Page 13

I wanted my children to learn the value of work when they were young. One incident I remember very well. I decided that Eric and Michelle were going to learn to clean the bathtub. I found the Ajax and washcloths, dressed my three and two-year olds in their swimsuits, then put them in the tub to show them how to scrub. They had so much fun, they even asked when they could clean the tub again.

I taught Primary in the ward there and enjoyed the people. One Sunday the stake president called us into his office. We were nervous as to what he wanted. Frank was issued a call as a Seventy in the Melchizedek Priesthood. He was asked to be the Seventies leader in our ward in charge of missionary work.

One day we came home from church and there was a huge, ginormous wolf spider (cousin to the tarantula) on the entry way brick wall outside the front door. Frank is deathly afraid of spiders and I was a little intimidated by it’s nine inch diameter size. Frank called the missionaries. The missionaries arrived, and assessed the situation. One of the elders took off his shoe, whacked the spider on the brick wall and said,

“Anything else you need brother Marchant?”

We laugh about it today, but it was not at all funny at the time.

The winter of 1978 in Kentucky was the worst on record. Eighteen inches of snow fell. The eastern states were immobilized. Frank was stuck in Boston. The governor issued a report telling people to stay home. Not even SUV’s were allowed on the roads. Our home had a long driveway and in the garage was our car. There was twenty-five feet of driveway, and eighteen inches of snow. I was marooned in my own house. Frank’s boss brought me some groceries, but after a week I needed to do something. I called the missionaries and they came to clear the snow. They did not quite finish since they had an appointment. The next day I finished shoveling the driveway.