Ora Carpenter Omerza history, 4th installment

We didn’t live in Ashurst too long and then moved back to Thatcher. I was in the fifth grade then and it seemed like I was so far behind in my class. I was constantly trying to catch up. I remember a picnic our class had one year. It was in the Spring and the hills north of Thatcher were yellow with poppies. We walked over to that field of poppies. It was beautiful. Poppies every where. Of course we had to pick some, armfulls of them and they were all withered when we got home. It was a beautiful day but oh, I was so tired when I got home. Some of the boys took their horses and they would give us short rides now and then but mostly we walked.

I can’t remember when I first became interested in fixing hair. If I had a comb and brush in my hand and could fine someone willing to let me use them I was happy. I remember curling my Mothers hair by setting the curling iron down the chimney of a coal lamp to heat it. Mother was always one of my best patrons but I can’t say the same for my sisters. I don’t remember bothering Bertha too much. She was bigger than I, but Florence was littler and I made her life miserable. When I was in high school I had quite a clientelle. I fixed all my girl friends hair and many others.

One of the highlights of my young life was visiting my Grandmother Tyler. Mother had two sisters. Eight and ten years my senior. It was so much fun being with them. Sometimes I stayed a week at a time with them and I thought I was in heaven. When I was 12 my youngest Aunt Adelia, we called her Delia, died. This was my first real experience with death. My Father’s parents had died but I was younger and didn’t remember much about that. I just couldn’t believe that my dear Aunt and friend was gone. It seemed the most cruel thing that had ever happened to me. It was also very hard on my Grandmother. She had already lost four others and then to lose this beautiful 20 year old girl was almost more than she could bear. The following year my other Aunt, Flossie, was married and although I still enjoyed many happy hours with her it was never the same as when I was so young and spent the week with my Grandmother and two Aunts.

When the Mesa Temple was finished my Grandpa and Grandma Tyler were called as ordinance workers. Bertha and I went with my Aunt Flossie and her husband Clive Beebe to the dedication of the Temple. It was the first time I had been to Mesa and Phoenix. I remember Mother gave us some money to buy a hat. Everyone who was anyone was supposed to have a hat but we didn’t have one. We went to Phoenix to Korricks Department store and got our hats. Probably the first hat I ever had.

Grandpa and Grandma hadn’t bought their house in Mesa and were living in the Phelps Hotel so we stayed with them. I remember the dedication of the Temple. It was held outside and I remember seeing President Heber J. Grant as he talked to us and gave the dedicatory prayer . It was a thrilling experience. I was 15 at the time.

Later Grandpa bought a house close to the Temple where he and Grandma could walk to work. They served as Temple workers for 15 years.