Escape Artist

On March 21, 1956 an event took place that I remember fairly well. My mom and I were visiting her sister, Donna Monson, who lived in Kearns, Utah. My cousin Richard and I decided to go for a walk by ourselves. We came to a yard with a fence around it and Richard ventured inside. When he closed the gate, leaving me on the outside, we couldn’t get it open. Being the brave soul that I was, I went to find help. I was hoping to find a big kid. After what seemed an eternity, I found a boy who agreed to try to help me. When we returned to the place where I had left Richard he was gone! A lady came out of the house and said she had let him out of the yard about half an hour earlier. I didn’t have any idea where to go so the lady took me into her living room to wait and see if my mother would drive by. I knelt on her couch and looked out the window. After I had been gone about two hours my mother found me with the help of the local police force. I can remember seeing the police car pull up in front of the house.


About that same time I got away from my mom two more times that I remember. The first time I walked to end of our street which ended at State Street. I turned left and entered a phone booth that was there, and pushed the folding door closed. To open the doors, you had to pull on the handle and I was too short to do that. I could touch the handle, but didn’t have the strength to pull it open. Eventually I began crying. Those old phone booths were made of glass and eventually a passing motorist noticed me and stopped to let me out. I am still hesitant about closing the door of a telephone booth when I’m in it. 



The second time I just remember knocking on the door at my Aunt Marvella’s house and asking to play with my cousin Dixie. Aunt Marvella wanted to know if my mom knew I was there and of course, went to phone her. I don’t remember walking there, but I had to walk down State Street and cross 7500 South, going about ½ mile in all. I wasn’t even 4 years old! I also remember getting lost in ZCMI while looking for Santa. I don’t know how my mom survived me.

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