My Family HERstory: Conversations with Arda Jean Christensen

It's the 80s! Grandma Arda Jean's children are all grown up and moving out! She talks about what it is like to see the children that you have spent so long raising to become adults actually do it, and how it's more challenging than you might think. She recounts with fondness all 5 of the weddings for her children that she attended during this decade. We also learn the real origin of the Scout Auction fundraiser. Lastly, some sage advice for those with children who are becoming adults, and those who are becoming adults themselves.

It's the 70s! Grandma Arda Jean talks about her full house, and how much she loved the grooviest decade! She talks about what it was like to go 8-1/2 months pregnant to her daughter's high school graduation, an accident in Mexico that sent Jean to a Mexican hospital, and all the many adventures of a time period where she had SIX, count em, SIX teenagers in the house at once!

Woah! It's the longest episode yet! Grandma Arda Jean speaks on being an adult and remembering some of the most tense and tumultuous times in American History, the 1960s. She talks about what President John F. Kennedy was like, and how his assassination affected her. What the Cold War was like, and how she built a nuclear fallout shelter in her basement. What the Vietnam war was like from home, and how she lost people she knew. What the movement lead by Martin Luther King was like and how it changed America. She also talks about the birth of Rock and Roll through bands like the Beatles, and finally, the legendary Moon Landing of July 20, 1969. What a decade!

It's the 4th of July, and Pioneer day! Grandma Arda Jean shares the experiences and traditions of her youth surrounding the 4th of July and Pioneer day! She also shares her feelings about the United States of America, and we read an almost century-old poem written by her father describing in moving verse a scene from the Battle of Argonne, WWI.

It's the late 60s and the cultural revolution is underway! Grandma Arda Jean Christensen shares her experience parenting six little children the late 60s and compares her experience with that of her own parents, and their parents before them. Did you know that her great grandfather Jens Larsen was killed in a raid by Native Americans? I didn't!

She's seven month's pregnant and she's travelling the world! Grandma Arda Jean shares her experience at the World's Fair(s) of 1962 and 1964 in Seattle and New York, and also of her huge trip to Europe and the Holy land in 1964!

New audio setup! This episode was done in person, and with a brand new microphone! You know what they say about when life gives you lemons? Well, it's 1960 and the turn of the decade brought with it more trials than Arda Jean though she could bear. (Sounds familiar huh? New decade, tons of trials, 2020 anyone?) With sickness in her family, deception in their company, and a two bedroom apartment that will have 6 people in it by the end of our story, Arda Jean shares her experience, and how she endured and overcame this tumultuous year.

Grandma Arda Jean shares with us the experience of Don leaving the army and the family settling down in Provo. Grandpa Don begins to take classes from Utah State University and Brigham Young University, but soon learns that his mind for industry may be better suited "in the field." Grandma shares humorous and heartrending stories of caring for her little ones, and humorous and incredible stories of Don and his mind for business.

It's Resurrection Day! Grandma Arda Jean shares the traditions and memories of Easter from her childhood, to her children, to the current day.

Arda Jean shares what some of the major events of the 1950s were like from her perspective. She shares her experience living in South Carolina during and after Brown V. Board of Education desegregated schools. She shares how she learned of the prejudice of the southern people, including the members of the Church, after Grandpa tried to invite a black coworker and friend of his to church with him. She also shares the awe and excitement she experienced about the Space Race, the fun she had listening to Pat Boone and Elvis, and what it was like to take her children to Disneyland when it new and novel.

Summer, 1955. It's hot, it's humid, she can't understand the locals, and she's pregnant. Arda Jean tells about the touching and often humorous story of becoming a new mother on an army base in South Carolina. She talks about the things in her life that changed, and the things that didn't. She shares some touching stories, funny stories, and incredibly wise advice.

"'He asked me 'Is there anything about that girl you don't like?' and I said 'No.'" - Don Christensen It's fall of 1953 and love is in the air. Arda Jean meets the man who will become the love of her life, Don Christensen. She talks about their first date, their courtship, Don's first (and second) proposal, and moving across the country twice to be married to an army man. Lastly, important advice is given for engaged couples and newlyweds today.

Grandma recounts what it was like to serve as a sister missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Called in 1950 to the Pacific Northwest States mission, she shares what the mission home was like, how her companions were, how the people were, and even a chance encounter with the prophet! She shares her love of the Restored Gospel she taught, and advice for all prospective and returned missionaries.

Grandma shares her college experience, beginning with a few stories from her K-12 days, but mostly about her time attending Brigham Young University from the late 40s to the early 50s. Moving from rural Sigurd to *more* developed Provo, classes she loved, friends she made and still speaks with today, and the feeling of joy that accompanied the era after the war as she looked forward into a more hopeful future. P.S. Did you know that grandma learned French??

Grandma talks about what it was like to be a Junior High to High School aged kid in wartime America. Rationing, school, and leisure are talked about, as well as experiences with German POWs employed in Southern Utah, and experiences with Japanese Americans interned and free in Southern Utah.

Our first episode ever! Grandma Arda Jean and Grandson Jonathan have a conversation about what it was like to grow up in the 1930s. Grandma tells stories of her own grandparents, farm life, getting electricity and indoor plumbing, and how different, yet similar, life was 90 years ago.