Lula Atkin (Palmer)

For as long as I can remember my grandmother Atkin has been an important part of my life. When I was a little girl we lived through the block from her in St. George, Utah while my father served in the Navy during World War II. I remember many dinners at grandma's table often with aunts, uncles and cousins there as well. After the dinners I would always ask grandma to go for a walk with me, which she was happy to do. We would walk and she would point out the pretty flowers, trees, birds, and even the red ants crawling around in the red dirt of Utah's Dixie. I loved spending time with her and looked for opportunities to be her companion on a picnic or walk. As I got older, our conversations changed and I always found it easy to talk to her. i remember her trunk upstairs in the front bedroom of the St. George house. She went through the trunk with me and told me about the clothes in the trunk which were her clothes from an earlier time. I also remember dress patterns in the trunk. Grandma told me that the trunk would some day be mine, and I thought it would be fun to have access to all those treasures. As it turned out, I didn't inherit the trunk, but I did have the opportunity to grow up with grandma as a big part of my life and memories. When I was in later elementary school or maybe Jr. High, grandma and grandpa lived next door to us in Cedar. Grandma worked at Christensen's store on Main Street, and I loved to go in there to see her. One favorite memory of that time was when grandma bought herself a swimming suit and took swimming lessons at the local pool. I thought that was so cool. I think she must have been in her 50's maybe 60's at that time. She told me that she had never had the opportunity to learn to swim when she was a little girl, and since it was something she had always wanted to do, she took the time to learn during her senior years. I always loved her sense of adventure. After I was married, my parents went on a mission to Samoa and New Zealand. I happened to have my first baby while they were away, and I missed having my mother there to help me. I had terrible headaches after the baby was born and had to stay in the hospital a little longer than usual, and when I came home the headaches continued for awhile. Grandma Atkin came up from St. George to help me learn how to be a new mother. I remember her bathing my new little son for his first bath at home. She could tell that I missed my own mother, and probably felt sorry for myself. She told me that when she had her first baby, who is my father, she was living in a sheep wagon out on the Arizona Strip where grandpa had a herd of sheep. She said that she just had to piece of cloth on the ground to lay her baby on, and hang another cloth in the tree to make shade for the baby. She reminded me that she didn't have a nice cool house; a nice crib; nice blankets and clothes for her new baby. I felt so ungrateful for feeling sorry for myself. I love my grandmother Lula Palmer Atkin, and I know she loved me. She told me several times that she felt I was more like her daughter than her granddaughter, since I was the oldest granddaughter. She also always told me how much she loved me, and she was always my friend. I miss her and look forward to the time when we can go for another walk together and have her show me all the beautiful things in the world she now lives in, and where I hope to go some day.