Clouds (II)

Clouds (II) 

by Tammy Compton Hauge

Photo by Byron Harward

       This poem seems especially appropriate for dark times, and we've had some recently in our Compton family as we've faced some  health challenges for my dad (Merlin).  

      The translated poem  was a little "bonus Christmas Gift" from Tim that we received tucked in our Christmas newsletter during the last holiday season.   It was a most welcome gift--I read and enjoyed it many times this year.    Good job of translating the poem, Tim,  and nice choice of poem.  He gave me permission to share his translation  here.

 (Photo by Tammy Compton Hauge)

Clouds (II) Jorge Luis Borges, translated by Timothy Compton

Through the air meander serene mountains
or tragic cordilleras of shadow
that darken our days.  The name we give them is
clouds. Their forms tend to be strange.
Shakespeare observed one.  It seemed to him
a dragon. Preserved in his word,
that afternoon cloud glitters and blazes
and we still see it today.
What are clouds?  An architecture
of randomness?  Perhaps God needs them to bring about His infinite masterpiece
and they are the threads of its nebulous plot.
Perhaps clouds are no less significant
than the people who gaze at them in the morning.

Photo by Tammy Compton Hauge

Turning Ninety

Our dear old Dad is turning 90 tomorrow,  so I thought I would write up a short post about his life.

Dad was the third in a family of five,  and he spent his early years on the family farm in North Ogden.

He taught himself to read before entering school,  and his books were his most prized possessions.  His mom,  my Grandma Compton,  used to like to tell a story about him deciding to run away one day.  He packed his little red wagon with his books and was ready to go.  He didn't feel that any other clothes or toys were necessary.

 Merlin in a Jr. Genealogy Class, on the front row,  second to left.  His brother Lane in in the third row,  third from left. 

After graduating from Ogden High School, he served three years in the Army Air Force during World War II, as an airplane instrument technician.

He went from the military to the mission field, as a missionary in the Spanish American mission.  It was there that he met my mother who was also a missionary. 

She was very impressed with his Spanish speaking abilities,  his appreciation for classical music, and his religious faith.  The missionaries had their meals together and studied together,  which gave them a chance to get to know each other.  She wrote all about her impressions of "Elder C,"  in her illustrated missionary diary which we now read and enjoy.  She was released from her mission in January of 1948,  and Dad still had 2 years to serve,  so they wrote to each other and got to know each other by mail. 

On Christmas Eve, 1949,  Dad was released from his mission and my Mom was waiting for him at his parents house.  They had a very happy six months courting, going to movies, family dinners,  church,  and planning for their future together.  These are the only pictures I know of that were taken in their courting days.

My parents were married on June 17, 1950 in the Salt Lake Temple.  They honeymooned to Southern Utah and toured Zion and Bryce, stopping to do temple sessions at the Manti and St. George Temple.

 My parents raised their family while my dad attended school at Weber State and BYU for his BA,  BYU for his Master's Degree,  and UCLA for his Ph.D.  They didn't have much money,  but worked hard and made do.  The family spent several summers living in Bryce Canyon and one summer in Zion National Park where my dad worked as a ranger.

Upon graduating,  my Dad worked at Adam's State College,  Weber State,  and BYU as a Spanish Professor.  We enjoyed growing up in Provo and going on campus for special occasions to the Cougareat and bowling at the Wilkinson Center.   We had very happy times growing up in Provo, with he and my mom hosting many parties and get togethers.

  In 1975  we lived in Madrid, Spain where Dad was the director of the BYU Study Abroad Program.  We kids were able to take classes from Dad and experience his dedicated teaching style. 

Can you spot him in the above photo?  He is the third to the left.  He blended right in with the locals.

In 1978  he lived in Lima, Peru while doing research on the writer Ricardo Palma.

In 1979 and 1982  he was the director for BYU Study Abroad in Mexico.  It was there that my brother Tim met his future wife,  and how glad we are that got to know each other!

My Dad wrote and published five books about Ricardo Palma during his life.  Some are in Spanish and some in English:

Ricardo Palma wrote very entertaining little stories called "traditions,"  a new genre he invented.  Dad was one of the first to publish them in English.  His most recent book, "Peruvian Traditions," is in English and I recommend it.  You can buy it from Barnes & Noble or Amazon.   In January 2000, he was honored for his work by being given an honorary professorship at the Ricardo Palma University in Lima Peru.  He was interviewed by newspapers and radio stations while he was there.

As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints,   he has served in various callings during his life,  including being the branch president of the Utah State Hospital branch,  and  Bishop of the Provo 22nd Ward from 1979 - 1984.

Provo 22nd Ward,  1979

He and my mother served a mission in St. George at the church historical sites and  temple visitor's center from 1990 - 1991.

 He currently sings in his ward choir (and always has).

He has also done name extraction for the church's genealogical program for over 20 years.

He has always been an impressive tennis player and competed in the Hunstman World Senior Games for over 20 years.  He won many medals during the games and was given an award for having participated for 15 years in the games.  When he was a professor,  he issued a challenge to his students that if any of them could beat him,  he would host an enchilada party at his house for the whole class.  This only happened a few times in all his years as a professor.

My dad was a wonderful husband and was very in love with his sweetheart throughout their 62 year marriage.  During my mother's  last years when she was very limited by Alzheimers, he did everything he could to care for her and show his love for her, including the beautiful poems that are in this blog.  Their wedding anniversaries have been special with a nice open house and family events.  I always admired how my parents had an equal partnership and seemed to always make important decisions together after talking things through and listening to each other.  My parents supported and encouraged each other during challenging times,  and my dad was proud of my mother's accomplishments as an author and business woman.  He continues to write about her and admire her to this day.

Currently my dad stays busy with writing projects, and family history.  He has written biographies for his parents,  my mother, his own  autobiography and biographies for several other ancestors.  He has met with his siblings and spearheaded efforts to preserve family history and photos.  I have really enjoyed working with him to organize and digitize many family documents and journals. He has enjoyed reading my mom's voluminous journals and letters,  and we keep her memory alive that way.

Recently my dad has been able to travel to visit Todd and his family in California,  and Tim and his family in Michigan.  He always wrote about the things they did and sights they saw.

He heads up our family reunions each year,  and has treated us all to Lagoon,  This is the Place Deseret Village,  and the Dead Sea Scrolls Exhibit.

We enjoy going to concerts and dinner together,  and a monthly sing a long in his apartment building.  He has even performed  some solos at the sing a longs and says he is proud that he can do that at his age.

He is a wonderful grandpa to his grandchildren and great grandchildren and is always interested in what they are doing and how they are.

Happy Birthday Dad,  we love you. 

Remembering Avon

Remembering Avon    7/13/1925  - 11/22/2012
By Tammy Compton Hauge

My mother passed away peacefully last November surrounded by her children Terry Ann, Todd, Me,  Tina,  her oldest granddaughter Monica,  and her loving husband.  Tim and family were enroute from Michigan and arrived in time for the funeral. 

My dad had the funeral well-planned, with ideas about the music, the program, the displays and the things he wanted everyone to remember about my mom and her life. 

Didn't Terry Ann do a nice job on the funeral program? 

Our last family reunion (in 2011) was "All About Avon,"  with a biography that he put together, and comments from everyone,  a collection of her complete poems,  some documentation about my Mom's  business and her contributions to developing children's visual aids and visual learning with her flannel board stories and her pioneering effort to make learning fun and interesting for children.  Although my Mom was quite disabled by her Alzheimers at our last reunion,  she did enjoy reading about her life and seeing the pictures in the biography we put together.   I think it's wonderful to honor our loved ones while they are alive, and recognize their accomplishments together in a celebration of life,  not just at the time of the funeral.    It touched my heart to see all the grandchildren spending time with my mom at that last family reunion,   and showing her love and affection.

To summarize my Mom's life is impossible,  but I feel I should try to record some of the highlights and things that made her so memorable.

My mother kept a detailed scrapbook and journal of her early life as the youngest of a big family who farmed in Idaho,  then moved to Salt Lake City.  She said her childhood was happy. 

She did tell us that  her parents had their  differences, as she was growing up,  and when her parents divorced (she was 16) she didn't see her father again until many years later.    She played the violin,  performed in many symphonies and orchestras,  but her dad never attended any of her programs, or her high school graduation.  It seems to me that her mother,  sister Jane and brother John encouraged her and influenced her to get a good education and go on a mission and helped fill the void left by her father.   My Uncle John gave her the money to go on her mission, and she wholeheartedly wanted to go.  It was on her mission where she met my dad,  and got to know him as they served together in the Denver area of the Spanish American mission in 1947.  My dad was just starting his mission after his military service when she was just finishing up her mission.   She waited for him for almost two years while he served his mission,  and they got to know each other through letters.  In the meantime,  she got her bachelor's degree in Childhood Education and began teaching first grade.

My dad finished his mission in 1949 and my parents  were married in 1950.  My dad was just starting to work on his bachelor's degree and Terry Ann and Todd came along while they lived in student housing at BYU.  The family lived under rough circumstances in Bryce Canyon where my dad was a ranger once summer, and the trailer they lived in did not even have plumbing.  My Mom was a trooper through all this--and didn't complain.

The family moved to Lost Angeles in 1954 so my dad could begin his Ph.D. at UCLA.  My mom taught a preschool class for the families in student housing,  so Terry and Todd were able to attend the pre-school and be with her while she worked.

 I was born and the family had three children in the one room apartment where my parents had a fold out couch in the living room and the three children slept in the bedroom.  The family made many friends and enjoyed church and family activities. 

In 1959 my dad was hired as a professor  at Adams State College in Alamosa, Colorado.  My parents finally had their first home,  and I know my Mom loved it.  Tim came along,  and my Mom taught a morning private kindergarten and an afternoon Spanish class for the neighborhood kids after school.  I was pre-school age at the time, and so  I got to take part in both of those,  and enjoyed them very much.  I remember there were puppet shows,  plays,  songs,  coloring and best of all, having other kids to play with all the time.  In her spare time,  my Mom started writing her flannel board stories and selling subscriptions.  She drafted all of us kids to draw the pictures and help with the book assembly.

In 1963 we lived in Roy, Utah for a year when my Dad taught at Weber State,  and then he was hired at BYU and we moved to Provo where we were to live for the next 25 years.  My mom kept writing stories and selling them as little booklets, which she could do part time and could involve the rest of the family in writing, illustrating and assembling the flannel board stories.

Tina was born after we moved into the Provo "dream house,"  with the big backyard,  view of the city and mountains all around us.  It was a wonderful spot,  and we were all very happy there.    My parents hosted many Sunday dinners with guests from the ward or extended family often joining us,  and many enchilada parties for my Dad's classes or faculty friends. 

My mother loved the gospel of Jesus Christ and her membership and service in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  She held many church callings from Relief Society President to Stake Primary President, but her favorite was as Primary chorister.  She had marvelous illustrations, drawings and fun ways to teach and motivate the kids.  She fully supported my dad when he was bishop of the ward,  and they both sacrificed time and energy to the well being of the ward and neighborhood.  Throughout our childhoods, we had daily prayers with the family, kneeling in the front room before we started our day,  and inidividually kneeling at our beds before bedtime.   The way she lived her daily life spoke to her faith.

My mother enjoyed extended travels through Europe,  Peru and Mexico  with my Dad as he did research and when he was the director for BYU study abroad programs several times.  She loved exploring and learning about the countries where she traveled,  getting to know the people and making friends.  While in Peru,  she gave a workshop about children's stories,  and she wrote some stories which illustrated the history and culture of that country.   Hundreds of teachers attended the workshop in downtown Lima,  and were enthusiastic and  interested in her topic and her visual aids she had created.

She began to sketch the sights and scenes she saw on her travels,  and ended up with several beautiful sketch books of the areas she visited. 

When my Dad retired and they moved to St. George,  they enjoyed serving a part time mission together.

My mom took up tennis, and she and my dad enjoyed  playing tennis together, going to music programs and hosting family reunions. 

On family visits, we hiked,  explored the canyons,  galleries, museums and shops of southern Utah.  At age 70, my mom taught the 8 year olds in her ward Primary for several years and was adored by her students.

  I used to like to go with her to  see how her students loved her, and she loved them. She  learned to play the organ and sent out hundreds of letters, postcards, quilts, tea towels, books and gifts to friends and family, near and far.

In her mid seventies she began to have some memory loss, problems with her knees and trouble with walking.  My dad helped her with everything and wanted to be with her as much as possible.  It was hard to see her frustration with her memory and ability to function.

In her eighties,  my mom had continued memory loss and physical weakness, but she always loved being with  family and especially babies and children.  At family reunions,  you could always see her with a young child,  cuddling and loving the babies of the family. 

She enjoyed singing and listening to music,  and we spent a lot of time singing together in the last years of her life.

In her final years, my Mom needed a lot of help and supervision, so she lived at Heritage  Place in Bountiful and my Dad visited her every day.  As you can see from this blog,  he has spent some of his free time writing poetry about the meaningful times in his life,  most of which involved my Mom.  I'm glad we were able to show her the poetry he wrote about her and share that with her while she was with us.

In her final years,  I'm very grateful that  Mom  has had many visits from family, grandchildren and great grandchildren,  which I think shows a wonderful example to the young children in the family. 

In her last year,  because of her Alzheimers,  my Mom found it difficult to talk,  and would express herself in smiles and gestures--how we missed hearing her voice.   The week before she passed away,  my dad,  my daughter, granddaughter and  I visited her and she rallied from being in bed sick with pneumonia which was making her so weak.  In spite of her illness,  she sat  up to play with her youngest grandchild,  Delaney, and you could see how happy she was to see  Delaney there.  One of my last, and most precious memories of my mom,  is her holding out her hand to Delaney and having Delaney put her little hand into my Mom's  and seeing their fingers entwined. 

The funeral was a fitting tribute to a remarkable mother, wife, grandmother, educator, artist, musician, writer and disciple of Christ.  It was wonderful to see friends and family from near and far and to share stories and memories of  my Mom,  and music that was meaningful and touching.  The printed funeral program that Terry Ann designed,  was a work of art, combining photos of my mom,  her artwork, and poetry. It was a privelege to display my mother's  beautiful quilts, tea towels, flannelboard stories, visual aids sketches, scrapbooks and photos before and after the funeral and to see the grandchildren and great grand children looking at them and enjoying them. 

One of the best things about my mom,  was she was a happy person,  enthusiastic about life, positive and loving.  She was always learning something new, making new friends and trying to make the world a better place.  She is greatly missed--how much I enjoyed having her as one of my best friends during my adult years, and how lucky I am to have had that happy time with her.  

My Mom had been the center of my Dad's life for so long, that we couldn't imagine what he would do without her.  He has carried on admirably, though,  with what he thinks are the most important things of life--family, church, music and learning.  He continues to write, research,  learn and serve.  As he says,  "it's what Avon would want me to do." 


Tammy Compton Hauge
May 8th, 2013