Angels Game

House Guest

I remember one time when we lived in Riverside that we had a guy spend a few days at our house.  The missionaries were teaching him the discussions and helping him get is life on track.  Dad wanted to help out so he offered to let him stay at our house for a few days.  I don't think the kids were ever told anything else about why he was staying with us.  We were just told that he had a hard life, and that he needed a place to stay for a few days. 

This man was trying to quit smoking.  We didn't see him smoke, but we could tell that he did by the way he smelled.  I don't remember the man's name, but he had really long brown hair and maybe some facial hair.  I remember that he brought very little with him besides some old clothes and his guitar.  He stayed back in one of the bedrooms at the back of the house that was sometimes an office. 

We thought it was fun to have a stranger stay with us.  Especially a stranger that was so different from our normal house guests.  We would talk to him a lot and ask him a lot of questions.  We thought he was so interesting.  I think he enjoyed spending time at our house and I'm pretty sure he wasn't too annoyed by all of our questions.  I don't remember seeing this man again, so I'm not sure what happened to him.  From this experience I learned that we should help the missionaries even when it isn't convenient for us, and that we should love and take care of others even if they are very different from us.  

Helping Tanner Sleep

Tanner was not a very good sleeper as a baby.  Some nights he would go to sleep only if you were driving him around in the car.  When Dad would take Tanner out for a drive to put him to sleep at night, he would bring me along to spend time with me.  I always had a lot of fun getting this alone time with Dad, and enjoyed feeling like I was helping to take care of my little brother.  We would play this game where he would have me close my eyes while he was driving.  Every few minutes he would have me guess where we were.  I got pretty good at directions doing this because I had to pay such close attention and memorize all of the streets by our house.

Thumb Tack

It's funny that Spencer just posted about a few memories from Dad, because Heidi just barely sent me a message reminding me of one my few memories of Dad that she remembers me telling her.  It's probably because it was Father's Day.

Anyway, I remember one day I was being particularly obnoxious and I kept singing "Give Said the Little Stream." I was at the kitchen table singing this while Dad was working on grading homework. He asked me politely to stop singing and I kept on singing.  He asked me again and I continued to obnoxiously sing. The third time he yelled at me.  I, being a particularly sensitive child, cried and ran to my room.  Not too long after, Dad came to my room to apologize for yelling at me.  I must not have had a tidy room (shocker, right?) and there was a tack on the floor.  He stepped on the tack, and left the room yelling about it, instead of finishing his apology.

After reading Spencer's posts about Dad always taking advantage of teaching moments, I realize that's probably why he was in there.  I think Dad also wanted to make sure that I knew that he still loved me.

Punishment

When we got in trouble, which wasn't uncommon, Dad would send us to our rooms.  After we had spent some time in our rooms calming down, he would tell us we could come out.  He would always hold us in his lap, say how much he loved us and that he was sorry that he had to punish us.  These were some of the times that I most felt how much he loved me.  I knew that he really felt bad about punishing me, and that he did it for my own good.  This sequence happened every time I got in trouble with one exception.  I don't know why he didn't come get me this one time.  He probably got busy with something around the house.  I remember sitting in my room waiting for him to come say he loved me and to comfort me, but he never came.  I kept waiting and waiting and was crushed when he didn't come.  Him not coming was worse than the original punishment.  I hesitate to share this experience because I worry that it casts a bad light on Dad when my intent is completely the opposite.  I share this experience to show that I came to expect constant love and words of comfort from Dad because that is what he nearly always provided.

Wrestling

Dad wasn't afraid to get his hands dirty when playing with us kids.  He really loved to wrestle with us.  He would often take us all on at once which we thought was a lot of fun.  Because he had only one arm, he would use legs quite a bit when wrestling all of us.  He would wrap his legs around one or two of us so we couldn't move at all.  We would all just be rolling all over the place.  I remember one time in particular that the boys were having so much fun wrestling that even Ashleigh wanted to join in.

Violence at Chino High School

Dad taught at Chino High School which was kind of a rougher part of town.  Dad coached tennis during most of his time there.  I remember one day after work, he showed me a tennis ball that had been sliced almost completely in half.  One of his players had hit the ball over the fence into the street.  Apparently, somebody had picked it up, pulled a knife out of their pants and sliced through the ball before throwing the ball back over the fence.  I remember being slightly afraid for Dad's safety after this.  I could imagine some thugs just hanging out on the street right by where Dad was coaching all afternoon, and this kind of scared me.

I remember one other time there was a big fight at his school.  A lot of people got involved in the fight and there was a big group watching.  Dad and another teacher who was a pretty big guy stepped in to break it up.  This sounds weird, but I remember somebody was trying to use a large stapler as a weapon.  I think the other teacher got roughed up a little bit, but Dad didn't get too hurt.

Teaching Moments

I remember that Dad always took any chance he had to teach us.  He would try to teach us during moments we would be teachable, and would often refer to experiences from his own life to teach us.  When a teaching moment would arise, he would pull us aside individually.  He always spoke in such a quiet and calm voice that I would just sit there and listen to him quietly.  One time my siblings and I must have not been getting along when he pulled me aside.  He told me about his best friend growing up who was named Pat.  They were really good friends and did a lot of things together.  However, sometimes they would argue.  Dad had only one arm, but it was really strong because he used it for everything.  Because of this if they were actually to fight, Dad would have really hurt Pat.  One time when they were arguing, Dad realized that things were escalating and knew that he had to be the one to stop it.  He stopped the fight and made Pat leave.  He was glad that things had stopped before anything regrettable had happened.  He used this to teach me that sometimes even best friends get in fights, but they are still friends afterwards.  He taught me that even in the heat of the moment, sometimes you have to be the bigger person and take control of a situation to make sure that nothing regrettable happens.  I heard him tell this story a couple of times so I must have been a slow learner.  He had a couple of other stories he would tell about his friend, Pat.

Letter home & baby name

Dad would always write letters home to his parents while he was at BYU.  He did this even after getting married.  Amber scanned these letters into a digital format.  I will post these letters and transcribe them here, from time to time.  This letter is one of my favorites because it mentions my arrival, and shows that my parents decided on my name at very early stage.  I really like envelope for this letter.  It was written in November, 1982.  The back of the envelope says p.s. baby's name - if boy - Spencer Ryan, if girl -  Brooke Suzanne.  I wonder why Ashleigh was not named Brooke. 

Here is what the letter says:

November 1982, Provo, UT (Sunday)

Dear Mother and Daddy,

It was a real pleasure talking to you yesterday on the phone.  You made me feel like you really miss me and I am glad, because I know you do.  It is so good to have parents who care.  You are always there when we need you and we appreciate that.
You were telling me about the opportunities of becoming a Computer Programmer.  That is a possibility that as you know, I have considered.  I don't know why I became up in the air about teaching other than the concern that money is and will continue to be scarce for teachers.  We read an article on how poor a pay scale there is for teachers (13,000-30,000).  This is the national average.  I am sure the top is for areas w/ a high cost of living like cities in California.  I am going to check at the career center again to what job opportunities are available for Math teacher and also Computer Programmers.
I was thinking that since I enjoy working with figures and such that Accounting sounds interesting, so I signed up for a beginning accounting class next winter.  Who knows what I will end up in?  Maybe I'll become a nuclear scientist and the build the first nuclear powered prosthesis (haha!!).
Putting all joking aside, I do need to decide soon because school is expensive for you and will be expensive for us with a new arrival in July.
The problem is that I love to teach, (Or is that preach?)  I love to interact with people, and I can't see myself at a computer terminal eight hours a day and not interacting w/ other people.  That is my main concern.
As it stands right now, I have a math class + computer science class this semester + next, so I am getting a good feel for these areas.  I will let you know my definite plans and goals for graduation by next April.  that is my goal for when to decide on a career.  Please write and tell me your plans + feelings.  Sorry this letter is so short, but I promise to write more soon.  Tell everyone hello for us.  Dixie sends her love.

Your son,

Calvin.

Singing me to sleep

I probably remember the least out of all the kids because dad died when I was only three. However, there is one memory of dad that is very vivid to me. I remember when I was little, dad holding me and singing to me as he waited until I fell asleep. He was always so kind and caring to everyone.

Memories of a Mother-in-Law

I remember when Dixie called and told us that she and Calvin were dating seriously, and she was concerned about our attitude of his having only one arm.  My response was, "There are a lot of things in life that are worse to deal with than that."  Calvin proved this to me over and over.  I was amazed to watch him play tennis, baseball, swim, drive a car, etc.  He had figured out how to do everything - nothing deterred him!  Calvin loved life and he loved people.  He was a great teacher and was so good at explaining things.  I was told that he spent many hours beyond his required hours in school teaching helping his students who struggled.  He had a great knowledge of the gospel and loved to read the scriptures.  He was so proud of his family and loved them very much.  There were countless times when I saw him pull one or more of his children aside and quietly explain something to them to help them with a problem that had occurred.  One of my last memories of him was when I observed him sitting on our couch with Ashleigh and Tanner beside him and he was reading to them.  I have wished over and over that I had taken a photo of them at that time.

As remembered by Rhea Tiffany (mother-in-law)

El Paso

My dad fondly remembered growing up in El Paso, Texas.  As a family we went there a couple of times when I was younger.  One time we went there for his parents' 50th Anniversary.  I remember that the celebration party was held in the red brick chapel that my great-grandpa was in charge of building.  We played hide and seek with our cousins in the large and uniquely built chapel.  All of the twists and turns in the chapel allowed for great hiding places.  If I remember correctly, it was the first LDS chapel constructed in Texas.  My dad was very proud of his family's heritage and its history with the church in Texas and Mexico.  We got to hang out at the house he grew up in.

Another time we went to El Paso just for fun.  I think it was on this trip that we spent a lot of time at the house my dad grew up in.  We hiked up the this big hill that was just up the street from the house.  We played games in the court in the backyard, and swam in the swimming pool.  I vaguely remember a pinata in the backyard.  It seemed to me that my dad felt very comfortable being back in El Paso even though he hadn't lived there for a long time.

I might be making this up, but I feel like I went to El Paso with my dad by myself on one trip.  I remember going to visit Grandma and Grandpa Pierce in the care center they lived in.  This must have been shortly before my dad passed away.  My dad was very patient with his mother, and able to comfort and calm her.  Her eyes lit up when she saw him come into the room.  I don't think her memory was very good at this time, but she was very happy to see him.  

    

They remember the man.

Over the years, I have run into people that remember Calvin from his mission or BYU days. When I start to describe him, it isn't the lack of arm they remember. In fact, it often takes them a while to remember that he didn't have an arm. They remember the caring and loving eternal missionary that loved the Lord and his family. That was what Calvin would have wanted to be remembered for. He never wanted to be treated different because he was born "different". This only made him try harder to be the best man he could be. He always gave his all.

Holidays

We didn't have any family close by to celebrate holidays, so often we invited the missionaries or the Steve Farley and his family. They also had nobody nearby. One year for Thanksgiving we had bought a new table, nothing fancy, but new. We had to hurry and get it put together so we could enjoy the dinner and have somewhere to sit. This table had bench seating on both sides, so we could easily fit a large group.

For Christmas we often went to Utah, but as the kids got older the gifts took up so much space that we left them home. One year was "bike" year and we had the neighbors put the bikes in our living room while we were gone, so when we got home, Santa had left the gifts at our house. Other years, we planned small gifts that were easy to pack. Our tree was nothing special, but on a few occasions we made garland out of homestrung popcorn. Talking about popcorn, a fun treat that we made often was carmel popcorn. One year we made enough to give as gifts to the neighbors.

Games on the Computer

Unfortunately, I have very few memories of Dad (even fewer than one would expect a 10 year old to have). However, I recall playing a game on our computer called "Storybook Weaver Deluxe". You would use templates for characters and scenery to make stories. On one occasion he helped me by providing the narrators voice for a story I had made about Spider-Man. While he attempted to narrate the story, he misnamed one of the characters. I corrected him and he kindly responded with, "Oh, I am sorry...that is [correct name of the character]." He must have loved being silly and enjoyed reading the stories I would write. We had that recording of his voice on the computer, and I would listen to it on occasion after he died. That may be why it is one of my few lingering memories. His voice was imprinted on my ears for several years after we lost the recording when junking the computer.

Late Night Movies

I guess Dad was kind of a night owl like myself. I remember staying up late sometimes with him watching movies. I particularly remember one weekend when they had a series of James Bond movies in which we watched a couple of them. On many occasions he would pile up a bowl of ice cream and watch a movie. I don't remember the movie so much other than that the two we watched were the Spy Who loved me and Goldfinger.

Bad Planning

Ashleigh and Amber scanned a stack of letters that Dad sent home to his parents while he was at college.  He often gave a report on his finances.  This one from his freshman year stood out to me.  It seems to be from the beginning of the year.  I thought it was really funny because he had such a good sense of humor about it.  He was very detailed and commented on everything he bought during the month.  This month was funny because he said, "I spent an excess of $36.  This is quite ridiculous and shows bad planning....I assure I have repented of this and put down a strict budget for November."  I also love that he mentions spending money on dates, one of which included tickets to see Saturday's Warrior.  I can't quite make out what he highlights after detailing the date, but it almost looks like the word atrocious.  If so, I wonder if that is describing the date or Saturday's Warrior.

Calvin Photo Slideshow

Where Calvin lived at BYU

We were looking through letters that dad wrote when he was at BYU and newly married.  Below are the various addresses that he resided at:

Freshman Year (1977):

Mission (1980): 

9501 Greenback Lane

Fulsom, CA 95630

Sophomore Year ( 1980/81):

R502 Deseret Towers

Provo, UT 84601

Junior Year (1981):

755 N 100 E #311D

Provo, UT 84601

Senior Year (1982):

321 N 300 E 

Provo, UT 84601

Scoutmaster

Calvin was the scoutmaster in our ward when we had 3-4 young children. It seemed to me like he was always going out to have some fun camping while I stayed home with the little ones. He was so proud of being an Eagle Scout and wanted each young boy to have that opportunity.