Betty Britton Braswell was my friend and my step-sister. My memories with her and her family date back to New Year Day. I'm not sure what year but I do know that it was the first time I ever saw color TV. They had a big party at their house to watch the football games in color. Not sure if we watched the parade or not. This was probably at least 1955-7.
http://www.high-techproductions.com/historyoftelevision.htm It officially came in 1953; but I would have been 4. My dad Albert sold Case tractors for her dad Chuck. A lot of my firsts were with this family. Watching my mom about swallow all the water in Unity Reservoir trying to learn to water ski. It didn't happen. Betty lived in Baker (pop 8000+) I lived in Hereford (Pop 25 or so). Even though our schools were unequal we did 4-H together: Summer School, County Fair, etc. We went to the same college and remained friends. She was a year older than me so we drifted and kept up with
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each other through our parents. She married Pat Braswell and adopted to children-Ed and Emily. I married Ken; raised his 2 girls then had two children. By this time we lived in Gillette Wyoming. She lived in Baker, Oregon. In the very early 1980's Betty was in an accident that left her paralyzed from the next down. When upright she could use her shoulders to move her arms. In November of 1987 my dad died during open heart surgery. Several months later her mother, Vivian died after a long illness. In 1989 my mom and her dad got married and we became family.
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| At the Baker County Quilt Show in 2009 |
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| Sister Evelyn, Betty and Patti Trimble Duby ? 2009 |
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| On the patio at the assisted living apartment she had. 2008 |
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| Betty was a happy person. |
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| She kept the pulse of the family mostly through telephone. |
Mom suffered years with a rare form of cancer (Bowen's Disease) and in the late 90's my brother and I began to make trips to Oregon and Arizona to help her cope with treatments. When she went to radiation treatments Ronnie and I rose to the occasion. After he spent a few weeks taking her for treatments; I went to Oregon to drive her to Boise, ID every morning. We left at 5 am and returned just a little after noon. In the evenings I went out to Betty's and we began to reconnect as adults. When Mom had to have a colostomy my kids - Whitney and K.C. came for Christmas that year. The three of us spent time with Aunt Betty. She had named Whitney Sam. They loved her and K.C. especially loved to go to her "little farm" to
fart around. She was an inspiration to many people. If Ken and I are down about something thinking of Betty puts it into perspective. When she was laying down she could move nothing. Learning to deal with bugs in this position taught her control, patience and rivved up her sense of humor. She could suck in her nostrils; slam her eyes and mouth shut and just deal with it.
I was affectionately called "The Wic" by her and Evie (sister). Of course this stands for Wicked Step-Sister. She will be missed by MANY people.
Today Ken and I have been married 38 years. Here is the church. It is the Presbyterian Church in Baker. It has been a wonderful ride and we have survived a few episodes that have cratered other marriages.
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| 5 Years - Yes wigs for BOTH of us!!! |
However, we both agreed in the beginning: The D word will not be uttered EVER because it is NOT an option.
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| 20 Years |
As you can see there have been many ups and down for BOTH of us. :)
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| Ken surprised me on out 25th by celebrating early. |
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| Whitney and K.C. surprised us on our 30th with a party. May 27, 2002 30 days before our family on earth went down by 1. |
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| 26 Years |
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| Who knows? It was a down period - probably 1987ish. |
As we left town today we saw a rainbow out in the valley. Yes - an ending and a beginning of another day.
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