In 1968 my dad sent me up to Tennant, Ca. on a bus that stopped in Yreka where my grandmother picked me up. I was to stay with my grandmother for 2 weeks before summer was to end. I was 12. My grandmother ran a small country store & kitchen bar for the loggers on Tennant Road. They would show up for breakfast and lunch. Our sleeping quarters were above it, in a loft. Coming from the San Fernando Valley, I was mesmerized by the wonderful views and scents. I felt like I was in Heaven. I would lay in the creek looking up at all the monstrous evergreens. It made me think about God and I talked to Him a lot. I made friends with Chipmunks and walked up the road to peek in the windows of a row of old houses, along with an old schoolhouse that looked very different from my school in southern California. My grandmother Josephine Krogh was very kind and gentle-spirited. I had never really known her very well; having only seen her a few times before, when I was younger. Those two weeks were a turning point for me in the sense that it was a big world out there to explore, and I realized I hated my home life. I didn't want to go home. I wanted to stay there with my grandmother, but it was just a limited job for her. I didn't mention my grandfather because he wasn't my real grandfather and he was a hopeless drunk. He would get smashed in the store and fall on the floor. Sometimes right in front of the loggers. It embarrassed me. It was good to get away from my abusive mother and 3 sisters who were antagonistic to me. My father didn't know my mom was abusive because he worked 6 days a week for 12-16 hours as a ceramic tile setter. He and I were very close and I could've told him what was going on at home, but I knew he was always tired and didn't deserve to bear anymore. I know this was long. But the impact this trip to Tennant had on me (as a child becoming a young lady) had had a huge impact; naturally and spiritually. I always wanted to go back there to live in the area and raise my kids there, but it just never happened. That area of Tennant and its surrounding glory had an impact on me almost the same as meeting Jesus when I was 21.
In 1968 my dad sent me up to Tennant, Ca. on a bus that stopped in Yreka where my grandmother picked me up. I was to stay with my grandmother for 2 weeks before summer was to end.
I was 12. My grandmother ran a small country store & kitchen bar for the loggers on Tennant Road. They would show up for breakfast and lunch. Our sleeping quarters were above it, in a loft.
Coming from the San Fernando Valley, I was mesmerized by the wonderful views and scents. I felt like I was in Heaven. I would lay in the creek looking up at all the monstrous evergreens. It made me think about God and I talked to Him a lot. I made friends with Chipmunks and walked up the road to peek in the windows of a row of old houses, along with an old schoolhouse that looked very different from my school in southern California.
My grandmother Josephine Krogh was very kind and gentle-spirited. I had never really known her very well; having only seen her a few times before, when I was younger. Those two weeks were a turning point for me in the sense that it was a big world out there to explore, and I realized I hated my home life. I didn't want to go home. I wanted to stay there with my grandmother, but it was just a limited job for her. I didn't mention my grandfather because he wasn't my real grandfather and he was a hopeless drunk. He would get smashed in the store and fall on the floor. Sometimes right in front of the loggers. It embarrassed me.
It was good to get away from my abusive mother and 3 sisters who were antagonistic to me. My father didn't know my mom was abusive because he worked 6 days a week for 12-16 hours as a ceramic tile setter. He and I were very close and I could've told him what was going on at home, but I knew he was always tired and didn't deserve to bear anymore.
I know this was long. But the impact this trip to Tennant had on me (as a child becoming a young lady) had had a huge impact; naturally and spiritually. I always wanted to go back there to live in the area and raise my kids there, but it just never happened. That area of Tennant and its surrounding glory had an impact on me almost the same as meeting Jesus when I was 21.
Wow, thanks for sharing
My great-grandparents lived in Yreka, CA. :)