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| Melva Cazier |
What does the word Antique mean? Unique, special valuable when hearing the word antique it resembles these and it’s also very high in price if u want to sell it or buy it. (wiki.answers.com)
I also know that for an item to actually be called an antique it needs to be 100 years old or older.
Wikipedia tells us this… An Antique (Latin: antiquus; old) is an old collectible item, It is collected or desirable because of its age, beauty, rarity, condition, utility, personal emotional connection, and/or other unique features. It is an object that represents a previous era or time period in human society. It is common practice to define “Antique” as applying to objects at least 100 years old.
My husband Tyce and I love to go Antique shopping and to see all the neat objects before our time as well as spark memories. Our children also enjoy going, they have learned over the years you do not touch the small frail and neatly placed items, that these items hold irreplaceable value…both those at the antique malls and in our home as well as their grandmothers.
Today I want to share a special antique with you…Her name is Melva Petersen Cazier, Yes she was an antique…She was 100 plus years, she was rare, in great condition and represents a previous era and time period in human society. There are many people who live to be 100 years old. But not everyday do you know, talk or are related to one. This Friday the 13th of January marks the two years that she has passed on. (January 13, 2009). So in memory of her I thought Id share some fun things about her. Melva is my husbands (Tyce Jensen) Grandmother, She turned 100 years old in May 17, 2008 Yes she was born in 1908.
Now although she had reached triple digits of age she didn’t allow it to stop her at all. At age 100 she could bowl a 200 on the wii, her Grandchildren and great grandchildren didn’t have a chance against her, it didn’t matter how much we practiced! The other reason this is so amazing to us is that when she was 8 years old, he brother asked her to hold a target while he shot an arrow (made out of a needle) at the target, and an accident happened it shot into her eye. Their parents were gone on a trip for a few days and they had no phone, or vehicle to get her to the doctor, so they waited until their parents came home and by then it was too late to save the eye.
Later in life this same brother felt awful for what he had caused his younger sister, he offered to pay for surgery or what ever she wanted to have done, but she had refused. She forgave him, because it was merely an accident, and knew he had never meant to hurt her. So she always had a glass eye. As well as she become legally blind in her good eye later in her life. So to bowl a 200 simply amazed us.
Melva always walked on her own, and not until her last week of life did she ever use a cane or a walker. She was a strong gal. She would crack us up, she would tell the great-grandchildren come sit on my lap for a horsey ride…(I can hear her voice as I think of these words) We would always say “Grandma, they are much too big “ But she would insist and so my Jocelyn being the youngest (at age 5 when she passed away) would climb upon her knee and smile. Grandma lived at the Apple Tree in Kaysville, Utah, it was an assisted living, but they took care of themselves, and it was like a big frat house of older senior citizens…they were always having parties, and playing games, going on tours in Utah and shopping, they always had a friend and she had her older (Yes I said older) sister Aunt Lodie who lived across the hall for a couple years before she passed away. She sure had a ball there, she made so many friends and she was in better fit then all of them as well. Melva was the exercise lady at the Apple Tree, she would teach a daily class to help ‘get those old bones moving”, this is what she would tell me. She would always tell everyone you just have to keep moving, and eat some real food! Grandma also tied the huge Christmas bows at the Apple tree for their Christmas tree, oh how she would tie some of the most beautiful bows ever. Ksl 5 news would come do news pieces on her about her age and how fit she was and the crafts she would make. She use to work as a floral design specialist and make beautiful boutonniere and cordages, she made several for everyone at the Center and taught classes on floral arranging there as well. We would go and pick Grandma up and everyone was always saying oh Melva what a beautiful family you have…she was their STAR shining so brightly there.
The Apple Tree had a banana tree and she would share the bananas when they were ripe and she always had lots of candy…she would have huge zip lock bags full of them, because she really didn’t care about candy, but never wanted anything to go to waste. Grandma was at everything Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and all the birthday parties…it was always nice to see her, she wore costume jewelry all the time,cute flowers in her hair, big rings and sparkly necklaces, she was always a doll. All the great-Grand-kids just loved her to pieces; mine still talk about her as if she is just at apple Tree having the time of her life.
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| Melva with her two youngest Great-Granddaughters |
I sometimes look over at her spot at the counter where she always sat and I fight back the tears. She made us laugh so many times…she would tell us stories of the farm and silly animals and once they had a two head sheep born on their farm, and she kept it alive for a while, a university was coming to get it to study it, but with the snow storms they didn’t make it. Before moving back here to Utah Melva and Earl Cazier lived up in Bonners Ferry, Idaho. It is the tip top of Idaho just a half hour or so across the border to Canada. Grandma would always talk about Bonner's Ferry and all the people and many, many memories there.
In September 2010 Tyce and I took our 4 children along with Tyces parents (Eddo and Donna) on a road trip we stopped to see Glacier National Forest and went into Canada and then into Bonners Ferry, It was Donna’s High school reunion and while there she showed us her old homes she lived in and the old farm, schools etc. They had two different farms when they lived in Bonners Ferry. One of them was on the back side of a large water canal system and one year it broke and it flooded roof high, until it evaporated. Donna was an infant then (she was their youngest child) and they used the cattle’s water trough to float around and gather their belongings. It had a long stretch of miles and miles of road out there before you would hit the little city and Melva walked it to get to the hospital while she was in labor with Donna.
Years after the flood they moved over on the outskirts of Bonner's Ferry and They had around 500 acres of land and if you have ever been to Bonner's Ferry there is trees so thick there, and they grow easily, so Grandpa Earl had to clear the land so they could grow feed for their cattle, they started a dairy farm and had turned the barn into a milking house. When we went to see it, I think Grandpa would have rolled over in his grave as now it is a tree farm, I kind of giggle, its funny how one person doesn’t want trees there and worked and sweated many hours to get it cleared, then years later it’s a tree farm. It is also bear country up there and Donna told us some stories on that. It was a blessing to see all the many places that Grandma had talked about all these years. Melva and Earl had 3 children Gloria, Jerry and Donna .
Uncle Jerry died in Bonner's Ferry, it is said that his car hit black ice and he fell down the side of the mountain, and they weren’t ever able to recover the car, with all the trees, steep hill and the debris, so they left it and trees grew through it, then they put in a new bridge and buried the car many years later. While there we visited Jerry’s grave, he was 22 when he passed away, which led to Grandpa selling the farm because he couldn’t do it all alone anymore. They moved into the city of Bonners Ferry until Donna was a Junior in High school then they returned here to Utah. Gloria their oldest never could have any children, so Donna is the one that had any, She had two sons (I married the youngest of the two). Grandma ended up with 2 grandsons and 7 great-grandchildern. Melva and Earl met while she worked at a hamburger stand and he was working in the fields and he would come by everyday to talk with her. One day he asked her if she wanted to go on a trip with him, and that they should get married because that’s the right thing to do….so They got married on January 4th, 1933 in Brigham City, Utah. They worked side by side with all their farming. They were always with one another until Grandpa passed away July 1st, 1998 I was able to know him for nearly a year before he died. He was funny and we still point at the salt n pepper and grunt that was his way of saying “Please pass the salt and pepper”. The first time I met Tyce’s grandparents was the first Thanksgiving we were dating and it was at his parents home in Sunset, Utah . I walked in and Tyce introduced me and Grandma said “Oh that’s Earl, he can’t hear much!” and Grandpa said “She can’t see too much either!” That’s just how funny they were.
Tyce and I were married a year after he had died. We never realized it was the exact day that he had died, until almost our 1st anniversary. She lived in her Clearfield home for 3 or so years after Earl passed away, before she decided to sell her home and move to the Apple Tree. She did so many things in her life and helped a lot of people as well. She graduated from Bear River High School and served many callings in the LDS church, her and Grandpa Earl served as Stake Missionaries. She was a 4-H leader and PTA President. She could grow anything, and everything she touched seemed to grow even better. She always had a beautiful vegetable garden as well. Melva was told she was the jack of all trades she painted, sewed and made beautiful arrangements, crafted many things, loved to cook…infact she would always offer me head cheese , They were sheep or cows brains, I always managed to get out of eating it, but at times I wished I had tried it. She liked to walk, bike, and exercise and of course bowling…she and Earl were on many bowling leagues. Melva was always a well kept lady, always wearing some fancy suit and hair all done up with of course her jewelry and even her packages were neat and pretty just like herself. No doubt she had witnessed many things and many changes in the world and she remembered them as well, she had a good memory and could talk to anyone and tell you stories for hours. She also loved T.V. she liked learning new things. When I received my Real Estate license we all went out to eat and celebrated, she was so proud of me and she said “ I think I would like to sell houses, maybe I should go to school too.” I replied with “You should Grandma and we would make a great team”! I just loved that she never stopped living she knew there was never a limit to what you could learn and was always willing to try new things.
A little over a year before she died she was very ill, and they told us to say our good bye’s to her … I remember going up and seeing her at the hospital and whispering “ Don’t die now, look how close you are to that 100th birthday…Hang in there Grandma”! She was a bit out it and I am not sure she remembered much because she woke up and was like “Where am I ,where are my things”? So they sent her back to Apple Tree and she was just fine. We were able to have a huge party in her honor and her sister Roma in Washington was able to make it down to her birthday to spend it with her… There were hundreds of people that came to say hi to her and she greeted everyone with such grace and a beautiful smile. Grandma always liked to be the center of attention. We then went outside and released 100 balloons with her! What a great day it was.
I am grateful that she was able to spend one more Christmas with us before she moved on to her next great adventure…What a treasure and a true antique this lady was and I hope that her stories and her strength lasts as my children tell their children about their Great-Grandma…
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| Melva With Great-Grandchildren (Tyce and my kids) |
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