Only in hindsight am I able to see how deeply Kathryn has shaped my life. She was always beside me cheering me on. She made a great difference in my life and I thank her for that. A cheerleader is one that truly makes a difference because they always have a great positive attitude. The greatest blessing in my life was my eternal cheerleader. She kept me going when things were tough, she was there cheering me on, whether it was as a seminary teacher, branch president, high councilor, elders quorum president, professor, college student, father, or grandfather I will always have this cheerleader on my side. She is not gone as her cheers will follow me all the days of my life.
I first remember seeing Kathryn at an assembly in the gymnasium when she was a sophomore. It is amazing that I had not seen her before this. It was almost the end of the school year. She had such striking features and always looked so proper I found out that she had this steady boyfriend Doug Palmer. Rumor has it that he was one of the tough guys from Goshen. My next encounter was next year when I went home on the Goshen bus to spend the night with Richard Thomas. All I remember about that trip was that Doug had his arm around her all the way home.
How could she go with him? I still thought that she was cute. Not too much later Richard reported to me that Doug and Kathryn had broke-up and it was my chance to go with her. I remember then talking with her for the first time on Main Street. She was in her brother's new black and white Chevy. I think I ask her out at this time and I do not remember where we went on our first date I do know that I was not as respectful as I should be and she put me in my place, but I did kiss her on the first date One of the next dates was girl's day when she asked me out. In a sarcastic joking style I made a remark as "why would I go with you" I almost blew it with that joke. She finally forgave me and we did go out and I quit picking on her.
Cheerleader tryouts were a really big deal at Payson High School The individual contestants did a short cheer routine in front of the whole student body. There were plenty of applicants even though they had to try out in front of the whole school. I was sure glad that the whole student body did not watch me tryout for track or basketball. I watched with apprehension, if she won, every boy in town would want to go out with her and if she lost we would be sad. I thought that her routines were crisp and sharp. She seemed to really know what she was doing. I truly thought that she was the best but was unsure if they would give a chance to a Goshen girl. They did and she was one of the five cheerleaders in the school. Only later did I learn that she had been working for the whole year to get ready. She used to practice on the lawn at her home using the front window as a mirror. It was no accident that she won. It was earned because she had done her homework very well. Her best friend Sheila had been a cheerleader and that could have helped her with confidence and her skills. She worried about me and all the college girls and I worried about her and all the high school boys. Her fame did not go to her head and we were able to become even closer.
With the neat pen she gave me for Christmas/Graduation, I wrote in her junior yearbook.
She wrote in my Senior year book 1958.
I hoped that I was the only boy in her life. She was going to Bryce Canyon with her mother to work for the summer. I was helping out in the grocery store a week after she went to Bryce. I just happened to bag groceries for her Sister Shirley. I thought that they had gone to Bryce on a Monday but Shirley pointed out that she had gone on Tuesday. Why had she deceived me? It was because she had gone out with her other boyfriend (Ed Snell) from Eureka. What a blow to my ego! I felt hurt and betrayed! Shirley had this way of making you feel about two inches high and that is where my feelings were. I was mad at everyone, especially Shirley. That made it necessary for me to go to Bryce and get things straightened out.
The trip to Bryce was going to take place just after a rodeo sponsored by our riding club. The fearsome foursome (Neil Francom, Dale Jolley, Ted Hone, and myself would leave about as soon as we could, we would drive most of the night. I wrote Kathryn a letter and asked if it was ok if we came and where could we find her when we got there. I waited for an answer for her letter and It took forever, coming the day we left. I picked up the letter with my sleeping bag and headed straight to the rodeo. Joe Staheli, Merrill Ray Carter and I were clowns at this rodeo. Joe was a professional rodeo clown, Merrill Ray was a natural clown, and I was just there. This was a special rodeo for kids, because they were the stars riding bucking calves and Shetland ponies. Our job was to help them get off of the animals as safely as possible. I went up to pull my first young kid off from the pony and almost pulled the pony over. You see these kids were really hanging on. We had to talk to them and convince them that we were there to help them off. Often I would pry their hands loose to get them off. At one time we had a kid upside down, the pony bucking and him still on. The pony's legs were just long enough that his head did not hit the ground, but I worried every jump of the successful ride.
Joe had this great bag of tricks and he would teach us a trick and we would do it on the fly. One of his props that Merrill Ray loved was a rubber rope. It brought a great laugh every time he caught a calf and let it stretch the rope. The rodeo was so successful the first night that the second and final night they needed more stock for the kids to ride, so they used the roping calves that were owned by the Cocklebur Club These Brahma calves were used by the members to practice their roping skills. Merrill roped this one calf and it started right for me. I just waited and then shushed or made a quick move towards it which should have made it run. It continued straight at me, it ducked its head and I caught it with my hands and it threw me over its back.
This brought a great laugh but I felt as if I had looked the devil in the eye. This was one mean, fearless beast. After the rodeo, I learned that the ropers would never get off their horses to tie this calf because they were afraid of it. This calf always met them half-way down the rope. All ropers including the tough Buzzy Wilson were afraid of this calf and I now joined the group.
After this hectic rodeo I opened my letter to see if we could visit her and where to go- it was cut into little pieces - a jigsaw puzzle'! Could you believe this lady, we were out in the rodeo grounds late at night with little light trying to put together this letter to see where we were going. Even worse, it was a three page letter. Have you ever worked on three puzzles at once with no scotch tape, with the pieces mixed together? We got it finished, she had said yes and off we went. We drove as far as Richfield that night and then pulled over and slept in the public park. Just after getting to sleep the police came threatening to put us in jail. We finally convinced them that we were not up to trouble and they let us get some sleep. I don't remember much about this short trip to Bryce Canyon, but I hoped all the way that I had not lost my girlfriend. When I first saw her working in one of the cabins I knew that I really cared for this girl. She was special! We were the hit of the parks because we knew songs from this new musical group - "The Kingston Trio". We had listened to their songs on the way to Bryce. We sang all of their songs as best we could and many ordered the album. I believe that I did purchase an album and give it to Kate when she came home. I always felt that this was our group. However Kate's favorite singer was Johnny Mathis.
