By Lucinda Brotherson as told to Marcy Curtis
Lucinda Johnson Brotherson moved from Nephi to Mt Pleasant at an early age where she grew up the
oldest of five siblings—Chad, Cherrie, Carma and Craig. She has been married to Terry for nearly 48
years. Her dream is to fly to Hawaii for their “Big 50.” They have raised four children—Scott (Dana),
Jared (Liz), Brandee (Jade Shelley) and TJ (Ellen), which have given them 13 grandkids, who are truly
the light of her life. Terry and Lucinda put many miles on their truck making sure they attend as many of
their grandchildren’s activities possible, no matter the distance. They are the proud owners of Terry R
Brotherson Excavating in Mt. Pleasant and donate and sponsor many activities within the city. She has a
love for other people and is often found buying someone’s drink behind her at Fizz. She loves her family
and the savior, and it shows in everything that she does.
The Johnson family (back L-R) Cherrie, Carma, Lucinda and Craig, (front L-R) Phillip, Chad, and
Sandra.
My family moved from Nephi to Mt Pleasant when I was younger, and we lived in a little home
in Mt Pleasant. It was located where the Wasatch Academy Centennial Dorm is now. We were renting the
house and there was a room that we were not allowed to go into. The people that owned the home had
their furniture in it and we knew that this room was off limits.
My mom had a beauty shop in Ephraim and so I think that may have been where they hid our
Christmas gifts. My parents called us from Ephraim on a pay phone pretending to be Santa. Some of us
were right at that age when we were starting to wonder and ask questions about Christmas.
They were convincing though, because the wind in the background sounded like snowy wind at
the North Pole. My parents were always good at that kind of stuff. They wanted us to believe in the magic
of Christmas for as long as we could.
Lucinda Brotherson and her husband Terry Brotherson.
On this Christmas morning my parents had just gotten into bed around 4 a.m. I don’t know how
they did it. My brother Chad would wake me up as soon as he heard my parents go to bed. He did this
every Christmas. I don’t know if he would just always listen good or just wait patiently.
When we went down to the room where Christmas should have been there was just this big red
sack on the floor with nothing else but a note. The note said, “Sorry kids, by the time that I got to your
house my bag was empty.”
I turned around and here came my younger siblings into the room that had nothing in it. I
remember we all just sat on the couch. Some of us were crying and I just kept saying, maybe it’s in the
secret room, maybe he got us mixed up with some other family.
The younger siblings kept saying maybe it’s in the other room, maybe we should go in there and
see. Little did we know, but Craig had already gone in, because the door was unlocked, and he was
checking out all our gifts before any of us even knew they were in there.
Then we heard my dad say to Craig, go get everyone else. When we walked in, there was all our
Christmas. I am not sure how long we had sat out there and cried, but we knew we were not supposed to
go into that room. My parents had threatened us many times.
I don’t even remember what I got that Christmas. I just remember the sack and then all of us
falling asleep in that room with all our new stuff.
I was always a stinker around Christmas time. I was a bad snooper, and I always knew what I was
getting. Except for one Christmas. A lady who had my mother do her hair had recently gone to Germany
and brought back a China set for me. My mom didn’t even try to hide it. It was in her room, in the wide
open, not covered, and I had no clue.
