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Show Sun Advocate Price, Utah Thursday December 1 2, 2002 IB Thelma and Marie, a Christmas story of togetherness By KEN LARSON Sun Advocate publisher Christmas is about families and love. Christmas is also about memories and hope. This is a story about Thelma and Marie and its a story about Christmas, families, hope and love. ; , . talked about dancing and singing around the tree. One year mother had to go to her family at Coalville and dad and us kids stayed home for Christmas,' said Marie, recalling, I remember him dancing around and around the tree with us kids, all holding hands and singing Christmas Thelma Rasmussen is 97 years old, bom in 1905 and her younger sister Marie Atwood is 90, bom in 1912. They were the second and fifth daughers bora to James and Jane Strokes Oveson ofEbno. There were also other sisters and two little broth- t ' ; ' Thelma talked about helping her mother with the baking, remembering the cookies and breads and donuts they made for the holiday season. The two older Oveson children, Edith and Thelma, at- tended school at George Herman Ovetts grainery and Thelma piped up that her first teacher was Roda Webber. But when they were asked about gifts, Marie remembers the early years when the kids got nothing. One year she got a doll with painted hair. But her older sister, Edith got a doll with real hair. I made such a fuss out of not having hair on my doll that Edith finally gave me her doll, said Marie. The Ovesons first lived in a log home with mud brought in from the area, while they were getting their farm going. Later as the children arrived, they added an adobe bedroom. Finally the girls remember getting lumber and building a kitchen which was added to the original log and ers. Thelma has spent her entire 97 years in Emery and Carbon counties, while sister Marie grew up near Elmo and moved to Car-- I. bon County after her marriage. But the two sisters have always been dose and loved each other very much. And today, all these years later, their home is the i j ; I ' Kenilworth. Younger sister Marie also married a coal miner at 1 9, some five years later. They were married at Judge Hamond's courthouse and her husbands dad and stepmother stood up for them when they married back in the Ttirnquist Retreat, and their rooms facing the east, are side by ; side. As I followed the sisters down the hall, both under five feet tall, both with nice Christmas sweaters, both shuffled along in their walkers to their tiny quarters, I couldnt help think that this is the true meaning of Christmas. Before they started talking I knew I wasinfdratreat because theycar-riedwithem an air of elegance and humility and the true Christ- I 1931. They first lived in Con- sumers and later bought a farm in Elmo on land that her father gave them. The Atwoods had two children. Marie remembers her first shack Christmas in a two-room th up at Consumers. A neighbor brought a tree from an area up the mountain they called Beaver. mas spirit Marie recalls, We had no money Thelma has been a resident of the center for six years and Marie has been there for four years and together they celebrate each day and both look forward to another ! for gifts and barely had enough to feed us, but we made decorations out of paper and enjoyed our first holiday together. I love the holidays, said Marie, People are happier and friendlier, but I would like more snow. Thelma added that her childhood memories of dancing around the tree still stand out in her mind. ' Owner of the Tumquist Retreat for the past 1 1 years, Colleen Wilcox talked about her aunts, Thelma and Marie. They are so much fun but so different from each other, she said. Thelma is kinder and more patient and Marie is more demanding, but they look out for each other and when one is sick the other one is right there by her holiday season. From Thelmas room you can look over the wash and see the remains of her familys home- stead, die farm her father and mother built from scratch On the flat just south of Elmo. Her par- ents met in Sunnyside around the turn of the century. Jane was wait-- ij ing tables while James was look ing for work with his brother. His brother got a job in the mines and James went to work as a sheep-herder . on the mountain. They married and moved to Elmo where they broke ground on their 180 acres. Thelma talked about her father renting a horse to pull up the sage brush and create his farm. There the Ovesons raised their seven children farming and bedside. At Thanksgiving Colleen recalls that they both had family invitations, but they wanted to stay and celebrate the holiday together. Its like a fairy tale story, especially at Christmas, when two little gray haired ladies, both in their 90s get to live together again, only a few miles from where both were bom. Shuffling in their walkers to either side of the Christmas tree, with smiles as big as their hearts, they smiled as the flash went off. Marie said, should we say Merry Christmas - now! ranching. Christmas has always been a big holiday for the Oveson children, although presents or gifts werent part of the celebration. I remember decorating a cedar tree every year that dad would bring in from the mountains when he got wood, recalls Thelma. The women talked about making their own decorations by gluing papers together and making a chain for the tree. Thelma and Maries eyes lit up when they iTO aV adobe portions of the home. Thelma stared off into a picture of her family when she recalled the round oak chief stove that sat in the middle of their new kitchen. It was a real stove, she said. When their little brother was about five they got a new home and it was in this home that the baby brother, almost lOyears younger than Marie was bom. Thelma married at 19 and she and her husband, Lawrence Rasmussen had seven children as well. After their marriage Thelma and Lawrence lived in Columbia inatentforfouryears up in Sunnyside. There our two oldest children were bom, recalls Thelma. But we always had a tree at Christmas and I remember us decorating the tent during Later the the holidays. moved to Rasmussens - ' .. .v . .V,: s L . - ;!? ' Come the best n country tJ-v experience - - - a ing with comfort and affordability Located fi Elmo5 Utah .; HV-v- - ,We are located in adja cent to .art assisted livlng center, iusty1 5 min-ut-es from, local shopping and hospitaf care; Transportation to arocerv stores is available 1 ?' alow-trafflcar- ea Each unit is 520 square feet and features: Vi bedroom, private bath, living room, Wtahen,' frv dependent heat and air corKjitkxiing, stove & frigeratarfumished.private exits to outside as wefl as interior corridor, basic utilities lndude&Com-mb- h' area" for family geMogethas'arid covered !:-- panting;: V. : Accepting applications can or stop a.-- v k Kv .. y ... ,jy i; - m I - t- ' dr i' I,. BulMIng Layout mi |