This picture of me was taken at the beginning of my freshman year in high school. It was just a few months before the Harvest Ball, my first formal dance.
The picture of Leo in his Air Force uniform shows the proud, brave, and handsome young man he was when he was my date for the Ball.
The picture of Doc shows a much loved and played with symbol of a brother's love for his little sister. He forever reminds me of the wonderful day Delores and I spent with our big brother when we were little girls.
After I posted the story, "My Cinderella Ball Gown", I was talking to my brother Leo, who was a major player in the story. I asked him if he remembered that night. He said, "Very well. I remember how happy I was to be home and how proud I was to escort my little sister to the ball, and what a wonderful night it was." He told me he would like to add an addendum to the story.
He said, "Since I chose to take you to the ball instead of having a formal date, I was a person of interest to many of the people who were there. Bob Dotson was one of them. Bob was older than me but we were good friends. We had played ball together and worked side by side in other Panaca activities. While you were dancing with some of the young men, he came to me and said he had noticed that I did not have a formal date. He said his wife's two sisters were visiting and he wanted them to have a good time and wondered if I would be willing to help him out. He took me to the table where they were sitting and introduced me to them. They were both very pretty girls. In fact, Carma was one of the most beautiful girls I had ever seen. Dancing with her and her sister and watching you so happy and having such a wonderful time, made it a very special night for me. I had several dates with Eleanor before I went away again and in later years, I was able to introduce her to Kathy."
Then he said, "I don't know if you and Delores ever really knew how much I loved my little sisters." I told him that I certainly did know and thought I could speak for Delores as well. I told him that many of my most special memories are examples of that love. I said that every day I walk by my doll cabinet many times and look at my beautiful dolls. I always smile when I see "Doc" from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, gazing back at me. I love him! He is 69 years old and brings to mind a favorite memory of a brother's love for his two little sisters.
When Leo was getting ready to go to Provo to attend BYU, I was devastated. After he left, Delores and I went to Salt Lake to visit our sister, Theresa. I was not quite nine and Delores was almost seven. I guess Leo knew how much we missed him and perhaps he was missing us, too. He arranged with Theresa to have us in Provo for a day. And what a day! It proved to be one of the most exciting days in my young life! He had planned a day to delight any little sister. Shirley Temple's new movie, "The Bluebird of Happiness" had just came out. He took us to an early showing where we feasted on popcorn and candy. As he was buying it for us, he was admonishing us 'not to get sick'! After the movie, we went to an ice cream parlor where he treated us to chocolate malts. It was so much fun to sit on the stools in that delightful little sidewalk cafe. If it had ended there, it would have been perfect, but he wasn't done yet. He took us to a toy store and told us we could pick out a doll. We each picked out Doc. Mine is dressed in a green and orange velvet outfit and Delores' is in the same outfit in pink and lavender. I think it is interesting that even as little girls we chose the colors that would define our personalities throughout our lives; the colors of autumn for me and summer for Delores.
From there, we went back to the apartment he was sharing with our cousin, Don Wadsworth. Don was there with his girlfriend, and future wife, Sylvia Hinkley, sister to President Hinkley. They fixed us a gourmet dinner; hot dogs with all of the trimmings. Sylvia and Don both had beautiful singing voices. There was a piano there. I remember Sylvia playing the piano and she and Don singing. It was a wonderful day! When Delores' stomach rebelled from all of the good stuff we had eaten throughout the day and she threw up, Leo did not even hesitate. He consoled her and didn't even grimace as he cleaned it up. How many big brothers would do that? When Theresa came to pick us up at the end of the day, two sleepy and happy little girls were still reveling in the joy of that wonderful day.
I was sad and frightened when Leo had to go into the service during World War II. I worried about him constantly. When his cousins, who were also his childhood playmates and best friends, LeRoy Wadsworth and Leslie Mathews, were killed in action in the war, my worry reached the panic stage. Even during this time, Leo remembered a little sister. On two different birthdays while he was away, I received a gift, both of which I still have. One was a gold, heart shaped locket with the Air Force Insignia on it. The other was a pin of Air Force wings, which I pinned on my coat and wore continuously until he returned home.
These later events led up to that wonderful night when Leo was my date for the Harvest Ball portrayed in the story "My Cinderella Ball Gown".
A point of interest to this story. Carma, the beautiful girl Leo danced with the night he took me
to the ball, in 1946 married George's oldest brother, Alfred.
