3rd Grade

When I turned 8, I was baptized as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  I don’t remember that day very well.  I just remember that it was a special day,  I was dressed in white, the water in the font was warm and my dad baptized me.  Afterward, while driving home, I remember looking outside and everything seemed extra light, beautiful and peaceful.  

That year we got a bonus, surprise sister.  On Mother’s day in 1982, my parents brought home a baby girl.  A young woman, who was a patient of my dad, asked him if he would adopt her baby.  She was young, not married and not prepared to be a mother.  She thought my dad was the most kind person she knew and wanted him to raise her child.  My parents lovingly brought her into our family.  They named her Angela (angel).  She was born on May 7, and came into our home on Mother’s day, May 9.  

As my dad’s time in the Navy was drawing to a close, my parents made a decision to move to Utah.  My last two weeks living in California were spent with my dad.  My mom and grandparents took the rest of the family to our new home, but I stayed behind, because I didn’t want my dad to be alone.  During those two weeks, I got to spend the night in a hospital room while he worked a 24 hour shift in the E.R.  I felt pretty special.  I watched tv, moved the bed up and down and the nurses brought me donuts.  My dad also took me to the fair, and we played tennis during those two weeks.  On our drive to Utah, I remember laying down in the backseat crying.  I was sad to leave my friends in California.  

When my dad got out of the Navy, he joined a family practice in Layton, Utah.   We moved into a two-story gray house. (The Layton temple is now directly across the street from it.)  The street we lived on had a ton of kids.  There were twin girls my age that became my friends, but mostly, I sat home and watched tv shows..  I loved the Price is Right, Wheel of Fortune, Gidget, Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie.  My parents took a bedroom on the main floor and left the big master suite upstairs to the girls.  We had a whole setup of couches and a tv in our room.  I rarely ventured out into the house, except when I wanted to eat something. I loved watching Disney movies. 

Third grade was the best!  I loved my teacher, Mrs. VanDyke.  She was sweet and fun and made me feel special.  At one of our parent-teacher conferences she told my mom that I was smart enough to skip 4th grade if I wanted to.  That made me feel good.   During recess in 3rd grade, I often played football with the boys. I got lots of interceptions and a few touchdowns.  We learned square dancing that year and I was recognized as “citizen of the week.”  The school posted a picture and wrote up a little blurb about me, it said, “Mrs. VanDyke says that Shannon is honest and a hard worker.  When she completes her work, she is always willing to help others.  She is a self-starter.  Shannon is unfailingly kind to others.  She is polite and thoughtful of others. Shannon’s mom says, “At home, Shannon is very dependable and responsible.  She helps with the two little children.  She is responsive and efficient.  Shannon is sensitive to the needs of those in her home.  Whatever Shannon does, she tries to do it just right.”  

I was a witch