The Autobiography of Ruth Tagg Caley

She used to open the door to the man who sold them eggs. A young boy sometimesdelivered them. The foster mother would always send Mamie in the other room and give herother jobs. As Mamie got older she got more acquainted with people around her and she got tothinking and wondered if she had seen that boy before somewhere. She asked him where helived and he told her. So one day she went to visit him and found out he too was adopted. Hewas her brother. The foster parents on both sides were furious and had tried to keep them apart.Mamie met Cleve when she was about 15 or 16 and they were married. I can’t remember whatshe said became of her brother. Years later Mamie went back to Pennsylvania with Cleve to huntup her parents. She found her mother. There were seven children given away. Her mother wassurprised to know she had 6 grandchildren out in the car.Mamie had gone to the patriarch for a blessing when she first came to Orem and he toldher because of her faith in the Lord he had blessed her and she would have better health and stillhave sons and daughters born to her which she did. After, she was blessed with a daughter andnamed her Anita Ruth. Then came Bill, she named him William and then came Donald. Mamiehad only about two heart tappings for fluid since she left Pennsylvania. Mamie never did findher own father, he deserted them and her mother didn’t care, it seemed, to try to keep the familytogether or couldn’t under the circumstances.Well the McDonald family and the Caley’s became good friends. We used to get togetherin the summer time and fix up a lunch and go camping. Remember Mamie begged us to goovernight and camp out. John was no sport for that kind of living. But to please Cleve (wecalled him Mac), we went along and we asked a fellow in charge of some hot springs if we couldcamp over yonder there and he said I suppose so. So we laid out our beds and enjoyed the coolnight air under the stars. Next morning Mamie was picking up her bed and said to hermischievous son Jack, “Hey Jack. Why did you put those dead snakes in our beds?” He said,“Gosh Mom, I don’t know anything about those snakes.” Come to find out those snakes werealive before anyone crushed them underneath the quilts. We didn’t stay around there for anothernight. The young ones went swimming in warm springs and after we moved on.Mamie was a great one to want to go camping, so we planned another time to go to the canyonwith the Ebert family. Remember the Ebert’s? They lived down under the hill from J. FredPotter’s where we used to take Winifred Bentley. The Ebert’s now had a family of five. Pauland Vi, as we called the Ebert’s, were to bring the fire wood and matches. Mamie and Maccould bring what they wanted and Paul said he’d bring the ground beef. I said I’d bring the salad.Well when we got there after a long drive, we found out Paul didn’t have any matches. He had alittle wood. I went to unpack and found I had left the salad on my table at home. Viola lookedfor the ground beef and said, “Paul, where’s the meat?” He said, “I thought you had it.” So wehad bread buns and potatoes and that’s about all.My husband John went down the back of our orchard one day and turned his ankle. Itdidn’t get any better but swelled up and got red in the veins. We took him to the doctor, that isMac did. The doctor gave him the needle but the swelling and redness went over to the otherfoot. The doctor said it was Phlebitis and sometimes people got in their sides or legs or armsRuth Tagg Caley pg 45