In The Park ( Woodglen)

When I was in the 5th grade we moved from our home on Cyd Drive. There were a few strange things about moving. First the parents of a girl in my class were buying my house, that was so weird. I remember my parents talking in the front room to the owner and trying to negotiate a purchase. I also remember how excited they were when they found the house on Jackson Street. They were buying a house, we were buying a house and it was a big and exciting deal. Our Bishop had moved away and was called to be the Bishop in a new area we would be moving into this new area called, Woodglen.

Woodglen was Utopia. There was a huge park in the center of the community with a pond, playground, lots of ball fields, a trail big trees and a play ground. Woodglen Elementery was built right next to the park so again we could walk to school. Also there was a ditch. The ditch had a concrete bottom and was lined on each side with grass and large trees. It really was a well designed community and even as an adult I have not seen many subdivisions set up quite so lovely. My brothers would spend a lot of time catching crawdads in the ditch and pond. In the summer I would enjoy walking in the ditch to cool my feet with friends on the way over to the park. My family would live on Jackson St. until my Junior Year in High School. I claim that area as home, were I grew up. When I here Taylor Swift sing, "The house that built me" I think of the house on Jackson St. This is were I went from little girl to young woman and so many happy memories surround the beautiful community of Woodglen.

I would walk through the park to meet up with friends and boy friends who lived on the other side. So many soccer games would be enjoyed in that park. I would share my faith with my best friend Staci and kneel in prayer on a dusky spring evening in that park. My best friend Matt (he really should have been my boyfriend) would play me a song he wrote for me on his saxaphone in that park. I would kiss my first real boyfriend (Andrew) in that park and my second and third for that matter, lots of young and sweet kissing happened in that park. My cute little brothers with buckets full of crawdads and Sunday walks with my sister. Woodglen Park was like a family room in a toddlers world. I learned so much and enjoyed so much growing up in that beautiful park.

 I have to own that there are a few negative and very very sad things that happend while living their. Denver's Crips (blue) and Bloods (red) gangs. We lived about 45min North of Denver and all I knew about crips and bloods was that they were rival gangs that hated each other. Issues surounding what color you wear and what team your baseball hat displayed were things I started hearing about in Junior High. I thought of those kinds of things as distant big city problems. There was almost an incedent in the park, it was 1990 I was with my boyfriend, best friend and a group of other friends. A little boy was mouthing off to us and the boys in our group talked back. He said his brother was a, "Crip" and he was going to go tell him and they were going to come and get us. Andrew, my boyfriend had a big brother he was Corby's age, Travis, I can't remember why he was there but he was around. This old ugly blue van came roaring into the parking lot that we were all walking toward. All these really scary people got out and were coming to us. There were girls and boys all punked out with ratty hair and the girls didn't have much on. One of them had a chain and was holding it out in front of himself in this intimidating I'm coming for you kind of way. I really couldn't tell you what or if other wepons were being displayed but these people were clearly their to beat us up and they were walking toward us. Travis went running out in front of us and strarted debating and trying to reason with them that we were just a bunch of kids and to just leave. They kept walking toward us. I guess someone living in one of the houses must have seen the van speed by or something because we could suddenly hear police sirens and all those scary people turned around and ran back to their van and drove off. It was strange, scary and unforgettable.

The saddest event that touched my life in Woodglen was the murder of a boy my age Jason Trembath.(Oct. 10, 1992) We had gone to school together and I had a little crush on him early in Junior High. I kissed him once at a silly end of school party (7th grade) on a dare sort of thing but I really did like him. I remember wishing that we had left that party together because the party turned a negative kind of silly and a lot of dumb stuff happened. We were both shy, too shy. He was a blond blue eyed sweet boy. The kind of kid who got good grades, played baseball and had manners. The story goes that he was wearing the wrong baseball hat. Their back yard bordered the park and he was playing ball with his brother, he went to get a fly ball in the park and got into a little bit of a tif with a drunk 14 year old over his hat when he was shot. In 1994 his brother Michael would die in a car accident the night before he was to testify against the shooter. Michael was Ethan's age and was well liked and like his brother a well mannered kind person. These boys were the only children in their family and these events left us heart broken for their parents and the community of Woodglen devastated. Why and how could such a random act of violence like this happen in a neighborhood like Woodglen. Mona Trembath their mother remembered that Michael has said how much he just wanted to be with Jason the day before his car accident. Knowing that she said that, a mother who would get no justice for the murder of her son showed Faith believing that now her boys are together. I to believe with all my heart that they are together and proud of the strength their parents have shown in their passing.

I think we all have tragady's to face in our lives. Mine have not been as devistating or as public as those of the Trembath family. Some of the tragic stories that belong to my family were born in the house on Jackson St. my sister ran away from home while we lived their and my older brother's life long struggle with addiction first came to light while our family lived their. My parents faith and the sometimes imperfect yet concecrated effort they made to teach and save their children was as tangable as any object i have ever seen or held.Their commitment and love for God and faith that he has a plan for earthly families and ways for them and their children to return to him. I grew up knowing that I had a Heavenly Father who loved me unconditionally and that I also had earthly parents who did as well.  That message was never weak through all the other challenging situations that presented themselves in our family my parents set an example of the first and most important thing anyone can do, ask God. Their prayers of love and concern for us were uttered regularly. There is a primary song that goes, "I see my mother kneeling with her family each day I hear the words she wishpers as she bows her head to pray, her plea to the father quites all my fears, I am thankful love is spoken here." I loved and still love that song. It said just how I felt. My parents prayed for us by name in family prayer. They stood and shared the feelings of their hearts in Testimony meetings at chruch. I loved it! I love them. I followed their example and have been blessed abundantly for it. I believe in families and I believe that they can be together forever.