Sixty Years Later
by Helen Torney Randall
Portland, OR
When my husband and I drove into Eugene in September 1949, we had been married only two weeks. Neither of us had ever lived in Oregon, and we thought our stay would be temporary, a year or two, while my husband worked on a graduate degree at the University of Oregon.
Sixty years later, it’s September 2009. We are still here! We fell in love with Oregon. We never left. When it was time to leave Eugene, we moved just up the road to Portland where my husband began teaching in the Portland Public Schools. I worked downtown at the FBI and later at Reed College. We had a marvelous time exploring the beautiful parks and many things to see and do in Portland. We loved shopping at the Farmer’s Market at SW 3rd and Yamhill, lunch at the Bohemian Restaurant, shopping at Meier and Frank, Lipman’s, Olds & King, symphony concerts at the old Civic Auditorium, plays at Civic Theater, getting acquainted with the Mormon community in Portland while attending church and volunteering at the chapel on SE 30th and Harrison, playing tennis at Laurelhurst Park, having friends over for dinner, movies, hiking, camping, trips to the beach. When relatives visited from Washington or Utah it was such a pleasure introducing them to Portland and Oregon.
Looking back over these past sixty years, we realize what a great place it has been to raise our four children. How thankful we are that three of them have settled in this area. We have been able to see grandchildren as newborns, toddlers, first graders, and all of a sudden as graduates from high school, who go off to college, get married and have their own children. Our two highest priorities throughout these past sixty years have been our family and service in our church. As our family has grown and expanded, so has the church (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) in the Portland area and Oregon. Today it is the second largest church in Oregon. We served for many years as volunteers in the LDS temple in Lake Oswego. Our children and grandchildren enjoy the peace and serenity as they also enjoy the spirit of the temple.
Our favorite drive is still the old Scenic Highway to Multnomah Falls, at any and all times of the year—never complete until we stop at Chanticleer Point viewpoint, then at Latourell Falls, and finally Wahkeena Falls on the way. Lunch at Multnomah Falls Lodge is a treat. As we drive home on the freeway, I often think about this beautiful Oregon country—this is where so many people, pioneers and others, came and do come, from all parts of the country, to see and some to settle. And just think—we’re right here, we live here, and we’re staying.
