Stories From My Dad

So many people have shared such wonderful stories about my mom, and now I am so excited to share with you stories from my Dad. It is a little long, but I hope everyone gets a chance to read this post!

I first met Cristy in our freshman year at U of A about 1968-69. She was in my German class. The first thing that I noticed about her was this full head of beautiful long hair. She would tell you that she was a blond, but being a blond myself I always said it was auburn. A little red, a little blonde, with a splash of chestnut color. The second thing was that she was much better at German than I was. I found out later that her being good at all subjects was just a way of life. She made the Dean's list for all four years of College. I think that meant that she maintained a near perfect grade average. I was so far from that, I didn't even know what it meant.
I could tell that she was not a Girlie Girl. My height at 5'10" and probably weighed more than I did (I was a light weight in those days), but it was all in very good places. Broad shoulders, big hips, and a full chest from her Scandinavian heritage. We were both involved with other people for most of the first year. Late in the year however, I found myself free and thought I would take a chance. I went to her dorm one night and asked to see her. She came down the stairs dressed in a full length black gown and wanted to know what I wanted. She was just on her way out to sing in a concert at the auditorium. I said," how about if I go to the concert and then we grab a bite to eat afterwards?" I loved listening to her sing. I was hooked. We went to Bob's Big Boy afterwards and she got her favorite food, a big hamburger. It would always be her favorite meal.
We went back to campus and walked for a long time just talking. It turns out she grew up only 5 miles from me and went to Washington High. I had gone to Glendale. Did I kiss her good night? NO. The two year relationship that I had just ended was all physical with no mental or friendship. I didn't want to do that again. Later she would recall that she thought that there might be something wrong with me because it wasn't until the fifth date that I actually made my move. This was unheard of in the era of FREE LOVE.

We saw each other almost every night after that. We talked and walked and eat hamburgers. The next weekend we both went home to the Glendale area. Our first official date was to go se Romeo and Juliet at the Cina Capri. It was the fancy movie theater of our time. Wide screen, plush seats, and a huge red velvet curtain. What better way to set up a first kiss than to watch Romeo and Juliet. My dad had let me use his new Cadillac Convertible and we went in style. We drove up Lincoln Drive and parked above the city lights. I have to mention at this point that Cristy was wearing the old style of glasses that were pointed at the end. My first attempt to kiss her ended with me getting poked in the eye. Smooooooth! She kindly removed the glasses and all further attempts were successful.
Back at school we finished up our freshman year and headed home for the summer. I worked days and Cristy went to summer school. We saw each other every night during the week and every day on the weekend. I spent more time with her family that I did my own. I got to know her mom Jean and her dad George. Jean was an ex school teacher who felt that life had past her by and she could have done so much more. She was happy and sad at the same time. George was a Chemist who worked for a brewery. He was very easy going and liked to work with his hands. He used to build beautiful rifles from scratch. Cristy got her love of making and building things from her father. He was the most patient man I had ever met and she got that from him as well. George took each day as it came and seamed very happy with his life. They were both very active in their church as was Cristy from a very early age. The Iverson’s had settled in Phoenix right after the war and Cristy was one of the few natives I ever met. She was born down on McDowell in 1950. They later moved to the Central Corridor area. Sunday was always an active Church day at the Iverson house. Cristy and Jean would sing in all the services and George would record the music for the church which was then sent out to the housebound people of their congregation. This was all new to me since I grew up in a household with no real religious affiliations.
The other thing that was big on Sundays was eating! After church they would all pitch in and start making all kinds of things. They fried Zucchini and cooked what else, hamburgers.
Cristy had a younger brother, Kent. Big, good looking kid just a year or so younger. He was a real honest to goodness outdoorsman. He didn't go in for all the church stuff and usually was off hunting somewhere. He was easy going like his dad. You could not help but like Kent. We use to do a lot of outdoor things with him.

That first summer was spent going to the lake and the mountains. Often Kent and their cousin Steve would go with us. Steve died a few years later in a tragic plane crash on a training mission with the Air Force. They took me to Greer for the first time. Cristy’s favorite place. She loved the pine trees, the lakes and the afternoon monsoon rain storms. We would fish, take long walks and spend the evening by the fire or starring up at the stars. She was the all time nature Girl. She loved to just sit and listen to the forest for hours. I of coarse was like a little Jack Russell Terrier, I had to be moving at all times. Sitting still for more than five minutes was unheard of for me. She always wore cut off jeans and a to-shirt in the summer, full jeans and a sweatshirt or flannel shirt in the winter. She was so unassuming. Cloths and things of this world never meant a lot to her. Later on after we were married I would go to the store and bring home three or four outfits for her to try on because she hated shopping so much. In our many talks she would tell me that in her life that she planned out, the order of importance would always be her church, her work and her family… in that order. I heard her but it really didn't sink in until later in life when it would cause a great deal of friction for us. She never wavered from those ideas. So many of us, me included, adjust our beliefs to fit our life styles or what is convenient. I do not resent it to this day. She was honest with me as she was with anyone who she ever came in contact with.
Summer ended and we headed back to the U. I rented a house with some other guys only 2 blocks from school. Cristy stayed in the dorm. We had a few weeks to kill before school started and we spent a lot of time at my house. Getting her back to the dorm before they locked the doors was always a problem. We would open up the windows and doors during the monsoon rains and sit playing chess, listening to The Associations. I can shut my eyes to this day and hear the rain and the music. She was a good chess player but I was very competitive and won most of the games… I think! She might tell a different story. And I would believe her if I was you.

Our sophomore year started and we spent our free time playing tennis, intramural volleyball and hanging out at my house. I was working part time selling shoes at the local JCPenny’s but we still found time to see a lot of each other. We both had a fool school work load. I would get her back to the dorm before it closed and she would skim through the next days material and ace it of coarse. That photographic memory of hers was the envy of everyone. Especially me! I would study until the wee hours and get up early the next day just to receive a B. Cristy had a system though. She would wash her hair, put it up in curlers and put on the old plastic hooded hair dryer. She would study and sleep with that thing humming away drowning out all the usual dorm noises. It became such a habit that even after we were married she would do it very often. Guys, imagine strolling into the bedroom at night thinking about a romantic interlude and finding your wife with a white Zulu face mask on from Avon and this flowered hair dryer pumped up to the size of a beach ball humming away while she was sleeping or reading a book. I loved the long hair and was sad when she cut it short, but never did miss the hair dryer.
We went to a few dances but neither of us were party people. After we were married years later we did get involved in square dancing at SOV and enjoyed it very much.
Later that year we ran into problems. She thought that I was a hopeless romantic (which was and is still true) and she was the practical one. I had watched way too many Leave it to Beaver, Father Knows Best and My Three Son episodes. Life will be beautiful and always work out well in the last five minutes of the episode. Mom and Dads never fight. I started talking about marriage and kids. She said "hold on there cowboy! I have big plans for myself and will not let anything get in the way at this early stage." We decided to go our separate ways, me pouting and her determined to accomplish her goals.

So we went our separate ways. Cristy was accepted to Medical School and Vet School and chose to go to Fort Collins, Colorado to vet school. I don't know much about those years accept what she told me. She was a floor Supervisor in a coed dorm. Many times a drunk Cowboy would try to make trouble on her floor with some of the girls and she would through them down the stairs and tell them to go sober up. And they learned veryl quick not to mess with her. You have heard about the time the bull she was watching decided to take her on a tour of the town. The funniest story she ever told me went like this:
A little old lady brought her pet Parakeet into the school clinic (people from the town could get their animals looked at by a student for a low rate). It had a growth on its beak and she wanted it removed. The student on clinic duty wasn't sure how to go about it. They took the bird in the back, put a cotton ball soaked in ether up to its nose to put it to sleep. The student (not Cristy she said), then took the electrical cauterizing gun and tried to burn off the growth. The ether ignited and before anyone new it, they had a dead cooked Parakeet on their hands. They went to the bird cage where they kept Parakeets for practice and picked out one that looked as much like the other as they could. They then took the new bird out to the lady and told her that because the bird had been put under to remove the growth that it may act a little funny for quite a while. In fact some birds are never the same so don't be surprised if he acts different. The lady went off happy with her bird and the students learned a valuable lesson about ether!
The hardest thing that she had to do was learning to set broken bones. You see, they had to break the bones before they could set them. Yes, they would put the poor dog’s leg in a vice and break it. Then practice setting the broken leg. She said she would always have one of the boys who enjoyed that sort of thing do the breaking and she would do the setting. She could not bring herself to break a healthy leg. She use to keep pet rats in college in her dorm room. If one got sick she would ask me to put the poor thing out of its misery. She couldn't bring herself to kill anything. That’s why we always ended up with a house full of cats, dogs and assorted critters.

Now we fast forward about 5 years. After Vet school Cristy came back to Glendale and her first job was at the Human Society. I was living in Durango, Colorado and was home for a weekend to visit Jen. I happened to be driving down Northern one day and thought I would stop in and visit George and Jean for a second since they were just around the corner. George answered the door and said "Come on in here, there is someone you need to see." When I walked in Cristy was standing there. I said "What are you doing here?!" which is what she said to me so many years ago at the dorm. She said "I'm waiting for you." What a classic line. After that we wrote a few letters back and forth. I would write and then wait, and wait, and wait for a reply. About the time I figured she wasn't interested a letter would show up. As usual she said she was busy with church and work and just didn't get around to writing. About 6 to 8 months later I decided to pull up roots and move back to Glendale. I missed my daughter and wanted to explore a relationship with Cristy once again. About a year later we decided we wanted to get married. Cristy's mom thought it was a big mistake. She new us both very well and could see all kinds of pit falls. In this case mother knew best, but we did not listen and the rest is history.
The best thing we ever did was decide to have a baby. Lindsey was the prettiest baby I have ever seen. She had our sense of fun and was so easy going just like her mom. I worked nights so I could be with her during the day and Cristy would lug her to church at night while the choir sang on. I would put her in one of those wined up swings and talk to her while I lifted weights in the spare room. We would swim in the pool and I would take her for long walks while riding in my back pack. I would even take her with me while I played racquet ball. Sometimes I would hold her in my left arm while I played ball right handed. It sounds dangerous but I was always careful and she thought it was great fun.

Great memories.
Rod Newport