I first sat down and wrote a whole list of things I remember about Dad and
then I got out a letter that 1 wrote tn 1987 to Dad on Father's Day and it was
many of the same examples. So I will put this letter right behind the first
and only touch on some of the things in this letter. I would like this letter to
become part B to June 22, 1987 letter. (Tammie, Natalie, and Beckles's
letters of same date also.
January 12, 1996
When I think of Dad. I think of hard work. Most of what I did with
Dad when I was growing up, was some type of work. He always made me
feel so important and needed, that most of the time I did not mind it. As his
arthritis progressed, I could see that often he needed my help and I was glad
to give it.
(We moved to St. George when I was 8 years old. In fact we moved to
St. George in the spring of 3rd grade about in March. We went back to
Parowan to baptize me in Sept. We had a great party in the back yard with
all the aunts and uncles, at the Parowan house)
Before we moved to St. George. I used to mow the back lawn in
Parowan. Then the yard seemed quite large. We had a great back yard with
lots of grass. and a swing set and fence. We also had a set of fuel oil tanks on
wood stilts. We built some great tents under those fuel tanks. Dad would
also bring us boxes to play with.
I also remember having some great chats with Dad in the Parowan
bathroom. I would use the little potty chair and dad was over in the little
covey on the toilet. I probably used this chair up until we moved
sometimes.
Early on, we went on trips with Dad in the old 'green' van. Dad sold
stuff and fixed stuff from Kanab to Vegas. I think this stopped after Natalie
was born.
One of my birthdays it was real cold. so Dad built a special table and
chairs in the garage for my party. The garage had a pot bellied stove. so it
was warm. I remember that the chairs were paint cans.
When Dad started the store in St. George, ( Leigh Furniture was
established in St. George in the old Arrowhead Hotel. It (Arrowhead
Motel had sat vacant for a while. It was a grand motel. All of the furniture
and things were still in the building. Everything was very dirty and dusty.
The motel rooms on the 2nd and 3rd floor were turned into apartments. )
Dad stayed in St. George during the week and every Friday after school. we (
Mom, Tammie, Natalie, age 3, and I ) drove to St. George. Dad and Mom
worked all weekend on the store and then we drove back to Parowan. When
we came to St. George for the weekend, we stayed on the beds that were for
sale in the basement Of Leign Furniture. We thought it was great fun. Later
on, Mr.Leigh and Dad started to turn the old hotel rooms into apartments, So
we moved into the corner room on the third floor. There was no kitchen.
We had a hot plate and a tiny room sink. There was two motel rooms with a
bathroom in the middle. The three girls slept together in the old metal beds
in the one room and Mom and Dad were in the other room. I loved the great
big old fashioned bathtub.
I don't remember how many months we had been doing this, but I
remember the Sunday when we decided that we could not do it anymore.
Dad came to the car to tell us good -bye and he was crying. We all started
crying. He said aren't you tired of doing this?( driving back and forth every
week) and we said yes. I think we stayed in Parowan for two weeks. then
Dad brought the big Leigh Furniture Van and loaded up our stuff and we
moved. I am not sure where we put our stuff. We lived out of the
apartment for several months. As the apartments were being built. they
knocked a hole in the wall and turned a motel room into a kitchen. The
kitchen over looked Parkers Dress Shop. The tar roof was a level below us.
We used to find reasons to climb on the roof. We also had a great view of
the Tabernacle.
Tammie and I had the job of delivering the mail to all the residents of
the apartments. Everyday we would go down to Dad's office and pick up the
mail. We always did it together, because it was scary. Some of the people
were scary. and sometimes we would find dead bats. To get to some of the
apartments we had to climb the fire escape. The stairs were metal and big.
and open and rickety. One day I shoved my leg through the hole in the fire escape
stairs and took a big divot out of my leg. I still have the divot.
I also remember going down to Dixie Drug and buying green "secrets"
throat pills and sometimes getting a ice cream cone.
We went to church at the Tabernacle when we lived in the
apartments. Primary was in the basement.
While we lived in the apartments we spent a lot of time at night
painting and fixing the new house. When we moved in only the upstairs and
T.V. room was finished. We also planted the lawn with seed and watered the
lawn by moving the hose. That took a lot of time. Dad did not get sprinklers
until about 12 years ago.
There was 5 pecan trees at the house. At first it was kind of neat to
have nuts, but then we all got sick of the nut knocking down projects. As the
trees got bigger and bigger it got harder and harder to reach the nuts.
Occasionally we had a good tree climber for a boy friend and they would
climb in the tree and jump around. When all we had was the stick and
ladders to get the nuts down, it was pretty hard. Then cracking and drying
the nuts seemed to take the rest of the year. Dad was always very particular
about this project.
I remember Dad taking us fishing at Baker once and we all had our
lines tangled in about 30 sec. I also remember driving up to Cedar Breaks, I
think, once to fish. When we got there there was snow, so Mom would not
let us out of the car. Dad went fishing for a few minutes then gave it up. He
must have been pretty frustrated with his crew of girls sometimes.
Dad was always at the store as I grew up. He came home late at night
after we were all asleep. I remember sometimes hearing his car pull up and
the keys rattle at the door. ( He had a huge wad of keys.) Sometimes I would
get up and go let him in and say hi. In the morning he was usually still
asleep when I left. Sometimes he came home at lunch and had a short nap
on the living room couch.
I remember doing mailers for a sale at the store. Tammie and I would
go down both sides of the street. It was real hard work. We did the whole
town. It would take us a week?
When I was a senior. the Dad's had to dance with us at Iettette review.
Dad did not make many of the practices, so we had to do some homework. It
was a real fun activity. We did great in the review. Dad rented a tux.
We took several trips as a family. Dad worked hard to win these trips
selling carpet and stuff. The two I remember the most are Hawaii and the
Holy Land. Dad really liked to travel and see the world. He really liked the
Holy Land and Egypt. He loved to show his slides and spent a lot of time
reminiscing this trip. The Israel trip was a real financial hardship for him.
It cost him $1,000 per head. I think he mortgaged the house to pay for it.
After high school. I moved to Salt Lake to got to the Bryman School. It
was at this time that my relationship changed with my Dad. In high school
my relationship with Dad was at a tolerance level. When I was at the
Bryman School, I really looked forward to Dad's visits to Salt Lake. He
brought stuff back and forth from Salt Lake for the store. He also brought
food and stuff for me. Sometimes Dad slept over on the couch when he was
to late to travel home. Sometimes I would go on his errands with him and
sometimes I would travel to St. George with him.
After I got married and we moved to Salt Lake, the same thing
continued. He was like Santa Clause. Every time he came to Salt Lake! he
had boxes of stuff for us. Jeff's mom always sent stuff up too. Every time
Dad came up to Salt Lake he brought things to fix things in our house, food or
some new carpet or a new bed or something.
The kids really liked his visits and liked to help him fix things up.
Clint especially liked to help grandpa. Occasionally he went to Tremonton
with Grandpa to get "Lazy Boy' recliners. We did a lot of fix up projects on
the houses in Salt Lake. We sure appreciated all of Dad's help.
Dad had a lot of health problems. He developed arthritis 35 years ago.
This severe rheumatoid arthritis effected his whole body and entire body
systems over time. (Grandma Talbot his mother and his sister also had this disease.l
When Dad was coming to Salt Lake he was robust. Strong, alert, and
he worked hard. He could load the recliners and drive all night. That was 9
years ago.
In Dad's Patriarchal Blessing it says ... "That which will come, Brother
Talbot, will test and try your strength, courage and ingenuity as did the
desert wilderness that of your pioneer forebears. "
Dad's strength was truly tested. In 1974 he had a series of severe
headaches. It was my understanding that a blood vessel burst at this point.
In 1982, Dad had severe Gall Bladder problems and was rushed to Salt Lake
for surgery.About 8 years ago, he had enlarged Thyroid and had to have
radiation. Then 7 year ago, Dad started having "spells". These spells turned
out to be seizures. This was probably his greatest test. Dad had a grand mal
seizure on Dec. 20 of 1988. So he had to start the seizure medication.
This medicine along with the arthritis medicine that he was already
taking caused a lot of side effects. Dad did not like how it made him feel. He
was always sleepy and tired, forgetful and at times shaky. All this
medication made him have to go to the doctor a lot. Dad's arthritis got worse
because the different doctors were always messing with the dosage, Jeff
finally assumed care and tried to get the specialists to advise him. Jeff
maintained the medicine dosages, Dad also developed allergies to many
antibiotics and he always had a lot of skin itching, sores and dryness.
Five years ago, Dad's memory was having problems. Beckie and Bruce
wanted to buy the store, Mom, Beckie and Bruce convinced Dad to retire.
I was able to get him on disability, so he had some money coming in,
But he hated to sit home, He got his garage organized, and he started fixing
things up, but He always missed being around people.
All these changes made him really discouraged and caused a lot of
worry and stress, so he started having ulcer trouble. He didn't feel like he
was worth much. I tried to take him with me as much as possible. He liked
to go to Clint's games. He even went on several road trips and loved to get
out and travel,
He really liked to have the kids around!!! He really did!!! He was an
excellent baby-sitter, He tended for me during the day and when Jeff and I
went out of town, The kids loved to go visit him and loved to have him come
over. He made such a big deal over everything they did, He was never
rushed or hurried and could just visit with them. He couldn't chase the kids,
but the kids always stayed by him, He could keep Jon and all of his friends
entertained. I asked Dad to help a lot. He enjoyed it and I needed it.
He also took and picked the kids up from their lessons. Again, the kids loved
it, because he always waited outside their lessons for them, They knew
Grandpa was there and they would never have to wait for him. They often
waited for me.
Dad was always very helpful to me and came and fixed a lot of stuff
for me. When he was retired. I often hired him as my fix it man. I would
pay him a little and it gave him something to do.
As time went on Dad seemed to get weaker and sometimes shakier. I
tried to get Clint to help him with most of the big things that he tried to do.
Clint really enjoyed working with Grandpa. As he entered high school, it got
harder for Clint to find the time.
One day in Feb of 94, Dad was trying to redo the ceiling in his
bedroom when suddenly he had a severe pain in his left arm. Mom took him
to the E.R. and they discovered that he had a heart attack. He never lost
consciousness and in fact Dad thought it was no big deal. He really hated to
stay in the intensive care. He did not think that he was sick. The hospital
assured us it was pretty serious and we made the living will etc.
Dad bounced back from this heart attack pretty fast. He was in pretty
good shape with in 3-4 months. Back to his old self.
Then in Aug of 95, Mom returned home from work one day to find
that Dad had never gotten up. Jeff and I went up and tried several things,
then we took him to the Emergency Room again. He did pretty good in the
E.R. They discovered that he had had another heart attack. This time it
seemed to be a lot worse. We got him into the room and then he started to
be in a lot of pain. This time Dad became disoriented and combative. He was
in terrible pain. The doctors were giving him medicine, but not fast enough
and not enough. They didn't realize how tolerant his body was to the
medications from his years of arthritis and seizures. Jeff and I went to sit
with him and let Mom go home. Jeff was able to get the doctors to give him
more medicine and we finally got him sedated.
Jeff and Bruce gave Dad a blessing. It was my impression that Dad
would pass away. Dad had a peaceful night. We took turns staying with him,
so we always had someone there. The next morning when I went back for
my turn, I expected to see Dad near death. I was so surprised to see him
sitting up in bed laughing with Clint. I was mad in fact. I thought he was
going to die. I was mad for several days, until I had another impression.
This impression was that Mom was not ready for Dad to die. I felt that Dad
would stay until Mom was ready.
After this second heart attack, Dad did not recover fast. He had a new
doctor, Doctor Patrica Bowers.I Jeff had turned over care after Dad's first
heart attack to Dr. Madsen) She was very good and tried very hard to get
Dad's medicines balanced. She started home health care coming in , so Dad
did not have to go into the hospital as often.
Dad did not feel good. He was very weak and shaky. After his first
heart attack, he tried to return to normal activity. After this heart attack, he
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did not want to go any where or do anything. He did not go any where in his
car. I would go by several times a week and hw would ask me to get a few
things to fix stuff, but it was very hard for him to get it done, I talked him
into getting yard care and I helped him get someone to service his heater
and plumbing.
One of the only times I got him out, was to go look at new toupees. His
was looking very bad and needed to be replaced. He wanted a new one and
it was hard to order it in. We finally got one in Sept. It then took him
several weeks to get it fixed to wear. He was just running slow.
He was also very shaky and this discouraged him so much. He could
not stand much noise or confusion. His nerves were really on edge. He could
only handle visiting with the kids one on one for a few minutes. I did get
him to Clint's Homecoming football game in his wheelchair.
He often told me that he did not think he had long on the earth. I poo
pooed him and said, that he was going to get better. I never talked openly
with him about his feelings of passing. During this time of illness Dad was
very kind, and caring. He never let me leave the room with out him telling
me that he loved me and how proud he was of me and all my great kids.
Every day I would come home to messages on the answering machine
of things he had thought of during the day that he wanted to talk with me
about. He would call me when he remembered. It was his way of making a
list. He would often call and ask Clint about a sports game. He often called
and ask what I had been doing or just to check in.
Sometimes when we were away and he knew we were traveling he
would call and wish us well. The call would often turn into a prayer of
blessing on our trip and safe arrival. There was many times that I returned
home to find that he had ended the message in a prayer. He was always very
appreciative of the time I spent with him.
On the twins birthdav, Nov. 9th, Dad and Mom went out to eat with us
at Chili's. (A new restaurant in town) We had a fun evening. Clint had just
made the basketball team and everyone was pretty excited. After dinner we
came down to the house and had ice cream and cake. We chatted for a
minute and took some pictures.
The next day I dropped off a picture of the family at the house, but he
was in the bathroom. He called me the next day and left a real nice message
telling me how cute he thought everyone looked and what a cute family I
had. He also told me he hoped that I realized what great good kids that I
had. (I wish I had that message saved)
I ran in Sun or Monday to give Dad a shot. Grandparent day was Wed
the 23rd and he was rehearsing to me his thoughts on World War II. He
really wanted to go to Grandparent Day, but he did not want to talk about
the war. He wanted to share his Israel and Eqypt slides. He wanted me to
make sure and ask the teachers what they thought?
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Dad called me during the week concerned again about his shaking. He
wondered if Jeff didn't have some pill that would stop it.
Sunday morning Nov. 19th ,Mom called me about 7:20 and said that
Dad had just had a seizure. She wondered what to do. When Jeff and I
arrived, we found Dad disoriented and in the same shape as the August
heart attack. We called the ambulance and they took Dad to the hospital. At
the hospital Dad was thrashing around all upset. I do not think that he
wanted to be there.
I was waiting in the hall, while they sedated Dad and got the medicine
going. Suddenly Dad had another heart attack and went into V -fib. The E.R.
doctor ask if they wanted them to resuscitate him and Jeff said no. He came
and got me and all the E.R. staff left. I walked in the room and Dad was blue.
I grabbed him and told him how much I loved him and what a great job he
had done on the earth. I also told him it was alright to go- he had suffered
enough.
Mom soon came in and she was able to hold him too. He quietly
passed. They marked the death time at 8:30 a.m.
I am trying now to pull together some of Dad's life into a book. Dad
was a real camera person. He took a lot of pictures and slides through the
years. I have made a video of some of the pictures and slides. This book
will have letters of friends and relatives. I will also include some of his
army things. It will be a method of closing for me. I will fill the book full of
all the precious memories that I can find, so that I will have a place that I
can come to reflect and ponder on a man, father, grandfather and friend that
I won't be able to see or visit for a while. I will miss my visits with my Dad
and his council. I hope that my children wi11 look through this book and
reflect on it. I hope that my children will also teach their children of their
grandfather Brent Gale Talbot.
Dad's patriarchal blessing gave him the charge to help his family
return and live with Heavenly Father again, so I know that he is still pulling
for us and encouraging us even though we can not see him anymore. Let's
not disapoint him.
