This past month has been a bit of a gut punch for me. In a nutshell, I lost a very dear friend, someone I’ve known for years, someone who saved my life. I’m still trying to come to terms with this loss, and I feel it’s important to record what took place years ago in the hopes that sharing this experience may help someone else who is walking a similar path.
In 1975, I lived in a small Idaho town called Ashton, also known as the gateway to Island Park and West Yellowstone. My family moved there when I was 14 years old. My father, who was a pharmacist, had a chance to manage a small drugstore in that location and he wanted to give it a try. Dad was always searching for a perfect place to live and work, and he felt certain Ashton was the answer.
It took a while for us to find a home—we began by renting a huge old house on the far edge of town known as the Manwaring Mansion. Built when the area was first settled, it was the only place available to rent that year. It would take us months to find a home to buy, so we made the best of things. My younger sisters still reminisce about the fun of waking up to find snow on the foot of their beds compliments of a cracked window.
Our mother was very good at making do with next to nothing, and she quickly spruced up the old pioneer dwelling by cleaning, painting, and fixing items like the cracked windows. We all pitched in to help her as we could.
That first winter was challenging as we quickly learned that we were indeed living in a mountain valley. School was closed for nearly two weeks because of a nasty blizzard that seemed to go on forever. Wrapped up in blankets in front of the small fireplace, we did our best to stay warm until the weather calmed down.
By the time I was a sophomore in high school we had found a home to buy. It was located on the other end of the small town, a three bedroom house with one bathroom. Eventually we remodeled, and turned it into a four bedroom home with two bathrooms, something that worked better for our clan.
This home was close to the high school, about two blocks away, a much easier walk than it had been from the old mansion house. It was across the street from the local park, and just north of the football field. There was also a fun convenience store on the corner that came in handy on occasion. That year was full of interesting adventures, including my first real job working at the drugstore, mostly in the soda fountain on weekends and after school, and several days a week during the summer months.
I enjoyed the time I spent at the drugstore. I loved meeting people and learning important skills like counting back change to the customers. I also enjoyed receiving a regular paycheck which I used to buy important items like clothes, music, and movie tickets. Eventually, I managed to purchase my first set of wheels, a red ten-speed bike. I would ride it on the back-roads to get to work, parking it behind the drugstore for safe-keeping during my shift at the store.
Two wonderful ladies helped me learn the ropes of making the tasty concoctions that were served at the drugstore soda fountain, Ruth, and Delena. We made delicious shakes and malts with real ice cream, offered different flavored ice cream sodas, hot fudge sundaes, banana splits, and poured and mixed refreshing pop which included a local favorite, cherry iron-port. We also provided ice cream cones to the customers who preferred that treat. I developed muscles as I dished up what we called hard ice cream. It was explained to me that we took pride in using real ice cream for all of our menu items, unlike the soft ice cream that was offered at a nearby drive-in on the other end of town.
Ironically, I went to work the next year at our so-called competition, the Frost-Top drive-in. I knew I needed to save money for college, and I was offered more hours and a better wage at the drive-in. I started out as a waitress and won’t go into how misshaped my first soft ice cream cones were. I’m amazed I wasn’t fired on my first day, I made so many mistakes. It was a totally different environment and it took me a few days that summer to learn an entire new skill-set. Once I caught on, I was told I was a natural (I think they were trying to make me feel better about myself) and I was promoted from being a waitress, to a fry-cook, and by my senior year I was the head cook under the couple who owned the place.
Normally the drive-in remained closed in the winter months, but when this older couple bought the place from a high school teacher, they decided to keep it open year-round. The summer months were crazy busy with all of the tourists who traveled through on their way to Island Park and West Yellowstone. We often filled the carport, the dining room, and the stools at the counter every day which required quite a team of waitresses, fry cooks, and one or two main cooks to keep up. In the winter months, things slowed down immensely and the staff was pared down to one cook, and one or two waitresses, depending on the day.
One winter night, a friend and I were the only two scheduled to work. It had been a very slow week, and the owners were driving down to Idaho Falls to pick up supplies. In their absence, they gave Donna and I each a list of things to clean and take care of during that shift, figuring it would once again be a slow night. We glanced at the long lists and sighed, knowing it would be a challenge to get everything done during our shift.
I had known Donna for a couple of years, she was about two years younger than me, but very mature for her age. She lived out southeast of town, not far from one of my closest friends, Jan. As such, Jan often gave Donna rides into town for school, and other activities that we took part in like attending high school games, or one of our favorite pastimes, going to the show at the local movie theater. Donna began hanging out with us during lunch hour at school and we enjoyed visiting, laughing, and making sense of life. We all possessed a fun sense of humor and enjoyed focusing on the funny things that happened each day.
The night Donna and I were given the long lists of things to do, we decided to make the best of it, and cranked up the tunes on the jukebox to make the evening more fun. Just as we were starting to get the place spit-shined, we were invaded by cars, trucks, and people. Within minutes, the carport filled, as did the dining room, and the counter. Donna frantically tried calling people in to help us, but couldn’t reach anyone on the staff list.
Feeling a bit overwhelmed, Donna and I talked to the group of men who were sitting patiently at the counter and explained our predicament. They volunteered to be our waitresses and did a fantastic job. They explained to us that there had been snowmobile races that day up in Island Park, and the participants were now on their way home. We were the only drive-in around for miles, so they had all decided to grab a bite at the Frost-Top. With the help of our newly recruited “waitresses,” Donna and I focused on preparing the food. Donna had been training as a fry cook, so she took over cooking up the fries, onion rings, tots, etc. while I focused on all of the burgers, chicken sandwiches, and so forth. It took us over an hour to feed everyone, but we did, and our customers were happy and impressed. Donna and I laughed for a long time over how efficient our burly waitresses had been at taking orders and handing out the food. But when they all left, we were dismayed by the big mess we now had to take care of. Normally, in the summer when we were swamped, two waitresses focused on washing up the dishes. Our two sinks were heaped with red plastic baskets, utensils, and pans. In short, our work was cut out for us. So we cranked up the tunes again, and began tidying things as best we could.
About an hour later, we nearly had things back in order. Donna was vacuuming the dining room and I was cleaning the grill when I realized I hadn’t shut off the fryers to cool down.
That night I was supposed to change out the oil in the fryers. Normally, after we closed the drive-in, the cook would shut the fryers off to let them cool while everything else was cleaned. Then, one at a time, the fryers were emptied into a tall metal bucket, and the old oil was carried around outside to the back of the drive-in where a tall metal barrel was kept and that was where the old oil was dumped, one fryer at a time.
As I stood there, staring at the sizzling oil, I knew I had messed up. Muttering under my breath, I quickly shut off both fryers. They were kept at 350 degrees. I stomped into the back room, retrieved the metal bucket, and set it in front of the fryers. Exhausted and anxious to get out of the drive-in, an idea popped into my head. It never occurred to me how happy our bosses would be over the money we had made for them that night. All I could think of was how disappointed they would be in Donna and I if we didn’t get everything cleaned.
So I glared at the still sizzling fryers and had what I thought was a brainstorm; I would empty both fryers into that metal bucket and carry out all of the old oil in one fell swoop. It would save time and energy. I knew I would have to be careful, since the oil was still so hot, but figured it would be fine. I had done this particular job many times and felt certain I could handle it.
I dumped the first fryer into the bucket and was just reaching for the second one when a very bad feeling hit hard. Annoyed by this and not sure why I would feel that way, I ignored it and picked up the second fryer. Just then, Donna came around the corner and saw instantly what I was doing.
“Oh, Cheri, no, don’t put both of them in that bucket. It’s not safe!”
I glanced at my friend and said, “This will save me time,” and I dumped the second fryer into the bucket. It fit with about 2-3 inches to spare. Triumphant, I smiled at Donna. “See, it all fits. It will be okay!” As I said that, I was hit again with a horrible feeling, but I continued to ignore it.
Donna told me later that she had the same horrible feeling, but could see I was determined to carry out that heavy bucket of hot oil. She opened the side door of the drive-in for me as I walked out, carefully carrying the tall metal bucket. I walked around to the back of the drive-in and made it all the way to the barrel. As I lifted the bucket of sizzling oil over my head, I remember thinking, “See, I did it and it all turned out just fine.” And that’s when things went awry. Slipping on the ice that surrounded the barrel, that bucket of oil spilled down on top of me, instead of going inside the barrel.
I’m not a screamer, but I screamed that night. There are no words to adequately describe the amount of pain I was in as I fell to the ground, rolling around in misery. Donna came running out immediately, carrying a large knife. She said later that she had assumed someone had grabbed me and she was coming to save me. When she saw what happened, she threw the knife in a panic, something we never did find again.
Donna told me later that at first, she saw what had taken place, panicked, and stood there, frozen in place. Then she said it was like someone took over, telling her inside of her head what she needed to do. We would later realize that we had been receiving promptings from the Spirit, but it would take both of us a while to understand what happened.
The first impression that came to Donna was how important it was to get the heat out of my face. She said that it came through to her very clear that she was to move me to a nearby snowbank. This proved to be a challenge, we were approximately the same height and weight, 5’ 2” and around 100 pounds. And by then, I was so out of it, I fought her every step of the way. But she overpowered me, dragged me to a nearby snowbank, and started scooping snow out to place everywhere she could see that I was burned. I was not very helpful with this process and kept brushing off the snow, so she had to sit on top of me, with my hands pinned out of the way to succeed. After several minutes, she then had the impression to get me inside the drive-in and call for help. So she managed to drag me from the back into the building, and I vaguely remember that she propped me up against the wall by the phone, and called my parents. As she waited for them to come, Donna grabbed ice from a nearby ice machine and placed it all over my face, neck, and shoulders.
I don’t remember much of the rest of the night. I know when my parents arrived, they carried me out to the car, and rushed me to ER of the local hospital that used to exist in Ashton. I was placed on an uncomfortable bed in ER and the team on shift went to work to try to save my face. The burns on my neck and arms, weren’t as severe, but they still slathered a healthy amount of Silvadene ointment on those areas anyway. Most of that ointment went on my face. It was quickly covered in some kind of gauze material, and soft ice packs were layered on top of that.
Our family wasn’t very active in the LDS Church at the time, but my mother arranged for two men from our ward to come and give me a priesthood blessing. She had a strong testimony of the power of the priesthood and placed her faith in the blessing I received. I only remember one line from that blessing: “You will be healed according to your faith.” Terrified, I wasn’t certain my faith was strong enough for the healing that needed to take place.
I had recently gained a testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ during the end of my sophomore year of high school, but I was still learning what that meant. And that night, as I lay hovering between conscious thought and unconscious slumber, I was convinced I had ruined my life. Images of a scarred and ugly countenance haunted me. I gleaned snippets of the conversation between my parents and the doctors who worked on me that night and it wasn’t very encouraging as I heard comments like, “She’ll need skin grafts. We will transfer her to Salt Lake in the morning when she’s more stable.”
When I was coherent, I silently prayed for a miracle. I knew what had happened was my fault; I had ignored promptings that would have saved me from going through this experience, but I also knew prayers were heard and often answered, and I begged for help.
That night was easily one of the most miserable evenings of my life. I had been given something for pain and it eventually lulled me into a fitful sleep. I went from slipping in and out of consciousness to being totally out. When I woke up the next morning, I was still lying on a hospital bed, feeling confused, in a bit of pain, and groggy. I’m not sure, but I think my mom had remained by my side. She was there that morning, offering encouragement.
Eventually, the doctor appeared who was on call, and he began to gently remove the layers that covered my face. “Let’s see how things look,” he said quietly as I tried not to cry. I was certain it wasn’t good news.
When my face was revealed, I heard the doctor gasp. My mother burst into tears. I was then asked if I wanted to look in a mirror. My first answer was, “NO!” But a hand mirror was found and handed to me anyway. Girding up for what I was sure was a horrific mess, I glanced at the mirror, and then stared. I just looked like I had a really bad sunburn, with one large blister on the side of my nose. That was it.
I shakily handed the mirror back to the nurse and gazed in amazement at the doctor, and then my mother.
The doctor was busy patting himself on the back, thrilled by how good I looked. Then he asked me what I could remember about what had happened the night before. When I told him all that Donna had done for me, he grinned and said I owed that young lady a huge debit of gratitude.
“Your friend saved your face by drawing out the heat almost immediately,” he exclaimed. I knew in my heart he was right. I also knew that my mother had played a huge part in all of this. She told me later when she’d heard that line I remembered from the priesthood blessing, she felt peace and knew I would be okay. My faith might not have been strong enough, but hers had been.
Later that day I was released from the hospital and taken home. I was lying in my bed recovering, when Jan and Donna came to see me that afternoon. Donna cried when she saw how good I looked. Both girls had assumed my face would be ruined by that incident. But when I told Donna, “You saved my face,” we both knew it was true. I had ignored the promptings I had been given the night before, but thank heavens she had paid attention to those she had received.
Donna and I talked about that incident quite often in the years that followed. It had been a testimony builder for us, in differing ways. For both of us it was an education in how the Holy Ghost works. We learned that bad feelings were warnings that something wasn’t right, and that calm, peaceful promptings shouldn’t be ignored. And we agreed that miracles are possible, and that the priesthood power is a very real thing. Prayers had been answered, assuring us that our Father in heaven really did love us despite the mistakes that were made.
Donna and I kept in touch as time passed, getting together with Jan as often as we could. These two friends ended up living around the Ashton area, while I spent most of my life in the lower end of the state after high school. It was always a good time of laughter and reminiscing when we linked up. Most times we met in the building that used to be the drugstore my dad managed. It’s now a pizza joint, called 511 Main, and thankfully, they kept the soda fountain intact.
Losing Donna this past month has been like losing a piece of myself. She was a dear and treasured friend, a sister of the heart. I was heartsick when I learned she was dealing with cancer 13 years ago. She was a true cancer warrior and faced this disease with courage and determination. Her example touched numerous lives as was evident at the crowd that came to honor her memory at her funeral. And though my heart will continue to sting for a time, I know there will be future conversations with her when it’s my turn to leave mortal mode. Until then, I will continue to honor her memory, and “look for the funny” as we often did when life was challenging.
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