1. What is the earliest event in your life you can remember? Tell me about it.
My family used to go to the Los Angeles Museum of Natural History a lot (it used to be free) and I remember my Dad carrying me in my stroller up these big stairs at the entrance to the museum. I also remember being in my crib and my sister’s bed being across from me in the same room.
2. How did your parents choose your name?
I think I remember them telling me that there was a restaurant called Cindy’s and they thought it was cute. They didn’t like Cynthia, just Cindy.
3. Where did you grow up?
I grew up in Torrance California and lived in the same house my whole life until I met and married my husband.
4. How did you travel or go places in those days?
As a kid I walked or rode my bike. Otherwise we pretty much got around in the car as a family. We did take a train ride once and a plane ride.
5. What are the names of your brothers and sisters, in order? Do you remember how you
felt and what you did when your younger brothers or sisters were born? How about _____?
Robin. She is my older and only sister and sibling. I was the baby, so Robin was always there.
6. What experiences do you remember having with your brothers and sisters?
We sometimes played together with the neighborhood kids. I remember playing steal the bacon on our front lawn. We would go to drive in movies once in a while with my parents. We would bring pillows and blankets and sit in the back of the car and my parents sat in the front. I would fall asleep often before the movie was over. One time my mother made us some dresses and we had to be in this fashion show. I remember I was so nervous that I forgot to wait for my sister and walked around the room by myself. We took ballet and tap lessons together for a while. It was fun except we had to pick up this other girl who smelled really bad all the time. We had birthday parties every year. My Dad would have some special time with us both at night before we went to bed and on Sunday mornings when we were little. At night we would all lay in my Dad’s bed and sing , “There was one in the bed and the little one said ‘roll over’.” We would also play that there were sharks on the floor and he would try to throw us off. On Sunday mornings we would lay out a blanket on the living room floor and pretend it was a raft and that we were floating down the Amazon river and would see all these animals and birds and stuff. My sister and I used to make up little puppet plays for my parents and we would stand behind the piano and perform for them. I also remember dancing around after our baths in our towels. We called it our “stitch clothes dance”.
7. What kinds of things did you do for fun? Any other things?
I was very into Barbies and my cat, Sua. I would dress him up like a doll and play with him. He was very docile and would let me carry him around all the time. He was like my baby. We had a swing set and I played on that a lot and with the neighborhood kids. I learned to ride a bike about eight years old and rode it around a lot. In the summers we went on vacations to Pinedale Arizona and Provo Utah to visit my grandparents. We had lots of fun in Pinedale riding horses, playing with cousins and hiking around the hills finding Indian pottery and arrowheads. We would catch lizards and “horny toads” which were like fat lizards and even some snakes. We would play in the cows troughs and in my Uncle Herman’s barn and we had a lot of freedom to romp through the town there and even liked going up to the town graveyard. In Provo we would go to Saratoga, a little resort with kiddie rides and a swimming pool from natural hot springs. We would play “motel” because my grandparents owned a motel that they lived next to. We would also walk up to downtown Provo a lot and buy little toys at the stores. At night we would look for night crawlers in the yard. They were huge earthworms that would quickly go back in their holes when the flashlight light hit them. You had to be fast to catch one.
8. Did your friends or family have any nicknames for you? What did they call you? Why did
they call you that?
My Dad sometimes called my “Cindy Windy” just because it rhymed I think. My best friend in elementary school called me “Ci” and I called her “Ga”.(Her name was Gaye.)
9. What chores did your parents have you do? How did you feel about doing them?
I was supposed to keep my room clean, but was not so great at it. When I did clean it, I would usually do a really good job though. It was pretty messy most of the time though. I did the dishes mostly, but sometimes me and my sister would surprise my mother and clean up the whole house. I remember my mother liked me to do the bathrooms more than my sister because I did it better. I probably complained as a kid, but I always felt good about getting things done and looking better.
10. What was Christmas like when you were young?
We would always get a live tree. We would decorated it together. We had the big lights with reflectors behind them. My Dad always put up the tree lights. The rest of us did the ornaments. We had a big lighted Santa in a sleigh and two pairs of reindeer my Dad would put on the roof. We hung up stockings on Christimas Eve and opened one gift, always pajamas. I was terrified of Santa, so I don’t remember visiting with him a lot in the stores. Santa left presents for us on Christmas morning, unwrapped. My sister and I would get up early and sneak in to peek and see what he left us before we woke up my parents. Then we would open all our gifts. Sometimes my grandparents were there to visit. We always had a big dinner. We played and sang lots of Christmas music.
11. Did you have a special way of celebrating birthdays? What special family traditions did
you have?
My sister and I always had birthday parties with friends and cake and games. When I was really little, I remember everyone coming all dressed up in fancy dresses and playing animal charades.
12. Who baptized you? Who attended the baptism?
My Dad baptized me. It was a stake baptism. I am sure my family was there, but the only thing I really remember is my walking into the warm water and getting baptized and walking back up the stairs to my mom and being cold and really dripping wet until she put a towel around me. I also remember being embarrassed when I was changing because there was no privacy.
13. How did you feel about school? What did you do well in school? What did you do poorly?
I was very worried about getting good grades in school, and I did get good grades most of the time. I was in the gifted program and they gave us extra stuff to do, some was just more school type work, but I also got to go on cool field trips like to see plays and stuff. I was not the best at sports, but I could do ok if I practiced things, like I got pretty good at basketball and volleyball.
Which teachers did you like best?
I remember my fourth grade teacher named Mrs. Smith. I really liked her. My fifth grade teacher, Mr. Humber was good too. He let me and my friends write and produce a play about pioneers on the Oregon trail. I remember liking my kindergarten teacher Mrs. Cole a lot too. She was nice.
14. Did you ever have any unusual or exciting adventures when you were a child? Any
others you can think of?
I was almost kidnapped one time when I was about eight years old. I rode my bike up to the store with my friend. We were in our swimming suits and we went in to get an ice cream and then went out to eat our ice cream and ride a little motorcycle ride in front of the store. A man followed us there and asked me if I wanted a dollar. He said,” I will give you a dollar if you go in the car with me.” I jumped off, tried to unlock my bike and he started to walk over to me and said, “What’s the matter, are you ok?” and I ran past him into the store and tried to motion through the glass door for my friend to come in. The man left and she came in and told the manager of the store who was her Dad’s friend. My parents came and picked us up.
15. What was an embarrassing experience you had as a child? Any others?
When I was in the first grade, I went up to tell the teacher that I felt sick and threw up in front of the whole class. I remember it was a baloney sandwich and I never wanted to eat one again after that. I also got sent to the principal one time for swinging my lunch box at a boy who was trying to bother my friend. I was really upset and crying so hard that when I talked to my teacher I accidently called her, “Mommy”.
Questions about the Teen Years
1. Where did you live? Tell me about your home.
I lived in the same house for my whole life. We lived at 1108 W. Clarion Drive in Torrance, California. It had 3 bedrooms and two bathrooms. We had fruit trees in the back and my Dad always grew tomatoes and beets every year. We had huge palm trees in the front that eventually had to be cut down, but they were there the whole time I lived there. By the time I was a teenager, my sister and I were in our own rooms. My room was light blue with dark blue carpet and my window looked out to the front door.
2. What was your favorite activity as a teenager? Tell me about it.
Probably going to the beach, or the movies, or the mall with my friends, and having slumber parties. The beach was probably my favorite. We would sunbathe and swim and eat and walk around the beach area.
3. What was school like as a teenager? Was there something you were especially good at in
school? What school activities did you participate in?
I went to a large junior high (7th-9th) called Stephen White and a large high school (10th-12th) called Carson High. I always worried a lot about my grades. I was in advanced classes, but I always got good grades, so I don’t know why I worried so much. I was in the California Scholarship Federation all of high school and I think even junior high. I was the historian one year. I graduated with honors. I did well in English and writing and things related to it. I was not as strong in Math, but still did pretty well. I liked to go to the football games. We would tear up little pieces of newspaper for confetti and then throw it when our school team would make a touchdown. Then afterwards everyone would go to Burger King to hang out.
4. What books did you read? What were your favorite radio or television programs?
I liked to read, but I liked to go places and do things more. So most of the books I read as a teenager were probably assigned in school. I don’t remember any favorite TV show. We watched lots of TV at night though, whatever was on, sit coms and things. My Dad used to make us watch “World at War” a lot, especially while we were eating dinner. I was probably more likely to be on the phone than in front of the TV.
5. What was teenage music like then? What was your favorite kind?
I love music, but I think I must have been born a decade late because I didn’t like much of the music from my teenage years. I liked the Beach Boys and the Beatles and the 50’s music.
6. Did you go to school dances? What were they like? How did teenagers dance then?
I only went to a couple of school dances. They were just ok. The church dances were better, even though you had to wait around to be asked to dance. Dancing was kind of lame in my teenage years. You just moved around to the beat for the fast ones or went in a slow circle with your partner for the slow songs. No one really knew how to dance. I would have rather learned the jitterbug or something. Disco got popular right around the time I started dating Dad and we did go out dancing a few times, but we didn’t really know how to dance until after we got married and took dance lessons for a little while.
7. What home responsibilities did you have?
Not as many as I probably should have. Mostly I was just supposed to keep my room clean and do school work. I did help my Mom out with cleaning and things when she needed me too.
8. Did anything difficult happen to you as a teenager?
I remember one time in Junior High, some of my “friends” wrote me a note and said that they didn’t like me anymore and listed reasons like that I was a crybaby and other hurtful things. It was very painful and I felt like I was all alone, but a few of the kids that were not in on it (my real friends apparently) told the other kids how mean they were and that they were still my friends.
9. Who were your friends then? What did you like to do with them?
My school friends were the same kids from my advanced classes since they always put us together, but I didn’t hang out with them after school that much. Our houses were far apart from each other. I mostly hung out with my friend Sherri until she moved to the valley. Then as I got older I started hanging out with different people from school who could drive so it was easier to do things together. We would just go places together or hang out at our houses.
10. What made you decide on your career or college or your plans for your future? What
goals did you have at that time?
My parents could not afford to send me to school for the whole four years and so their plan was for me to go to college locally for two years and then transfer to BYU. But instead I met Dad and got married. I always wanted to get married and have children.
11. Did you ever like someone who didn’t like you? Tell me more.
I liked this kid in Junior High who was Asian and only liked Asian girls. I liked a boy from church once who would kind of act like he liked me too sometimes, but he had an on and off girlfriend that he could never really get over. I think they ended up getting married. Anyway, even if he had liked me he was too loyal to his friend that I was dating at the time to ever admit it.
12. When did you begin to have a testimony of Jesus Christ? What memories do you have of
Church meetings or activities?
I remember one time when I felt really sure there was a God and that he created everything. I was at the beach at night. I think I was in the 10th grade and I was there with some friends, maybe even my sister because I would hang out with her and her friends sometimes. I was swinging on the swings. It was dark and I was looking up at the stars and this overwhelming feeling just came over me and I knew God was real and he had made all these beautiful stars and the universe. I have never forgotten it.
Some of my memories of church are that we would usually sit near the back at church. It could get really hot in the summer because we had no air. I remember making a slide show with pictures I took of all the beehives and showing it at an activity. I remember going to the L.A. temple and doing baptisms for the dead. I remember playing the piano for mutual for a few weeks and not doing a very good job and the girl who was leading the song giving me funny looks. I remember sitting by this boy who liked me in mutual and he was so nervous he couldn’t even talk to me.
1. Where did you live? Tell me about your home.
I lived in the same house for my whole life. We lived at 1108 W. Clarion Drive in Torrance, California. It had 3 bedrooms and two bathrooms. We had fruit trees in the back and my Dad always grew tomatoes and beets every year. We had huge palm trees in the front that eventually had to be cut down, but they were there the whole time I lived there. By the time I was a teenager, my sister and I were in our own rooms. My room was light blue with dark blue carpet and my window looked out to the front door.
2. What was your favorite activity as a teenager? Tell me about it.
Probably going to the beach, or the movies, or the mall with my friends, and having slumber parties. The beach was probably my favorite. We would sunbathe and swim and eat and walk around the beach area.
3. What was school like as a teenager? Was there something you were especially good at in
school? What school activities did you participate in?
I went to a large junior high (7th-9th) called Stephen White and a large high school (10th-12th) called Carson High. I always worried a lot about my grades. I was in advanced classes, but I always got good grades, so I don’t know why I worried so much. I was in the California Scholarship Federation all of high school and I think even junior high. I was the historian one year. I graduated with honors. I did well in English and writing and things related to it. I was not as strong in Math, but still did pretty well. I liked to go to the football games. We would tear up little pieces of newspaper for confetti and then throw it when our school team would make a touchdown. Then afterwards everyone would go to Burger King to hang out.
4. What books did you read? What were your favorite radio or television programs?
I liked to read, but I liked to go places and do things more. So most of the books I read as a teenager were probably assigned in school. I don’t remember any favorite TV show. We watched lots of TV at night though, whatever was on, sit coms and things. My Dad used to make us watch “World at War” a lot, especially while we were eating dinner. I was probably more likely to be on the phone than in front of the TV.
5. What was teenage music like then? What was your favorite kind?
I love music, but I think I must have been born a decade late because I didn’t like much of the music from my teenage years. I liked the Beach Boys and the Beatles and the 50’s music.
6. Did you go to school dances? What were they like? How did teenagers dance then?
I only went to a couple of school dances. They were just ok. The church dances were better, even though you had to wait around to be asked to dance. Dancing was kind of lame in my teenage years. You just moved around to the beat for the fast ones or went in a slow circle with your partner for the slow songs. No one really knew how to dance. I would have rather learned the jitterbug or something. Disco got popular right around the time I started dating Dad and we did go out dancing a few times, but we didn’t really know how to dance until after we got married and took dance lessons for a little while.
7. What home responsibilities did you have?
Not as many as I probably should have. Mostly I was just supposed to keep my room clean and do school work. I did help my Mom out with cleaning and things when she needed me too.
8. Did anything difficult happen to you as a teenager?
I remember one time in Junior High, some of my “friends” wrote me a note and said that they didn’t like me anymore and listed reasons like that I was a crybaby and other hurtful things. It was very painful and I felt like I was all alone, but a few of the kids that were not in on it (my real friends apparently) told the other kids how mean they were and that they were still my friends.
9. Who were your friends then? What did you like to do with them?
My school friends were the same kids from my advanced classes since they always put us together, but I didn’t hang out with them after school that much. Our houses were far apart from each other. I mostly hung out with my friend Sherri until she moved to the valley. Then as I got older I started hanging out with different people from school who could drive so it was easier to do things together. We would just go places together or hang out at our houses.
10. What made you decide on your career or college or your plans for your future? What
goals did you have at that time?
My parents could not afford to send me to school for the whole four years and so their plan was for me to go to college locally for two years and then transfer to BYU. But instead I met Dad and got married. I always wanted to get married and have children.
11. Did you ever like someone who didn’t like you? Tell me more.
I liked this kid in Junior High who was Asian and only liked Asian girls. I liked a boy from church once who would kind of act like he liked me too sometimes, but he had an on and off girlfriend that he could never really get over. I think they ended up getting married. Anyway, even if he had liked me he was too loyal to his friend that I was dating at the time to ever admit it.
12. When did you begin to have a testimony of Jesus Christ? What memories do you have of
Church meetings or activities?
I remember one time when I felt really sure there was a God and that he created everything. I was at the beach at night. I think I was in the 10th grade and I was there with some friends, maybe even my sister because I would hang out with her and her friends sometimes. I was swinging on the swings. It was dark and I was looking up at the stars and this overwhelming feeling just came over me and I knew God was real and he had made all these beautiful stars and the universe. I have never forgotten it.
Some of my memories of church are that we would usually sit near the back at church. It could get really hot in the summer because we had no air. I remember making a slide show with pictures I took of all the beehives and showing it at an activity. I remember going to the L.A. temple and doing baptisms for the dead. I remember playing the piano for mutual for a few weeks and not doing a very good job and the girl who was leading the song giving me funny looks. I remember sitting by this boy who liked me in mutual and he was so nervous he couldn’t even talk to me.