The children have been asking me to write my life history.
Every time I try to interest them in our ancestors, they laugh and tell me they
are more interested in my life's story than in someone's who has been dead a
hundred years. I have promised to do that, if they will accept the fact that
none of us is perfect, even a great-grandmother. Some of the history may not be
exactly as they wish it were.
The art of writing is certainly not one of my natural
talents, but maybe as I record some events each day, I will, with practice, be
able to express my thoughts more clearly.
At the time I started writing this history I was
seventy-nine years old! Where has the time gone? The years have passed so
quickly! When I think of all the wonderful events and experiences that have
transpired in my life, I am so grateful my many blessings, and I hope that I
can record them in such a way that my children will derive something worthwhile
from them, add their histories to it, and pass them all on to their children.
I was born in Price, Utah on May 28, 1913, the fifth child of
Leopold (Leo) and Zoe Ellen Powell Leonard. When I was born, Enid Russell's
mother was heard to say, "That Zoe has really hit the jackpot with this baby!
She has the most beautiful child - lots of black hair and big, brown
eyes!"
We lived at 276 South Carbon Avenue, in a beautiful,
two-story, white-frame home, trimmed in green. The house was surrounded by a
white picket fence enclosing our yard which had a large lot for the children to
play and romp in. My parents were blessed with nine children, seven boys and
two girls. We never had a dull moment around the house because we had an older
sister and brothers to tease. We had time for swimming in the local swimming
hole, and our house was always filled with company.
Baby sitters observed that my parents reared a family who
knew how to do things. We all knew how to clean the house and make crafts. Home
was always a place where there was plenty of food, and where guests never went
hungry. Many fond memories of those childhood days linger in my heart.
