and fashioned
And the rhythm of my life was first begun
And though the years have passed
The memories seem to last
And that’s the joy of coming home 

About 20 Places on this earth I’ve called “Home”.   Each carries with it distinct recollections.  Listing these places becomes a kind of framework for hanging precious memories and future pictures.

Burley, Idaho-I was born in Rupert and lived in Burley where my dad taught seminary and worked with the youth (ages 10-14 years) in a summer ball program (Burley Knothole League).  They had a business, “Owen’s Headgate Company” and made head gates used in irrigation ditches to control water flow.  Then Dad got polio and life changed.  Dad was in the Twin Falls Hospital before being transferred to Salt Lake to the VA Hospital on Thanksgiving Day, 1952.  Mam left on a blustery snowy afternoon and arrived after dark at our next home.   Grandma Moulton had saved some Thanksgiving dinner for us all. 

Salt Lake City, UT-1964 So. 9^th East While Dad was in the VA Hospital, Grandma Moulton’s Basement apartment became our home.  Louise was born while we lived here.  I don’t remember anything, but I have pictures.  Mom would take the bus up to the hospital to be with Dad.  Finally he came home.  The story is I was just learning to walk and as Dad became stronger he learned to walk again by watching me. 

Salt Lake City, UT-3841 Birch Drive Mill Creek home was on the edges of town, high on the hill.  Future Prophet Gordon B. Hinckley was the Stake President (or Bishop?) Dad continued to get stronger and tried to sell vitamins and insurance. Mom was working at Associated Food Stores.  They eventually decided to move to Portland to attend Chiropractic College.

Portland, OR-7010 SE  Flavel  We had swings and a fireman’s pole in our yard (Louise could get up it so fast).  The sewing machine needle through my thumbnail and the ax in my head are two memories I still have.  Sandy and Steven were born in the back bedroom in this house.  I remember infant Steven being dropped somehow and getting stitches in his forehead.  Grandma Owen moved to Portland and helped with babysitting.  Mom worked at West Coast Lumbermen’s Association.  We helped clean the Third Ward chapel as one of Dad's part time jobs. I remember going under the pews with vacuums and sweeping the linoleum floors.  Dad graduated from Western States Chiropractic College in 1959.

Portland, OR  17215 SE Stark  Dad was looking for a location to build his clinic and found this property on the outskirts of Portland.  I attended school in 1959 at Rockwood Elementary.  I remember Mom making me a Pioneer skirt and bonnet to wear for the Oregon State Centennial Celebration.  The city thought the property was a great location to build a Public Library.  So we sold the “chicken coop” and moved closer to town.   Dad began his Chiropractic practice working with Dr. Hill. 

Portland, OR- 207 SE 61^st Street  Here’s where Diane was born.  We had a dog, Trixie, and it broke my heart to have to give up out puppy.  Mt. Tabor Elementary School was close by.  Our neighbors, the Spolstra’s organized a neighborhood Library and we.  At Christmas we had a cardboard chimney with crepe paper “bricks” upon which we hung our stockings.

Portland, OR-6541 East Burnside  We moved here in Feb 1961.  I remember painting all the French Door windows and all the trim white.  Here’s where the powerful Columbus Day Storm of 1962 comes to mind.  We had 13 huge fir trees in our yard.  The powerful wind took down plenty of branches, but none of the trees.  Dad’s practice was located at 7129 NE Sandy Blvd.  Two large windows were shattered by the wind.  Donald and David were born here.   Ralph cut off his three toes while mowing an inclined area in the yard.  I remember that on Mother’s Day we went to visit him in the hospital. 

 

Portland, OR-10 SE 39^th (Burnside) This was “The Mansion House” that had no yard. We used Laurelhurst Park as our playground.  We had a “Look-Out” Club and many great friends in the Portland 12^th ward. I attended Laurelhurst Elementary School (5^th-8^th Grades) and then my freshman year at Washington High School.  It was my seminary class challenge to study and receive a testimony of the book of Mormon.  Teresa was born here on my 13^th birthday.  I have many happy memories of our years attending the 33^rd and Harrison LDS Chapel (Road shows, dance festivals, service projects, and singing in choirs. ) Life was busy and summers were lazy.  We had lots of “parties” with my 8^th and 9^th grade friends who had a “real band”.  Ralph began a skateboard business in the large covered porch area off the living room.  I jumped off one skateboard (barefoot) onto glass and had to have 12 stitches mess with crutches for a while.  Louise and I would go berry picking in the early morning hours many summer days.

Baby Teresa blessed at the 33rd & Harrison Building in 1965.

Portland, OR-7215 SE 13th  When I was a sophomore  we moved to the “Clinic” in the Sellwood/Moreland neighborhood.  Our family lived in the upstairs apartment, the back wing of the main floor, and in the full basement.  I had a former doctors office turned into a bedroom.  The operating room became the laundry.  I made money by doing chores and folded and ironed many sheets and hospital gowns. I worked in the clinic office after school until I figured that I could get “real money” (not printed Owen family money) by working at the Oral Surgeon’s office. 

I attended Cleveland High School and was Seminary class secretary. Mark Weiss was Seminary Class President and we began our 7-year courtship.  We had great friends in the Portland 2^nd Ward and these were happy days. At the High School I served in student government and was part of Clevelandaires, a vocal musical ensemble that traveled to Europe for one month in 1970.  It opened my eyes.  Especially seeing the wall in East Berlin. It was from the Sellwood/Moreland home that I went to Provo to attend BYU.  It was always great to come home at Christmas and in summers.  When I left for my mission in 1973, the family was planning on moving to St. George, UT.  They did, and I returned from my mission to Leeds, UT, feeling “homeless”.  

Provo, UT-Robison Hall  While at BYU I lived in the Heritage Halls for two years with great roommates and wonderful memories of Brigham Young University.  One summer I travelled east to the Hill Cumorah Pageant and decided that I would consider serving a mission.  I served in Relief Society Presidency and met wonderful people.  In 2014 the last of Heritage Halls was torn down to make way for updated student housing facilities.

Italy-Rome, Bari, and Florence  I had 18 glorious months in Rome, Italy South Mission.  I learned to love the Italian people and grew in my understanding of discipleship.  I corresponded through weekly letters with Mark who was serving his LDS Mission in Switzerland.  An unknown author wrote: “You never leave a place you love. A part of it you take with you, leaving a part of you behind.”  That’s how I feel about Italy.

Provo, UT-Canyon Terrace and Canyon    Two more years living in off campus BYU student housing.  Walking up to campus wasn’t too bad except for one 7:30 a.m. class on cold, snowy mornings.  Finished my degree in Elementary Education, except for the student teaching/internship.  Mark came home from his Mission and we decided to unite in Holy Matrimony in the Salt Lake Temple on a very lucky Friday the 13^th.

Provo, UT-Wymount Terrace  “Our” first apartment was only for the summer months in BYU’s  Married Student Housing.  After our honeymoon trip to the Northwest, we settled here.  I rode my bike to work each day in the Administration Building and I was so disappointed when it was stolen one day. (I had left it unlocked.) The new BYU Student Health Center is now located nearby.

Provo, UT-Pearl’s place on 425 N. on 7^th West We then rented a basement apt. in West Provo.  It was there that we brought Allison home from the Utah County Hospital.  Mark worked for his dad selling RV components to local manufacturers in Utah.  I taught school in Springville (Grant Elementary) and later did secretarial work (for cassette recording lending library) until Allison was born.  We graduated from the “Y” in April 1976 (pregnant with baby #1) and moved back to the Northwest when Allison was a couple of weeks old.

Bellevue, WA-Lantern Apts. 16215 NE 8th St. Bellevue, WA   We had a 2 story townhouse and David was born while we were living here.  I made Dad a suit as a project.  We had good friends and played tennis frequently in evenings in the nearby courts. 

Redmond, WA-16650 NE 89^th St.   When David was two weeks old, we moved to our home of 23 years  on Redmond's "Education Hill".  Here Tamarah, Christine, Jennifer, Deborah, Jonathan, Samuel, Benjamin, William, and Joseph were all born.  (William and Joseph were actually born in this home!) We made the decision to homeschool the children and "cherry picked" the music, science and language classes at the Junior High and High School.  Field trips took us to all kinds of wonderful places in the Northwest.  Our spring vacation camping trips to Fort Stevens State Parks were always memorable. Mark was Bishop for a few years, Scoutmaster, and on the High Council (mostly as Stake Mission President).  I served in the Seminary Program and Relief Society.  We decided to expand the ever-shrinking 1900 square feet home into 3800 sq. ft. and began a project that lasted 8 years.  During this time we were far away from the Owen family and loved the reunions that would bring us together every couple of years.  Finally it was decided that it was better to move closer to the corporate offices of the Weiss Company in Portland and we began looking at homes.

Vancouver, WA-18204 NE 23^rd St.  What a wonderful home we finally found on 1.25 acres in East Clark County.  We did a bridge loan and finally sold the Redmond home.  Jennifer finished her Senior-year at Redmond High School and David was courting Launna Richardson when the family moved south.  The Harmony Ward members were welcoming and the children found good friends quickly.  It was wonderful to have room for all the boys projects and Tamarah & Jeff’s wedding reception in the back yard was magical.  It was hard to watch the trees come down and all the new homes built during the 8 years we lived there.  The Weiss Company made some decisions that required us to seek other employment.  We tried to sell the Vancouver home, but in the end rented it out and made the “faith” move to Logan, Utah to attend USU.

Logan, UT – USU Student Housing- San Juan Hall 1359 E. 1000 N. Apt. #101
For five months we lived in tight quarters in the 3 bedroom apartment made for the dorm parents in San Juan Hall.  William and Joseph attended Logan High School.  Mark worked on his Master’s Degree in Instructional Technology and learning sciences and we all worked hard and started looking for a home.  Ben and Jenn also lived here.

Logan, UT-1657 E. 1080 N.  We found a “Grandma house” in the Lundstrom Park area of Logan.  It had a nice back yard and would work great for our family.  We signed papers on my birthday in Jan. 2009.  David and Launna came to stay with us for about five months.  Isaac was born while they lived with us in Logan.  While here, Mark was called to serve as the Bishop in the YSA 46th Ward for 3 years.  Cyndy worked at Sunshine Terrace Foundation.  It took two eventful trips to clean up the house in Vancouver in preparation to sell it.  We were grateful when it finally sold in July 2013.

Each place I’ve called “home” has imprinted my soul with memories both happy and sad.  Now I am 62 years old, we have lots of empty beds, and the bank doesn’t own our home.  We are blessed to have a roof over our head and we praise the Lord for His unending providence as He has provided for all our needs and most of our wants all these years on earth. 

There is great joy in returning to these places where I have lived.  In 2000 we had a sister’s reunion (near Port Townsend, WA) and we spent the day before driving to north to Kala Point in the Portland area.  Ralph was with us and I have tapes of our conversations at each home, remembering the years gone past. 

As Sister Perry sings:

Where the music of my soul
was formed and fashioned
And the rhythm of my life was first begun
And though the years have passed
The memories seem to last
And that’s the joy of coming home 
(See http://ldsmag.com/article/1/14225 to link to the song).