Life History of Renee (Harris) Zamora

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1. Tell about your favorite uncle.

I have several favorite uncles. On my father's side it would be my Uncle Tunk. His name is really Donald Carlton Harris. I have no idea how he got that nickname. I used to spend a lot of time over to Uncle Tunk and Aunt Millie's home in Fort Ann. I played with his children Lee, Sharon and Mark. He was always happy and light hearted. He seemed fun to me as a child. I loved to hear the story of how Uncle Tunk and Aunt Millie lived in a tent after they married until they built their home. I thought that was so interesting.

My favorite uncle on my mother's side is Uncle Mylo. I loved it when he and Aunt Hattie would come to visit. Or we would visit them. I loved to sit on Uncle Mylo's lap and smell his cigar. He just seems so safe and strong to me. He seemed so smart and new so many things. Even as a child he would talk to you and explain things. I always knew that Uncle Mylo loved me.

My other favorite Uncle was Uncle Harold. Uncle Harold and Aunt Martha were always together. He was very quiet but interesting. He had a radio studio in his home. I enjoyed listening to him talk to people on his radio. I could have sat in his room for hours just listening to him. He had such white, seeming translucent skin to me. It must have been because of his bad heart. We visited Uncle Harold and Aunt Martha a lot. They had no children, so they spoiled us, and it was always fun to visit.

2. What changes have you seen in technology? (Indoor plumbing, water, telephones, computers, cars, etc.)

I can remember using Grandma and Grandpa Harris’ chamber pot. Every time I went to visit I had to make a visit to the chamber pot in their bedroom. I remember that every time the power went out we would go up to my Grandparents home to stay. There was something to be said for getting water from a pump and no indoor plumbing. When the power went out you could still function.

The change I remember most is our party line when I was little. You could pick up the phone and listen to others talking. I never heard anything good but it was just the idea. I guess also the thrill because Mom would have killed me if she caught me doing that. I also remember we used to give out our phone number as RX3-1214. The first two digits were given as letters. I think when we had our own line and not the party line we stopped giving out our phone number that way.

3. Tell something you remember about one of your grandparents. (Were they funny, crazy, loving, mean, or special in a certain way.)

About: Julia (Bentley) Weatherwax and Sarah (Miller) Harris

I was very little when Grandma Weatherwax died. I can still remember her staying at our home when she was sick. She slept in a hospital bed in the living room. I recall her sitting on the toilet and eating green apples. She took forever there. Once we kids had a bag of popcorn and Grandma took it. We kids kept complaining we wanted the popcorn. She finally threw it at us and popcorn went everywhere. I remember when she died Aunt Martha made me kiss her goodbye. That was very frightening to me. She was the first dead person I ever saw and then to kiss her!

I interviewed Grandma Harris about her life July 5, 1985. I have taken the time to listen to one of the tapes again. I hope to get my microphone to record so I can copy these tapes to a CD. Then anyone that wants one can get a copy of it from me. It would be too large to put on the website. She said Grandpa didn’t kill the bear on their wall, that someone gave it to him. I have a picture of the bear hanging after it was shot. I wonder who shot it. Grandma did say she shot a deer that was hanging on the wall. One story on the tape is of her birth. Grandma was only 3 lbs when she was born. She was so small they could put a tea cup on her head. They wrapped her in warm blankets and put her in bed with her mother. When Grandma was 3 months old she came down with pneumonia. Her mother had yellow jaundice. Everyone gave up on grandma but their next door neighbor, her godmother, Mrs. Trewstow (unsure of spelling). She took her in and nursed her back to health.

There are several things I will always remember about Grandma Harris. Her crippled hands and how she could still pay solitaire, her watching her soap operas, the fig Newton cookies she would give me – my favorites, watching her get the fallen starlings out of her stove pipe, bringing her dinner, her dog Holly, the traditional Christmas Eve Party at her home. Grandma Harris was always so nice and I loved her with all my heart.

4. Did you ever have an accident, illness, or an operation? Pick one and tell about it.

I have had several surgeries but these two are the most memorable. In July of 2001 I had gastric bypass surgery and lost 130 lbs. This has been life changing for me. The other incident followed a several months later. It happened on Thanksgiving Day 2001. I was with my family for Thanksgiving at my Brother Randy’s home. I was feeling fine that morning, but before we left I all of a sudden came down with a pain in my stomach, near my belly button. I decided that it was just a pain, I have many and I wouldn’t let this stop me from going to Thanksgiving with the family.

The pain kept getting worse. I could hardly eat anything. I sat at the little kids table so I didn’t have to talk to anyone and make a fuss. I know everyone thought it was just another pain I was always having. Maybe I was constipated. I finally had to cut the day short and go home. As I got into the car I dropped down onto the seat. With the jar of falling into the car seat the pain was horrific. As we drove towards home I told my husband we should drop the kids off and then take me to the hospital. The plans quickly changed to take me to the hospital quick.

We arrived at the American Fork Hospital to find out it was a possibly appendicitis. But, to determine if it was I would have to go to UVRMC, in Provo, to get a test to see if it was. The MRI machine was under water in American Fork. I made the trip with another lady in the ambulance. I had to lay on the jump seat. I kept falling off, the pain was terrible. Then I had to jump down from the ambulance. By the time I came back to American Fork for the surgery I was wiped out and in awful pain. I had the surgery around midnight. What a memorable holiday.

5. Tell what your hobbies or interests are. (Do you sing, sew, write, hunt, build things, let us know more about you.)

I guess everyone should know by now that I enjoy doing genealogy. I first started working on my genealogy when I was about 13. I took a class in church on it. I am LDS (Mormon) so that sparked my interest. I lived near two cemeteries that have my ancestors buried in them. I wanted to know who they were and how they were related to me. Plus, growing up in the community of Harrisena, which is after my maiden name, created a real interest in those ancestors preceding me. Right now I am disabled with Fibromyalgia so my spare time or should I say my coherent times are spent working on my website, genealogy, and scrapbook. I also like to crochet, and to date I have donated 26, 7 foot tropical bandages to our churches humanitarian project. It's one thing I can stay in bed and do. I also enjoy cooking when I feel up to it. I like to cook things from scratch and am trying to gather a food supply for tasty simple things.

6. Tell about the changes in television. (Anything you want, earlier shows vs. today's shows, invention of VCR's & DVD's, the sky's the limit.)

I can remember watching black and white television. When color came it was unbelievable. One TV set we bought had a little box on it you had to feed quarters into it to watch TV. It was an installment plan Mom had for buying the new TV. I can remember how bad I wanted a TV wristwatch. It wasn't a real TV just a picture that moved back and forth but I thought it great. I think the show were much better in the “olden days”. I remember Sunday night watching “The Wonderful World of Disney”. Right before it was “Wild Kingdom”, that show made me nervous that they would be eaten by wild animals. Saturday afternoon had the thrillers, so much tamer than todays. Mom forbid me from watching them because I would get nightmares. Every time I heard the music for the Twilight Zone I would have to go upstairs. Sometimes I would just watch the show through the hole in the floor anyways. Sure enough it would give me nightmares. I remember watching the Brady Bunch, Bewitched, Julia, Mr. Ed, so many good shows. Today I don't watch much but I have a few I will watch. Passions – because it's like a spoof on TV Opera's, and the American Idol, when it had the good singers on.

7. Lets me romantic! - Tell usa bout your valentine, first love, first crush, or how you were proposed to, or how you proposed to your sweetheart.

My valentine and sweetheart is my husband William Zamora. I met, well heard, Bill first when I went to a Church Young Adult Campout with my friend Laura. I really didn't want to come and was in a bad mood. When I went to my cabin I found out it was only three sided and open on one side. That bothered me, plus I wasn't a camper. I tried to sleep and I was kept awake by someone playing the bagpipes. I was so upset I was going to go up there and bust them over their head. My friend stopped me from doing that. It was a good thing I didn't because I later found out it was my future husband Bill playing them. I finally met Bill when we had a dance. There was an lieutenant that was bothering me and I wasn't interested in him. I finally got away and stood next to a Chaperon, I thought, it turned out to be Bill. You can say he swept me off my feet. The lieutenant came over to ask me to dance and Bill said oh, she said she would dance with me. Then he swept me off my feet and we danced the night away.

The second time I met Bill was when he invited me to go to the Hill Cumorah Pagent with his group. I drove out to Palmya, NY all my myself. My car didn't have a radio so it was lonely hours driving out there. I kept having this question enter my mind. Would you marry Bill if he asked you. After three times ignoring the question I finally decided to answer it. I figured I would since I didn't see anything wrong with him. Well that night after the Pagent we stayed up all night and talked. At sunrise he asked me to marry him and I said Yes! We were engaged for a year, so we could get to know each other better. I never changed my mind so we were married and have three lovely children.

8. What types of jobs have you had and which did you prefer?

My first official job was a chambermaid. I loved getting my first steady paycheck. After that I worked at Dairy Queen and then Cooks Department store. At Cooks I was there youngest Head Cashier they ever had. I was in my senior year of high school. After high school I worked for Caldor's Dept Store, in the Aviation Mall and then in Schenectady. I worked in the cosmetic department. After I went to Cosmetology School I got a job as a barber, at the Wedgeway Barber shop in Glens Falls.

Before I was married I moved to Dracut, MA and got a job as a Receptionist at ADAC Corp. That was the first job I really liked. I knew office work was for me. I did a data entry job for a short time. Then when the kids where little I worked at Sears Teleservice Center. I was a supervisor there. I went to school for accounting and then landed a job with Discover Card. I was an account manager and then applied for my favorite position - Administrative Assistant. I really loved that job. It was difficult when I became disabled and wasn't able to return back to work. I now have a little office in my computer room and work on Genealogy, and the Life History Project. Both are very enjoyable to me.

9. Who was your best friend while growing up, or who is your best friend now? Let us know a little about the friends you have had in your life.

My best friend was Karleen Lashway while growing up. We met in kindergarten and rode the same bus together. We spent alot of time at each other houses. My best friend at the end of high school was Laura Harubin we still are close and email each other. But now I guess my best friend is Teresa Rogers. We go shopping and talk on the phone together. We both have fibromyalgia so we have alot in common. I used to think she was crazy until I got the same disease she has. It's nice to have someone to share your complaints with and they totally understand.

10. Tell us about your favorite Aunt.

On the Harris side my favorite Aunt was Aunt Millie. I learned so many homemaking skills from her. She was always sewing or making something. I loved to hear her laugh it was so neat. On the Weatherwax side my favorite Aunt was Aunt Martha, I just loved her and I knew that she liked me best. Aunt Martha's house was interesting too. She was very disorganized and had tons of stuff. It was fun going through things or just wondering what she was saving things for. She made me laugh inside.

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