BERNARD CAUBLE
A Special Family Story
This is a family story. It goes on and on because that’s what families do. They go on and on into the eternities.
Times were hard during the depression years of the early 1930s. My father was out of work a lot and I was sent to live with my Aunt Janet and Uncle Angus and their boys. I was about 4 years old and my cousins were Bernard 6 years old, Donald 4 years old and Benjamin just a baby. Bernard sort of seemed to take care of Don and I. He kept trying to keep us out of trouble. Don and I liked to climb on the neighbors chicken sheds and play on the roofs. I guess it scared the chickens and the neighbors didn’t like us up there but-----. Don and I would fuss and fight with each other a lot too and Bernard was always telling us not to do that. Both Don and I thought of Bernard as a special person and we’d try then to be “good” for him.
When Bernard was 8 years old it was time for him to be baptized into the Church. (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) My aunt and uncle hadn’t been very active in the Church but they tried to get us out to church and they wanted Bernard to be baptized. I remember that Bernard was very excited about his baptism. I remember going to church the Sunday after his baptism especially for his Confirmation. We met on the second floor of an old building where many folding chairs had been set up for the congregation. I can still picture it all as Bernard was called up front to be confirmed. After he was confirmed he came back to sit with us. Apparently Don and I had been misbehaving “again” and he scolded us. He told us that he would not always be around to take care of us and we needed to learn to behave. I remember thinking it was a strange thing for him to say and then forgot all about it.
A few weeks later my aunt and uncle took us all on a picnic to a sandy shore area of the Truckee River. Don was playing in the river not too far off shore and I was playing on some logs in the river. Little Ben was on a blanket with my aunt and uncle where they were kind of dozing. Don suddenly found himself caught in some quicksand and started to sink. Bernard had been playing on the shore when he heard Don yelling for help. I remember being very scared and not knowing what to do. Bernard ran into the water and pulled Don out but somehow Bernard was caught in a swift current. By that time my aunt and uncle had awoken and were trying to get to Bernard. It all happened so fast. But the current had pulled him out and under so quickly. My uncle kept diving under water trying to find Bernard but never did. His body was found down river a little later. The days to follow were a heartbreaking time for us all.
Some months after that I went back to live with my parents. Every so often I went back to visit with Don and the family. We all continued to grow up pretty much out of the Church. Don and I graduated from high school and we both went on into our professions, he into Annapolis (Navy) and Pensacola (flying) and I into Nursing. It was during that time that I found the Church again and began to develop my testimony. The same thing was happening to Don. While he was finishing at Pensacola I was getting married and starting a family. We had kept in touch off and on. He met a lovely girl, Jeanie, and they were married. A while later the Navy transferred Don to Moffat Field which was very close to where Vaughn and I were living. We were excited to have them so close. Don let us know however that we were not to mention anything about religion to Jeannie. She was not a member of the church and Don was afraid she would feel that she was being pushed. He had stopped going to church himself. So Vaughn and I tried to be careful whenever we got together. A little time passed by and suddenly one day I started to think about Bernard. I kept getting this strong feeling that he wanted his Temple work done. This was interesting because from the time that I became active in the church I had been deeply involved in doing genealogy. I collected every bit of family information I could find and was trying to get names cleared and work done. I had all Bernard’s information and it never occurred to me over those years that his work needed to be done. Now suddenly, I couldn’t get the thought out of my mind. But the difficult part was that I strongly impressed that Bernard wanted Don to do the work.
I was afraid to talk to Don about my thoughts. I was sure that he would think I was interfering and pushing religion when he had specifically asked us not to do that. I was concerned that it would ruin any friendship that we all shared. I managed to get through the day without dong anything about my thoughts. I remember on the second day it was worse. I couldn’t stop the thoughts. By the third day I knew something had to be done. By that time I knew I had two choices. I could ignore it all and hope for the best but I knew if I did, I’d be held accountable. So I had to make the second choice. I had to talk to Don .I was really scared. I called him up and tried to apologize for what I was about to say. Then I told him that I knew that Bernard wanted his work done and that I also knew that Bernard wanted Don to do it. To my great surprise, Don told me then that he knew that what I said was true. He told me that the day before my call his mother, (who still was not active in the Church), had called him from Reno to tell him that Bernard wanted Don to do his Temple work. He told me also, that the day before that,he had received a letter from his “genealogy involved” aunt (on his father’s side). He hadn’t been in touch with this aunt for many years. She wrote telling him that Bernard wanted his work done. So by the time I called he was convinced about what he had to do. That was when I realized that Bernard was still taking care of Don. Now the story goes on.
Don contacted the missionaries in his area and he and Jeannie listened to the missionaries teach them about the Gospel. Jeannie said that she immediately knew that it was true. She was baptized and Don began to advance in the priesthood. Something else interesting happened about this time. Up to this time (a few years) Jeannie had not been able to get pregnant. Now she discovered she was pregnant. They were so happy. Don left the Navy but stayed on active duty two weekends a month. They moved to Colorado where two more babies came along fairly soon. By this time Don had done Bernard’s Temple work. They remained very active in the church and about a month after their third baby was born Don was called to the Bishopric and received the calling of High Priest in the Melchizedek Priesthood. A few weeks later, while on active duty for the Navy, Don was killed instantly when his jet crashed on takeoff. I called Jeannie hoping to offer some consolation or sympathy but it was she who was consoling me. She said she missed him terribly but the Lord had let her know that it was Don’s time to go. She told me that she felt he had been called to a special work and the Lord had given her great comfort and peace.
We stayed in touch with Jeannie over the years while we were all raising our children. More than once Jeannie mentioned that she felt Don’s influence and help as she raised their children. If time permitted I could go on with the story because the story does go on. I could tell you how each of Don and Jeannie’s children grew up to be wonderful people. Or I could tell you about Don’s youngest brother Ben, who was just a baby when Bernard died. I saw how the two older brothers took care of Ben and his family. Remember, this is a family story and they are never ending so it does not end here. It goes on forever-------------
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Web Author: Colette and Yvonne @ 2006
To reach me by e-mail: Colette - speedeturtle@outlook.com
Website: Marshall and Kay Family
Created February 22, 2006
Page Title: The Kay Family Line
Created : Feb, 2006
Revised : Dec.15, 2013