Johnny Angel

This is for Kathy Ward Who Asked Me For A  Few Memories Of Her Brother, John

Every girl remembers her first real boyfriend, and mine turned out to be my brother, John.  I know, that just doesn't sound right, but it is true.  Well, it is true now, although it wasn't true then.  Let me explain

In September of 1961, I was thrown into 9th grade in a public junior high school, having spent all of my academic years in Lutheran parochial schools.  The change was scary, overwhelming, frightening, exciting, and somewhat freeing.  Those years somewhere between childhood and adulthood were painful for me, but there were bright spots.

I had been noticing boys for a little while, but at the age of 13, not surprisingly, I had never had a crush on a boy until John and I ended up in speech class together.  He sat at the back of the class and I sat in the middle.  I have vivid memories of the room, which was in a Quonset hut, and can still picture him looking at me whenever I would turn around to see—well, if he was looking at me.  Yup, every day, he still seemed interested. I thought he was soooo cute.

He would go out of his way to talk to me a little, and would pass me in the hall “accidentally” when there was no reason why we should be in the same place at the same time.  When Christmas vacation was looming, I didn’t want to wait two whole weeks before I saw him again so, I sent him a Christmas card (don’t remember how I got his address) and put my return address on it.  

Sure enough, one afternoon there was a knock on our door and there was John, and his friend Pat Nichols.  I had been decorating our Christmas tree and both John and Pat were more than eager to help.  In those days, we had lead tinsel, yes, LEAD!  It was heavy, so it hung nicely, but when three junior high kids start putting the tinsel on, it gets to be a mess.  We threw it on instead of placing it on.  When we stepped back there were some very messy places, so John and Pat just took off the worst of the tinsel, rolled it up into lead balls, and started a playful war.  In my scrapbook, I still have a wad of that tinsel that John rolled up.  

I don’t think they stayed all that long, but after that initial visit, it was clear to me that we were boyfriend and girlfriend. The number one hit song of that time was "Johnny Angel" by Shelley Fabares. www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwIYSofgpY0.  So romantic!  One line in the song says, "How I tingle when he passes by."  That was me.  I tingled.  My steps were lighter; my smile came easier; and, my mind was preoccupied with thoughts of John.

Oh how I loved his name, John.  I loved the sound of it. I loved to write it over and over.  It became my favorite name.  I wondered why all parents didn't name their sons, John.  The letter J came alive and could be found on my notebook, on my school work, and in all of my doodles.  

I was thrilled whenever he called me on the phone.  We went “on dates” to Glacier Falls Ice Skating rink.  I couldn’t ice skate, but he didn't mind, and he held me up as we skated arm in arm.  We even skated and won free tickets once when the spotlight landed on us at the end of a skating session.  

We also got to go to a couple of movies together.  I’ll never forget the time we went to the Grove Theater in Garden Grove and saw Blue Hawaii staring Elvis Presley.  Oh, it was such a romantic movie.  We double dated with my best friend, Connie, and one of John’s friends, Don.  

Our dates really were not that long; maybe an hour and a half to two hours.  They were pretty well supervised, because my mom or his dad would pick us up and drop us off every where we went.  Little did I know that the parents were getting to know each other so very well by coordinating our rides.    

At that time, girls “went steady," which meant that the couple only dated each other.  The boy would give the girl his ring and she would put it on a chain and wear it around her neck.  I wanted that, and even put on Elvis’ song, “Won’t You Wear My Ring Around Your Neck," in the background when John would call.  But alas, all good things must come to an end and John moved on without me.  We lasted a few short months, which is a long time at that age.  

Time moved on and John wasn't constantly on my mind any more, when I got horrible news from my mom telling me that John’s mother had committed suicide by throwing herself out of the moving camper truck that John's father was driving.  The children, were in the camper part of the truck.  Hearing that story chilled me to the bone, and I could not stop dwelling on John’s mom’s pain, the children's pain, the dad's pain.  I couldn't understand why my mom would even give me these details, when there was no way I would have ever found out on my own.  It was one shock after another from that point onward.  I guess my mom took John’s dad, Les, a casserole to console him and the kids, and ended up marrying Les.  That’s how John became my brother.  

John moved out of his dad's house, before my mom and I moved in.  Mary, the oldest daughter was already married.  So Mom and Les housed me, Bruce, Laura and Kathy.  I moved out at 17.  Bruce moved out.  Then Les and the girls moved out and back in again.  Then Laura moved out, and finally, Kathy got married.  It was turbulent times, and even though I was a kid, and there was so much pain to go around, I have regrets that I couldn't help my little step-sisters.  I didn't have anything to give them at that time.  I wish that I had.

Every few months, I would run into John at one function or another. I can’t remember saying more than hi or goodbye.

I thought of him often, because I was living with his family. I always wondered what he was doing.  He never came around.   In 1966 heard that John had enlisted in the Army.  On May 2, 1967, John was killed in the field during his first tour, during his first year of service.  As I remember it, he was on a machine gun, but was issued an M-14 just before he was shot and killed.

So my brother didn't become my boyfriend, my boyfriend became my brother.  Johnny Angel died for his country.  We received his purple heart and some other medals of valor, but all we wanted was John.  He was a child, a mere 19 years old.  As I get older, he seems younger, and his death seems even more tragic. As more and more blessings pour into my life, I mourn that he never even got to marry, much less have children, or grandchildren.

But he is remembered, by his family and friends that he left behind.  I was so touched when recently on Facebook, I saw a Valentine's Day post from some woman that I never knew, mourning the loss of John.  It made me realize that there are many people in the world that carry memories of Johnny Angel.

 Oh, my, John was sooooo handsome.  I just flipped over him!

This is a Quonset hut left over from WWII and sold to schools for classrooms.

This is where John and I skated together, arm in arm.

John in 10th Grade

John on Leave from Fort Riley.  Such a little boy in that big uniform.

I see Les's signature and can't imagine the pain he felt as he signed this.

The Day of John's Funeral

Facebook Post on Valentine's Day 

Finally Found "My Look".

My blog on 5-5-10 recounts my experience unexpectedly getting an offer of a senior citizen discount.  It explains how I was pretty upset, after spending so much time to getting ready, looking fresh, happy, and what seemed to me…young.  Well, today, I found out that I was going about it all wrong.  Against my own judgement, I didn’t take a shower or do my hair.  I put on a baseball cap and minimal makeup, and wore jeans, tennis shoes, and a shirt that looked like long underwear. 

The results were surprising, leading me to believe that i have found my best look. I was doing errands and decided to drive through some place quickly to get a bite to eat and a diet coke. I had the courage to ask for the senior discount, which, I found out. entitled me to a free drink, cutting the price of my meal in half.

NOT SO FAST!  That sweet, conscientious, young man at the counter, who was obviously very astute, asked for my ID.  I’m just sure that he was thinking “Nope, not going to give a discount to this gal, she looks way too young.”  He examined my driver’s license before he would cut loose with the diet coke.   

Made my day!  Quickly, my mind reviewed anything that was different, and repeatable in the future.  Answer:  I needn’t take a shower, comb my hair, take time on my makeup, or pick special clothing.   Done, done, and Done!

…or was it something else. 

Here is how life happens.  I didn’t see at the time, the plan that God had in mind.

When Jason was just a little guy, he went to preschool like so many other little kids.  It was there that he made lots of friends and made the teachers fall in love with him.  He just had that way about him.  Precocious from the very beginning, he showed his advance abilities both mentally and socially.  

Brea Olinda Friends Christian Day Care was the school that I chose for him.  It is now part of the Heights Christian School system.  Anyway…Jason now takes care of all of their computers as one of his accounts at NumaNetworks.com. 

I can see God’s plan for Jason started way before we knew the Godly man that Jason would become.  

This is the advertisement that the school sent out to thousands of households.

Starting to Organize my Old Photos

I have an incredible drive in me to sort all of my photos, so can look back over my life in chronological order and relive the very wonderful life that I have had.  It would be great to think that after I am gone, someone might be interested in any of the photos that I have and would be thankful that they are in order.  

A couple of days ago, I received a couple of DVD's that have some of the old photos on them.  I sent my photo albums away to a place called ScanCafe and they digitalized them.  They came out OK, so I am on a mission to get all photos onto the computer.

Now, I know that there will not be too many of my heirs who will want to go through all of the photos, but I am determined to write stories of my memories so someone may feel a connection to his or her past.

We are a Christian family from back farther than I remember or know about.  Yes, we are Christians, but that doesn't make us boring.  

This is the oldest photo that I could find quickly.  

Martha "Mattie" Josephine Chappell (1888 - 1923) was my mother's mother.  She had four children (Marian, Robert, Jack, Mary Virginia), but died of diabetes when my mother, the youngest was only 2 years old.  My mother looked like her and I think that I did too.

NAME:Martha Josephine Chappell

BIRTH:1888, Lemons, Putnam, Missouri, USA

DEATH:1923, Emmetsburg, Palo Alto, Iowa, USA

Mattie married Glanton Finis Banner.  After Mattie died, Finis (as he was called) married a woman with four children and together they had one.

NAME:Glanton Finis Banner

BIRTH:1889, Pollock, Sullivan, Missouri, USA

DEATH:1962, Liberty, Clay, Missouri, USA

 This is the very handsome Finis Banner.  I didn't get his curly hair.  Did you?

I guess even way back when, people realized that people in the photos seldom smiled.  I heard that the reason for that is that the shutter speed was so slow on the cameras that one just had to "freeze".

This is Finis as a child, along with his sisters Bertha Olive Banner Smith 1996-1986 (married George Smith and had no children) and Elsye Banner (married Jack and had one child, Richard)

NAME:Bertha Olive Banner

BIRTH:1896,

DEATH:1986, Kansas City, Jackson, Missouri,

Their parents were Mary Belle Smart (a nicer woman was never known), and George Grant Banner who up and left her.

NAME:Mary Belle Smart

BIRTH:1867, Indiana, USA

DEATH:1951, Lee Summit, Missouri, USA

NAME:George Grant Banner

BIRTH:1864, Sullivan, Missouri, USA

DEATH:1939, Pollock, Sullivan, Missouri, USA

O'Hare Was Only a Hiccup

Excellent Wisconsin Vacation - Day One

Should I include a travel day as vacation?  I had to ask myself why in the world I would count a tough day of travel as vacation.  The answer was so easy, because the best thing about vacation is just being with my family.  

We ALL arrived at John Wayne Airport in Orange County on time, healthy, forgetting nothing.  That was quite a feat, because Jennifer came from Indio and met us at Jason’s, Gregory was transported to Sun Lakes, driven to San Marcos (for Comic con) and returned to John Wayne with the Big Bergs, and Tom and I picked up Jason, Sandra, and Jennifer and drove them to John Wayne.  I worried about how many things could have gone wrong, but nothing did.  

Three generations of family in a fantastic mood, left Orange County and arrived at O’Hare in Chicago exactly on time...but oops, they won’t let us off of the tarmac!  There had been a thunder storm in the afternoon and they had to close the airport.  Planes were backed up waiting to leave and to park.  We were way down the list so they kept us parked for about 90 minutes, while our connecting flight to Madison left without us.  

Jeff tried everything -- bus, taxi, rental cars, and then...the longest stretch limo you have ever seen.  We were so excited to ride in it.  Thanks, Jeff for the adventure that we didn’t know we would have.  Jeff turned a hugh problem into a hiccup.

Isaac is Ready to Go

We All are Happy to Be Traveling to Wisconsin

Shannon got Isaac Contained, but He Doesn't Mind

A Two-Year-Old's Wonder

Hmmm...We Have Another Photo Just Like This
From Our Last Trip to Wisconsin

HannaH was Very Busy Giving
Instructions, Requests, and Demands
to the Captain.

Oops...Our Connecting Flight Left
Before We Got Off of our Plane

Nothing Can Get Jennifer Down

I'm Not Worried Either

Got My Isaac

Got My HannaH

Oooo...Grandpa Loves This Kid

Grandpa and Isaac

Waiting for the Limo

Wow!

Tom Thinks This is Great

Shannon Can Enjoy This Limo

Inside the Limo

The Limo With Lots of Bling

We Are Leaving Tomorrow for Wisconsin

It has been a whirlwind of activity since Jeff gave us the fantastic gift of a trip for the whole family to Wisconsin.  This is my dream come true and to tell you the truth, I didn't think that it would every happen.  Then, Jeff and Shannon said that they would gift us all the trip of a lifetime.  Really?  I guess if you want something bad enough for long enough, someone that you love just may give it to you.

We have two cars converging on Orange County airport in the morning.  One car arriving from San Marcos will have Jeff, Shannon, HannaH, Isaac, and GREGORY!  What is Gregory doing in San Marcos.  Well, his Uncle Jeff made another dream come true -- Gregory's dream of going to a Comic-Con Convention.  Geek paradise!  Uncle Jeff bought the tickets and Shannon drove to Sun Lakes to pick up Gregory, while Jennifer and I drove to Sun Lakes to drop off Gregory.

Gregory has already posted his excitement on Facebook this morning.  Can't wait for updates from the two of them.

Jennifer is going to meet Tom and Denise at Jason and Sandra's house, so Tom can drive the five of us to the airport.  None of us can check in until all of us are there, because we are traveling as a group.

Lots of errands and loose ends to finish up today.  Shannon and Jeff have Dee and Steve James staying at their house, Jennifer has Lilly Vargas staying at her house, and Tom and Denise have Missy checking on Chewbacca twice a day.  The pregnant Baby Bergs are just taking off, not realizing how complicated their lives are going to get when my new grand baby arrives.

My Grandma

Here is my Grandma, who I loved so much.  She was born in 1901, so she is 57 in this picture.  It was taken in back of the Reads Landing grocery store/post office/gas station that they owned.  it is now kept up as as historical site!  See that little house in the back on the right?  My cousins and I used to get to play in it all by ourselves.  It was exciting.

 

Thelma Louise Hestitune Stevling.  For Gregory, HannaH and Isaac, she is Jennifer, Jeff & Jason's mother's father's mother -- their great grandmother.  Her parents were born in Norway, but came to America, where she was born.  She married Adolph Stevling, a full Norwegian.  My dad Adolph (called Bud as a boy and Steve as a man)Walter Stevling was a full Norwegian.  

She had three children.  MaryLou is the oldest and the only child still living.  My dad, Steve, was the next oldest and he died in a plane crash is 1948 when I was 4 months old.  Baby Thelma died at home as a baby of hydrocephalus.   

On July 13, 2012, we are going to Wisconsin to have a family reunion of all of her surviving relatives, including 6 grandchildren with their spouses, and over 20 great grandchildren.