Hair - Self-esteem and Self-expression

Hair is often seen as a significant aspect of a woman's 

self-esteem and self-expression.

Looking back at my photos today and seeing one of me in 2020 wearing the wig I bought from Creative Wigs in Orem, I am sharing these disappointing comments following my getting my 8th wig from their store on June 27, 2025.

                                           December 25, 2020

Visiting K. in his apartment in Orem - June 27, 2025. Yes, I am five years older; but the hair should look just as nice.

Here's the disappointing update:

When they called to let me know the wig I had ordered had arrived in their store in Orem, I asked for an appointment time to come to their store from my home in Spanish Fork on June 27, 2025.  The reply was to come “any time.”  I had assumed this visit would be similar to my previous visits to pick up a wig.  On those former visits, I was always offered to sit down in front of a mirror where the wig was tried on, styled, and slight adjustments made, even on one occasion some minor trimming.  

This time when I came in on June 27th, there was no other person to be seen but the one waiting on me.  After I gave my check for the remaining half payment for the wig, she began to put the wig in the bag for me to take home.  I told her I had expected to have the wig tried on for any adjustments or styling, which I had always had done before; and she replied there was already a customer in the back and I would have to come back later and suggested I go shopping for about 40 minutes. 

I was disappointed to hear this, as I had planned to wear the wig before going to see my 99-year-old brother who lived near where I would be having my picture taken with him.  After hearing my disappointment, she did offer for me to sit down and put on the wig; I guess so I could see how it looked on me, because she didn’t offer or attempt to do any styling or adjustments.  As I removed the wig and expressed my disappointment, a lady from the store whom I have had serve me prior to this visit, came from the back - apparently after hearing my comments about being surprised not having this latest wig styled out of the box.  She was very nice and took the wig to the back room; and after only a couple of minutes doing some styling, she returned and put the wig on me.  I appreciated her trying to help.  I didn’t put on my glasses for a better look, but I did think the wig seemed to look somewhat better.  Then from the shop, I went to see my brother and had a photo taken with him during this visit.  Later back at home when I was adding to my Shutterfly book the photo I had taken with my brother, I was surprised to see in the photo the numerous hair strands sticking out from the wig.  My husband also commented on how the hair looked ”funny.”  Then, after putting on my glasses, I also saw the numerous small strands of hair sticking up that gave the wig a strange appearance.  I will be taking this expensive wig back and hoping they can make it look better.

This June 27 photo doesn't even show all the strange hair strands sticking up all over the new wig, which I didn't see until coming home and looking in the mirror after putting on my glasses.  The style is not as attractive either as the wig I had purchased the previous year. 

    Photo taken on June 21, 2025

This photo was taken 6 days before going to buy the new wig written about in this blog.  I had intended to continue wearing this previous wig most of the time and saving the newest one for church and special occasions (including our family photo to be taken at our upcoming reunion in July).

(Another comment:  When I bought my very first wig, I thought it would be nice to have when going to church or special events and assumed I would continue to not wear it all of the time; and that is why I bought it the same color I had been having my hair when the color needed to be redone every so often.  However, I liked the new look so much better than my real hair; and Amanda, who had been cutting and coloring my hair, moved away, so the wig became my everyday look.)

New Chapter of My Life - Martin, South Dakota

My life began a new chapter during my sophomore year in high school when my parents moved from Mission to Martin, South Dakota.   How grateful I am for this move, as this is when and where I met Sam.  Of course, at the time, I just saw him as a cute boy who was fun to be with and was very nice.  I didn't know then he would become my Eternal Sweetheart.

                Photo taken by Sam's mother before going to a dance.

I had enjoyed being a cheerleader in Mission my 7th and 8th grade years and was happy to be voted by the studentbody to be a cheerleader at Todd County High School in Mission my freshman year and again my sophomore year for football games before moving to Martin.  

Narene - TCHS Cheerleader, 1952-53

In 1953, my parents moved to Martin when my father accepted the government position in Bennett County for the Soil Conservation Service (and later he was hired by the government as a land appraiser, a position he held until he retired).  My mother, having been in charge of the home economics department at the boarding school before we moved, was hired as the Home Demonstration Agent in Bennett County.  My parents had the option of living in Allen in a government home, but I'm glad they chose instead to buy the small home in Martin where we lived until they retired and moved to Utah.

Of course, I was sad to move from Mission and leave my friends there; but it turned out to be helpful to have met the cheerleaders in Martin when our teams competed and cheerleaders would exchange friendly greetings before the games.  So when I started attending classes in Martin at Bennett County High School, the cheerleaders were friendly to me and invited me to some activities.  Although I was a sophomore, and the cheerleaders in Martin were juniors and seniors, I was in the bookkeeping class with some of them, which was a class for juniors and seniors in Martin. 

My junior year I tried out for cheerleader and was happy to win, and I won the honor again my senior year.  During my high school years, being in athletic sports was only for boys, and only girls tried out for cheerleader (although boys and girls could be in pep band).

Jane Ann Englebert, Cam Fanning, Narene, and Shirley Loula

at a football game (Cam was a freshman, I was a junior, and Jane Ann and Shirley were seniors.)

My parents went to the home basketball games, but they didn't go to any of the away games.  I don't know about their attendance at the home football games, but they would have attended the Homecoming game my senior year when I was the Warrior Homecoming Princess where I walked onto the field and presented the football to the team captain before the start of the game.

Roadel McPherson (Big Chief); CeeCee Skalinder, LaWanda Ireland, Marlys Curtis (Princess Attendants), Frencis Fanning (Medicine Man), and Narene (Warrior Princess - standing in the middle) 

The evening before the big Homecoming game, was the

 Coronation of the Warrior Princess.  

After coming up on the stage and sitting around the "campfire," Ardeth Kocourek sang "Indian Love Call."  Then the drums began to beat with the Medicine Man going back and forth looking over the Princess candidates until stopping to tap

 the girl who had been voted the "Warrior Princess," which my senior year was me!  

Sam's senior year, he was the Medicine Man for Homecoming.  All of our seven children were part of the Homecoming Royalty.  Scott, Ryan, and Jeff were Big Chiefs; Brent was a Medicine Man (which is like the runner-up Big Chief and the one who places the crown on the Princess); and Marla and Beth were Princess Attendants.  

Doug's senior year, due to outside community pressure, the Homecoming ceremony in Martin was forever changed to a typical "king and queen" royalty; which resulted in Doug becoming Martin's first "Homecoming King."  

The pressure for not supporting a "Big Chief" theme came from outsiders who protested the school using a Native American theme. This had made the Homecoming ceremony Doug's junior year become worrisome for fear of someone getting hurt.  Although the Big Chief that final year was actually a Native American, the protesters from out of town made locals attending the occasion be very worried something bad might happen, and the otherwise typical happy occasion became very somber and scary.  

Scott as the Big Chief (with Kristine Risse being crowned the Homecoming Princess) with our Beth being the crown bearer the year Scott graduated from Bennett County High School.

The traditional ceremony at the coronation and revealing who won the votes for the Warrior Homecoming Princess had been well attended by the whole community during those former years.  After changing the ceremony and losing the tradition, it was not so well attended by the community; and it seemed those attending after that were more represented by family and close friends but not the whole community like in the years before the change.

I graduated from Bennett County High School in 1956 

and gave the valedictorian address at graduation.

I already knew I would be going to BYU the next year, where Ann England (now Barker) and I had made arrangements to be roommates.

    Margaret Foy, Narene, Fern Ozawa, Ann England, Lillie Alder, Dixie Davis - April 1957, BYU

Sam had been a freshman at the University of South Dakota in Vermillion my last year as a senior at BCHS.  The next school year when I was at BYU was one of continuing to write letters and being together socially during Christmas and the following summer.  

While at USD, Sam had signed up to join the Naval Cadet Program in Pensacola, Florida, to become a pilot (Aviation Officer Cadet School).  It's interesting that Sam's sister Phyllis decided to go to BYU and enroll as a freshman.  Their mother suggested to Sam that instead of going to the Naval Cadet Program in Florida to take Phyllis and go to BYU, too.  That decision changed our lives!

Upon letting the Naval Cadet Program know he was changing his plans; and I guess because this was a special volunteer program, he was told to check back when he graduated but there was no commitment.  

And so this began another chapter of our story together at BYU.

  

Sam and I at the Homecoming dance at BYU with two of my roommates (Pat and Marty) and their dates. 

Narene and Sam's sister Phyllis in my BYU dorm room at 

Penrose Hall (Heritage).

The picture of Sam on the shelf above my bed.

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints - Temples

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

(Copied from a Facebook post - June 21, 2025)

There is something sacred about walking through temple doors—not just because of the peace we feel, but because of the promises we make.

In the house of the Lord, covenant-making is not symbolic—it is transformational. Through the ordinances and covenants of the temple, we bind ourselves to Jesus Christ and He binds Himself to us. These covenants don’t just shape our eternity—they shape our identity, our decisions, and our discipleship here and now.

Over the next few posts, I want to explore the five sacred covenants we make in the temple endowment. Not just what they are—but what they mean, why they matter, and how they help us walk more closely with Christ in a world that desperately needs Him.

Here’s what we’ll cover in the posts ahead:

1. The Law of Obedience

2. The Law of Sacrifice

3. The Law of the Gospel

4. The Law of Chastity

5. The Law of Consecration

These covenants are not casual commitments. They are sacred invitations to live a holier life—with divine help and eternal purpose.

As President Russell M. Nelson taught:

“His essential ordinances bind us to Him through sacred priesthood covenants. Then, as we keep our covenants, He endows us with His healing, strengthening power.”

(“The Temple and Your Spiritual Foundation,” Oct. 2021 General Conference)

Salt Lake Temple where we were married in 1959. (It is currently undergoing extensive remodeling.). This was our assigned temple while growing up and living in South Dakota.

Denver Colorado Temple (replaced the Salt Lake Temple as our assigned temple while living in Martin, South Dakota, before the Bismarck North Dakota Temple became our assigned temple).

Photos of all current temples of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are listed online at: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/media/collection/temples-images?lang=enghttps://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/media/collection/temples-images?lang=eng

                                   Payson Temple (where we currently serve)

Provo Temple (where we were called to serve when we moved to Spanish Fork; currently being replaced)

Bismarck North Dakota Temple (where we were called to serve after it was dedicataed, before going on our mission to Russia)

Troubled and Chaotic Times

 Something Is Missing Here

Hello, this is Victor Davis Hanson for The Daily Signal. 

We’re in very troubled and chaotic times. We’ve got a theater-wide war in the Middle East with the Iranian theocracy on the ropes. We’ve had mass “No Kings” demonstrations in the United States. And we’ve had kind of a hysterical reaction to President Donald Trump’s deportation warrants.

But here’s my point. We’re not hearing alternative proposals from the opposition party. What I mean is, if you do not want the 12 million who entered the United States illegally under President Joe Biden, you might want to issue alternative proposals.

Maybe you could say to Donald Trump: “Well, wait a minute. If people have been here five years and they have no criminal record or they’re gainfully employed, they’re not on any public assistance, can we issue them a green card? Pay a fine?”

I’m not hearing any of that. Nothing. All we’re hearing from California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass is that everything was peaceful and then Donald Trump nationalized the California National Guard, and the result is chaos.

But that’s not what we see. We see people spitting on police officers. We see people throwing concrete at them. We see people looting stores. We see stores boarded up. We see buildings defaced. We see people taking over the street. We see people stopping the 101 Freeway and major traffic. We see people waving the Mexican flag, of the country they don’t want to go back to, and spitting and burning the flag of the country they insist on staying in.

So, there’s chaos. And the more that Karen Bass assures us that everything is fine, the more that we know that she’s not telling the truth. And we’re back to the Palisades Fire, where, then, she was physically in Ghana. Now, she’s mentally or psychologically somewhere else. But she’s not the mayor, as we interpret the mayor.

So, we’re looking for positive suggestions from the opposition party.

All we hear about Iran is that Donald Trump wants to start a theater-wide world war. This is what we’re hearing from Democratic senators. No American president has said, “I am willing to negotiate,” more than Donald Trump with the theocracy.

When we look at the Democratic Party, what do we find? We had a North Carolina representative, she recently posted a media photograph of Donald Trump’s head decapitated next to a bloody guillotine with the idea that we need cuts. Think of that. This is an elected representative disseminating, basically, a call to behead the president of the United States, who had survived a year ago two targeted assassination attempts.

Then we had our own senator here in California, Alex Padilla. He deliberately did not wear his identification. In fact, nobody knows him. If I saw Alex Padilla on television, I wouldn’t know he was our senator. He’s never done anything. But nevertheless, he had no identification. He heard that Kristi Noem, secretary of homeland security, was gonna have a press conference. He barges in. He disrupts it. He tries to make a scene. And what happens? The Secret Service doesn’t know who he is either, so they restrain him. And then he becomes a folk hero with his street performance.

Unfortunately for Padilla, he thought it would be a Sen. Cory Booker moment. Remember Cory Booker—25 hours to filibuster nothing? There was no impending law. It was just “Donald Trump is evil” for 25 hours. He thought he would get the same media attention. But unfortunately, there was the “No Kings” parade and the war in Iran, and nobody really knew much about what he had done, other than he’d made a complete fool out of himself.

And then we had this No Kings parade. And it was really funded by multibillionaire left-wing donors, like Christy Walton, one of the heirs, by marriage, to the Walton fortune; #MeToo; all of these groups.

But what I don’t understand—maybe you can help me—is “No Kings”? Donald Trump has been subject to more lower court district injunctions in the first five months of his administration than President Barack Obama and Joe Biden combined throughout their whole 12-year tenures.

He has been the object of five civil and criminal suits when he was in the political wilderness. He was the subject of an effort to take him off the ballot. He was the only president ever in history to be impeached two times. King? He has had more judicial, executive, and congressional restraints placed upon him, which he has followed, than any president in history.

So, the whole basis of this No Kings demonstration was incoherent.

Let me just quote, in finishing, a few vital statistics. At the height of all of this paranoia and hysteria about illegal immigration, deportations, the people—the people, us—CBS took a poll, 54% supported Donald Trump to continue deporting people who had come here illegally. Illegally. And then we had a poll from Rasmussen—a weekly tracking poll—that, you know, sampled about 1,700 people: “Do you support what Donald Trump is doing as president?” And it was 53% positive.

But here was the really stunning statistic: 54% of African Americans expressed positive appraisals of Donald Trump. I think it was mostly because they support the deportation of illegal aliens. But 53% of Hispanics did too. This is at a time when Donald Trump is being smeared and slandered as a racist, a fascist, a dictator. Yet, minority groups, constituents polled higher—in the case of African Americans—than so-called whites. And Hispanics polled the same, 53% approval, as whites.

So, something is missing here. And I think I know what it is. If you do not have a coherent, positive message—and the Democrats don’t—and you keep haranguing and trying to smear and slander and talk about killing the president of the United States, then people are going to lose confidence here. And that’s what’s happened in California with Mayor Karen Bass, Gavin Newsom. And it’s happening on a national scene.

We’re getting incoherent chaos and nihilism when we need a two-party system and people to offer constructive suggestions. We’re not getting that and I don’t think we will.

My Life Before Living in Martin

My Life Before Living in Martin

My family moved to the Rosebud Boarding School in 1942, and we lived there during my years going to Martin Grade School and where I started high school at Todd County High School.  We moved to Martin, South Dakota, during my sophomore year, where I graduated from Bennett County High School.  

    Narene wearing the yellow crocheted dress my Aunt Myrtle Peterson made for me and to which my mother kept adding rows of chrocheting to lengthen it so I could continue to wear the dress as I grew taller.  (The dress has been passed on and last worn by Rebecca Graham when she was little.)

The view of Rosebud Boarding School taken from the water tower.  There was a "quad" with a flag pole in the middle and a road and sidewalk around the edge.  Buildings were along all four sides of this area.  Our house is hidden by the trees in the upper part of the photo.  

The larger building in the center of the photo was the school with the main office where our mail was delivered.  To the left of the school building is the boys dormitory, and to the right is the girls dormitory where the students lived during the school year and even for a few children who didn't have a home to go to when the school was not in session.

On the right side of the "quad" in the middle of the block was the home economics building with the girls dorm on the corner across the street and an apartment building for married employees across from the dorm.  On the opposite corner on the block was a building with apartments for single employees.  

My mother had substituted in several different classes in the main school building and then was hired to be the homemaking teacher where the classes were held in this "home ec cottage," as it was called.  She taught and helped her graduating senior girls weave the wool material and make tailored suits (skirt with matching jacket) which they wore when they graduated.  (I remember my mother being pleased with how the girls looked in their nice suits, but also how disappointed she was on an occasion several years after one girl's graduation when my mother saw her wearing the suit obviously not having taken care of it and looking very soiled and unkempt.). I remember when the cat at the home ec cottage had kittens, and the girls called them by nutrition names like Vitamin A, Vitamin B, etc.  The mother cat with her kittens had actually been left on our front porch by someone.

To the left side of this photo there is a smokestack, which is where the electricity for the buildings originated.  When that building burned down, our electricity then came from the town of Mission about two miles away.  Until the arrangments were made for this replacement electricity, families at the boarding school took turns sharing a portable pump when we could use our washing machines and other electrical equipment.  The portable pump was set up between two houses, so we shared it with our closest neighbor when it was our turn to have it.  At night, we used kerosene lamps since there was no electricity for lights.  During this time, I remember playing a version of the card game, "Canasta," with my friends in the evenings with the kerosene lamp for our light. 

Not shown in this photo, but to the left of the smokestack, was a duplex apartment building where my family lived for a short time when we first arrived at the boarding school until the house where we then moved to became available.  Our next-door neighbors were the Reifel family.  I sometimes played with their son, Delbert, and my sister was friends with their daughter, Alberta.  One day I came home and was impressed because there was an Indian lady in their home who was dressed in the traditional Indian long dress with a shawl.  I had seen this type of Indian at powwows dressed like this and doing their traditional dancing to the drum beat.  To me that was who an "Indian" was and not her grandchildren and their parents who dressed similar to me.  So in telling my mother about this grandma, I called her a "Hey Awe Indian," which is how I heard their chants they said while dancing in their Indian dress at these powwows.  Nearly all of my friends were considered "Indian," having some Indian heritage.

Shown in the upper right corner of the photo is the location of the gymnasium where the basketball games were held, movies were shown, and dances and other social events were enjoyed, which also included a stage.  During the time of polio being a real concern, there were box socials held to raise money for the "March of Dimes." My father as a member of the American Legion helped organize this.  Ladies would decorate boxes and fill with a meal to share with whomever got the winning bid on their boxed meal.  I remember one time when a high school boy who was one of my sister's friends bid on my box, and I had to eat with him.  I wonder if he thought it was her box when he bid on it.

My father worked at the boarding school where he taught agriculture classes to the boys and also managed the farm and dairy operation. Our two-bedroom brick home with a full basement next door to the school's principal was considered a very nice home of the time.  We had a kitchen with an electric refrigerator that had a small freezer where we could freeze water for ice cubes.  We had a gas cooking stove with four burners and an oven.  Our home was heated by a furnace that burned coal and was located in the basement in the "furnace room" with a "coal room" where coal was dumped into through a "window" from outside.  The basement also had a large room with storage shelves and had a bedroom which was used by me for a place to play when no one was using it as a bedroom.  My friends and I also used the open space in the storage room for a play area. 

    Me on my bike with a skirt guard, as girls frequently wore dresses.  In grade school, girls typically wore jeans on Fridays and dresses or skirts on the other days.  Jeans were for casual wear, and "Levis" were the popular brand for pants. 

                        Louise, Narene, and K.

After graduation from high school my brother, Kay LeRoi Nelson, went by "Roi" - but Louise and I continued to call him "K," and our parents switched to "Son." (The name Kay had become a girl's name; whereas it was a common boy's name when he was born.)

                        Louise, Narene, and K by our house

As employee's children, we got to go to all social events free of charge including the movies.  I liked to collect the movie advertisements and posters.  The movies were shown every Saturday night.  Basketball games during the season were typically shown on Friday evenings, and football games were Friday afternoons during autumn.  

* * * * * * * * * * * * 

(I have continued to like good movies.  While in high school, my favorite actress was June Allyson, and James Stewart was one of my favorite actors, probably because I really liked the 1954 movie, The Glenn Miller Story" about the life of the famous jazz trombonist and bandleader who in real life during World War II was on his way to entertain the American Forces when his plane disappeared over the English Channel on the way to France; and Glenn Miller became a legend.  The movie featured his hit songs that became popular again after the movie, like In the Mood (which was fun to dance to), String of Pearls, Pennsylvania 6-5000, Tuxedo Junction, to name a few.)

* * * * * * * * * * * * 

   Landing after jumping, which got me to smile. 

    My 1st grade class in Mission with Mrs. Anderson, teacher.

    I am 4th from the left in the back row.

    Our classroom shown behind us was for two grades, 1st & 2nd

                                Narene - Age 8 or 9

    Narene, 1950 - Age 12

Narene - right end of middle row (Mrs. Anderson, a wonderful teacher) 1st and 2nd grades - I was in the 1st grade.  I had Mrs. Anderson for 1st and 2nd grades.

Narene - 4th student from left in the back row.  Miss Luree Wacek from White River, SD, was the teacher for the combined 3rd & 4th grades; then when our class moved to the 5th/6th grade classroom, she decided teach 5th and 6th grades and moved with us.  

I remember Miss Wacek as having "teacher's pets" who would sometimes enjoy doing things with her that grouped them apart from the rest of the class.  One memorable experience was after the presidential election ended with Tom Dewey, her preferred candidate, being beaten by Harry S. Truman.  Prior to the election, she and the "teacher's pets" had fun holding the door closed from inside when it was time to come in from recess, so that those who were assumed to be "Truman" supporters had to wait until they would let the door open.  On the day of learning the results of the election with Truman winning to be our country's next president, Joan Hamblin, one of the students who had been supportive of holding the door on the supposedly Truman supporters, announced to the teacher that since Dewey had lost, they would be the ones to have the door held shut for them.  To the shock of the whole class, Miss Wacek walked over to Joan and slapped her on both sides of the cheeks and made her hair fly.  You can imagine how silent the whole room was except for the quiet sobbing of Joan.  

Years later, after moving to Martin, I read in the paper that recent South Dakota authors would be available in the city park for people to meet and buy their books.  When I read that Miss Wacek was going to be one of the authors, I wanted to go to have an opportunity to meet with her under better conditions and have a nice visit to learn about what she had been doing.  I was sad when she didn't show up, so I didn't get that chance to have a nice visit to see a different side of this teacher who never married and, in spite of some memories I had of her, might also have appreciated our chat.  I am sure I would have left with a better opinion of this teacher who actually must have done a pretty good job of teaching, as I seemed to have gotten educational learning during those four years that prepared me for the next years.

    7th Grade - Narene middle row, 3rd from right; Miss Noma Larsen was our teacher and is standing two to the right from me.  Miss Larsen was a friend and fellow classmate of my sister Louise, and she later married George Sazma and stayed in Mission.

                                            Narene - Teenager 

                    (by our house at the Rosebud Boarding School)

My family moved from Mission to Martin during my sophomore year in high school.  That began a new chapter in my life and, thankfully, where I met Sam, my Eternal Sweetheart!