Helen Delk:
CLASS OF 1946
Porterville High SchoolClass of 1946
Porterville, CA
Burton Elementary SchoolClass of 1942
Porterville, CA
Helen's Story
Bob Delk and I were married after High School. We were the parents of three sons, Rickey, Stanley and Randy.
Bob and I were very happy together, then in 1993 he passed away after battling lymphoma for eight years.
Our first son, Steven Rickey passed away three months later.
Hmmm, what shall I say? I can't hope that my friends will remember me in a particular way! I'm sure they will remember me as quiet and shy, not very outgoing, except with my closest friends, and believe me we had fun, giggling and being silly. Maybe flirting a little with the boys we liked.
Bob and I were married young! I was only seventeen, but it lasted until he 'left me' and went to be with the Lord.
Okay, the Story Wizard is giving me some ideas!
My favorite way to relax? When I'm here at home I head for my computer,check my email first and then either work on my pictures or see what I can find on the internet. I belong to several MyFamily sites and have a family genealogy site of my own.
After my husband passed away in Payson, Arizona my 3rd son and his family moved me back to Porterville with them. We decided to go in together on a home in the country. I had an addition built on to the house, so I have my own semi-private area.
Now we also have two mobile homes on the property. My grandson, Jeff and his family moved into one and my granddaughter, Susan and family are living in the other. My granddaughter, Anna and her husband, Ted are living, temporarily in the house
with us to save up money for a down payment on a home of their own. We have 13 people here and we love it!
Last July, after my 2nd son's marriage split up he and I made a trip back to Columbus,Texas to see his daughter, Carrie and her family, then went on to Searcy, Arkansas to see his son, Craig and family.
Since then, Carrie and Taylor have become the parents of their second son, so now Stan and I are planning a trip back to Texas again and then will go on to visit Craig and his two little boys.
We are planning other stops along the way, since we will be pulling his 26 ft travel trailer. Stan has never seen the Grand Canyon, so he wants to do that. He hasn't mentioned it yet, but I'm thinking that he will want to see the Painted Desert and the Petrified Forest.
He wants to take me to see the Alamo, since my gr gr grandfather died there in 1836.
Stan is taking his laptop, so we won't be completely out of touch.
Six weeks later:
Stan and I made our trip, visiting relatives along the way. We stayed 2 weeks at his daughter's place in Texas, then went on to visit his son and family in Searcy, Arkansas.We st...Expand for more
ayed two weeks and then headed back home.
In New Mexico we ran into a cold, blowing, icey snow storm. Stan had just commented on the beautiful area when suddenly it didn't look beautiful any more. I had been interested in the gorgeous scenery so I hadn't noticed that a gust of wind had caused the trailer to weave back and forth. That is, I didn't notice until our truck tires began to slip on the ice covered pavement.Stan was trying desperately to remember some of what he'd read in the Motor Vehicles Code book.Finally he said, "We're not going to make it, Mom!". I asked him later what he'd meant by that. He said, "I meant I couldn't get it straightened out and we were going to crash.".
I looked down to our right and saw that there was a slope and I knew that if we went off in that direction we would roll. I looked to our left and thought that hitting the bank would be better. I asked (prayed) that we would slip off to the left. There were no cars or trucks ahead of us and the men driving the trucks in back of us could plainly see what was happening ahead of them.
Our pickup made a complete U turn, glancing off the bank. The rear wheel on the passenger side came off with the impact.The trailer swung higher up the embankment and came down on it's side and rolled over on it's top. Stan quickly got out and tightened the valve on the propane tank. He came back to where I was still sitting after banging the right side of my head.
He said, "Well, the trailer is gone!". I said, "Gone? Where did it go?". He said something like, "It's smashed!". I then looked back and saw the wheels of the trailer sticking up and the top smashed in.
Two truckers stopped to ask if we were okay, then made the call. They were very nice and helpful. Truckers are great people.
The trooper came and got us into his warm patrol car, then called a towing service.
The pickup and trailer were a total loss. We rented a small UHaul truck and brought home a pile of wet clothes, towels and bedding and anything else we could salvage. I have about two more loads of laundry to do.
We would have liked to take pictures, but our cameras were buried in the wreckage of the trailer!
When I mention something else that I am missing from the trailer, family and friends remind me, "Yes, but you and Stan were not hurt and that's really all that matters". I agree when they tell me we are very lucky, but I give all the credit to our guardian angels for protecting us.
This was not exactly a Christmas story, but if God had not protected us we would not have been here to celebrate Christmas this year.
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