This is one of many, many stories that I hope to record from my grandma's recount of her life. This was recorded in Spring 2018. Gail Erichsen was 79 when she told me this story. Took place in my kitchen while sewing crafts.
February 15, 1970
Gail and Ewald left the house in Midvale with four kids, 10, 8, 5, and 3 to get away from Ewald’s mother because of family drama. Her in-law’s were living in the basement and they were not getting along.
Went to the store and bought new little suitcases, pink and green with little flowers. So they packed jackets. They had no idea they were driving all the way to California. She told her mother-in-law they were simply taking a little drive, since it was in the middle of winter.
So they drove past Sandy, drove past the point of the mountain. Ewald says, should we keep going? Yes, keep going. It was snowing and a blizzard outside. They kept driving. The further they drove the lighter and better Gail felt. Finally they pull into St. George at the temple visitor’s center.
They drove to Circus, Circus in Las Vegas. Used a Discover card and stayed in a hotel. The kids played in the pool. The kids were very little at the time and simply thought they were on vacation. They decided to drive to Needles, California. Third day that they had been gone.
Ewald had a sister in California, Annalisa. Knocked on the door and her husband answered, John Cheng. He was a hard husband to be married to. He was a penny pincher to the extreme. He would keep the fridge unplugged all day, maybe a jar of mayo would be all. He would go to the market every single day and buy exactly what they wanted to eat that day. He had married her simply to be a citizen, otherwise he would be deported back to China. She was a housekeeper in the LDS hospital. She didn’t like him anymore than he liked her.
Needless to say, Gail did not want her family to stay with them while they were in California. Gail and Ewald took the kids to Disneyland for the day. It was a blast! Every time she saw the smiles on their faces, she was happy. They were going to go to Sea World but then Ewald decided to make a call for home to check on Gail’s dad.
Ewald was at the phone booth on the phone and suddenly he slumped/fainted at the phone booth. Gail got him back to the room. He told her that their entire house in Midvale had completely burned to the ground. Gail didn’t cry. She simply sat on the bed and stared. What do we do now?
They got the kids and headed back. She told them that she was sorry but she had no desire to go any further on their vacation. They got something for the kids to be entertained with, games and such, and drove back to Utah. Gail doesn’t remember much of the drive back.
When they got back it was dark outside. They pulled up and Gail looked inside the house. She picked up a picture frame and it had President Kennedy’s face on it. She was looking to see where her piano went. All that was left was the leg. It had fallen into the basement.
The house was built by Ewald and Gail’s dad in 1962.
