Week 1 - Where were you born?

Where were you born? Describe what it was like at that time.

Being as that I was unaware of my situation in life until I was at least four of five years old. I'm going to require much attention from Mom and Dad on this introductory journal entry. However, I'll put in a few details and add to the rest after quizzing them on the details of my birth.

I was born on March 28, 1979 in Ogden, Utah at the McKay-Dee Hospital on Harrison Boulevard across the street from Weber State University. That hospital is no longer there other than a surgical center that operates as a part of the current McKay-Dee Hospital that is about half a mile south of the old site.

We lived in a small house in Roy right next to what we called the second set of (railroad) tracks. It was at 5441 South 2775 West in Roy. The tracks have been dug up and are currently being turned into a walking/biking path that goes clear from North Salt Lake up to Ogden. It also connects into another trail system in Ogden and one that extends south from North Salt Lake to nearly Draper. The tracks were right in front of our house. There was the street in front of our house, a few small storage sheds, and eight foot tall cinder block fence and then the tracks. You could see the trains come jetting by our house and I may be making this up, but it seems like the house would even shade with the rumbling of the train as it went by.

I don't remember much about this house. One memory that I do tie to this is at one time being in trouble for some reason and having Dad carry Jason and I up the stairs by our feet. That's it. That may be one of the only times I remember Dad being outwardly mad. Dad was and is a pretty calm and collected individual.

From there we moved to Uncle Craig and Aunt Judy's house in the circle only a few houses away from where we lived (2795 West 5450 South in Roy) for a while as the current house further West at 3452 West 5300 South in Roy was built. We moved out West where there wasn't much. I think the development was called Wheatridge. There were a lot of fields around our house either for horses, corn or wheat. We used to play in those fields all the time.

I remember while we lived in Uncle Craig's house it was right on the Royal Green's Golf Course (now Eagle Lakes Golf Course). We used to get in all kinds of trouble on that golf course. Whether it was finding golf balls that were still being used by golfers, hunting for frogs, or just causing mischief like most little boys tend to do.

Ogden is a quaint little town. It used to be a major shipping town with the largest train hub between the West and East coasts. This led to all kinds of life in the city. Growing up though most of the train life in town was dead. But, Ogden was a big city for us to go to. There was the Ogden City Mall near 24th and Kiesel Avenue with ZCMI, Nordstroms, and a few other large stores, the Newgate Mall near 36th and Wall Avenue with Sears, Mervyn's and Nordstroms after the Ogden Mall closed. I remember walking around the Ogden Mall with Mom as a kid. We'd park int he covered parking lot, walk down the indoor corridor with real trees, walk across the skywalk to the ZCMI over Washington Boulevard (that was a little scary).

Ogden was the place to be, but then it seemed to fall apart for a while there while I was in junior high and high school. Now, Ogden is becoming an internationally known town for its outdoor lifestyles. It has great access to world-class skiing (thanks to the 2002 Olympics), hiking, biking, water sports and the like.

Roy has changed quite a bit since growing up there. I remember coming home from my mission to a totally different world in Roy. There were cookie-cutter neighborhoods all around us. Most of the families I knew growing up had moved out and being at home, wasn't the same anymore. I miss that part of going home. Every once in a while when we go and visit, if the wind is blowing right you can still smell the cows and fields from out West of Mom and Dad's house, but that and Mom and Dad's house are about all that remains from the country neighborhood that I remember. The houses are filled with new people. The fields are gone. The quite is filled will cars and trucks driving down busy streets.

I'll fill in more about my birth once I consult those that really remember that day.