10 things about MarJean

10 things about MarJean

Lady MarJean

1. When she was a child, before her parents moved them to Mexico, MarJean did acrobats and was extra stretchy. Her parents had been training her for the Olympics.

2. She loves to read.

3. She loves babies and the comfort they bring holding them and loving on them.

4. She loved helping deliver babies and if life had alotted she would have loved to have become a midwife.

5. She has a fear of public speaking, but she is working on it so she can speak to other women who need to escape tragedies.

6. Her greatest joy in life is being a mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother to all 100 plus kids of hers and her ex-sister wives, Sylvia, and Jenny’s kids. When she moved to the states it felt as if she had lost children as they all went with their real mothers.

7. Even though her husband, Homer,  was twenty-six years older than her and married to two other women, she never had any doubt she was to marry him.8. She has never been married to a man outside of when she lived polygamy.  However, her greatest dream is to find a man closer to her age that will be married only to her. A man who would adore her and love only her and serve with her on a mission for her church.

9. MarJean would love for her and a spouse to live on a farm where they could open it up to orphans children and teach them and give them a family to love

10. MarJean dreams of the day her book will be finished. So she can contribute something to the family.

Writers Tea Party

Arizona Writers Tea Party

Chateau De Via

The beginning of the year me and my little writing helpers joined  American Night Writers Association to help us in this writing journey. This group has been fantastic!

I have really enjoyed getting to meet new ladies and get their perspectives on my book.

Sept 13, 2017, before one of the annual writer’s conventions, one of the Regency Romance writers, held a tea party at the Chateau De Via. We all dressed up in Regency period clothes, a few ladies sang and read some poems and we sampled little tea party delights.

Look how beautiful it is! It was Heavenly!

I had no idea a place like this existed in the deserts of Arizona.

Lady MarJean

I never played tea party as a little girl but I got the experience as an adult and it was  dreamy,  it felt like we were in wonderland.

Chateau de Via
Tea Party
Chateau De Via
MarJean & Grandaughter
Ladies Tea Party
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Serenity

My Grand-daughter! Isn’t this just beautiful?

Chocolate Truffle
Ladies at In N Out

Did you know this is what a truffle looked like? I didn’t.

After me and my daughter in law, Karie and my grand-daughter, Cassidy had to stop by In-N-Out because tea parties aren’t really food.

Getting to meet other women authors was neat.

Sister Wife Sylvia

June 26, 2017 one of my sister wives passed.  Even though life was tough sharing a husband and the years after leaving polygamy we weren’t close there is a certain bond that sister wives share. One that is meaningful and that I will reflect on fondly.

Sylvias oldest daughter called me with the news and my heart broke for all the kids and my heart was heavy. I had lost a friend/ a sister. My mind went to the fond memories we had with each other. We were truly there for each other and she was a great strength.

When we were living polygamy often it was just me and Sylvia left to survive. Sylvia made sure we were taken care of. We were a team more so than with our husband.

I admired her willpower to stand up to Homer. When he didn’t have money for us she would firmly stand her ground that the family needed to be cared for and she was going to go to work and do that. My job was to watch the kids and she would go provide for us. I am so thankful that she did this as I didn’t have the courage to go out and work and I would have much rather been taking care of the children.

We complimented each other with the children. I was great with the babies and she was great with the teenage kids.

Sylvia was an excellent cook and when she made up her mind about something she went after it with a full force of energy and power.

She would work really hard and then come home for what she called a “power nap.” Then we would go clean houses together or load all the children up and go to the park for a getaway.

One time she took us to Vallarta where a cruise ship had docked. It looked like we had a little nursery school so she did her brilliant talk and convinced the worker to let us all on to explore the ship. Other times we would go watch as the airplanes came in and giggle at the type of clothes that the people would wear.

Another time we went to Tapeak for school clothes.  Mexico is not known for the safety of lone women traveling so when the car had a flat we needed to get out of sight. Sylvia skillfully guided the car off the highway and the 50 foot drop so we could camp for the night until daylight when she would walk to get a tire. We laid blankets on the ground and in the back of the car. We both grabbed a hammer and a wrench to keep by our heads as we slept.  We heard men walk by and one man came up and asked if we needed any help and offered to take us to his house. We were smarter than that and turned him down.  A few minutes later the man came back with his pregnant wife. We decided it was safe enough, so we stayed in their small house made out of small sticks, mud, and straw with dirt floors but we felt safe for the night. In the morning this humble man and his wife fed us, probably everything they had left in the house. We offered to pay them but they said no, they were just excited because they were sure to be the talk of the town because they had taken in some American people and what a treat that was.

When we left polygamy and moved to the states Sylvia used her talents to open up a furniture store where she painted and designed custom furniture and she started painting.

Here are a few of her many talents

It was a lovely service, but such a shame that the family doesn’t get together more often for pleasant activities. It was beautiful to hear her life story and a few of the grandchildren sing. There is now about 82 total at my last count.

Sylvia will be missed. Farewell my friend, my sister. I will remember and cherish the memories we had.