Ralph and I lived with his parents for a while after we were married and then moved into an apartment that belonged to Grandma Renshaw. I began working at the OPA office during this time. Grandpa Keller had given Ralph a lot on 23rd St. and he was trying to build us a home. I continued to work until two months before Marlene was born. I worked because we were financially trying to be independent. Lillian Marlene was born on 24 July 1946 and by that time we were living in our own home. Marlene was very tiny when born, because I didn’t gain much weight during my pregnancy.
This little daughter was smart and hard to keep up with later on but she was a lot of company for her mother. John Patterson came along when Marlene was about two years old, and we were so proud of our new little boy. Before John was born, Ralph had quit smoking all on his own and I loved him even more for the effort he made. He was then worthy to bless John who was named for his grandfather, John Patterson Keller. At the time of his blessing a man came to see our new baby and said that if he was half the man his grandfather was, he would be great. Grandpa Keller was a wonderful man and I loved him with all my heart. By the way John was born on 6 September 1948 in St. Joseph’s Hospital.
We had built a house with two bedrooms, a double bed in one room and twin beds in the other. One busy afternoon I laid John on one of the twin beds and went on with my cleaning. When I came back into the room, he was laying on the other bed. Marlene was trying to be a little mother, so I knew I would have to be more watchful. The Cahills were living next door to us and had adopted a little boy named Mike, so Marlene had a playmate.
She was like her mother in some ways; she was quite a wanderer and inclined to leave home without saying anything to me. This happened several times and since we had no fence, I tried tying her to the clothesline, which gave her room to roam. One day I had to take extreme measures. We had a small suitcase so I put some of her things in this case and told her that she didn’t like her home I wanted her to leave. I put her out the front door and watched what she did. She sat on the curb a little distance away and started to cry. After a time I loved her and brought her back; I didn’t have any problem from then on.
John was a good baby, had some colic but did very well.
On 27 October 1948 Ralph and I with our children Marlene and John went to the temple and were sealed. This was something I had dreamed about all of my life and I was so proud that Ralph made himself worthy to take this step. I will always be grateful that the Lord made this possible.
Reed Francis was born on 16 October 1949 and grew so fast. Because he was not getting enough nourishment from just milk, I was told to start him on solid food when he was about a month old.
When Reed was a year old we moved to Ajo, as Ralph was Evan Mecham’s first employee. Ralph worked at his car dealership as a mechanic and later was in charge of the Parts Dept. Those were some of the happiest days of my life, in spite of the fact I had three little children and always had at least two jobs in the church. We had a great ward and it was like one big happy family. I got acquainted with my cousin, Ruth Winsor Weems and we learned to love each other a lot. While living in Ajo, our last four children were born.
Link: Life Story of Dorothy Evelyn McRae Keller, tenth installment
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