Because
Troy was never able to catch on very well to breast feeding the nurse at the
hospital suggested I try pumping milk to give him with his special bottle. She ordered the pump through my insurance so
it worked out really well and I became an expert pumper. Now, we had moved several years before away
from all of our family in Utah and Wyoming.
So as soon as school was out every year I would pack up all of the kids
and we would have a mad road trip to Utah.
We would visit all of our relatives so the kids could play with their
cousins and I could get out of the California, and then Arizona, heat. The year Troy was born presented a special
challenge. I wanted to make the trip in
one day (have you ever tried staying in a motel room with 8 kids?) but I knew
I’d never make 14 hours without being able to stop and pump somewhere. I just have to tell you my wildly
embarrassing experience with this in Kanab, Utah.
July 16, 1995
We
had left Arizona at 5:30 in the morning.
After six hours of driving I knew I needed to stop and find a place to
pump. As I drove through Kanab I saw an LDS church and it occurred to me that I
could probably find an empty room in there with an electric outlet to set up my
pump. I left the kids on the lawn
outside the church to play-don’t worry I had several teenagers to ride herd on
the little ones-and I hurried into the church with all my equipment for, what I
hoped, was a quick stop. Well, I had no
problem finding an empty room but there was no one in the halls to ask if I
could use it so I finally just went in and shut the door. I noticed that there was a bolt lock on it so
I locked that so that I wouldn’t get interrupted. I could just see some brother walking in and
finding me in all my glory! So getting a locking door was truly a bonus. After a few minutes I heard everyone getting
out of sacrament meeting and I expected to hear someone knocking on the door
soon – but no one ever did. I couldn’t
believe it– I was able to finish up and pack everything and I thought I was
going to get out of there without having to explain all this to anyone. I was
feeling so lucky.
I proceeded to the
door with my hands full of equipment and bottled milk. I turned the knob with my emptiest hand and,
to my horror, found that it wouldn’t open.
I put down my stuff and tried again—and again! It wouldn’t budge!! I just about died. There I was locked in the church—8 kids doing
who knows what outside and one of them a hungry baby who needed the milk I had
just pumped. I banged on the door and
yelled for help – nothing. It was deadly
quiet out there. I was beginning to
panic as I ran to the window in the room to see if I could get the attention of
someone outside – no one in sight. I
knew the car and the kids were on the other side of the building so that was no
help. There was a strong screen on the
window that I couldn’t push out or even break.
I was getting really desperate.
As I scanned the room I spotted a phone and a phone book on one of the
desks in the room. Eureka! I thought, “I can call someone.” But who?
The police? No, that was too embarrassing. Suddenly I had an idea to call the Bishop’s
office in the building. Surely he’d
still be there. So I grabbed the phone
and hurriedly flipped through the pages of the phone book. I found the listing for the LDS church but my
heart fell when there were 7 or 8 of them listed! How to figure out which one to call? I figured this one must be on Center street
because it was on the highway that went right through town. I ran to the window and looked out to see
what kind of landmark I could describe to someone to make sure I had the
right building. There was a movie
theater. So I called the number for a
church on Center St and, thank goodness, got an answer. I asked the man on the other end of the line
if this was the church across from the theater.
In a puzzled voice he answered, “Yes.” I
rushed on, “Well I’m locked in one of your rooms and I
can’t get out.” Stunned silence. He turned from puzzled to amused as I tried
to explain my situation. I’m sure it
was all he could do not to laugh out loud as he assured me that he’d come
“rescue” me.
Sure enough, a few minutes
later, two older men showed up and unlocked the door. They were chuckling as they entered the room and
introduced themselves to me. Then one of
them walked across the room and opened a second door which I had assumed was a
closet and had not even tried to open, and to my complete dismay it opened into
the hall! And it had been unlocked the
whole time! Now I was doubly
embarrassed! I’m sure that’s a Sunday
those brethren will never forget. The
day they rescued that cute little Arizona gal from the unlocked office. Oh! My! Goodness! I still shake my head and turn red when I
think of it. The “pumping incident” has
gone down in infamy in the Taylor family history and is always good for a laugh.
