Sarah

This is one of my favorite pictures of my daughter, Sarah. She was about four at the time. Sarah's my firstborn, born when I was 35. I tell everyone that I started the trend of ladies having babies at a later age.

I was 31 when I married, and Don and I waited a while before deciding to have a baby.I had a very dear friend named Sara who lived and worked in Bradenton. She was quite a few years older than I, but we had a great relationship, and when I became pregnant, I told my husband that if this was a girl, she had to be Sarah. Two other couples at our church were pregnant at the same time, and they had both chosen the name Sarah Elizabeth for their babies, that is, if they had girls. I prayed really hard that they would have boys, because the name Sarah Elizabeth was the only name that I had for a girl!Lo and behold, they both delivered before I did, and they both had boys. What a relief!

And then, on January 20, we delivered our daughter. We didn't know that we were having a girl. Sonograms were not quite as prevalent as they are now. A dear Jamaican friend, who was still working in Haiti where I had been, told the ladies there that if the baby's heartbeat was on the right, it was a girl, and if it was on the left, it was a boy. Several missionary women were pregnant; their babies' heartbeats were on the left. And guess what, they gave birth to boys. Sarah's heartbeat was always on the right, and yes! We had a baby girl. My obstetrician said that he had heard lots of ways of predicting the sex of a baby, but never that one.

Today Sarah lives and works in Bradenton. She is my rock. When her daddy died, it was one of the worst days of her life. They had such a bond; they are so much alike. When she laughs and throws her head back or turns her head, I see her dad. I'll never forget what he looks like when I look at her.After I had surgery a year and a half ago, she was right there to see to my needs. I can say today that she is my best friend.

I love you, Sarah.

A cup of coffee?

Would you like a cup of coffee? Whenever we went visiting in Haiti, the lady of the house felt that it was her duty to offer a cup of coffee. It was wonderful to share a cup of coffee with these very gracious people, but, oh my, the work that went into preparing it.

Kitchens in a Haitian home are away from the regular dwelling. Before the coffee can be made, a fire has to be built to heat the water. Madame did not go down to the corner grocery for the flavor of the day. She bought the beans, roasted them, and then ground them. In Haiti you pile them. There needs to be an accent aigu over that e, but I don’t know how to do it. ( The coffee goes into the sack that she has there, and then she pours the hot water over the beans to make the beverage.

Then madame graciously served the coffee in demitasses on a tray. The coffee is very strong, and it needs lots of sugar. Good to the last drop!

There’s nothing like sharing a good cup of coffee with a friend.

A Trip Down Memory Lane

Saturday my friend Peggy and I took a trip down memory lane.  We drove over to Polk City, Florida to visit Camp Gilead.  We both went there to camp when we were young girls.  At our church in Bradenton, we had enrolled in Bible Memory Association.  If we learned 250 verses, we would earn a free week at Bible camp.  Five of us enrolled, and we did learn those verses…all over a twelve week period.  We learned entire passages and had to recite them to a listener at the end of the week.

The nearest camp to us was in Alabama, and that was not a possibility for us to go.  This was 1951, fifty-five years ago.  We heard about this camp in central Florida that had a Bible memory program, except you had to learn 300 verses to go to their camp.  A gentleman who worked with them knew about the five of us, and he wrote to Children’s Bible Mission (CBM) to see if we could attend their camp if we learned an additional 50 verses.  They agree, we did, and that began our experience in Bible camp.

Upon arrival at camp, we registered and went to our cabins.  The camp was fairly new.  The camp director was a lady.  Peggy and I said that those ladies seemed awfully old to us.  They were barely 30, but when you’re nine, anyone seems old.  We slept in cabins that had bunks.  The cabins were frame construction, with big wooden flaps that you propped up for ventilation.  When it rained and they had to be closed, they were really hotboxes.

We went to chapel every day.  The chapel was in the center of the campground.  It had the same wooden flaps for windows, and the floor was sawdust.  We had Bible lessons in the morning, a missionary speaker in the afternoon, and chapel again at night.  In between those times, we spent time swimming in the lake and enjoying handcrafts.

At the end of the week we enjoyed a banquet where awards were given out for the week.  Miss Hazel was the head cook, and could she cook!  We never went hungry.  The dining hall (that’s what it’s called now) was called the mess hall then.  Peggy reminded me of the songs that we sang from table to table after the meal…”What did Delaware, boys?”  She wore a “New Jersey.”  “What did Mississipp, boys?”  “She sipped a Minnesota.”

After the first year of camp, we could do correspondence courses to earn our next two weeks of camp, and we five did do that.  After that, some of us worked in the kitchen, became junior counselors, then senior counselors.  I worked there a couple of summers during college, and then had the opportunity to be missionary speaker one summer.

We hold many good memories from those days.  That camp director who was not even 30 when we when we first, went just had her 83rd birthday.  Peggy and I stopped and picked her up in Lakeland and took her with us for the afternoon at camp.  More about all this on another day…

Happy Valentines Day

Happy Valentine’s Day! My friend over at Melange asked people to write about someone in their lives who loves you unconditionally. My husband, Don, was one of those people. We had a whirlwind romance…I had been teaching missionary kids in Haiti. He had been in Vietnam, and when he got discharged from the Air Force, went to work for a small airline in New York. That airline went belly-up, and some of his parents’ friends said to him, “Why don’t you go to Florida? You can live in our mobile home and look for work there.

He came to Florida in 1970, went to work for Tropicana in the feed mill and eventually learned the electrical trade. He became a member of the church that I was from, and when I came home during the summers to visit my mother, I noticed this tall man who had become active in the church. I can home from Haiti in 1972 to visit churches and friends who had supported me and to go to Europe to study French for three months.

Just before I left for Europe on the day after Christmas 1972, we talked a little bit. We both had sung in the Christmas cantata. I sent him a postcard from England, and then we began corresponding during the three months that I was in Europe. To make a long story short, I came home from Europe April 12, and we got married May 12. Yes, you can put a wedding together in less than a month.

We missed celebrating our 29th anniversary by two weeks. On April 30, 2002, my valentine was killed in an accident. He was in his big work truck. (I had often prayed that he would not become preoccupied with his next job and hurt someone else.) On his way to a job, an elderly driver made a left turn in front of him. He did his best to avoid hitting her, his truck overturned, and he was in the presence of the Lord.

Four years later, it still hurts. It is easy to say with the mouth that God makes no mistakes…God is good all the time. And I know that is true…He is the great I AM, and He knows my hurts.

For you who have that dear one, hold them close and don’t fail to tell them that you love them and appreciate them. I never dreamed that morning when he left for work that I’d never see him again. Thanks for listening to my heart.

Ryland

Almost every morning when I don't have another obligation, I meet a friend at Bob Evans Restaurant. Marlene and I worked together at our elementary school. She kept the school going as head secretary...I was just a teacher. :-)
We retired about the same time. I retired in 1999 when the school board offered an early out. She followed the next year under the same program. Marlene's youngest daughter has three children who are all now in school. This past fall she began taking care of a baby for a young couple. The mother works with Marlene's daughter at the Eye Center downtown. When the baby was just a couple of months old, she had to have open heart surgery to repair a couple of holes in her heart. She was in All Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg for a while, and it was after that that Marlene began to take care of her. Those of us who have seen her regularly are just so thrilled to see this little girl grow and flourish. Ultrasounds had not shown these defects.

Two other little girls were born last year. Their parents knew before they were born that they would not live very long. Both little girls had chromosomal disorders. The doctors of the parents here in our town did not encourage them to bond with the baby or to bring the children to visit. When the baby was born, they did bond, and the children did come to visit. Then the parents said, "We want to take her home." The doctors said that if she could be weaned off the respirator, they could bring her home, and they did. The said that when she came home, she was so content, as though she knew right where she was. The dear little girl lived for about two weeks after she came home to be with her parents and her sisters and brother. The other little girl was born in New York State. Her mom and dad, a young pastor and his wife, also desired to bring their baby home, and they were able to. She did not live nearly as long, but the comment was made that she too seemed to know when she was brought home. At the memorial service for the little girl here in Bradenton, we were able to see by DVD her short life, and the last sounds we heard were her lusty cries. At the end of both services of these children, balloons were released toward heaven. Both little girls had been named by their parents before they were born so that we could know them and pray for them. I don't know what it must be like to lose a child at any age. I lost my dear husband unexpectedly in 2002 in a terrible accident, and I know how that is. I do know that God knows all about it, and He is the God of all comfort for those who sorrow.

A Successful Show

A Successful Show

I determined today to blog before reading anyone else’s.  I’m constantly amazed at some people’s blogs.  They’re incredible.  One, in particular, has become my favorite.  She writes about her daughter, her cats, her dog, and posts incredible photos with appropriate literature selections.  Her own writing is so well done.  If I knew how to put links in my own blog, she would be at the top of the list.  I’ve read the directions and tried, but I haven’t been successful yet.

Last Saturday, our local Sweet Adelines group, the Magic of Manatee had its annual show.  A whole year’s worth of work culminates in that activity.  We spend the year learning new music and choreography and spend the first Saturday of every February entertaining about 1600 people who come to our performances.  

For those who don’t know, Sweet Adelines is an international organization that promotes singing in “barbershop style.”  Our group is approaching its 50th anniversary as a chapter.
I sang with the group when my children were in elementary school and junior high, but then I became ill and didn’t have the stamina for it.  After I felt better, David was busy with baseball and basketball, and that took precedence.  After April 30, 2002, when Don was taken in an accident, my life changed a lot.  Someone from the group asked me one day how I was doing, and I said that days were pretty much the same as ever, but nights were difficult.  She said to me, “I know just the place for you.”  I told her that I had been thinking about coming back to chorus.  I did, and that has been probably the best thing that I have done since Don died.  We practice one night a week, sing out in the community, and several of us get together on Saturdays to see a movie and have dinner together.  Our group is one that cares for each other, and that means so much to me.

At our show, we not only sing, but we have a guest quartet.  This year we had a group called The Humdingers.  They go by another name in a place in Orlando…they can be found at any time on Main Street.  They were so entertaining…after the show we have an afterglow where we let it all hang out.  They did for us their act that they did while we were backstage.  They were full of corn…funny guys…just lots of fun.

Now we get ready for regional competition which takes place in Orland the end of April.  We will present two songs, one ballad and one uptune.  So after this evening of letting our hair down a little bit and enjoying a video of our show, we’ll begin working hard again.