A Letter from my Grandma Platt

I have some fun memories of my grandma, Bernice Platt. I have written down some of my memories of her in a letter format, as if she has written it herself to my children about me.


Dear Great-Grandchildren,
When I think about your mother as a young girl coming to my house, I always laugh. Her bangs always hung long so I couldn't see her blue eyes. I always threatened to cut them with siscors, but was never allowed to touch them. That girl was a tease (hum, I wonder where she go that from. Probably me) and loved to torment me to no end. She would hop the wall from next door to come visit in the bitter cold of winter with no shoes on. If I would have collected all the nickles and dimes I threatened to make those kids pay everytime she and her cousins would come barefoot, I would have been quite rich. I loved the time we spent together cooking up my favorite recipes, not that I really followed one, of course. Most of the time we would just make things up as we went. We bottled hundreds of bottles of fruit, salsa and other goodies. We baked homemade bread, and yummy cookies. She wasn't very good at buttering my toast. I always had to spread it to the corners when she wasn't looking. Your mom was the worst food sampler I ever saw. One day when I'd had enough of her picking on my food before it was ready to eat, I called her a P-I-G. I loved the time spent playing cards with her and her cousins. My personal favorite was playing Hearts. The girls always accused me of cheating, but I think your mother was the worst of us all. I don't know if those girls really knew what playing cards meant to me. It helped me to forget for a while the constant pain I was in. Living in a wheel chair for many years was really rough. I couldn't do a lot of things myself and I had wonderful children and grandchildren who spent their time helping me do the things I couldn't do myself, like washing dishes, doing laundry, wheeling me around, helping me with personal bathroom needs, etc. Your mom loved going for rides on my lap when she was a lot younger.
And now a word or two of wisdom from an old Grandma:With all of the pain I was in and not being able to get around on my own, I still made it to church most every week. I loved the spirit that I felt there. I also love attending the temple and with the help of good neighbors and family, I was able to attend regularly when I was well enough to go. I loved the temple. It was a place I could go and forget the pain as well, knowing this was one thing I could do for others who couldn't help themselves. My faith and love in the Savior was what got me through a lot of things. I am here with Him and your great grandpa now and get to spend a lot of time learning and growing and helping in this great work that is going forward at a very fast pace. It never ends. It feels so good to be busy. We can't do it without your help, though. Always stay worthy and prepare yourselves to enter the temple when you are old enough. Remember the heritage you've been given. It is a legacy born of faith and love. I love my Savior, my family and this work. It's what life is all about. I love you very much. It is true. Families really are forever.Love,Your great grandma Platt (Bernice)

Family History

I would like to turn this into a family history blog. I would love to hear from all of you. I didn't know Hope and Francis Platt. They are my great grandparents. I would love stories about them, pictures, memories that any of you may have of them. I would also like all of the families to do a little history of their families with family pictures. If we get a good response I will turn it into a book for everyone. I think it would be a fun way to get to know everyone and include family history. I will even let any of you interested in adding to this to be blog moderators. Let me know what you think. If you do not feel comfortable putting your info on here, we can make this private. I would need all of email addresses of anyone interested in keeping up with this blog, though so that they can view it if we go private.
Also, if any of you have blogs that you are keeping up, send me your links and we can add them on here so that others can keep up with your families.
I will start by including on here a letter written by Hope R. Platt to her grandchildren in 1975. I would have been a year old or so. This letter means a lot to me.

For all my dear ones . . . . Dec. 1975
Dearest Sharon (written in her own hand)
(Typed) I'm so proud of all of you because you bear the ancient and honorable names of PLATT and RUSSELL . . . and of the names of those you marry.
May Christmas mean as much to you as it did to me as a child long ago. We had rag dolls with glass beads for eyes and lots of molasses candy and popcorn. Our boys made their own sleds and would have great fun on the hills as you do.(small hole=missing words) strung popcorn and cranberries to trim the tree. My uncle Alma Pratt had (hole=missing letters) up Parley's Canyon up in the mountains and would always come down dressed in a red hat . . and a red face and a red nose . . to bring us a christmas tree. I remember one time my mother gave him a big bowl of bread and milk and I watched our "Santa" eating it and oh how I wanted to eat it myself. We had very little to eat then.
My father always carried a red handkerchief tied on his cane to put goodies, candy and surprises to bring home for us children. He used to sing to us many songs as we loved to sit on his lap in the green rocking chair. Both he and mother would sing songs together to entertain us. We didn't have records or TV then. He liked to sing "Uncle Ned", Bell Brandon", Katie Wells, etc the old Negro spirituals and we all liked to hear them over and over again. My father was only 16 when he came to Utah with his widow mother and family. He had known many hard times in his young life. He served in the Spanish American war. He was a hard worker and built a fine home and farm on West Temple, and did a great amount of genealogy and Temple work. He died when I was only 7 so my mother was left with a great responsibility for us children.
In 1907 when I was 18 I went on a mission to Chicago. I recall how we used to go with the Elders to help them with their cottage and street meetings . . . and help them sing. When they sang "Oh My Father" people would come up after and offer them money to sing it again. But of course they told them they couldn't take any money but would be happy to sing and to explain the gospel. At Christmas time we always had a good time in the mission Home, where I was a secretary. The people there were very good to us. My sweetheart, Frances Platt, went to Holland while I was still in Chicago and we wrote often. I still have many of his letters and cute Dutch post cards. I thought you would like to have a picture of me when I was a young girl . . . and though I'm now 86 I can still remember how it is to be young! (There is a copy of an old black and white picture of a beautiful young women - Great Grandma Platt).
Now . . Remember who you are and be careful what you do with your precious name.
May you always have a Merry Christmas to remember . . and all things you'll need in each New Year ahead. May our Father in Heaven ever guide and protect you and your dear ones.
(written in her own hand) Love and prayer for you
Grandma Great
Hope R Platt

The Spjut Family (Gayle Platt)

Thank you, Gayle for sending this in.
Front Row L-R: Katie Walters Spjut with son Aaron, Jackie Spjut, Kylee Spjut, Nikki Clark Spjut
Back Row: Mandy Spjut, Brett Spjut, Amie (Adams) Spjut, Ryan and Madilyn Spjut; Lindsey Spjut Schlensker and Todd Schlensker; Gayle Platt Spjut, Ron Spjut, Ron's mom Ruth Spjut, Bobbe Platt, and Scott Spjut.

We will not be in SLC this summer, but it does sound like a great idea to have a reunion. I would enjoy seeing family photos from all of the Platt cousins on the website. Attached is our most recent family photo. I am Gayle Platt Spjut, daughter of Lowell and Bobbe Platt. I have great memories of camping and swimming with my cousins. My husband is Ron Spjut and we have six children, and soon 5 grandchildren. We've been married 33 years and lived mostly in Texas and New Jersey; currently in KY. We're all healthy and happy and just trying to build the Kingdom wherever we're planted.

For Those Who Can't Make it

If you are unable to make it to the reunion, we would like to hear from you. Email me your family pictures with an update on your family @ cory_sharon@msn.com to be posted on this blog if you feel comfortable having your pictures on the Internet. We would love to hear from any of you that wish to give updates on your families.

Reunion Details

The Platt Family Reunion is scheduled for: Aug. 1 from 10:00am to 4:00pm sharp (there is a wedding scheduled for 4:00 so there will be no lingering).

Where: Young Living Herb Farm in Mona Ut.
Cost for the whole group is a flat rate of $150
Depending on how many families we get will determine how much each family will pay

Scheduled Events: 10:00-12:00 mingle and get to know or reknow you
11:00-12:00 Wagon Rides for anyone interested
cost is $3 per person
12:00-1:00 Lunch - Bring your own
All day - Climbing wall and Paddle boats
cost - $3 per person or $10 for all day
2:00-4:00 Talent Show
Anyone who has a talent they would like to share, please bring your talent
Also, family skits would be fun, so plan a skit that helps us get to know you better.