Family History Friday: Grandma Miki

This week I have had the pleasure of learning more about my amazing Grandma Miki. (I even finally figured out where she got the name Miki… well sort of… ) It is also very fitting that Grandma Miki be the subject of this Family History Friday because IT’S HER BIRTHDAY ON SUNDAY!!! Happy Birthday Grandma! You are such a wonderful example to us all of a righteous wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother. I have been blessed as I have read about your remarkable life and am privileged to be your grand-daughter.

Note: In order to keep this article from becoming a book, I am focusing mainly on grandma’s early years. Most of the accounts below are from Grandma’s autobiography published in 2004 by Uncle Bob and Aunt Philis in the book “Phil & Delsa McBride: Their Descendants and Some of Their Ancestors”  To read the full autobiography click here and go to page 154. I also asked grandma a few additional questions which I added as well. Anything taken from Grandma's autobiography or remarks will be indicated in italics below.

Finally, as always, everything I dig up in the process of making these Family History Friday posts will be uploaded to familysearch.org; however, due to the familysearch policy regarding pictures and stories regarding living relatives, I understand that they will not be made public at this time. Click here for more information on the matter. I am currently saving everything I do on dropbox and can share any photos or text that way for now. 

Enough of all that, lets take a few baby steps backward to the lady who makes Wonder Woman look average, Margaret McBride a.k.a. Grandma Miki!!!

Baby Steps From Me to Grandma Miki

Margaret McBride

Miki as a Baby

“I was born November 17, 1940 in Safford, Arizona the fifth of eight children. When my sister Marja was born a year and one month before me, they were going to name her Margaret but she was so small they decided they couldn’t give such a big name to such a tiny baby. This is what Grandma Zobedia Ferrin said about my birth, “Delsa’s baby girl was born this morning at 7:30. Weighed 10 lbs. She is at her Mothers and so am I. The baby has been good all day.” I guess I was big enough for the name but it didn’t stick. Some say it was Daddy who started calling me Miki and Mother said it was she. All my life I have been Miki. Only on official documents am I called Margaret.”

Miki and Grandma Delsa

"My mother taught me to sew and cook and I helped bottle fruit. She taught me to play the piano and especially to sight read music whether to play of sing. She accompanied me when I sang solos and played my saxophone at competition. My mother took me shopping for my 8th grade graduation dress and after I got married she helped me shop for shoes when I would come home.
She was my Mutual leader and went with the young women to girls’ camp or retreat on the Graham mountain. We stayed in a large cabin. I remember her making candy on the wood stove that was delicious. My Mother taught me how to be a homemaker and Mother."

“Marja was my protector and even beat up a boy who teased me. Since we were only a year apart we did a lot together. We always had to do the dishes together and pretended the dishes were people and the forks were the bad guys who poked people.”

Note: Of all the pictures I found of Grandma growing up, 90% of them were of her and Marja together. Under one of the many photos of the two of them grandma wrote, "People often thought that Marja and I were twins since we were so close in age and about the same size." 

Yeah for sister friends! (My daughters Kennedy and Abby are 2 years apart. I hope that they can be as good of friends as Miki and Marja.)

Miki and Marja

“Marja liked to ride horses and we spent a lot of time sitting on the fence, watching Daddy train horses, shoe them and just ride them. Marja always wanted to ride. I just liked to watch. One day Marja had been riding in the corral and Daddy asked if I wanted to ride Ribbon too. I said okay so he put me on the horse. He realized the gate was open and hollered for someone to close the gate. They didn’t get there in time and Ribbon ran out the gate and up the road to the upper field where her colt was pastured. Daddy was running after us because he was afraid I would fall off. I hadn’t ridden that much but I hung on tight. When Ribbon got to the fence where she could see her colt, she stopped. I don’t know if that is why I never liked riding.”

“I really liked to read. I made any excuse so I could read. I spent reading time in the bathroom, upstairs in my bedroom and my special place was in the cottonwood trees. I would fix a bag of crackers or cereal and climb the tree and sit hidden by the leaves and read. I was very sad when those trees were cut down.”

Note: I totally did that same thing!!! Here is a pic of me age 10 in a twisted willow tree that I  loved to read in. I even took along reading snacks. Wow! Grandma and I are tree-reader buddies!

“One summer we wanted to earn some money so Daddy said we could chop cotton for him. He usually hired it done so he warned us we would have to do it every day and we couldn’t quit if we got tired of doing it. Every morning we got up very early and spent a few hours in the fields. I only remember two fields but there might have been more. I don’t even remember what we did with the money we made. I just remember how hot and tired I got. 
Some summers we spent a few weeks in Mesa visiting Grandpa and Grandma Davis. It was always fun to walk to the sorting sheds and get honeydew's, watermelon or cantaloupe. We would stand by the conveyer
belt until the men gave us one. They were the culls that would have been thrown away but they were a treat for us." 

“Mother took Marja and me into Mesa for tapping and ballet lessons I was invited to a friend’s house in Chandler for a birthday party. Gary was supposed to pick me up after football practice but I don’t remember if he forgot or even got the message. I left after the party was over to walk over to the school. No one was there to pick me up so I wandered the main street of Chandler. Mother must have realized I wasn’t home so she sent Daddy in to find me. When he found me I was still wandering the street crying. He bought me some ice cream and I was okay.” 

Curly Hair Miki

Miki Junior Year

“During the seventh grade my hair started going straight so I used curlers. After moving back to Pima I curled my hair all the time. Mother took me to have a permanent, which I hated. My hair started to get a little curl so Mother took me to her barber to get my hair cut because I cried every time she cut my hair. The man cut it so short so that night I wore a scarf to Mutual because I was so embarrassed. I never fussed after that when Mother cut my hair. It always looked all right after it was washed. I just had to keep from looking in the mirror right after the hair cut. I have been thankful all these years because my hair is naturally curly. I had very curly hair when I was little.”

Miki and Marja dressed alike to sing

“My singing started early in life. Mother had Marja and me sing together for different programs. One I remember was when we were dressed just alike and sang, “I don’t want to play in your yard”. We also danced the minuet with Marja dressed like a boy and myself in a long dress. When Mother was over the music in Church, she usually had special numbers lined up but when she didn’t she had one or more of the family sing so I sang solos in church quite often. I took choir in school and sang in music festivals with the choir, in small groups and solos. I have always sung soprano but I could sing alto if I needed to.”

Note: Now I understand the musical streak that runs rampant through Grandma Miki's descendants! We love to sing!

Miki (senior year) and Grandpa Phil

"I had my Patriarchal Blessing when I was about 16. It says that I have inherited a testimony of the gospel through my goodly parents. As I got older I questioned if I had a testimony of my own but I knew that my testimony was my own and not just through my parents."

Grandma- You are amazing! Thank you for your legacy of faith and your lifetime of love and service. I can't wait to learn more about you.

P.S. If any of you reading this post happen to have more stories, pictures, etc about Grandma please let me know. I would love to know what else there is out there!