Thank you so much for your Interest and kind words. I remember her so well. I was young but i still have so many moments in my thoughts. Some wonderful. Some terrible. But I do remember she loved me, and I loved her.
In hood river, ore, I mustve been idk 4 urs old?? We lived in the Benton Orchards in employee housing. It was just a tiny little shack. Studio I believe. Anyways, mom was working there picking cherries with the immigrant workers. Not sure how long she had been separated from Denman E. Wehrli Sr. exactly..... Must not have been very long. I remember him vaguely. I remember our former baby sitter more. Denman Sr. (Mty brother Dennys father) ended up fancyin' the sitter. Her name is Sharon. Denman Sr. (Aka"Doc") ended up eventually marrying Sharon. They stayed together having 3 more children (my brothers half sisters and brother). Anyways, Sharon told me that my mom "neither condoned, nor condemned" the sexual molestation of Pem. Even tho Sharon (our sitter) was aware if the sexual abuse of my older sister, she either chose to be the reason my mom (Bo) and Doc(my younger brothers father) split ways, or scooped him up for her own after they separated. Either way, I was told by one of Sharon's daughters that "you're mom was already pregnant " when my mother and Doc got together.
...even tho my mother literally named me after the child molester..took his initials, added "Ana"...and gave me his last name. I was 38 yrs old when I brought Denny and his siblings together. I was 38 when I realized I wasn't related to any of them. I was 38 when my mother told me I was a product of rape. Her exact words were" I smoked meth on weed at a basement party. Your father could been one guy..or 5 guys." I was relieved when I found out that the child molester who raped my sister for years was not my father. I hadn't allowed even my mom to call me the name I was born with since I was about 12 yrs old. But I also realized Denny was only my half brother, and that she had led me to believe I was the daughter of the man who she allowed to rape my big sister all my life. If I was 4 when I recall my memory of my sister in the orchard, and there was once a pic of me as a tiny baby with my sister Pem at the migrant worker housing, I wonder where she knew Doc from? My guess is in Hood River? Spose that's a question that should be addressed to Mrs. Sharon Wehrli? Anyways,the pic of me as a toddler with my sister on the porch of the tiny shack inthe orchards of Hood River, she must've known Doc in Hood River? I've always wondered who exactly I am since she couldn't bring herself to tell me the truth. Am I Hispanic perhaps? Whoever my father is she apparently didn't want to admit it. Smoke coke on weed mom. Not Meth. Wanna start that story over Ma?? Please? T
Anywho. I remember Pem taking small apples off the trees and peeling the skins. Then she would take a knife and carefully carve a small face in the side. Then we would take the carved apples to a shed with a small light and let the apples dry under a light bulb. They would twist into an impish face, all ditires I remember being so delighted when she >give me a new "doll face" to play with.
As long as I stayed out of her word find books her and I were always close.
But not all of out memories are days illed with. Cherries and doll faces.
When I was 5 we lived I. Portland in a big whole house with an upstairs and basement. I don't remember living there before the next "father figure" was there. Mom met Wayne Allen Schutt of James Town , north dakota met mom thrlll)u her good friend Aunt Jean Lewis, because Jean Was Dating Leroy Schutt, Wayne's Brither. Jean has since deceased. But while she was alive she denied ever knowing my sister. Her absolute denial makes her a liar, because Wayne Schutt was the next man mom chose and the newest step-molester that would sexually assault Pem repeatedly until she finally disappeared and was never to be heard or seen again. Mom told me that Wayne had a daughter once. I'm not going to mention her name, but u was told that he had his way with her as well. She told me once when I was a child that he would make her do weird sex acts. He was an alcoholic, a woman abuser, a child molester, and if what I believe is true, he has everything to do with Pems disappearance.
Mom was working in Portland at the Portland community College as the front desk secretary. Typically we would go to.work with her, and as the day went by she would make a tally list for us for every time we did something to deserve "whoopin". 1 tally =1 swat. We were spanked with a belt or spoon every night after she got off work by either her or Wayne. When we were punished we would be stripped totally naked and then spanked. One day I remember my sister Pem watched us. Not sure what it is I had dome "wrong" but apparently it deserved another naked physical punishment. Mom asked Mt sister if she had spanked me. Pem said No!?!? And that's when my clothes were torn from my and my 5 yr old naked butt got multiple swats. My sister had curled up.into a fetal position in the Couch, crying frantically, begging for them to stop hurting me.. I remember Pem tearing out handfuls of her own hair as she begged for their mercy. I have never been able to get that image out of my head my entire life. 45 years later...I still remember I felt her suffering. I can only imagine the horrors that poor girl endured. It haunts me every day of my life. My sisters disappearance has affected every day of my life. My search for the truth has cost me dearly. All the lies my mother told trying to cover up the truth over all those years needs to be exposed. I have so many things I need to tell the world about my sister that it's almost overwhelming. Almost every time I'd speak to my mom about Pem, we were alone, no witnesses, which makes it difficult, but I promise to do my best to get as many details as I can remember out in the open for everyone to hear. They say every family has skeletons in the closet. In this family, it's not a figure of speech. Please ask me as many questions as you like to help me through this journey. Thank you and God bless you all for having the compassion to hear Pems story. It means everything to me to somehow find closure to this nightmare.
