Jonah and Thelma.  Anyone that has been around for 50 years knows I’m thinking of the Evanses.  Jonah was the local plumber and Thelma was his trusty wife who had a mink stole.  They were friend Debby’s grandparents, so I knew them well. 

Jonah came to the rescue at our house once.  Mom, aka Grandma Red, used to tend kids and that meant washing out diapers in the toilet.  It was what everyone did before Huggies.  One day, a diaper got away from her and washed right down the hole.  She immediately called Jonah to come “fix” her problem.  She thought she had plugged up everything. This was back in the “one-bathroom-per-house days,” so no one was allowed to use the toilet until Jonah got things running smoothly.  It was tense. A house full of kids and only one toilet which happened to be plugged.  Jonah asked if mom could see any of the diaper.  “Not even a corner,” was her reply. 

“Well, just give it another flush and you should be fine,” he replied with a laugh.  Mom was skeptical, but she did as directed.  Sure enough, that diaper must have gone all the way to the sewer ponds because we never saw it again and the toilet ran like a charm. Jonah knew his business!

Deb’s Grandma Thelma was a practical woman even if she had a mink stole.  She used to write to Deb when we were in college.  Her letters were newsy, and she never wasted ink on punctuation.  She always started with a capital letter and ended with a period.  That’s the whole letter, one continuous sentence that kept us up to date on what was happening in Malad, and we all know a lot happens in Malad!  

Her practicality was evident long before her letters started arriving.  According to Deb, the family story that has lasted through the years involved Thelma as a young mother.  Her mother-in-law had given her a yeast start right after Thelma and Jonah were married, along with strict instructions to not let the yeast die.  It had to be kept at the proper temperature winter and summer.  That meant lowering it into the well at times to keep those yeast cells multiplying.  Yeast required a lot of care in those days.  One year, when they were moving from the farm back into town for the winter, they were loading up and Thelma knew she had to carry the yeast start.  However, there was a baby that needed holding as well.  When they piled in the car, Thelma gently put the baby on the floorboards while she held the yeast with the explanation, “If anything happens the baby will heal.  We can’t lose the yeast.”  

Thelma’s children were all a lively crew, and life was never dull if an Evans was around.  So, here’s to the Good Life and practical parents who knew when to flush, when to protect the yeast and when to put the child on the floor!  Those are some important skills.