52 Questions in 52 Weeks: 3 of 52

Question 3:

What memories do you have of your father (his name, birth date, birthplace, parents, and so on)?

Eric - My father is Kurt Scheib. He was born on January 15 in Inglewood, California to Jerry and Julie. My parents divorced when I was very young. Within a couple of years of the divorce, I had no contact with Kurt. This lasted until I chose to reach out as an adult. As a result, the memories I have are limited. Here is what I remember:

When I was young Kurt worked at Pizza Hut. I remember going with him to work one day. There was a huge machine they used to knead the dough. I thought it was really cool. I remember he let me eat some of the dough. I also remember he was really good at throwing the dough up in the air and making it into a perfectly round crust. My dad was a master pizza chef. 

I also remember that his family lived in Logan. Sometimes we would go up and visit them. I remember they had chickens. I can remember Kurt showing me the chickens and I remember him showing me an incubator. I really liked the baby chicks. I also remember one of my favorite things in Logan was the candy store he would take me to. I loved getting Swedish fish. They were my favorite. 

Other memories are much hazier. I vaguely remember him pushing me on a big swing, but I didn't really like it because I have a fear of heights. I also remember watching the cartoon "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" one day over at his apartment. 

I also have some memories from when Kurt married Jen. I didn't really think about including these memories until I saw a few pictures. I remember being a ring bearer in the ceremony. I also vividly remember there were so many people there I didn't know and it seemed like they all wanted to know me. I was a shy kid and didn't love all the attention. The other memory I have, which may or may not be correct was that there was a giant full moon that night. 

Since my memories were hazy I reached out to Kurt and asked him to share some memories with me. Here is his response: "When you were little you had such a vivid imagination and you loved to pretend. We would play all kinds of made-up games and it was really fun being a part of your adventures. You also made Halloween very fun because you really got into your characters. I think my favorite memory is of us "working" together on projects around the house. I would come home and you would have your hammer and tools and be ready to get started. In the summer you often came out and played in the yard while I worked on cars. I was always worried about your heart and I was a little overprotective about you doing too much. I know you were too young to remember, but I really liked our trip to England. I will never forget we were in the Lakes District and we were on the shore waiting for a boat to take us across the lake you were playing by the water and a goose decided she was not happy and started chasing you. It was scary and I think you got bit by the goose, but you were okay in the end. We stayed with some members from my mission and they had a daughter your age named Lindsay and you guys got along so well. You played and had fun and I remember you were sad when we had to leave. After we left, they called and said we had left a pair of your socks behind and Lindsay wanted to keep them as a reminder of her friend from America.

You were a very good big brother and wanted to always be taking care of your sister. As you got bigger and the divorce happened, it was hard. We had to go places that were close to your house in Sandy (McDonald's) because a lot of time I could only have you for a couple of hours and I lived in North Salt Lake. I brought you guys to the apartment a couple of times and we had a playroom but you never got to stay for long and the visit was always very short."

I am very grateful that I have some more recent memories. Shortly before Alison and I got married we took a trip up to Logan, Utah to visit Kurt. I was nervous because it was the first time I had seen him in at least 15 years. I didn’t really know what I would do or say. Alison and I were recently engaged and I asked her to come with me - I am so glad she came. Her support meant a lot and helped me get through that moment. We got to Kurt’s house and I didn’t know if I could go up to the door. I almost turned around. Alison was the voice of reason and encouraged me to do what I knew I needed to do. We met Kurt, his wife Jen, and their three girls - Lyndsie, Sara, and Emily.

We talked for a few minutes, mostly small talk and then I asked Kurt if we could talk alone. We left and went for a walk around the block. He answered a lot of questions. I left feeling happy and relieved. I now knew there was nothing to be nervous about. 

Over the next couple of years, we visited Kurt and the family a couple of times a year. We all seemed to like to go to dinner at Chili's. We went there often. One time we went to Maddox Ranch House Restaurant. It was always fun. We would talk about our lives - work, school, and travel and they would tell us what they had been up to. 

A little over a year ago I went to Logan over conference weekend. It worked out for me because I ended up having an inventory count in Logan on Sunday morning. I asked Kurt if he would like to go to the priesthood session of the conference with me. He, of course, accepted the invitation. We also took Jerry with us, which made him so happy. It was my first time ever going to a priesthood session with my dad. It was a really special experience. 

A couple months after that weekend Kurt and his family moved to Ohio. We call and talk occasionally and we try to keep the relationship going. We haven't made it out there yet, but we hope that we will get to visit before too long. Kurt always promises that he will take us to a baseball game when we visit. How could we turn that offer down!

Alison and I both really appreciated that he put no pressure on us to have a relationship with him. He let it develop. Today we have the hope that we will create many more memories in the future. 

Alison - My dad is Blake Nielson. He was born on November 23 in Mt. Pleasant, Utah. He was the youngest of 7 kids. I have a lot of memories of my dad from when I was growing up. He started his own company, which I'm sure came with a lot of stress. Although he worked a lot from home, I never remember feeling neglected or like work came before his family. He always balanced his work and family. His work also provided my family with a lot of opportunities to travel. 

My dad loves sports. When I was growing up I went to every BYU home football game with my Dad. He had season tickets and I loved going to the games. We would usually leave really early before the game and walk around campus or around the stadium. I loved that. It made the choice to go to BYU after high school easy because I spent a lot of time walking around campus and going to the Wilkinson Center before football games.

In 2001 my Dad attended Game 4 of the World Series and fell in love with the Yankees. He came home and was so excited about baseball that it didn't take long before my whole family was Yankees fans. We started going to baseball games when we went to New York and I loved it. My favorite game was the 2008 All-Star Game - it was my graduation present from my parents for graduating with a 4.0 GPA.

My dad joked that he was the "guy with the stuff" in our ward. He was always getting asked to help out with scout camps, girls camps, and youth conferences, even when he didn't have callings with the youth. I know he wasn't able to go to every camp I went on, but I can't remember very many when he wasn't there for at least a day.

Both of my parents valued education. Growing up, I didn't realize that people didn't go to college. It wasn't an option for my family - we all went to college. He encouraged me to study abroad and to take advantage of the unique opportunities that BYU provided. I decided to go to Jerusalem, which was one of the best experiences of my life. While I was there, the Yankees were in the World Series. I would get up in the middle of the night to watch the playoff games. When the Yankees won, it was about 5:00 in the morning in Jerusalem. I immediately got on the phone and called my Dad to talk about the game. It was really cool to experience a Yankees victory even separated by an ocean.

My dad always wanted to provide us with unique opportunities. When the Olympics were in Salt Lake we spent a lot of time downtown walking around and going to concerts. We also attended a downhill skiing event and a hockey game. I knew the skiing event was going to be cold so I wore several pairs of socks. Unfortunately, I wore so many socks that it started cutting off my circulation and my feet went numb. My dad helped me take my boots and socks off and rub the feeling back into my feet before putting my socks (a few fewer pairs) and boots back on.

We also attended the 2008 All-Star Game in Yankee stadium and went to the first game in the new Yankee stadium in 2009. When Derek Jeter retired we went to his last game in Yankee stadium. My dad always found unique opportunities for us to participate in and make memories as a family.

We prided ourselves on having a lot of fun growing up. We spent a lot of weekends boating and driving around the mountains. We believe that life is meant to be enjoyed. Typically for holidays like Labor Day and the 4th of July, we would go up in the mountains and bbq some steak and potatoes. We always eat good food when we camp. For Memorial Day we always went to Ephraim and visited the cemetery. I've always been very proud of my Nielson heritage because of these Memorial day visits to the Cemetery. We always run into either family or some of my Dad's friends on Memorial day visiting Ephraim. It's pretty cool.

My dad taught me to work hard. As Nielson's, we cannot tolerate laziness. I got my first job when I was 17 and I learned how to work hard, fast, and smart. I worked at Dealertrack with my Dad and he would always stop by my cube to say hi. When I started installing we talked a lot about working with new clients, because my dad did that for several years while they were building the business.

Overall, I'm grateful to have been born into a proud heritage where we work hard and play harder. I know I learned that from my dad.