The Life And Times of:

SANDRA DANAE SIMPSON RAWSON

FELT

I turned 8 in September, but wasn’t baptized until February of the next year, mostly because my mom didn’t know exactly what to do. We had just moved to a new town, new ward, and didn’t know anyone.  When I cried and asked why she didn’t have me baptized, she asked my Aunt Lana’s new husband Brent if he would take care of us, and he was happy to do it.    I remember that my mom took an old white sheet and made pants and top for me to wear, when the other children had heavy-duty baptismal clothes.  After Uncle Brent baptized me, the outfit stuck to me and became extremely sheer and I felt embarrassed.  I was confirmed the next day in church, on the stand in front of the ward.  The Bishop confirmed me because Uncle Brent couldn’t be there.  My mom gave me two pony-tails that day and the men’s hands pressed hard on my hair and it hurt.  I was wearing a blue dress with a tight belt at the waist and finally felt l ike I fit in with kids in the new ward.

SANDRA DANAE’S BAPTISM DAY

In sixth grade my teacher was Mr. Wil l iam Farley.  He was my first male teacher which was odd.  He was older, short, a l itt le wide, gray hair, and very str ict.  But I LOVED him.   I worked hard, did lots of extra credit, and tried for straight A’s in his class.   In a former l i fe, he had something to do with dentistry, and so made us do a long unit on studying teeth.  We had to write reports about teeth, and he selected his favorite 4-5 papers and had us go to the other 4 t h , 5 t h and 6 t h grade rooms giving our presentations.   I was one of the students selected and our presentations were fun.  About 5 of us would go to another classroom and take blocks of clay, paper to spread on a table, and some sculpting tools.  While one student was giving a presentation, the rest of us were creating giant molars from our clay blocks.  We would rotate each giving our presentation while creating these giant teeth complete with nerves, and roots.  When the presentations were finished, we had also finished our sculpting. Then the students in the rooms would come and look at our creations.  When we were done, we would mush the clay back into a block, and get ready to do it again the next day for another classroom.  Fun memory.  

SANDRA DANAE’S FAVORITE TEACHER

When I was 12, my parents rented a cabin in Green Valley, in the mountains of Southern California.   My Uncle Jim, Aunt Ann, and their kids Linda and Jay came, along with Grandma Mabel and Grandpa George, my father’s parents.   The kids slept in a giant living room near the fireplace, and the old folks each had a bedroom.  Linda was a favorite cousin for me and my sister, and it was so fun to spend 3 whole days together in the snow.  We had an awesome sled and spent hours going up and down the hill behind the cabin.  For the first time in the snow, my father had prepared us with some great boots that kept our feet warm and completely dry, and we had real gloves too.  We made a snow-lady and just had fun. On Christmas day, my other cousins came up and the fun continued.  

FAVORITE CHILDHOOD CHRISTMAS

When I was 14, I asked for a guitar for Christmas because I had seen a few of the older girls at girl’s camp play them.   My dad surprised me with a small guitar and lessons (which I hadn’t anticipated).  I took lessons for a full year with my sister and brother.  My sister didn’t enjoy it, so quit.  But me and Bob continued another year with a teacher named Bob Olinger.  In 10 th grade my dad gave me a beautiful guitar that I still have today.  I played it for at least an hour a day, sometimes far longer for the next 4-5 years.  When I was older, I didn’t play as much, and then not at all.  

FAVORITE GIFT

When I was 17 years old, my mom and I were hired together to work in a hospital kitchen near our house.  This was a convalescdent hospital cal led Beverly Manor and it was brand new.  My first job was “tray girl” which meant that I stood at the breakfast and lunch tray l ine and helped dish food for each individual patient according to their special dietary needs. A few boys from my ward were already working there as dishwashers, and I had a lot of fun.  This is also where I met the dark, brooding and dangerous Ken Rawson, a dishwasher.  He was working to save money for a better car for col lege.   It was so excit ing to have a paycheck of my very own. I saved my first two, and my mom and I went shopping and I bought some beauti ful new clothes, which I needed badly.   I also learned to be a salad gir l and cooks helper. One of the employees was a very handsome guy named Don Johnson.  When he cooked, and I was salad girl or cooks helper, we would have long talks, and a lot of them centered on Mormonism. Don also played guitar quite wel l , and we brought our guitars to work a couple of t imes and played on the patio.  He was fascinated and loved to hear my answers.  He was drafted into the army and served in Vietnam and we kept in touch for a l i tt le while.  When he came home, he married his longtime girl fr iend Sue Tanaka. I learned a few years later, that they joined the church with their l i tt le daughters.  

FIRST JOB

Ken Rawson and I dated off and on during my senior year, and college.  He was baptized at the end of 1971, and we became engaged in 1973.  Our wedding was on my birthday in 1973, and we shared our wedding and reception with my sister and her husband, Lynn Hiner.  Ken graduated from college in 1974, and we lived first in Long Beach, then Rosemead, then moved to Orange, CA.  All three of our children were born while we lived in Orange.  Danae was born at Kaiser Hospital in Bellflower, and Wesley and Tamara were born at Santa Ana-Tustin Community Hospital (now renamed Western Medical Center).    

FIRST MARRIAGE