The Red Thread: An Autobiography

By Darlene Neubauer

Life is long . . . . when youre looking back. You dont realize how much goes on in each life as the years go by.
Our life is like a Ferris wheel, sometimes were swinging back and forth at the top. Everything is going great. But look out down it goes as trials come into our lives. Dont worry, the Ferris wheel will be going back up. Rejoice and be glad.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jan 18, 2010
• ISBN: 9781450002714

Darlene Neubauer

Darlene is the author of her autobiography…”The Red Thread” and also a new book of fiction called, “BREANNA.” She has been a pastor’s wife for over 30 years. She also worked for Youth For Christ ministries for 15 years as well as many other church related jobs.

Book preview

FORWARD

I am dedicating this book to my first grandchild, Kevin Earl Tejan; born February 13, 1988, as he has been the reason for this book being written. I realized that I may not be living when Kevin gets old enough to wonder who his grandmother was and I wanted him to know something about all his relatives.

Most of all, Kevin, I want you to know the Savior who has inspired this writing and who has been the one guiding light in my life (The Red Thread). So . . . watch for the red thread as you read along.

—Darlene Neubauer

CHAPTER 1

It was August 1936, one of the hottest months of the year in the Desert near Palm Springs. There was no air conditioning in our little Model A as we bumped along the hillside road to my first home. Going home to 115-degree weather and to a little house with only one little swamp cooler was shocking to my 8 day old body after having been born in a much cooler climate in Fullerton, California.

After leaving my Grandpa and Grandma Murphy’s house where I was born, my mother was excited to be home once again with Dad, my brother, Lyle (who was 3 ½ years old), and me. My Dad had a good job washing dishes for the MWD (Metropolitan Water District). It was good compared to working for the WPA during the depression of the early 30’s. The WPA was a State or Federal agency to help give the unemployed jobs.

Of course, I don’t remember much about the first couple of years, but by the time I was two we moved to Crossroads, California, near Parker, Arizona, and we lived in a 14’ trailer (the four of us). I only remember a very few things about this time. One was having a cute little bunny rabbit for a pet, later to cause me much sadness. Somehow the rabbit got out of his cage and I was accused of letting it loose and it drowned in a nearby well. I really was upset because I knew I didn’t let it go, at least not on purpose.

There was one service station with a small market in the town of Crossroads and I remember my mother taking me to a Sunday school in a small room in the market. I remember this as only a good experience.

By the time I was 5 or 6 years old we moved to Gene Camp (close to Parker Dam California) when my Dad was promoted to a Dispatcher for the MWD. We got to visit him at work occasionally, especially when we had company and my Dad wanted to show them the pumping plant where he worked. We had company a lot, mainly because we had a lot of relatives. My Dad was one of nine brothers and sisters (five girls and 4 boys) and my mother was one of four (two brothers and one sister). Most of them lived in the Anaheim/Fullerton area and came the 350 miles to visit us a couple of times each year. We did have some great times. I always enjoyed my relatives and especially the cousins that were my age (Marvin, Barbara, Carole, and Lucille). Lucille lived in Kentucky so I didn’t see her as much as the others.

When we first moved to Gene Camp because my Dad got a promotion, we moved into a small house. After about a year we moved to Hayfield Camp, still part of the MWD. It was halfway between Blythe and Indio, up next to the mountains. You can see it from the freeway as you drive by. While at Hayfield I attended the first grade at the next camp called Eagle Mountain. It was a one-room schoolhouse and a boy and I were the only ones in the first grade. My mother drove several of us kids from Hayfield to Eagle Mountain to school each day, which was about 25 miles away.

Our next move was back to Gene Camp. The Camp was quite small; approximately 40 families lived there. Only five families on my side of Camp had children and about four or five on the other side of Camp. We had a wonderful community spirit. The Company my Dad worked for provided a small room, which they called the Recreational Hall where we could have parties, movies, etc., for the employees and their families. I especially enjoyed the Friday night movies. We saw a lot of war movies during my early years.

Most of our entertainment was visiting the bars from just below the Dam (Parker Dam) into Parker, Arizona. There was one called the Do-Duck-In at Crossroads and the River Lodge, which we went to the most often. They all had plenty of beer and shuffleboard (a game) to keep people coming back. I don’t remember my older brother, Lyle, being along much on these trips, but I know I spent a lot of time playing around the barstools. The people were always very nice to me, but as I grew older it got more boring. We had some very good friends at the River Lodge and I liked going there the best. Jeannie and George Savard were very good to my family. They had a very nice place with lots of grass and the river was just a few yards away. It was fun to watch and see the boats coming and going. Once in a while my Dad would do some fishing.

CHAPTER 2

There was a grade school at Parker Dam which Lyle and I attended. A school bus picked us up every day at the circle. The circle was a large group of Date Palms in a circle with the street all the way around them. There were probably about 20 trees and each year each family was given dates from these trees. All the kids went to the circle early each morning so we would have time to play hopscotch before the bus came. Dorina was my age and my best friend . . . most of the time. There was one other girl our age. Her name was Jeanette. We had problems every once in a while with Jeanette. She was more mature looking for her age than Dorina and I. The boys always looked at Jeanette first. It’s hard to remember why I had problems with her, but I believe some of it was jealousy. I got to