Memories of John Larson
From: John James
{Written by linz}

When we heard that {one of John's} favorite cousins passed away, we were shocked and really sad. John is taking it really hard. We sat down the other night and while John talked about his cousin John-I typed as fast as I could. This is what he said:


*The first memory I have with John, is visiting him during my spring break in Arizona. We hit it off from the very start, and always played together. We got along really well.

*John said he remembered {when we were very young} that he told me his birthday was in August, so I told him my birthday was in August too {but it wasn’t}. So for the longest time we thought our birthdays were in the same month.

*We had a big family reunion in Blackfoot and John, Jason, Jeff and I wanted to sleep in the same tent together.

*When we were around 16 I remember rollerblading, going to dances together, and hiking in the mountains in Phoenix.

*Most of my fondest memories came from working with John in Alaska.

*John, Kelly Austin, and I would have snacks {soda pop and pop tarts} in our cabin and the girls would try to take them. We hid them in a chest and drawer-in our clothes and under our bed}. Somehow the girls always found them, and ate them all.

*John taught me how to drive a stick shift in grandpa’s volts wagon rabbit pickup truck.

*John and I would go to Charlie and Nick Hansen’s {who worked with grandma in the cannery} house to hang out. We also went to their grandparent’s house in Soldotna, and bailed hay for them. We enjoyed horseback riding too.

*It seemed like we always liked the same girls in Alaska. {There was a girl we both liked and she liked the both of us. BUT he had “the moves” down better than I did}. He often ended up with the girls, but sometimes I came out on top.

*John always carried a toothbrush in his pocket or mouth.

*One time I went to pick up John at the Hansen’s house in Soldotna from church, and I rolled grandpa’s pickup truck {probably the one he taught me how to drive}. He was very concerned and made sure I was okay. He always had compassion for others.

*I knew he had a strong testimony of the church. We always talked {late nights-eating snacks} near the boys cabin and talked about life…and girls. {chuckles}

*I remember when Becky cut her hair short. I really liked it, but John was very upset about her cutting her hair. He really liked Becky with long hair.

*John always tried to please everyone and did everything he could to help out. He always had a helping hand and did the best he could.

*There were times when John and I got frustrated with each other {I always blamed it on late hours and not getting a lot of sleep working in Alaska}. …And with the “Carlson Stubbornness” we always wanted things our way. So we would butt heads, but never get anywhere with it. {That didn’t happen very often}.

*John had the Carlson humor down to “The T”. He had Grandpa’s humor. He was always trying to make others laugh.

*John and I stacked boxes in the freezer van. We had to shut the door behind us and there wasn’t a door handle inside. We were always stuck in there for a long time, it seemed, banging and kicking on the door for someone to let us out.

*Aunt Connie would want a {specific} fish box in the freezer van, and it was usually in the very back. John and I would have to army crawl through the boxes to find it. It was usually a hassle but we did it.

*There were two freezer vans that usually stood side-by-side. John and I would get on top-and have our hand and a foot on each van and do pushups.

*John and I would have competitions to see who could throw the 50 pound fish boxes the furthest in the freezer van.

*A lot of us would walk to the beach to have bon fires, skip rocks, or swim in the bay area.

*John and I enjoyed going mud sliding with ours cousins/cannery workers/friends. We always tried getting the mud off by swimming in the water, because Grandpa would spray us with the Pressure Washer {and it felt like pins and needles hitting our skin}. That’s when we came up with “Hot Toting”…it was much more relaxing and warmer.

*We would go to Uncle Lynn’s house and hang out with Jeff, Scottie, Hans…and all of our cousins.

*We did the 4th of July Tradition of having a talent show every summer.

*Since John and I had the same first names, I got the nick-name of “John boy” or “John James”.

*I remember when John and I were eating fish hearts and then the both of us {being stupid} decided to chew on a fish head. It was the nastiest thing we ever tasted. We were very dumb. J

*John was the one who got the “ban” of no girls in the boy cabin and no boys in the girl cabin. We didn’t really mind it though, because then our snacks didn’t get taken.

*When the gut totes were sitting for a few days {and got really smelly}, it was usually John, Kelly and I that had to grind them into the water. We always got the nasty jobs.

*Even though John was younger than I was, I always looked up to him. He was a good friend. A good cousin. A good person. You knew that He always cared about others.

*I knew that John cared about everyone. He was a very caring person.