My name is David Bennett Sessions. I was born on October 30, 1964 in Vernal, Uintah County, Utah to Barney Burl Sessions and Lloy Jane Sessions.

I am the fifth child of six children born to them. I have four brothers and one sister: Lynn Ralph Sessions, Drell B. Sessions (who died in infancy), Randel M. Sessions, Lawona Sessions and Glade Vance Sessions.

I was born and raised in Vernal, Utah and will always consider it home. When I came along, my parents had been living in their home at 631 West 200 North for a few years and still reside at that address today. At that time, the house was finished upstairs and half of the basement had been made into an apartment for my Grandmother, Mary Erma Moosman Sessions (or Granny as all her grandchildren called her). I remember having to share a room with my sister, Lawona until Dad finished the basement and put another room down there.

As far back as I can remember Granny always lived with us in her basement apartment of our house. Although the apartment was small Granny did not complain and considered it her home. Granny was an excellent cook and made the best homemade bread. She would make something and as she was putting it on the table would say, "its not very good", but what she made would always be eaten in no time at all. I would come home from school to find out what she had been baking or canning or if she had started a new quilt that day. Over the years Granny made several very beautiful quilts which see gave away to her children and grandchildren.

Granny's favorite flower was the purple violet and she kept three or four flower pots on a shelf by the kitchen window.

My Grandpa, Buell S. Bennett and Grandma, Ida Briggs Bennett lived in Vernal in a small but comfortable house. They owned a 40 acre farm south of Vernal. Grandpa raised cows and sheep and planted a large garden which was shared with our family.

Grandpa Bennett built a small two room cabin in McKee Draw which is about 30 miles north of Vernal on the way to Flaming Gorge. He used lumber from the workers barracks that were be torn down after the completion of Flaming Gorge Dam.

When it was time to get a haircut, Grandpa would be the one to do it. He cut us kids hair until his health would no longer permitted it then Grandma took over as barber.

On October 30, 1967, three years to the day and my third birthday, Glade my younger brother was born. I have been told and vaguely remember that I was kind of jealous of my new brother because one day, Mom caught me hitting Glade with a wet washcloth while he was laying in his crib.

Around the time Glade out grew his crib and Dad finished another room in the basement, Lynn and Randy was moved downstairs and Glade and I was moved into their old room. Lawona then had her own room. Glade and I shared that room until Randy moved out on his own.

During the summer months I would entertain myself by playing with my brothers, sister and the neighborhood kids, digging forts in the field behind our house, and catching frogs at nearby ponds. Our family would also spend weekends and vacations at Grandpa and Grandma Bennett's cabin on the mountain.

One of the neighborhood kids, who live up the street, named Darren Fowler was born on the same day as me, so Mom had a difficult time planning birthday parties since Glade's, Darren's and mine were all on the same day. I think Mom worked it out with Darren's mom to alternate every other year. As we got older, Mom planned one combined party for just Glade and I.

In 1971, the summer before I started first grade, I went to a birthday party for one of my friends, Jeff Drollinger. At that party, I met a new kid that just moved in up the street from the Drollingers. His name was Jeff Taylor. We quickly became best friends and were like brothers until he moved back to Richfield, Utah in 1980.

I went to Ashley Elementary from kindergarten to sixth grade, then went to the Vernal Junior High (now the Vernal Middle School) grades seventh through ninth and finished the last three years at Uintah High School (now the Vernal Junior High).

In 1972, when I was in second grade, I developed a lung infection which kept me out of school for about three weeks. I had to take what I consider to be the nastiest tasting medicine that I have ever taken. During that time, my second grade teacher, Mrs. Sayler came to our house to help me with my school work.

Sometime in March of 1978, while in route to a Boy Scout activity to Remember the Maine Park, up Dry Fork Canyon, the truck I was riding in hit a smaller truck. I was riding in the bed of the truck and had my back against the rear window so I didn't see the accident but felt it. My friend, Jeff Taylor was riding on the right side wheel well and received cuts on his hand which required stitches. Although no one else in the truck I was riding was hurt, the driver of the small truck received a concussion and severe whiplash. Several guardian angels must have been watch over all of us that day.

In March of 1979, my oldest brother, Lynn got married to Nancy Markham. I was the Best Man at the reception.

On Mother's Day of 1979, my Grandpa Bennett died. During the last year of his life, he was bedridden and Lynn put a tape recorder in front of him and asked to record his life history. Lynn typed it up and made copies for all the family. I now enjoy reading about his life growing up in Uintah and Daggett Counties.

A couple of weeks later I graduated from the Jr. High School and moved on to High School. That summer I took Driver's Education so I could get my driver's license when I turned 16. When I took the eye exam at the Driver's License office I found out I needed glasses and have been wearing glasses ever since. I eventually got my learner permit and the first time I drove, I was with Lynn, and we were headed to his house out in Naples. On the way there I hit a dog which scared me so bad I almost gave up driving right then and there. When I think back on that experience, all I remember is seeing a white flash in front of the car and hearing a couple of thuds and a yelp under the car. At that point I quickly pulled over and stopped the car. Lynn and I got out and started back to see how the dog was, the owner said he saw the whole thing and told us it was the dog's fault and not to worry about it. I still think of that experience whenever I drive down that road.

During the summer of 1979, I got my first job as the clean up person at Ron's IGA Bakery, just a block from our house. I still remember all the baking sheets and the big mixing bowls I had to wash. To this day I still believe bakers are the messiest people around because they can dirty just about everything in site, at least the ones I worked for did.

At the start of my Freshman year in High School, I was introduced to the world of computers by a friend and have been hooked ever since. But before learning about computers, I wanted to be a marine biologist. During my Sophomore and Senior years in High School, I had the opportunity to take Utah State University extension courses and get both High School and college credit. When I graduated from Uintah High School in 1983, I had earned several college credits.

In December of 1981, I got a part time job as a cashier at Soward's Conoco on 5th West and Main Street. The gas station is no longer there and the lot is now used for parking by JB's Restaurant. I had this job until September of 1984, when I went to Utah State University in Logan, Utah.

In November of 1983, while I was still working part time at Soward's Conoco, I was offered another job as a sales clerk at Adventureland Video, which was owned by Dad's cousins, Denile and Faye McKenna.

In February of 1984, Grandma became extremely ill and had to hospitalized. At that same time Lynn's wife, Nancy and son, Cory were visiting her parent in Lancaster, California. Lynn decided to go pick them up in California and asked me if I wanted to come along. So before we left for California, Lynn and I stopped by the hospital to see Grandma. Little did we know that would be the last time we would see her alive. On February 13, 1984, while Lynn and I were in California, Grandma passed away. Lynn, Nancy, Cory and I drove back to Vernal the next day. On February 18, 1984, Grandma was buried next to Grandpa in the Vernal Memorial Park.

Sometime in April of 1984, Granny had a massive stroke and was paralyze on one side. She spent a couple of weeks in the hospital in Vernal and needed to have better care and physical therapy so it was decided to move her to the McKay Dee Hospital in Ogden. Aunt Eula Price and I took her up there in our car. Granny was making great progress and was to the point where she could go home. Aunt Eula decided she would take care of Granny at her house in Centerville, Utah. Dad and I took Granny's bed, rocking chair and TV up to Aunt Eula's house. On May 25, 1984, Granny passed away about two months before her 81st birthday. Based on the way the events happened before, during and up to the time of Granny's death, I firmly believe the Lord needed Granny for a special mission and brought her back home at that time. On May 29, 1984, Granny was buried next to Grandpa Alex in the Maeser Cemetery.

I remember helping Granny plant some raspberries a couple of days before she had the stroke and some of those raspberries are still growing today, fifteen years later. Those raspberries are some of the biggest I have ever seen.

In the fall of 1984, I attended one year at Utah State University. I lived in a couple of dorms (Richard Hall and Mountain View Tower) on campus and ate at the cafeteria (The Junction). By the end of that year I was so tired of the cafeteria food that I decided when I came back I would rent an apartment off campus and cook for myself. My course of study at that time was computer science, more specifically computer programming. That year I took a couple of programming classes where I learned a lot about computers.

The spring of 1985, I had run out of money, so I moved back to Vernal and spent the next year looking for a job and helping around the house. In May of 1996, I was offered a job at the Uintah County Mosquito Abatement, where my brother, Randy worked as Assistant Director. I was very apprehensive about taking the job and decided I was not going to, but on the day I was to start Randy came over to the house and made me take the job. To this day I will be thankful to him and Mom for making do this as he and the job taught me how to work hard and helped me develop a good work ethic.

That first day he showed me North Jensen, the area I would be responsible controlling the mosquitoes. While he would go check the sources for mosquito larvae, I would stay in the truck and study for my pesticide applicator test. About lunch time that day and after showing what I thought was a lot of territory to cover, Randy drove up a place that overlooked a 40 acre swamp, turned to me and said, "tomorrow I'll show you the other two-third of your area." My mouth about hit the floor of the truck when he said that because I didn't know how I was going to control such a big area. The next couple of day Randy got me acquainted with the North Jensen area and he was not kidding about the other two-thirds. Luckily for me some of the area was being flooded by the Green River and was treated from the airplane.

By the end of that summer I had earned enough money to return to Utah State University and continue with my education. Before I left for college, I purchased a 1971 Voltswagon Beetle from a neighbor. This would be my source of transportation for the next three years. The Fall of 1986 I move back to Logan and into Pineview Apartments just across the street from Romney Stadium. I was assigned to apartment #49. Moving into an apartment with five other guys was a new experience for me but luckily for me, they turned out to be some of the best roommates I would have.

One roommate I will always be thankful to, is Tim Semadeni. He helped me to not be so shy and taught me how to break out of my comfort zone. I guess I had no choice since he was a body builder and was to some extent, intimidating. It was kind of a 'sink or swim' situation. I decided to swim. His testimony of the Gospel helped me continue to grow mine.

In the spring of 1987, I moved back to Vernal and worked at the Mosquito Abatement. That fall I returned to Logan and continued my studies. In the Fall of 1987, I was able to get a job with Microcomputer Service on campus. I was a computer consultant in the student funded computer labs around campus. I helped students and professors with any problem they were having with the computer or program. This job turned out to be a great experience and learned great deal about computers.

In the summer of 1990, we decide to build an addition to the cabin Grandpa Bennett had built on the mountain. We started the end of July and was able to almost get it completely closed in before winter came. We were lucky because the weather stayed nice clear into late fall.

I continued working at the Mosquito Abatement and on the cabin during the summers and with Microcomputer Services during the school year until I graduated on March 20, 1992. I got a bachelors degree in Information Systems and minor in Business Management. Although it took me about seven years to graduate from college, I was able to it without acquiring any debt for my college education.

In July of 1993, I was introduced to the extraordinary beauty of Southern Utah when Lynn took me to Moab, Utah and to Arches National Park. From that first time and every visit since I have come to love Southern Utah. I am amazed at the vast variety of the natural arches and canyons within the state of Utah. I will forever be thankful to Lynn for sharing this aspect of his life with me and for taking me with him as he tries to visit and document most of the natural arches within this great state. The stories I could relate of our experiences search for these arches are too long to fit in this history.

After graduating from college, I moved back to Vernal and worked at the Mosquito Abatement until the Fall of 1993. At that time, I move out to Orem and lived with Lynn. In October of 1993, I was able to get a temporary job with WordPerfect Manufacturing putting together software packages. This was when WordPerfect 6.0 for Window came out. The first few weeks I work there, we were building around 30,000 software packages a day.

I had this job until March of 1994 when I got a job with WordPerfect Corporation as a computer consultant. I was put in a team that supported WordPerfect for DOS. On the first day at work, WordPerfect announce the merger with Novell Inc. and six months later became a Novell employee. At that time I was moved to the Macintosh WordPerfect team.

In November of 1994, I moved out of Lynn's house and rented a room from a guy who owned a condominium in North Provo. I lived there until I purchase a condominium, just a couple of blocks away, in May of 1995 and I still live at 1303 North Riverside Ave #28 at this time.

I continued working for Novell until WordPerfect was sold to Corel Inc. in March of 1996. In October of 1997, Corel decided to cut costs and outsource the technical support for the WordPerfect product to another company. On November 6, 1997, I was laid off. I had worked for three major software companies over three and a half years and hadn't even left the building.

I decided I needed a rest and took the next couple months off before looking for another job. It was during this time I became really interested in genealogy and family histories. I was looking for something to do so Lynn suggested I type in some of our family histories that he had collect over the years. As I typed in these histories I began to develop a great appreciation for my ancestors and for the sacrifices they made for their religious believes. I will always be thankful for them for making those sacrifices so that I may live in a better place today.

After several months of being unemployed, on September 2, 1998 started work with Sento as a Support Agent for computer virus software. The work environment was great and the people I worked with were the best in the business but it did not pay very well. So, on July 12, 1999, I moved on in search of a better job and I am still searching as I write this history.

My parents have been a great example to me through my life. They have taught me many of the principles of life, from be honest to budgeting money, to keeping a clean house, to being kind and helpful to others. I feel my parents gave me a great start on my life's journey and will always love them for it. My parents testimony in the Gospel of Jesus Christ has strengthened my testimony and I am grateful to them for that. I want everyone who read this history to know of the endless love I have for my parents and what they have done for me during my time on earth. I believe I was send these earthly parents because they were the best and would prepare me to return to my Heavenly Father.

I feel special bond with my sister and each of my brothers. They have taught me a lot just by being a good example and how they live their lives. I hope I can live my life and stay close to the Gospel as they have done in their lives.

Although I am not married at this time, I hope that one day I will met and be worthy to marry some special young lady and have a family of my own.

This is my life's story thus far as I can remember it.

October 13, 1999