Biography Part 4

I came from a loving family of six. There was, of course, my father and mother, Elmer and Gwen Olsen, my oldest brother, Del, who had just left home to go to University when I was born, my brother, Donald, whom I never knew because he died when he was a baby, my sister, Linda, was ten years older than me, and my brother, Lee who was five years older than myself. I was the youngest.

I must have wanted to write, even at an early age, because I remember sneaking Linda’s school paper to scribble stories and to draw pictures. I was forever writing. No one ever knew what I wrote, but of course, I did. I was three years old at the time and kept sneaking paper until I was five. Finally I started school and received my own paper. I was in my glory.

My father and mother worked hard to put food on the table and to put clothing on our backs. We were very poor in those days. You see, my dad never owned the ranch that we lived on, the LDS Church owned it. It was called The Church Ranch and was the largest ranch in Alberta with a huge farming area. My dad was a ranch hand who was in charge of the farming part of the ranch, which was a lot of work. We used to help him so he wouldn’t have to put in so many late hours. My brother, Lee, and my dad, would throw the bails of hay onto the flat bed while I drove the tractor. What a team we were.