Whitehead Quotes

The Bible preserves for us fragments of the process [of change] as it affected one gifted race at a nodal point. The record has been written up by editors with the mentality of later times. Thus the task of modern scholars is analogous to an endeavor to recover the histories of Denmark and Scotland from a study of Hamlet and Macbeth. . . . And with a leap of six hundred years one version of the story ends with the creed of the Council of Nicaea. Alfred North Whitehead, Adventures of Ideas

Where there is no anticipation, change has to wait upon chance, and peters out amid neglect.Alfred North Whitehead, Adventures of Ideas

There can be no contract which does not presuppose custom, and no custom leaving no loophole for spontaneous contract. It is this truth that gives vitality to the Anglo‑American Common Law. Whitehead, Adventures of Ideas

Creeds are at once the outcome of speculation and efforts to curb speculation. . . . Wherever there is a creed, there is a heretic round the corner or in his grave. Alfred North Whitehead, Adventures of Ideas

There can be no successful democratic society till general education conveys a philosophic outlook. Whitehead, Adventures of Ideas

The Western doctrine of Grace, derived from St. Augustine, leans heavily towards the notion of a wholly transcendent God imposing this partial favors on the world. Whitehead, Adventures of Ideas

Through the Dialogues Socrates and Plato are engaged in expressing manners of thought. Hardly ever is there [discussion of] particular action. . . Pericles stresses the other side. He is thinking of the activities of the individual citizens. . . . The Periclean ideal is action weaving itself into a texture of persuasive beauty analogous to the delicate splendor of nature. Alfred North Whitehead, Adventures of Ideas

Senseless agencies and formulated aspirations cooperate in the work of driving mankind from its old anchorage. Alfred North Whitehead, Adventures of Ideas

In each period there is a general form of the forms of thought; and, like the air we breathe, such a form is so translucent, and so pervading, and so seemingly necessary, that only by extreme effort can we become aware of it. Alfred North Whitehead, Adventures of Ideas

Mere physical nature lets loose a flood, but it requires intelligence to provide a system of irrigation. Alfred North Whitehead, Adventures of Ideas

Great ideas enter into reality with evil associates and with disgusting alliances. But the greatness remains, nerving the race in its slow ascent. Alfred North Whitehead, Adventures of Ideas

We notice that a great idea in the background of dim consciousness is like a phantom ocean beating upon the shores of human life in successive waves of specialization. A whole succession of such waves are as drams slowly doing their work of sapping the base of some cliff of habit: but the seventh wave is a revolution ‑ “And the nations echo round”. Alfred North Whitehead, Adventures of Ideas

A great idea is not to be conceived as merely waiting for enough good men to carry it into practical effect. That is a childish view of the history of ideas.  The ideal in the background is promoting the gradual growth of the requisite communal customs, adequate to sustain the load of its exemplification. Alfred North Whitehead, Adventures of Ideas

The history of ideas is a history of mistakes. But through all mistakes it is also the history of the gradual purification of conduct. . . . In this way Plato is justified in his saying, “The creation of the world ‑ that is to say, the world of civilized order ‑ is the victory of persuasion over force.” Alfred North Whitehead, Adventures of Ideas

Strife is at least as real a fact in the world as Harmony. . . . But until some outline of understanding has been reached which elucidates the interfusion of strife and harmony, the intellectual driving force of successive generations will sway uneasily between the two. Alfred North Whitehead, Adventures of Ideas

Strife is at least as real a fact in the world as Harmony. . . . But until some outline of understanding has been reached which elucidates the interfusion of strife and harmony, the intellectual driving force of successive generations will sway uneasily between the two.  Alfred North Whitehead, Adventures of Ideas

The new industrial system which should have been a triumph for the liberal doctrines, did not work well. . . . The mere doctrines of freedom, individualism, and competition, had produced a resurgence of something very like industrial slavery at the base of society. Alfred North Whitehead, Adventures of Ideas

In considering the history of ideas, I maintain that the notion of ‘mere knowledge’ is a high abstraction which we should dismiss from our minds. Knowledge is always accompanied with accessories of emotion and purpose. Alfred North Whitehead, Adventures of Ideas

At the present time there are prevalent four main doctrines concerning the Laws of Nature:

the doctrine of Law as immanent,

That the order of nature expresses the essence of things

the doctrine of Law as imposed

Implies Deism, from which it follows that the Laws of Nature will be strictly obeyed. This inevitability provided the basis for scientific advance. Apart from some notion of imposed Law, the doctrine of immanence provides absolutely no reason why the universe should not be steadily relapsing into lawless chaos.

the doctrine of Law as observed order of succession, Law as mere description

It is the great positivist doctrine: It tells us to keep to things observed, and to describe them as simply as we can. This is all we can know.

the doctrine of Law as conventional interpretation

Modern scientists rely upon authority, but they rely upon different authorities from those to whom the Scholastics appealed. The modern assumptions differ from older assumptions, not wholly for the better.

Whitehead, Adventures of Ideas

Unrestricted liberty means complete absence of any compulsory coordination. Human society in the absence of any compulsion is trusting to the happy coordination of individual emotions, purposes, affections, and actions. Civilization can only exist amid a population which in the mass does exhibit this fortunate mutual adaptation. Unfortunately a minority of adverse individual instances, when unchecked, are sufficient to upset the social structure. . . . There can be no evasion of the plain fact that compulsion is necessary and that compulsion is the restriction of liberty. Whitehead, Adventure of Ideas

Mathematics is thought moving in the sphere of complete abstraction.  Alfred North Whitehead, Science and the Modern World, Lowell Institute Lectures 1925, from Alfred North Whitehead, An Anthology, MacMillan.

Seventeenth century scientific development would have been impossible without the development of mathematics. The notion of recurrence of day‑night, seasons, rotating bodies, heartbeats, breathing, some regularity of occurrence, makes measurement possible. Observation of that phenomenon by Pythagoras gave rise to the mathematic notion of periodicity. That notion was taken up in the science of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries with Keplar’s laws of planetary orbits; Galileo’s observation of vibrations of pendulum; Newton’s theory of sound as periodic compression and decompression of air (condensation and rarefaction). Modern science depended upon the abstract notion of periodicity ‑ up to quantum physics.  Alfred North Whitehead, Science and the Modern World, Lowell Institute Lectures 1925, from Alfred North Whitehead, An Anthology, MacMillan.

Speculative extension beyond direct observation spells some trust in metaphysics, however vaguely these metaphysical notions may be entertained in explicit thought. Our metaphysical knowledge is slight, superficial, incomplete. Thus errors creep in. But, such as it is, metaphysical understanding guides imagination and justifies purpose. Apart from metaphysical presupposition there can be no civilization. Whitehead, Adventures of Ideas

There can be no successful democratic society till general education conveys a philosophic outlook.  Whitehead, Adventures of Ideas

[Philosophy] is a survey of possibilities and their comparison with actualities. . . . Its gifts are insight and foresight, and a sense of the worth of life, in short, that sense of importance which nerves all civilized effort. . . . But when civilization culminates, the absence of a coordinating philosophy of life, spread throughout the community, spells decadence, boredom, and the slackening of effort. Whitehead, Adventures of Ideas

It is fashionable to state that religion and science can never clash because they deal with different topics. I believe that solution is entirely mistaken. Alfred North Whitehead, Adventures of Ideas

I hazard the prophecy that that religion will conquer which can render clear to popular understanding some eternal greatness incarnate in the passage of temporal fact. Alfred North Whitehead, Adventures of Ideas

Familiar things happen, and mankind does not bother about them. It requires a very unusual mind to undertake the analysis of the obvious.  Alfred North Whitehead, Science and the Modern World, Lowell Institute Lectures 1925, from Alfred North Whitehead, An Anthology, MacMillan.

The roots of modern ideas lies with the Greeks. The Greek genius was philosophical, lucid and logical. They developed mathematic principles by a rigid adherence to deductive reasoning. the minds were infected with an eager generality. They demanded clear, bold ideas, and strict reasoning from them. . . . But it was not science as we understand it. . . The Greeks held a dramatic view of nature in which everything played a part. . . . The Greek drama was characterized by the inevitableness of destiny, which was the essence of dramatic tragedy. . . The remorseless inevitability is what pervades scientific thought. The laws of physics are the decrees of fate. Alfred North Whitehead, Science and the Modern World” Lowell Institute Lectures 1925, from Alfred North Whitehead, An Anthology, MacMillan.

The restless modern search for increased accuracy of observation and for increased detailed explanation is based upon unquestioning faith in the reign of Law. Apart from such faith, the enterprise of science is foolish, hopeless. Whitehead, Adventures of Ideas

There can be no living science unless there is a widespread instinctive conviction in the existence of an Order of Things, and, in particular, of an Order of Nature. Alfred North Whitehead, Science and the Modern World” Lowell Institute Lectures 1925, from Alfred North Whitehead, An Anthology, MacMillan.

Faith in reason is the trust that the ultimate nature of things lie together in harmony which excludes mere arbitrariness. It is the faith that at the base of things we shall not find mere arbitrary mystery. . . . This faith cannot be justified by any inductive generalization. It springs from direct inspection of the nature of things as disclosed in our own immediate past experience. Alfred North Whitehead, Science and the Modern World” Lowell Institute Lectures 1925, from Alfred North Whitehead, An Anthology, MacMillan.

If science is not to degenerate into a medley of ad hoc hypotheses, it must become philosophical and must enter upon a thorough criticism of its own foundations. Alfred North Whitehead, Science and the Modern World” Lowell Institute Lectures 1925, from Alfred North Whitehead, An Anthology, MacMillan.

With scientific thought being based upon quantification, it is no wonder that scientists placed their principles upon a materialistic basis and thereafter ceased to worry about philosophy.  Alfred North Whitehead, Science and the Modern World” Lowell Institute Lectures 1925, from Alfred North Whitehead, An Anthology, MacMillan.

Intolerance is the besetting sin of moral fervor. The first important pronouncement in which tolerance is associated with moral fervor, is in the Parable of the Tares and Wheat.

Intolerance is the besetting sin of moral fervor. The first important pronouncement in which tolerance is associated with moral fervor, is in the Parable of the Tares and Wheat. Alfred NorthWhitehead, Adventures of Ideas

Plato above all men introduced into the world this further essential element of civilization. . . . The moral of his writings is that all points of view, reasonably coherent and in some sense with an application, have something to contribute to our understanding of the universe, and also involve omissions whereby they fail to include the totality of evident fact. The duty of tolerance is our finite homage to the abundance of inexhaustible novelty which is awaiting the future, and to the complexity of accomplished fact which exceeds our stretch of insight. Alfred North Whitehead, Adventures of Ideas

Considering some of Plato’s phrases and his own ideas:

If, then, Socrates, we find ourselves in many points unable to make our discourse of the generation of gods and the universe in every way wholly consistent and exact, you must not be surprised. Nay, we must be well content if we can provide an account not less likely than another’s; we must remember that I who speak, and you who are my audience, are but men and should be satisfied to ask for no more than the likely story.Whitehead, Adventures of Ideas

Plato above all men introduced into the world this further essential element of civilization. . . . The moral of his writings is that all points of view, reasonably coherent and in some sense with an application, have something to contribute to our understanding of the universe, and also involve omissions whereby they fail to include the totality of evident fact. The duty of tolerance is our finite homage to the abundance of inexhaustible novelty which is awaiting the future, and to the complexity of accomplished fact which exceeds our stretch of insight. Alfred North Whitehead, Adventures of Ideas

Considering some of Plato’s phrases and his own ideas:

After instinct and intellectual ferment have done their work there is a decision which determines the mode of coalescence of instinct with intelligence. I will term this factor Wisdom. Alfred North Whitehead, Adventures of Ideas

Wisdom is persistent pursuit of the deeper understanding, ever confronting intellectual system with the importance of its omissions. Alfred North Whitehead, Adventures of Ideas

These three elements, Instinct, Intelligence, Wisdom, cannot be torn apart.  Alfred North Whitehead, Adventures of Ideas

Alfred North Whitehead: The World and God in Process

Alfred North Whitehead

Samuel Enoch Stumpf wrote of Whitehead,

Whitehead reacted, as Bergson had, against the analytic mode of thought, which assumed that facts exist in isolation from other facts.  His main theme was that “connectedness is the essence of all things.” What science seeks to isolate, philosophy must try to see in context; life should be viewed as an organic unity.  Thus, “the red glow of the sunset should be as much a part of nature as are the molecules and electrical waves by which men of science would explain the phenomenon.” The function of natural philosophy, he taught, is “to analyze how these various elements of nature are connected.”

. . .  Whitehead was convinced that the “the status of life in nature . . .  Is the modern problem of philosophy and science.” Although he shared similar concerns with Bergson, Whitehead brought a different intellectual background to their solution and produced a novel, speculative metaphysics.

Philosophy – History and Problems at 395.

Whitehead would agree with Bergson that all sensation, and therefore all thought, must be model – based, or “as if” thinking.  Whitehead explores further the nature of all life as process, not as isolated moments in time.  He collaborated with Bertrand Russell to examine the extent to which reality was accessible to mathematical thinking in Principia Mathematica.  They appear to be the most unlikely of collaborators: Russell at times claiming atheism, and Whitehead professing a theism in process.  See, http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/process-theism/ .

I find Whitehead’s notion of process akin to Eric Fromm’s interpretation of the meaning of “Yahweh,” the response from the burning bush to Moses’ question, “Whom shall I say sends me?”  Eric Fromm discusses the Hebrew meaning of the word, Yahweh: it is not the present tense of the verb “to be,” but the imperfect form of that verb, i.e., “I am becoming.”  Yahweh reasonably might be interpreted, “I am in process.”  Whitehead’s complaint of Newtonian physics was its “fallacy of misplaced concreteness.” Rather than a notion of frozen moments in time, Whitehead preferred the description “actual entities” or “actual occasions.” As Stumpf describes it at page 397,

Because an actual occasion is not a material thing, it is better understood as an experience.  These occasions do not exist, they happen.

For Whitehead, both the observer, or subject, and the object observed are forever in process.  In my music background as director, I often expressed a similar notion when I instructed my performers that a phrase must go somewhere, it must be growing or resolving; if it is not, it is dead.  What I find interesting in Process Theology is the notion that I gather from it: “something once done well is forever.” As I understand it, the traditional Jewish notion of eternity is not “dying and going to heaven,” but that the life of the individual continues in the people.

In Whitehead’s Process Theology, he also accounts for a God that is in process.  The Methodist theologian, John Cobb, developed that further within the discipline of theology.  In each of them, I find particularly interesting the notion of a God that is in process, not “yesterday, today, and tomorrow the same.” Insofar as we can comprehend the notion of the divine, we can only relate that experience to concrete life.  I do not mean concrete in the sense of a static object, but rather, in the experience of flesh and bones in the world that we know, yet, experiencing that there is something more than mere flesh and bones, our thoughts, our experiences, our ideas.  That, to my mind, is the essence of life.  Many Christians might object to such a dynamic notion of God as being undependable because of such a concept of change in the “absolute.  Speaking in human terms, which are the only terms to which we can relate, to have any emotion, whether anger, sympathy, pain, or joy, inherently involves change.  One cannot empathize or react without change.  The notion of Yahweh is a notion of being a live, which implicitly means that God is in process.

Similarly, for Whitehead, both God and creation are timeless.  Plato saw the Ideal as the perfect originals of what on earth are mere copies. Whitehead, on the other hand, perceives God as unlimited possibility: possibility that is connected with the past, to which we contribute the present, in which we can hope for the possibilities of the future.  When one is sensitive to the Divine, the presence of God, one is drawn to participate and to contribute to the becoming of the world, to help realize its possibilities.

As Whitehead described it,

God’s own role lies in the patient operation of the overpowering rationality of his conceptual harmonization.  He does not create the world, he saves it: or, more accurately, he is the poet of the world, with tender patience and beating it by his vision of truth, beauty and goodness.

I think the poet, Keats, might have agreed.

 

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Bergson Quotes

The following are quotes from Bergson’s Creative Evolution, and one from his book, Christianity and Evolution. The numerical citations following the quote refer to particular locations in my Kindle download of that book.

“The truth is that we change without ceasing, and that the state itself is nothing but change.”(190).

“… That what we do depends on what we are; but it is necessary to add also that we are, to a certain extent, what we do, and that we are creating ourselves continually.” ( 202)

“We find that, for a conscious being, to exist is to change, to change is to mature, to mature is to go on creating oneself endlessly. Should the same be said of existence in general?”(645)

“The error of radical finalists and, as also that of radical mechanism, is to expand too far the application of certain concepts that are natural to our intellect.… Our intellect has been cast in the mold of action speculation is a lecture he humble while action is a necessity.” (734) a

“The species and the individual thus think only of themselves – whence arises a possible conflict with other forms of life. Harmony, therefore, does not exist in fact; it exists rather in principle.” (812)

“The principle of mechanism is that ‘the same causes produce the same effects.’” (853)

“At all times the doctrine of analogy has laid much stress on the marvelous structure of the sense organs, in order to liken the work of nature to that of an intelligent workmen.” (860)

Let us consider the example on which the advocates of finality have always insisted: the structure of such an organ as the human not a. They have had no difficulty in showing that in this extremely complicated apparatus all the elements are marvelously coordinated.” (885)

“It must not be forgotten that all the parts of an organism are necessarily coordinated.” ( 900)

“If the variations are accidental, how can they ever agree to our rise in every part of the organ at the same time, in such a way that the organ will continue to perform its function? Darwin quite understood this.” ( 901)

“The parts must then all change it once, each consulting the others.” ( 922)

“And, supposing chance to have granted this favor once, can we admit that it repeats the selfsame favor in the course of the history of a species.”  (929)

“Of course it is unlikely that the idea of the vertebrate and that of the mollusk have been built up by a series of variations due to simple chance.” (987)

“The already old experiments of Dorfmeister had shown that the same chrysalis, according as it was submitted to cold or heat, gave rise to very different butterflies, which had long been regarded as independent species.” (1030)

“The more we reflect upon it, the more we shall see that this production of the same effect by two different accumulations of an enormous number of small causes is contrary to the principles of mechanistic philosophy.”  (1033)

“Every moment, right before our eyes, nature arrives at identical results, in sometimes neighboring species, by entirely different embryogenic processes.” (1040)

“If the crystalline lens of a Triton be removed, it is regenerated by the iris. Now, the original lens was built out of the ectoderm, while the iris is of mesodermic origin.  What is more, in the Salamander maculata, if the lens be removed and the iris left, the regeneration of the lens takes place at the upper part of the iris; but if this upper part of the iris itself be taken away, the regeneration takes place in the inner or retinal layer of the remaining region. Thus, parts differently situated, differently constituted, mentioned normally for different functions, are capable of performing the same duties and even of manufacturing, when necessary, the same pieces of the machine. Here we have, indeed, the same effect obtained by different combinations of causes.”  (1045)

“Whether we will or no, we must appeal to some inner directing principle in order to account for this convergence of the facts.” (1056)

“Neo-Lamarkism is therefore, of all the later forms of evolution, the only one capable of admitting an internal and psychological principle of development, although it is not bound to do so. And it is also the only evolutionism that seems to us to account for the building up of identical complex organs on independent lines of development.” (1068)

“The truth is, it is necessary to dig beneath the effort itself and look for a deeper cause.” (1069)

“This is especially necessary, we believe, if we wish to get at the cause of regular hereditary variations.” (1087)

“Thus, for instance, there is no proof that the mole has become blind because it has formed the habit of living underground; it is perhaps because it’seyes were becoming atrophied that it condemned itself to a life underground.… From the fact that the son of a fencing master has become a good fencer much more quickly than his father, we cannot infer that the habit of the parent has been transmitted to the child.” (698)

“It may be claimed that considerations of utility are out of place here; that the eye is not made to see, but that we see because we have eyes; that the organ is what it is, and utility is a word by which we designate the functional effects of the structure.” (1153)

“The neo-Darwinians are probably right, we believe, when they teach that the essential causes of variation are the differences inherent in the germ borne by the individual, and not the experiences or behavior of the individual in the course of his career. Where we fail to follow these biologists, is in regarding the differences as purely accidental and individual.” (1146)

“On the contrary, each of them, being supported by a considerable number of facts, must be true in its way.” (1168) that

“We claim, on the contrary, that the spontaneity of life is manifested by a continual creation of new forms succeeding others. But this in determination cannot be complete; it must leave a certain part to determination.… Indeed, we do not see how otherwise to explain the likeness of structure of the species that have not the same history.” (1171)

“A hereditary change in a definite direction, which continues to accumulate and add to itself so as to build up a more and more complex machine, must certainly be related to some sort of effort, but to an effort of far greater depth than the individual effort, far more independent of circumstances.” (1188)

“Two points are equally striking in an organ like the eye: the complexity of its structure and the simplicity of its function.” (1202)

“Life does not proceed by the association and addition of elements, but by disassociation and division. We must get beyond both points of view, both mechanism and finalism.” (1238)

“That adaptation to environment is the necessary condition of evolution we do not question for a moment. It is quite evident that a species would disappear, should it fail to bend to the conditions of existence which are imposed on it.” (1416)

“The truth is that adaptation explains … the movement of evolution, but not its general directions, still less the movement itself. The road that leads to the town is obliged to follow the ups and downs in the hills; it adapts itself to the accidents of the ground; but the accidents of the ground are not the cause of the road, nor have they given it its direction.” (1422.

“But, if the evolution of life is something other than a series of adaptation to accidental circumstances, so also it is not the realization of the plan. A plan is given in advance.” (1435)

“Evolution is not only a movement forward; in many cases we observe a marking-time, and still more often a deviation or turning back.” (1459) a

“No definite characteristic distinguishes the plant from the animal. Attempts to define the two kingdoms strictly have always come to naught.” (1479)

“It is a remarkable fact that the fungi, which nature has spread all over the year if in such extraordinary profusion, have not been able to evolve.” (1489)

“The animal, being unable to fix directly the carbon and nitrogen which are everywhere to be found, as to seek for its nourishment vegetables which have already fixed these elements, or animals which have taken them from the vegetable kingdom. So the animal must be able to move.” (1493)

“In its most rudimentary form, the animal is a tiny massive protoplasm and developed at most in a thin albuminous pellicle which allows full freedom for change of shape and movement. The vegetable cell, on the contrary, is surrounded by a membrane of cellulose, which condemns it to immobility.” (1509)

“Between mobility and consciousness there is an obvious relationship.… The more a nervous system develops, the more numerous and more precise become the movements among which it can choose; the clearer, also, is the consciousness that accompanies them.” (1516)

“The truth is that the nervous system arises, like the other systems, from the division of labor.” (1524)

“This amounts to saying that the humblest organism is conscious in proportion to its power to move freely. Is consciousness here, in relation to movement, the effect or the cause?” (1530)

“To sum up, the vegetable manufactures organic substances directly with mineral substances; as a rule, this aptitude enables it to dispense with movement and so with feeling. Animals, which are obliged to go in search of their food, have evolved in the direction of locomotor activity, and consequently every consciousness more and more distinct, more and more ample.” (1543)

“Now, it seems to us more probable that the animal cell and the vegetable cell are derived from the common stock, and that the first living organisms oscillated between the vegetable and animal form.” (1645)

“We may say that a higher organism is essentially a sensory motor system installed on systems of digestion, respiration, circulation, secretion, etc., whose function it is to repair, cleanse and protect it, to create an unvarying internal environment for it, and above all to pass it potential energy to convert into locomotive movement.” (1697)

“The study of one of these organisms therefore takes us round in a circle, as if everything was a means to everything else. But the circle has a center, nonetheless, and that is the system of nervous element stretching between the sensory organs and the motor apparatus.” (1737)

“It might be said that life tends toward the utmost possible action, but that each species prefers to contribute the slightest possible effort.” (1739) a

“But each of the species, through which life passes, aims only at its own convenience.” (2797)

“There are two essential functions of intellect, the faculty of deduction and that of the induction.” (2801)

“Deduction, then, does not work unless there is spatial intuition behind it. But we may say the same of the induction.” (2947)

“In a general way, reality is ordered exactly to the degree in which it satisfies our thought.” (3044)

“Heredity does not only transmit characters; it transmits also the impetus in virtue of which the characters are modified, and this impetus is vitality itself.” (3054)

“The physical order is ‘automatic;’ the vital order is,  I will not say voluntarily, not analogous to the order willed. (1377)

“By a series of arbitrary decrees, we augment, diminish, suppress, so as to obtain what we call this order. In reality we have substituted will for the mechanism of nature; we have replaced the ‘automatic order’ by a multitude of elementary wills, just to the extent that we imagine the apparition or vanishing of the phenomena. No doubt, for all these little wills to constitute a ‘willed order,’ they must have accepted the direction of a higher will. But, I’m looking closely at them, we see that that is just what they do: our own will is there, which object defies itself in each of these capricious wills in turn, and takes good care not to connect the same with the same, nor to permit the effects to be proportional to the cause – in fact makes one simple intention hover over the whole of the elementary volitions.” (3083)

“In analyzing the idea of chance, which is closely akin to the idea of disorder, we find the same elements.” (3090)

“The mind swings to and fro, unable to rest, between the idea of an absence of final cause and that of an absence of efficient cause, each of these definitions sending it back to the other.… In reality, chance merely objectifies the state of mind of one who, expecting one of the two kinds of order, finds himself confronted with the other.” (3092.

“Consider the letters of the alphabet that enter into the composition of everything that has ever been written: we do not conceive that newsletters bring up and come to join themselves to the authors in order to make a new poem.” (3165)

“Thus, that the number of atoms composing the material universe at a given moment should increase runs counter to our habits of mind, contradicts the whole of our experience.” (3168)

“The mystery that spreads over the existence of the universe comes in great part from this, that we want to the genesis of it to have been accomplished at one stroke for the whole of matter to be eternal.” (3170)

“Whether we speak of creation or positive and uncreated matter, it is the totality of the universe that we are considering it once.” (3180)

“As living beings, we depend on the planet on which we are, and on the sun that provides for it, but nothing else.” (3260)

“Everything is obscuring the idea of creation if we think of things which are created anything which creates, as we habitually do, as the understanding cannot help doing.” (3262)

“But things and states are only views, taken by our minds, of becoming.” (3263)

“That is what the vital impetus, passing through matter, would feign do all at once.” (3347)

“The part played by contingency in evolution is therefore great.” (3359) if if

“It is therefore probable that life goes on in other planets, in other solar systems also, under forms of which we have no idea, in physical conditions to which it seems to us, from the point of view of our physiology, to be absolutely opposed.” (3363)

“We use analogy the wrong way when we declare life to be impossible where the circumstances with which it is confronted our other than those on the Earth.” (3367)

“Now, was it necessary that there should be a series, or terms? Why should not the unique impetus have been impressed on a unique body, which might have gone on evolving? This question arises, no doubt, from the comparison of life to an impetus. And it must be compared to an impetus, because no image borrowed from the physical world can give more nearly the idea of it. But it is only an image.” (3383)

“Is my own person, at a given moment, one or manifold?” (3393)
“Thus, a poetic sentiment, which bursts into distinct verses, lines and words, may be said to have already contained this multiplicity of individuated elements, and yet, in fact, it is the materiality of language that creates it.” (3398)

“Hence, throughout the whole realm of life, a balancing between individuation and association.” (3409)

“Very probably it is not the cells that have made the individual by means of association; it is rather the individual that has made the cells by means of dissociation.” (3420)

“Vital impetus is neither pure unity nor pure multiplicity.” (3422)

“The evolution of life in the double direction of individuality and association has therefore nothing accidental about it: it is due to the very nature of life.” (3426)

“But this consciousness, which is a need of creation, is made manifest to itself only were creation is possible. It lies dormant when life is condemned to automatism; it awakens as soon as the possibility of the choices restored.” (3432)

“In reality, a living being is a center of action.” (3438)

“In reality, consciousness does not spring from the brain; but brain and consciousness correspond because equally they measure, the one by the complexity of its structure in the other by the intensity of its awareness, the quantity of choice that the living being has at its disposal. (3441)

“. . . When finally a principle of creation has been put at the base of things, the same question springs up: how – why does this principle exist rather than nothing?” (3623)

“The truth is that if language here were molded on reality, we should not say, ‘The child becomes the man,’ but, ‘there is becoming from the child to the man.’ In the first proposition, becomes is a verb of indeterminate meaning, intended to mask the absurdity into which we fall when we attribute the state man to the subject child.”

Bergson, creative evolution at 4093.

And from Christianity and Evolution at 162:

“In future only a God who is functionally and totally homemade can satisfy us. Where, then, shall we find such a God? And who will at last give evolution its own God?”

 

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Architecture https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/2013/07/14/ii-church-architecture-and-its-incorporation-of-art/

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Henri Bergson: Creative Evolution

As I have stated previously, by the end of the 19^th century, such strides had been made in science that it was popularly accepted that soon humankind would understand the wonders of the universe and would be empowered to use knowledge to advantage.  It was popularly believed at that time that the universe consisted of objects located in space, and that all action within it was related to the operation of cause and effect.  That raised questions concerning free will. Two philosophers in the early 20^th century challenged those assumptions: Henri Bergson and Alfred North Whitehead.

Henri Bergson became well known for his books, Time and Free Will, Matter and Memory, and The Two Sources of Morality and Religion.  He introduced a world in dynamic process,  which could be revealed through both science and metaphysics..  Metaphysics is the study of that which can be directly observed, and also that which cannot be directly observed but may be inferred by observation and knowledge as it relates to ultimate reality; and it examines the nature of our ideas concerning that reality.

Merriam Webster defines metaphysics as follows:

a (1): a division of philosophy that is concerned with the fundamental nature of reality and being and that includes ontology, cosmology, and often epistemology (2): ontology: 2 b: abstract philosophical studies : a study of what is outside objective experience.

Bergson described the relationship between science and metaphysics as follows:

Philosophy ought then to follow science in order to superpose on scientific truth the knowledge of another kind, which may be called metaphysical.  Thus combined, all our knowledge, both scientific and metaphysical, is heightened.

Samuel Enoch Stumpf writes of Bergson in his book, Philosophy – History and Problems at page 389,

Bergson contended that in the end scientific reasoning, insofar as it is based on analysis, falsifies the nature of whatever object it analyzes.  This follows, he said, from the fact that “analysis . . .  Is the operation which reduces the object to elements already known, that is, to elements common both to it and other objects.” Therefore, ”to analyze . . .  Is to express a thing as a function of something other than itself.” To analyze a rose is to take it apart and discover its constituents.  From such an analysis we do in fact derives knowledge of the rose, but in such a state of analysis, the rose is no longer the living thing it was in the garden.  Similarly, the science of medicine discovers much knowledge of the human anatomy by dissecting it into parts.

In every case, says Bergson, the analytic intellect learns, ironically, by destroying the object’s essence.  Its essence is its dynamic, thriving, pulsing, living, continuing existence –its duration.  Analysis, however, interrupts this essential duration; it stops life and movement; it separates into several independent and  static parts what in true life is a unified, organic, and dynamic reality.

Bergson holds that we do not perceive reality directly; rather, we see that which our senses and intellect have modeled reality to be. To understand who we are and what is our destiny requires intuition, as distinct from rational analysis.  Analysis objectifies experience, viewing that experience is as though it were static.  On the other hand, he says, “intuition starts from movement, posits it, or rather perceives it as reality itself, and sees in immobility only an abstract moment, a snapshot taken by our mind. . . .”

For Bergson, intellect and reasoning are merely tools that we use to make sense of our perceptions in a way that is meaningful and effective.  Rest, he says, is only an appearance; what appear to us to be things are but “things in the making, not self-maintaining states, but only changing states. . . .”  In that way, it appears to me that he has extended the Darwinian notion of the dynamic nature of life; and he anticipates Alfred North Whitehead‘s Process Philosophy.

Of particular interest to me is his notion of the elan vital which appears to guide or nudge evolution from one stage of being to the next.  He notes that the evolution of an organ, such as the eye, requires many simultaneous changes that cannot be left to random selection.  How does one explain that phenomenon?  For many fundamentalists it is “the hand of God” as revealed in the Genesis accounts of creation.  Not only does such a position wring the great mystery in, and sacredness of, life in the world as we experience it, but it also fails to address the differences between the two different accounts of creation as told in Genesis.  I understand Bergson’s notion of the elan vital not as operating from without, but from within.  I analogize it to the function of genetics or, perhaps, to even the implications of String Theory?

Whereas Nietzsche perceived morality to be either master-  or servant – oriented, Bergson sees morality and religion, as alive, i.e.,  in transition.  Stumpf describes at page394 Bergson’s observation concerning morality and religion:

Moral progress occurs, says Bergson, only when mystics and saints, obscure heroes of moral life, . . .  men who raise humanity to a new destiny, “who see in their mind’s eye a new social atmosphere, an environment in which life would be more worth living. . . .”  Even when the intellect formulates laws for all people, the intuition opens up richer sources of emotional power, at once inducing aspiration and providing creative power to embrace new modes of life.  This morality moves constantly from a consideration of the self and of one’s society to the larger field of humanity.

For an excellent article on the evolutionary origins of religion, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolutionary_origin_of_religions .

In my next post, I will share some quotations of Bergson that had particular meaning for me.

Links to my site:

Introduction https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/2013/07/14/introduction/

Graphic Arts https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/2013/07/14/i-graphic-arts/

Architecture https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/2013/07/14/ii-church-architecture-and-its-incorporation-of-art/

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Confession

I have posted my writing entitled, “Cry, ‘Justice!.’”   When I began writing it over 20 years ago, I thought that the notions expressed therein were the product of my own original thought.  As I review my notes and quotes of the various philosophers and theologians that I have read, I see that I owe a great debt to many of them; in fact, unwittingly, I have cited their notions as though they were my own.  As I may later describe more fully, late in life I came to realize that my bout with polio at 11 months of age did more damage than the apparent physical paralysis of my legs: it also apparently did some damage to my brain affecting my cognition.  I have difficulty dealing with details unless I can fit it into a larger, meaningful context.

I grew up with that limitation, neither recognizing that it might be unusual, nor recognizing that I subconsciously compensated for that deficiency by note taking, highlighting and outlining.  In short, hard work.  As you have read, I am sure you will recognize my indebtedness in that writing to many of the philosophers and theologians that I will discuss in our Modern period.  I tend to think in terms of concepts which integrate in a meaningful way, at least to me, the myriad facts which I am unable to commit to memory.

I did not initiate this blog with the idea that I would be approaching the subjects we are about to discuss.  That is all the more reason that Whitehead’s notions of Process have great significance for me.  I tried to do well that which appeared before me.  I simply believe that anything that is done well is forever – I don’t recall who said that first, but I know that I am indebted.  Whoever may have first written it, thank you!  I know that “No man is an island.”

I find it curious that some Christian scientists or those trained in the science of their profession ignore their education and experience for the sake of “belief,” utterly disconnected from their education and experience.  I have previously stated that I became a Methodist because, in large part, because of the “Wesleyan Quadrilateral,” which acknowledges that we, as Christians, can come to Truth, not only through the Bible, but also through tradition, experience, and reason.  In this blog, I have attempted to be true to those principles.

My complaint concerning fundamentalism, whatever its flavor, is that it appears to falsely compartmentalize life in such a way as to divorce spirit from matter, experience and education from belief and faith. One of the difficulties of such a dualistic view is that belief has  no roots in this life, as we experience it and live it.  A good friend of mine, Bill Ericson, expresses that notion in the delightful, but powerful, metaphorical phrase,  “Swimming in the sea of knowledge without getting wet.”

With that introduction, in the following blog posts I will explore the contributions of philosophy and theology to our experiences of Truth.  The language which I use in this blog is quite distinguishable from the language that my parents use to express their faith responses to their own experiences in in themselves and in the world about them.  I think that is the way it should be.  To merely adopt another’s faith, or to fall back to “that old time religion,” is inauthentic.  From my perspective, to create God in our image, or as dictated by a faith statement, is akin to worshipping idols; my experience of the Divine and of the Sacred lives; it is dynamic; it is in process; it is connected with, but transcendent of, all human experience or the products of that experience.  That experience is so much more than the words that I use to describe it; but I am compelled to use words, understanding their inadequacy to fully define the experienc, but needing nonetheless to make the attempt.

The need for words became evident to me this past year.  My experience with polio, therapy and recovery from that are entirely preverbal.  I have in later life recognized my subconscious”fear of abandonment,” and it’s probable connection to my polio experience.  But, I never was able to get in touch with that underlying grief until I attempted to answer my neurologist’s inquiry into my polio experience.  My mother and father had described in writing their experience of my illness.  I typed my parents’ memoirs, which included their description of their experiences relating to my polio illness, hospitalization and following therapy.  I had no difficulty reading it silently nor typing their story.  But, I never attempted to tell that story until prompted by my neurologist in September, 2012.  She was reviewing my medical history, when she said, “Now, you had polio when you were 2 or 3 years old?”  I responded, “No,  I was 11 months old ”  Suddenly, all of the emotions that an infant in that circumstance might experience burst their bounds.  Finally, that experience was not just a recounting of what adults reported of my experience, but I felt profound grief, crying like an infant.  It continued as  I told her of what my parents told me in recent years.  Having opened the container, it took me a week until I was able to verbalize those subconscious memories, for which I had no words to describe, except those provided by my parents.  Until then, it was as though I was an automaton, subconsciously reacting to any threatening situation as though I were an infant: crying for attention, attempting to appease those in power to meet my needs, and reacting to a profound sense of abandonment.  I was no longer a child, but I had a profound subconscious memory of my polio experience.  I know from that experience the power of the spoken word.  I know that we must, as thinking, rational beings, attempt to put into words experiences for which words are inadequate to fully capture or express.  But we must nonetheless attempt to do so, knowing that it merely points to a Truth, an experience, but does not contain it.  It struck me that as human beings, we need words to be conscious of it.  Words, I have seen, are necessary to thought.

And so it is with philosophers, theologians, ministers and believers of any faith, we must attempt to put it in words, understanding their necessity, but acknowledging their limitations.  With that understanding, we will hereafter explore the attempts of philosophers and theologians to explore the potentialites of our existence.

 

Links to my site:

Introduction https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/2013/07/14/introduction/

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Architecture https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/2013/07/14/ii-church-architecture-and-its-incorporation-of-art/

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Modern Theological Markers: Nietzsche and Darwin

I have chosen Nietzsche and Darwin as modern theological markers: Nietzsche of nihilism and its accompanying despair and Darwin of the “becoming” of life and hope.

For Nietzsche, the core of Christian and Judaic religions was “life denying” because of their conception of a god, “out there.” That is not to say that the purpose of life is limited in Nietzsche’s view to one’s self interests. He acknowledged that individuals have a social responsibility. For Nietzsche, the source of redemption for the human race was to be found in aesthetic expression, as represented by Greek tragedy, as personified in the cults of Dionysus and Apollo. In Greek thought, the god, Dionysus, represented the emotional dynamic of life, the desire of the individual to escape the sense of loneliness and separation through drunkenness and surfeit indulgence. Nietzsche recognized the destructive power of excessive self indulgence and isolating pleasures. In Greek culture the individual also needs the restraining influence of Apollo, or reason. Even Epicurean philosophers of Greece recognized that not every pleasure should be insatiably indulged. Sometimes, individual pleasures must be rejected for greater pleasure, such as preparation for a career requiring advanced education, or that required for a successful venture; or social values in which the individual with others have an interests. That is particularly true when the individual must rely upon others because it requires the participation of many. The “self-sufficient person is a fiction; we rely upon the contribution of others whether we are raising a garden, buying a car which is produced on an assembly line with parts manufactured in innumerable factories, “growing an economy,” or buying products “made in – – – .” Greek tragedy helped Nietzsche to understand that Dionysian (ecstasy, or just plain emotion) and Apollonian (reason) elements must be brought together for the best interests both of the individual and of society, upon which the individual depends.

Part of the basis for Nietzsche’s rejection of Christian and Judaic values was Nietzsche’s division of morality into two camps: one, the master morality, and the other, the slave morality. The master morality recognizes humankind creator. As Samuel Stumpf refers to it in his book, Philosophy: History And Problems,

His morality is one of self glorification. This noble individual acts out of the feeling of power which seeks to overflow. He may help the unfortunate: not out of pity, but rather from an impulse generated by an abundance of power.

The other side of human morality, Nietzsche held, is slave morality. It is on that basis that he objects to both Christianity and Judaism: they look to a power outside human existence and experience, out of dependence upon some notion of a God created in the image of humankind to which the individual becomes subservient. The “good” person operating under a slave morality does that which is beneficial to the weak; on the other hand, the master morality projects power and generates fear in the weak. In Nietzsche’s words, slave morality is, “the will to the denial of life, a principle of dissolution and decay.”

Nietzsche fails to see the power of truth as revealed, not in creedal statements, but as a way of life, as Tolstoy presented Jesus’ teachings, and as later demonstrated in the civil disobedience of Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Malcolm X.

It may seem odd that I classify fundamentalists (as Jimmy Carter defined it) of any religion, whether Christians, Jews, or Muslims, or any other religion, in Nietzsche’s category of “life denying.” I see Nietzsche as life denying because, although he sees the value of the supra- individual, or social, life, he would seem to deny that there is anything innately sacred about human life, individually or socially, On the reverse side of the “same coin” I see the risk fundamentalism as denying the sacredness of physical life, reducing its significance to a “vehicle of the soul,” and that, the individual’s soul. In modern fundamentalist Islam it may be expressed in the belief that one who dies in Jihad shall be rewarded with innumerable virgins in the “real” life hereafter; or in fundamentalist Christianity it may be expressed in the belief in a promised reward of spending eternity in the presence of God, “praising Him.” Samuel Clemens thought ironic that Christians hoped for a life “beyond,” when they would ascend into the clouds where they spend eternity praising God, but couldn’t sit an hour on a Sunday in a church pew.

I must here note a distinction between the Jewish view of eternity in the life of the community after death, whereas Christianity and Islam focus on the individual soul after death. For the fundamentalist Protestant Christian, that is expressed in the key salvation statements and questions: “I have “confessed my Lord, Jesus Christ, as Savior. I have been born again. Are you saved?” From my Christian perspective, to demean any natural part of life,whether body or the spirit (by that, I do not assume any particular form or description of the spirit) is to deny the truth of the Genesis account that humankind was created in the image of god, i.e., it is sacred. (I do assume that if “God” cannot be captured or defined in any physical, nominal, or conceptual representation, neither can the human spirit which “is created in the image of God.” I use the latter phrase as a means of reference or orientation, without intending to limit its possibilities of becoming” or evolution.

I see Darwin as a marker of a different sort than fundamentalist Christianity has pegged him. I see him as marking a new view of life: recognizing its “becoming.” It is not created once, for all time; rather, it is dynamic.

Darwin was not an atheist. In fact, his education began in a school that was taught by a Unitarian minister. His parents were doctor;, but Darwin had no desire to pursue that career. Rather, he pursued a Divinity degree at Christ College, Cambridge University. While there, he met various people, and was introduced to ideas and books that influenced him. As he expressed it,

During my last year at Cambridge, I read with care and profound interest Humboldt’s Personal Narrative. This work, and Sir J. Herschel’s Introduction to the Study of Natural Philosophy stirred up in me a burning zeal to add even the most humble contribution to the noble structure of Natural Science. No one or a dozen other books influenced me nearly so much as these two.

As I began to consider the writing of this particular post, I articulated a connection which I have previously assumed, only. I had long ago rejected a notion of the separation of spirit and matter. Now I have became aware of the connection between philosophy and science. Charles Darwin was not, as we use the term today, a philosopher, although he was often so described during his lifetime. No one can do science without some basic philosophical assumptions. Nor can one do science without impacting those assumtions and intimating more assumptions.

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/darwinism/ addresses of the observational and philosophical aspects of Darwin’s research:

The combination of meticulous field observation, collection and experimentation, note taking, reading and thinking during what turned into the Beagle’s five year journey through a very wide cross-section of the earth’s environments was to set the course for the rest of his life. During the voyage he read and reread Charles Lyell’s newly published Principles of Geology, a three-volume work that articulated a philosophical vision of rigorously empirical historical science, oriented around five key ideas:

The geologist investigates both the animate and inanimate changes that have taken place during the earth’s history.

His principal tasks are to develop an accurate and comprehensive record of those changes, to encapsulate that knowledge in general laws, and to search for their causes.

This search must be limited to causes that can be studied empirically—those ‘now in operation’, as Lyell puts it in the sub-title of his Principles.

The records or ‘monuments’ of the earth’s past indicate a constant process of the ‘introduction’ and‘extinction’ of species, and it is the geologist’s task to search for the causes of these introductions and extinctions, according to the strictures note in 3., above.

The only attempt to do so according to the idea that species are capable of ‘indefinite modification’, that of Jean Baptiste Lamarck, is a failure on methodological grounds. All the evidence supports the view that species variability is limited, and that one species cannot be transformed into another.

I find it interesting that throughout the 20th century, beginning before the time of the Scopes “Monkey Trial,” to the present, 2013, the Darwinian theory of evolution has been attacked by Christian fundamentalists as contrary to the Bible, relegating it to a lesser position as “secular.” Darwin discovered the dynamic nature of life on the earth, rejecting the notion of it as static, once created “6000 years ago,” for all time. I find that Darwin’s notion of the dynamic nature of life as expressed through evolution, biologically, socially and theologically, is quite consistent with the ancient Jewish perception of God, not as ” I am,” but in a dynamic sense that cannot be captured by a single name or a single book, not even the Bible: “I live, I am becoming.”

Our perception of the life process of becoming is somewhat like the old cellophane movie reel: it consisted of a series of individual frames, which are merely a means to create a story or experience: individually and collectively they create the impression of a story, event or experience. That representation is not, of itself, reality. The frames and the possibility of manipulation and editing them are merely tools for creating an appearance of reality. The same is true of modern videography; it just has different materials and tools.

Henri Bergson described human logic as a tool, by which we may recall and examine experiences or events, “as though” they had an existence frozen in time. Jerome Frank later described it in the context of the law: we must engage in “as if” thinking, but we must remember that it is merely a model by which we access meaning in our existence. Even what we believe we see, hear, and feel, must, to be mentally cognizable, and run through the filter of some physical sense; that must, by its physical nature, bear the imprint of the physical sense that permits our brain to interpret it as a meaningful perception. As sunglasses affect our view of objects depending on whether the object is in or out of sunlight, so our other senses and sensual experience be affected by the nature of that sense, by the environment of that object, and by the mental impression and our interpretation of that impression.

My father once expressed it best, I think, when he wrote to me, “Many Christians think that the whole purpose of Christianity is dying and going to heaven. I say, ‘No!’; it is living a life of eternal significance.” That requires faith that life is more than that which appears on the surface; that it is more than a sum of processes; that it is more than a set of right beliefs. In part, at least, it is about living attentively and bearing good fruits.

I will next consider the contributions of the philosophers, Henri Bergson and Alfred North Whitehead, who built upon the contributions of Darwin at the beginning of our era. Although each contributed to metaphysics, which is too often associated with the notions of existence “out there” rather existence “within.” I am drawn to each of these philosophers because of their ability to connect faith, perception, thought, and action in the dynamic becoming of the world. Rather than the bad rap that evolution has received from fundamentalist Christians, as the gateway to a “godless world,” I believe that evolution as declared by Darwin, perceives this world as part of a dynamic process of becoming. It refuses to assign that wonder to an objectified notion of God, whether derived from the words of the Bible or expressed in any statement of “right belief.” I see Henri Bergson, as philosopher, exploring the implications of the theory of evolution for the world that we live in: it cannot be random; but, as he described it, there is some organizing principle giving meaning, or functionality, to the confluence of evolutive changes. He gave it a name: the elan vital, or, vital principle. I see Alfred North Whitehead as carrying forward Darwin’s notion of a world in process, of becoming.

Links to my site:

Introduction https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/2013/07/14/introduction/

Graphic Arts https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/2013/07/14/i-graphic-arts/

Architecture https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/2013/07/14/ii-church-architecture-and-its-incorporation-of-art/

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Xenia Lee 11 RETIREMENT AND MORE FULL CIRCLES –

Chapter 11

RETIREMENT AND MORE FULL CIRCLES –

GOD IS SO GOOD!!

Uncle Doc’s Gift To Us

One of the gifts Dad Wheeler gave us was through his brother-in-law, Uncle Doc, after his wife, Dad’s sister Helen, died.  Uncle Doc had money she had invested in Government Bonds amounting to $24, or $25,000 and since they had no children of their own he wanted one of Dad’s children to have the money because when they had hard times in their early marriage Dad, maybe 10 or 12 years old, had a pig his father let him raise and sell.  Dad sold the pig and gave Uncle Doc and Aunt Helen all the money.  Uncle Doc never forgot that.  When Edgar was in Denver Uncle Doc came to visit us every time he came to Denver for Mountain Bell Phone Company’s stockholder’s meeting and he decided to give Edgar and me that money, $3,000 dollars of Government Bonds to each of us annually until we had it all if he lived long enough, he said.  He was in his 90’s.  He could give $3,000 dollars to any individual without paying tax on it – no more.  He reminded us this was like cash in anyone’s hands at maturity so we should keep it in a bank vault which we did.  We had cashed them and put cash in CD’s by the time Edgar retired so God truly fills our needs before we know we have them!  We had money to pay cash for our mobile home, get a septic system, plumbing, electricity and phone in it and make some renovations to it to make it fill our needs while in West Virginia helping keep Mom and Dad on their home place as long as possible.  How truly blessed we have been and still are.  We want our lives to be a testimony of our thankfulness.

Uncle Doc lived near St. Louis, Missouri and we visited him often as we could while living in Nortonville.  En route to LaPlace, Louisiana Robert and boys, Edgar and I were at his place overnight the first day.  He lived to be over 100 years old.

With Catherine Through Medical School

The last day of travel we drove through Hammond so stopped at the Parsonage and church to let Brian and Jesse and also Robert get pictures of where we lived when Robert was born.  Obviously someone was renovating the Parsonsage.  No one was around but lumber outside and on the floor inside too.  The back door was open so we called and no one answered so we wandered in and Rob got some video.  Years later while living at Richard’s we returned for a funeral at a funeral home in Hammond and drove by the church and Parsonage again.  It looked the same inside and out.  A car was at the church so we went in there.  A black church family, Baptists, had bought the building.  The secretary was in the office.  Nice visit with her.  The whole community around the church is black now.  They had drums etc. set up so they obviously have a band or orchestra.  Much was still the same, though.  Was special to go into the building again.

Catherine had just rented a nice home in LaPlace much closer to New Orleans.  She had lived in Baton Rouge before.  We easily found her home.  It was the first side street as we came into town.  Was a dead end street and Catherine’s the next to last home on the right.  A nice brick home with a two-car garage attached, a porch in front and a deep cemented patio all across the back.  A new one car, I think, garage had just been built beside the back patio.  A nice businessman and his wife in New Orleans had just bought it for a retirement home in the country in a couple years and rented it until then.  He was going to use the garage he had built for a workshop when they retired.  That gave us 3 garages which was nice.

Bill and Marie Prentice had arrived earlier in the day and had unloaded and started back home.  We were sorry we missed them.  Our things in boxes were stored in part of the attached garages.  Edgar wanted to pay Bill’s expenses but he insisted it was a gift to thank God for a gift Edgar’s Dad had given his parents when he was growing up.  They had some hard years during the Depression and lost their home with no where to go and Dad let them live in his rental home rent free until they got on their feet again.  They were dear, dear friends all the years they lived.

Catherine’s home was spacious with three bedrooms and two baths, a back room perhaps 6 X 10 feet, a large kitchen with a beautiful bay window looking out onto the back patio and over our deep back yard.  A nice dining room extended off the kitchen to the wide front hallway on the other side.  The kitchen also opened into a huge sunken living room with a fireplace.  It had a glass double door opening onto the back patio.  The living room was open with the hallway that wound from the front door to the bedroom hallway.

Catherine insisted that we have the master bedroom with bath and huge walk-in closet.  We had a large picture window opening on to the back deck where we hung our swing just outside our window.

There was a laundry room and a bathroom backing up to the front hall and two more bedrooms at the front of the house.  Baron was in his crib and a double bed was also in his room.  Just inside the front door was a nice library study Catherine used.  It backed up to the dining room.  In the garage were steps leading to an “upper room,” Edgar’s study, which was air conditioned, so he really enjoyed it.  The steps were not safe especially for Baron so Edgar asked for and was granted permission to build safe, more permanent steps.  The landlord said to take expenses off our next month’s rent.  There were no screen doors either so he was granted permission to make those and hang them taking the expenses off our rent.  This kept our home cooler longer before we needed air conditioning thankfully.  Was more “homey” also.  We loved having our doors open. When we lived in the South forty years before Edgar made a window fan that pulled hot air out at night and pulled fresh air in through windows slightly open near our beds.  That made the heat bearable and all could sleep.  We seldom used it in the daytime.

Catherine needed a breakfast nook table and benches in the kitchen bay window so Edgar made one from some crates he shipped books in and lumber we found lying around after they built the new garage.  He made a low table with attached benches that would just fit in the window area.  We used it all the time for breakfast and lunch.  All four of Catherine’s children used it on her patio for eating, coloring and playing games through the years.  It is still on her patio today.  A sturdy table for young children.

LaPlace was growing but still a small town.  The first Sunday we all went to the BaptistChurch.  Services were worshipful.  They were starting weeklong evangelistic services that night – all were welcome.  They had asked visitors to stand.  We all did but not one person spoke to us after.  People we talked to hardly spoke.  No one visited.  The next Sunday we went to the MethodistChurch which was much closer – we could walk.  We got a warm welcome and became an active part of that congregation while we lived there.  The pastor was Hebert, pronounced “ā bear.”  He was Cajun and it took us a while to make that pronunciation sound right to us.  He had a pastor’s heart and we were active in Sabbath (Sunday) School, worship and other activities.  They were a serving congregation and we helped with “More than a Meal” we prepared one evening a week for homeless and other families referred to us.  A balanced meal and games or an activity were planned and directed.  Sometimes it was entertainment or a program.  Always special.  One day a week they also had “Mother’s Day Out” just for the church mothers.  There was a regular “PreSchool” for one day.  An Early Childhood teacher was in charge and church members signed up to help each week.  We took our turn helping with both things.  Edgar taught one of the Adult Bible classes before we had been there long.  We felt at home here from the first Sunday.  When Catherine was home she went with us which pleased us of course.

Gentry remained in Baton Rouge by choice, where his hair salon was.  It was a very classy business that advertised on TV.  A very classy Salon that advertised on TV and did people’s hair for Jimmy Swaggart’s TV broadcasts.  He did “make overs” at gatherings throughout the South.  He did come home every few days and finally pretty regularly.  If he didn’t come home Catherine would become concerned and drive toward Baton Rouge in case his car broke down along the way.  He might not come home at all until the next the day and sometimes two or three days later.  We all quit being so concerned that he was sitting along the highway somewhere.

Baron was six months old when we arrived and we soon bonded.  Whatever I did he was close by soon to help me.  He even helped me bake cookies and knead bread.  If he was not helping me he was sitting with a book or toy at my feet.  He loved being out of doors with Grandpa and followed him around whatever he was doing.  Edgar put a basket in the front of his bike so Baron could ride in it.  Both of them loved that.  We often took popped corn or bread crumbs to the Lake to feed the ducks.  Some days we would go to the Audubon Park Zoo in New Orleans.  He loved the animals.  It reminded us of the many times we packed a picnic lunch and took our older children there years ago.  Again we had come full circle ourselves.

It was special to be in Catherine Jeanne’s home and we were so thankful we could ease her mind so she could concentrate on finishing MedicalSchool.  She had gotten too many student loans to quit now.  She had one year left after finishing this year.  Catherine was Secretary of the Student Body Council that first year and active in that group.  Her last year she was made President, the first woman ever.  She seemed to thrive on hard work and pressures.  With everything else she had Trevor in February and was soon back in school long hours.  Was nice she had her own office as President so she could lock the door and have some privacy she said.  She graduated that summer.  Ace and Annita came for Catherine’s graduation.  Was so good to have them there.  Ernie had come a few days during his school vacation but Esther did not come with him.  Was good to have him there and take him sightseeing and we went on a “Swamp Tour” we all enjoyed.  It was his Christmas vacation.  So good to have him home again but how we missed Esther.

Catherine went to Salt Lake City, Utah for her Residency work in OB/Gyn.  We took Catherine, Baron and Trevor to the airport to fly to SaltLake.  The truck with her furniture had already gone and been delivered, so she knew it was there.

Time With Mom And Dad

And Time With Mom Wheeler

How we were going to miss the boys and Catherine but Mom and Dad needed us and we had bought a new Mobile home to go in just below the pond dam, above Mom’s garden.  It would be in place with a septic system by the time we arrived.

We came home from the airport, put our car on the trailer behind the U-Haul, secured it and we were on our way.  Now I was going full circle back home and to my home church at Lost Creek, West Virginia.  Mae and George had come home to help us get unloaded and settled.  What a big help they were.

Daddy was not well all that summer.  We tried to get him to go with us when we had to travel about just to get him out of the house and he always said, “No,” it was too much work to get in and out of the car.  We were busy all summer with two big gardens that Mom already had growing.  There was a lot of mowing to do and hills to keep cut with a scythe.  We were busy all summer and glad to be home to help keep Mom and Dad on the farm where they wanted to be.  We went to church on Sabbath at Lost Creek but we felt we needed to be active in the church in community in order to get to know the community people.  We went to the CommunityChurch two miles away.  They had a Methodist pastor who lived in Salem and came Sunday to preach.  We soon felt right at home and loved the church family.  Was nice to help with community service projects also.

Neighbors came in often to visit Mom and Dad.  Children who had gone to school to Dad and were home from away came often to visit.  Mom and Dad loved that.  Mom did Dad’s hot lunch program in his one-room school and their students loved both of them.  These were really bright spots in Mom and Dad’s days.  We were in and out each day to help any way we could.  Mom and Dad helped me with all the canning.  Dad seemed to sleep a lot that summer as if he was depressed and had given up.  He did not want to even go for a drive.

In the fall we stopped to visit Bond and Ruby as we came home from somewhere.  Ruby complained that Edgar had not taken Dad fishing all summer.  She said that before we came Dad talked a lot about “how Edgar will take me fishing when he gets here.”  He was looking forward to our coming so he could go to BuffaloLake and fish.  Bond was retired before we came so I do not know why he did not ask Dad to go fishing with him.  Maybe he did and Dad would not go.  We thanked Ruby for sharing Dad’s disappointment with us.  It hurt that we had disappointed Dad so but he always said it was too hard to get in and out of the car so Edgar had not asked Dad about fishing in case it would be like rubbing salt into a wound already hurting.

Edgar began talking up a fishing trip to BuffaloLake and Mom and Dad went along.  They even took Dad’s boat along sometimes and they all went out on the Lake to fish.  They always brought home a good catch to prepare for freezing or eating fresh.  Good eating!  Dad perked up and was soon doing better and seemed to really revive.  How Edgar and I could have thought Dad was not able to go fishing just because he was not able to get in and out of the car to go with us anywhere else was really stupid on our part.  We should have known that Dad would gladly make the extra effort needed for a fishing trip.

We spent one winter in Florida with Aunt Pearl and Dad went fishing with us about every day.  We took home many packages of frozen fish packed in dry ice.  Another winter we went to a Beach in North Carolina for two weeks to fish.  MaybeHoldenBeach.  We rented a Condo near the fishing docks.  They had wheelchair access so Dad did well.

Dad enjoyed fishing and at home would get on his riding lawn mower and sit on it by the hour fishing just above our mobile home at his farm pond.  I think he had every fish in there named.  When he would catch a fish I would hear him talk to it, call it by name, carefully remove his hook, pat it on the head and carefully put it back in the pond saying, “One day one of my Grandchildren or Great Grandchildren will have fun catching you.  Dad had a small row boat docked at the pond and what fun the children had rowing out in it.  Dad taught many children to dig worms, catch grasshoppers or seine fish to put on their hooks and cast out into the water.  When they caught a fish he taught them how to set the hook without getting stabbed yourself.  Dad would never put worms on hooks or take fish off hooks but was an encourager and support.  “If you want to fish you must learn to do all these things for yourself,” he would say and we children did and all our children and Grand children too.  Dad was a teacher in every area of life and he lived what he taught.  He was loved by every child he taught – because he loved them and showed it in personal attention given.  The advantage of a small one room school I am sure.

Fourth of July was always the Randolph/Bond Reunion at Mom and Dad’s home.  Horse Shoe and also volleyball courts were set up and ready.  We always had lively games of both.  Dad would be referee and scorekeeper of one or even both before the day was over.  Everyone brought food to share and we set up tables and benches under the maples in front of the house so it was shady.  Usually had around a hundred and there was something for every age.

I imagine it was in 1990 Richard and Michele, Nathan, Shauna and Ben came to the reunion as they moved to Raleigh, North Carolina, where Richard would begin working for Keiser Permanente in Family Practice.  Robert, Connie, Brian, Jesse, Hilah and Rachel were there from Nebraska and Ace, Annita, Kevin, Mike and Liz were there from Pennsylvania.  Helen, Ken, David and Jeremy from New York State, Leon, Linda, Jon and Coral also from New YorkState.  Ruth, Walt, Rebecca, Heather, Christen and Missy came from Rhode Island.  The children surprised us with a “Family Home” comforter they had made for our 40^th Wedding Anniversary.  Each child had designed and made a block or “room” representing that family.  The twelfth block was the front door with a button door knob and decoration on the front door.  The top of the quilt that folded back over the pillows made the roof of our “Family” home quilt.  We use it to this day on our bed during the winter months.  I have a lighter quilt I had quilted and made for Mom and Dad on their 50^th wedding Anniversary and I use it for my summer bedspread. It has a block with the name of every sibling of mine and their family in 1975 when I made the quilt.  Both quilts have washed well through the years.

In 1992 our children came to our home in West   Virginia for a reunion.  We had all gone to Ruth’s in 1989.  They decided every three years to have a reunion and go to different sections of the country.  In 1995 it was Boulder, Colorado S.D.B. Camp Paul Hummel.  Willy, Jen, Esther and Tony entertained there.  In 1998 we went to Rich and Michele’s in North Carolina, where we were living at the time.  In 2001 we went to Catherine and Dan Larsen’s home in Salt Lake City and in 2004, Annita and Ace entertained everyone in their home in New Hampshire.  Esther missed that reunion, having given birth to April shortly before; but Tony , Lauren and Aidan were there.  We will go back to Annita and Ace’s home in 2007.  In 2005, the children, except for Ernie and Cathy and Rob’s wife, Dawn, came to Westerly, Rhode Island, where we were living, and really surprise us on our 60^th Wedding Anniversary.  Except for the two times I have mentioned, all of our children have been able to enjoy our reunions with us.  As the grandchildren got to college age there always seemed to be some of them who could not come.  God has been so good to us through the years.  Our family has been such a plus in Edgar’s ministry.  They were each respected and loved by church family.  Our way of teaching was to not speak twice but to expect to be obeyed first time.  We only punished for disobedience, disrespect and dishonesty.  It paid off in children we could take pride in for they were hard working, honest, respectful and loving children. We continue to take pride in each one today.

As I said before, Mom raised a large garden – actually, two gardens – and the hills around us were full of raspberries, blackberries, strawberries and huckleberries (small blueberries).  When company came we were well prepared always.  Our garden took daily care and it paid off in good eating: lettuce, radishes, spinach, swiss chard, kale, tomatoes, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, potatoes, sweet potatoes, cucumbers, muskmelon, watermelon, parsnips, beets, carrots, corn, peas, green beans, pole beans and lima beans.  Mom and Dad helped us make 2-3 gallons of sauerkraut in the fall too.  Mom and Dad no longer kept a cow, pig or chickens when we went back.  They had already begun spending their winter months in Florida with family there.  They had a cat but no dog.  The cat was an outdoor cat and kept rodents cleaned out.

At our family reunions there is constant sharing of memories, sometimes lively political or religious discussions.  Never any getting upset or mad as far as we can tell.  We have a “musical” family and evening or daytime music entertainment was and enjoyed and they all enjoyed singing together.  We always had a Sabbath worship service and sharing time.  Family members led those.  There was always a children’s story time and probably some singing of fun camp songs.  In West   Virginia we had square dancing on the lawn with Robert at the piano on the porch and his children playing violins.  The neighbors could hear all the fun and came over to join us.  Every reunion has featured tournaments of volleyball and horseshoe throwing, also table games and table tennis and pool maybe.  These are always full of good meals, well planned and prepared (much ahead of time and frozen).  Everyone helps and takes their turn with preparation and cleanup.  Our children raised children we all are proud of.  Sometimes guests have been invited to entertain: a clown, a magic show and such.  These were fun for every age.  We look forward to this next summer at Ace and Annita’s spacious home on the shore of Lake Winnipesauke in New Hampshire.  We had a cruise on the big lake last reunion there.  Our reunions are Friday to Monday and people come ahead or stay after if they can.  Some can only come for the weekend of visiting and activities.  Today, June 2007, we have 97 family members, including 6 step family members.

The winter after our West Virginia family reunion Dad got sick and was bedfast from then on.  Getting Dad in and out of bed was hard on both of our backs.  Edgar got so it was difficult to keep the hillsides mowed.  We got a hospital bed for Dad and that made it easier for me to give him bed baths and take care of his needs.  We could also change the contour of the bed so he could sit in bed.  We saw a lift advertised, looked at it and bought it.  Edgar remodeled it and it worked great to turn Dad in bed and hold him in position too.  Dad could not stay on his side when he turned.  Mom had a single bed and we pushed it up beside Dad’s bed at night.  We moved their bedroom up to the sunroom which had a bathroom attached.  It was much lighter and all the windows opened so it could be almost like living out doors.  Bird feeders were just outside the window and they enjoyed watching the birds.  Edgar built a ramp to their outside door so we could take Dad into the yard in his wheelchair.  In the summer he often sat under the shade trees a lot.  Neighbors waived at him as they drove up and down the road.  Dad could watch us working in the garden or mowing lawns.  He was our official pea sheller, bean snapper, or whatever needed to be prepared for meals.  Helped him to feel useful and needed too.  Mom and Dad played games every day which kept each of them sharp and alert.  Both were very competitive and they loved playing Rook with everyone who had time to play.

The hydraulic lifter was great for lifting Dad out of bed and sitting him in his recliner or wheel chair.  To get him in and out of the car we put a rug in the chair and Dad sat on it.  When we got Dad to the car in his wheelchair we took the left arm off the wheel chair and one of us got in the driver’s side kneeling on the seat and pulled the rug, with Dad on it, into the car seat.  The other person lifted the rug enough to make it slide easily.  We took Dad out the same way, but in reverse.  He always sat in the front seat.  It was easier to get in it.  Mom and I sat in the back seat.

The summer before we moved to Richard and Michele’s, Nathan, Shauna and Ben came to stay with us for a week.  We took them home on Rich’s 40^th birthday to surprise him.  They planned, Richard thought, to meet us halfway the next day.  Was a big surprise party Michele planned.  The yard was full of guests.  They even had a music group to entertain.  Was a fun evening and we got to see and visit in their small home.  We slept in Shauna’s room and she slept in the loft with the boys.  The children were so glad to be home again.  It had been fun having them for a week.

Elizabeth came that summer for a week also.  There were lots of adventurous things to do on Grandpa and Grandma’s farm including fishing and playing in the stream in front of the house.  We played games and read always before bedtime.  It has always been fun to keep grandchildren a few days.  They kept us younger.

That year, Edgar’s mother was in the hospital very ill.  When she could leave the hospital the doctor wanted to put her in the Nursing Home but she refused.  He said she could no longer live in her home alone.  Mae and George came to be with Mom and Dad while Edgar and I went to Kansas to bring Mom home with us.  She was not able to travel yet so I staid on and Edgar went back home.  He was interim pastor in Lost Creek or maybe Salemville, Pennsylvania.  When Mom could travel Merlin and Juanita took Mom and me to Ohio to Aunt Marcella and Uncle Frank’s home where Edgar picked us up.  Annita and their children were there to surprise us.  They lived in Detroit, Michigan.  What a precious surprise.  Mom was tired but did well traveling.  We went on home with Mom.  She was happy there until she was feeling more like herself then she missed home and all her friends.  We felt sorry for her.  One day she rode to town with Edgar and as they traveled she said, “Edgar, thank you for giving me such a good home but I would rather be home in a Nursing Home than here.  I want to see the open spaces again.  I feel like I will smother between these hills!”  We let Charles know to sign up for a room in a Nursing Home for Mom.  He did and when she was accepted we drove her home.  We had enjoyed having Mom but we knew it was best for her to be back in Kansas near family and friends there.

Edgar served twice as interim pastor in Lost Creek and once in Salemville, Pennsylvania during our years in West Virginia.  He was happy to be in ministry again.  We had a small group Bible study in our home or at the neighbor’s home across from Mom and Dad.  Edgar did an entire Bible Survey course with them.  Three couples attended regularly.  All were members of the CommunityChurch.  Special friends and neighbors.

The day came when the Doctor told us our backs would not get better as long as we were taking care of Mom and Dad.  Richard wanted us to come live with them in the country.  We would have our own home as soon as they could get their home built on the property. It had a small “sharecropper” house on it that they were living in at present.

We began talking with Mom and Dad and my siblings about what we should do.  Mae and George were building a large sunroom on their home and would be glad to have Mom and Dad live with them if we could hold out another year or so.  Rex and Phyllis were glad to move in with Mom and Dad and take care of them.  Their son, Ian, and his family would move into Rex and Phyl’s home so it all worked out.  Until Mae’s got their sunroom ready, Mae’s, Alois’s and Edgar and I took turns coming for a week at a time each month so Rex and Phyl could get away somewhere if they wanted to do that.

Finally the time came we knew we must move.  Dad got a lawyer and divided his land and home place.  Rex got three acres including the home place.  Edgar got the land across the creek, the drive way, garden, pond and a little beyond.  We appreciated Mom and Dad’s generosity but we knew we would never live there so why keep the land when Rex really needed it to complete his three acres?  When we were given the deeds to have recorded we sold it over “for a dollar” to Rex Main.  We signed them and recorded them.  Now we could leave West Virginia with easy minds.  We told Rex and Phyl that we did not want Mom and Dad to ever know what we had done and they assured us they would not tell them. We all were happy and relieved.

I helped Mom and Dad pack for their move to Mae’s the weekend before we left.  We put their things in a small U-Haul and Bond and Ruby drove it to New York.  Leon was an EMT and he brought a van that Dad’s bed could be anchored in.

It was really sad moving them out of their home.  Before we went out the door to load up, we all gathered in the kitchen and Edgar had a prayer of thanksgiving with Mom and Dad and family gathered around them for the many happy years that they had in their home.  He also prayed for protection and God’s blessing in travels and in their new home.  Dad was then 91.  Mom was 93.  Mom sat beside Dad in the van and Edgar and I followed in our car.  Dad did well on the trip.  Mae had a hospital bed for Dad and one for Mom beside his.  Dad only lived six weeks after they moved to Mae’s.  Edgar and I and Alois and Mary Ann took turns staying with Mom a week or so at a time when Mae and George wanted to get away.  Beth was still teaching.  Rex and Phyl came when they were needed to help.  Beth and Joe came in the summer.

One winter at least Mom lived with us at Richard’s so she could be outside more all winter.  It was very special having Mom in our home again.  We did some traveling with her to visit Ernie and also my cousins in Tennessee.  Mom really enjoyed those trips but was always glad to be “home” wherever home was at the time.  When spring came Mom went back to Mae and George’s.

Mom lived into her 100^th year.  We had sent out birthday invitations we’d celebrate her life.  We rented Camp Harley Sutton in New York for two or three days.  Mom died of a stroke before her birthday.  She was 99 years old.  Mom had her stroke while playing Rook with Mae and George night after Sabbath and she died around noon the next day.  God gave her a long happy life.  We were blessed to have her for our Mother.  Again, God is good.  We give Him thanks.

Several of our children offered us homes with them.  Richard wanted us to come live with them in the country in North Carolina near Wake Forrest.  The house they were living in was a small sharecropper house, but we would have our own home as soon as they could get their home built on the property.   A big plus was that the weather was better year around.  Edgar got hot in summer but we had air conditioning after the first summer.  We accepted Richard’s offer and planned to move our mobile home there.  Before we moved some of Rich’s neighbors complained about having a mobile home brought in even temporarily so we sold our home before we left and it was moved away.  We drove a U-Haul to Rich’s pulling our car again.  We had been in West Virginia six years.

Time With Richard And Michelle’s

Our things were stored in the barn behind Richard’s house and they gave us Shauna’s room.  Again she slept on a cot in the loft with the boys.  Within three to four months we had built an extension beside Shauna’s room.  Her window became a door opening into our room.  We built a front porch across from Richard’s front porch and screened it in.  We used that porch a lot.  Shauna was back in her room happily.

The summer of 1993 Richard’s broke ground and they started building their house in July.  It was attached to the side of the cottage, along the kitchen and dining area of where we all lived.  Brian and Jesse were with us all summer.  Brian and Nathan were very helpful.  They stuck right with Richard.  He took one month vacation time from his practice and when he went back to work the framing was done, logs up and roof on ready for indoor finishing work.  Richard showed Dad and me what needed to be done daily and we worked hard to do all we could before the family returned each day.  Edgar and I laid lots of tongue-in-groove flooring upstairs and down.  New flooring was put down in the kitchen and living room part of the share cropper home also.  We did finishing work on all the kitchen counters.  They took many coats of finish.  Richard did the electrical wiring but hired a plumber and air conditioner to  put in the central air and hook things up.  We used pipe scaffolding and pulled it apart and moved it when sealing and staining the logs outside.  As we put it back together once I caught the lining between my left thumb and fore finger and stood there attached for ten minutes unable to get the scaffolding apart to remove my hand.  Finally I just yanked it and tore away the flesh that was caught then went to the Doctor to have it cleansed and stitched and get a tetanus shot.  We were thankful to not have any worse injuries.

Within two years, Richard’s had built their log home.  They moved into the log home Christmas Eve.  What a special Christmas we all celebrated together.  We shared the kitchen and dining room with them, and what had been their living room became Richard’s office at home.  The room we had been living and sleeping in for over a year, maybe two, became our huge living room.  We also had Shauna’s bedroom for a spare bedroom and Rich and Michele’s bedroom for ours, with an adjoining bathroom.  We had our own separate quarters in Rich and Michele’s home.  It could not have been a better arrangement.  When the log home was finished, Edgar and I little by little removed broken down fencing and cleaned the pine grove and area around our home so we could mow and trim the lawn.

Richard’s were going to church at NorthWakeBaptistChurch in WakeForest so we went there and were soon right at home.  Edgar taught a Sunday School class and enjoyed that.  Young families were like part of our family and have visited us after we moved.  I also became part of the local “Women’s Outreach” group and that helped me get to know the neighborhood women around me and serve needs of them.  We had a monthly devotional and business meeting.

Later, Rich’s began going to WakeForestBaptistChurch which had a worship service more like what we were used to with organ, piano and a large choir.  Seemed so much more reverant and worshipful.  Again we were soon “at home” and it was a big plus to again be worshiping with Richard’church had a Deaf ministry and several deap people attended church regularly.  All of the worship service was signed and we sat in that section with Shauna.  The Interpreters taught sign language classes that Edgar and I attended to be better able to communicate with Shauna too.  They also had an active Senior Class in Sunday School taught by a seminary professor.  A Southern Baptist Seminary was next to the Church.  Many students worshiped here and many went to North Wake.  North Wake was a “seeker” church and a more “modern” worship style with a Praise Band and visuals on the wall.

While at Rich’s they hosted the family Reunion in 1998.  Richard had an in the ground swimming pool fenced in and also a large side yard seeded down and mowed.  They built a sunroom onto the living room with a stairway leading to the big room over the double garage.  Rich air conditioned that room and all the single boys had a “boys’ dorm” in that room.  The “girls’ dorm” was in Rich’s study and the loft above it.  There was lots of space really.  Some slept in the screened-in gazebo overlooking the lake at the back of Richard’s property which Nathan and Ben designed and built with Richard’s oversight.

The family played games in the side yard.  An awning was attached to the side of the barn behind the house and it covered six large tables and chairs.  A popular spot was the table tennis, pool and hockey tables that were set up in the large screened-in back patio room.  Our Sabbath worship was on the front and side porches and front yard.  We rolled our piano onto the screened-in porch and Annita played it.  Some had their instruments.  One family could not be able to afford the trip that year so the children went together and paid for their trip.  Richard’s had their first of many catered “pig pickin’” feasts for Sabbath day dinner.

While at Richard’s we celebrated our 50^th Wedding Anniversary and all the children gave us a 3-week Globus Tour of the British Isles.  We flew direct from Raleigh to London and a Globus Tour Guide met us.   We toured England, Scotland, Wales and southern Ireland.  Never had we even dreamed about making such a trip.  We gave at least two slide shows of our adventures.  A trip of a lifetime.  Memories are precious yet today.  God blessed us with our family and they never cease to amaze us with their love, sensitivity and generosity.  God is so good indeed.  We were in Boulder, Colorado to celebrate our 50^th Wedding Anniversary.  Esther had made a beautiful anniversary cake and invited the Denver and Boulder church family to join us Sabbath afternoon celebrating.  Many of them did just that.  So good to visit with dear friends again and catch up on their families.

A typical day for us at Richard’s started at 5:00 a.m. for each of us.  Edgar went to his study/studio out under the trees and I sat at my desk, reading God’s Word, meditating on it and praying for at least 30 minutes then Edgar and I took our “three mile” morning walk before the sun was too hot.  We took 2 grocery plastic bags and usually filled them as we cleaned up along the roadside daily as we walked.  Those were special times sharing insights or experiences as we walked hand in hand.  In summer when we got home we put our bathing suits on and cooled off, swam or walked in the pool out back.  By then Richard’s had all left for their day at school or work and the kitchen was ours.  This worked so nice for each of us.  Michele and I wrote notes and left them on the counter often.  We were right at home with them and there was enough work we could do to keep us busy and happy being able to help.

At Christmas time, there was always a tractor pulled farm wagon with hay bales for seats to carry carolers to elderly and shut-in close neighbors.  The wagon was full.

The day came when the children were all gone and Rich’s were talking of downsizing.  About this time Ruth and Walt had an apartment in their duplex they rent going to be vacant so offered that to us if we wanted to come back to Rhode   Island.  We decided to move so Edgar and I packed then went on to Rhode Island.  We flew to Rhode Island for Thanksgiving with family there.  After we left, Richard’s loaded our things in a U-Haul and drove them to Westerly for us then he flew back home.  They did all the hard work this move.

Time Near Ruth and Walt’s And Our New England Children

We were of course so happy to be back in Rhode   Island and going to church in Ashaway again.  People welcomed us “home.”  Our older children all graduated from High School in Ashaway at CharihoHigh School.  The towns of Charleston, Richmond and Hopkinton (Chariho) joined to build a Junior-SeniorHigh School and TechnicalSchool.  All but Esther and Ernie graduated here.

Our New England children, Leon and Linda, Esther and Tony and Lauren, Annita and Michael and Liz came to welcome us and help us settle in.  What a big help along with Ruth and Walt, Becky and Chuck, Heather and John, Christen and Missy.  In jig time we were settled in our new home.  Esther, our Occupational Therapist, saw ways our apartment needed to be improved to meet our needs.  The children bought safety holds and mounted them around the bath tub and toilet.  We had dark paneling on the lower part of the wall all around our large living room and dining room.  Esther said that needed a couple coats of off white paint.  We lived in the basement duplex.  Esther and Lauren came and remained a few days to help us paint.  It gave the rooms a whole new face lift – so much brighter.  A large mirror hung on the wall with no windows made the room look much more spacious as the sun reflected from it.  We had had our own quarters and were so happy at ‘Richard’s in their country home but it felt so good to know we could manage well and take care of our own needs, mostly, in our home again. We were happy in our basement apartment.

After a year or so Chris, Matt and Schawn moved in over us.  That was so special having them there and soon Schawn came to visit nearly every day.  We loved that and occasionally got to baby sit.  The time came when Ryan joined their family and then we had double pleasure having two little girls come and visit us.  Was a sad day when Chris and Matt bought their country home and moved out.  We were happy for them.  When they left children and Grandchildren moved us upstairs where we had larger rooms and much more light, also an upper and a lower deck and fenced in yard.  We loved it upstairs also.  Those were such special years with Ruth’s family and close enough Esther’s and Leon’s from Vermont and Annita’s from Massachusetts and New Hampshire could visit often.  We could also visit them oftener.

Scott and Jeanie Smith and their family were in the Ashaway parsonage and we became members there again.  Edgar and I had again come full circle back to Ashaway where Edgar served our Lord many years in ministry.  Our desire was to support, love and encourage Pastor Scott which we did openly.  We love their family, two boys and two girls too.  We felt it personally when church family there, who professed to be “Christians” refused to support and work with our pastor in God’s vineyard.  Gossipers turned everyone they could against our committed, sincere, Godly Pastor.  Those who supported the Pastor were driven away because of divisions in the church body.  So un-Christ-like.  Edgar was asked to be interim pastor and he he was for a while but he was unable to really unite the people into one Body in Christ.  One or two at a time people left our fellowship or were driven away.

Ruth and her family felt they had to leave – people did not want them there.  Since we all lived in Westerly it made more sense for us to worship in the WesterlySeventhDayBaptistChurch, in our own community.  Only God through Christ could ease our conscience and give us courage and a forgiving heart so we could leave with love and peace only God could give as we moved our membership to Westerly.  Ruth was able with God’s help to do the same thing.  We were happy in the Westerly church and are still members there.  Our pastor is a deeply committed Bible-based man of God who preaches and teaches God’s Word clearly. God speaks through him and changes lives.  Our church is growing spiritually with him.

When we went to Westerly Cousin Elizabeth Markolf  was in the hospital very ill.  We visited her weekly and she was not improving.  We visited her church in Rockville one Sabbath and while visiting with a neighbor of Betty’s who had the keys to her home and watched out for her I asked, “What is wrong with Betty?”  She said, “I do not know, but she keeps getting worse instead of better.  They cannot tell me anything because I am not related.”  I answered, “Well, I am related and will ask when we go to the hospital tomorrow.”  I did and was told she had a staff infection that cannot be cleared up.  I got the name of the infection and e-mailed Rich and Catherine, who are doctors.  Both said that it could be cleared up with the right medication.  I called her doctor, told him who I was and that I have two children who are doctors and they say she should begin to improve with the right medication.    Within a week Betty was improving.

The day came when her insurance would no longer cover Hospital care so she was put in a Nursing Home.  Soon it would not cover her care there so Edgar and I took her home with Home Health Care.  We lived with her.  We had to wear rubber gloves and be careful because her infection was very contagious and she had diarrhea so often even messing her bed in spite of the Depends we used.  She had not been able to keep up her home up as she once did so Edgar and I spent all our time cleaning, cooking and taking care of Betty’s needs including bed baths and laundry.  We took her into her living room to sit and she liked to watch some TV programs.

Home Health Care came to check Betty while also encouraging me and tell me tings to watch for.  Betty had been against going to a Nursing Home but one day she said to me she thought she should go to a Nursing Home for she was never going to be able to live alone again.

Not too long after that Betty had quite a bit of blood in her bowel movement so I called the doctor and he said to get an ambulance and take her to the Hospital.  Betty was a member of the local Volunteer Ambulance Association so had free ambulance service enough miles I never got a bill.

Betty had me do all her bill paying and balancing her checkbook.  She put my name on

her account.  I wrote checks but never signed any.  I took them to Betty to sign them.  The neighbor had been doing all that since her husband died.  A nephew in South Carolina had Power of Attorney for her but that was about to run out and needed to be renewed.  Betty wanted to know if I would be her Power of Attorney.  I knew nothing about doing that but after much hesitation said I would.  I talked with Betty’s nephew (actually her husband’s nephew) a couple times on the phone.  He had asked a lawyer in Providence to write up a new POA and he and his wife were coming up that weekend and the lawyer would come to Betty’s room at the Hospital and meet them there at a certain hour.   Betty insisted that Edgar and I were to be there before that time and we were.  He sent all of us out of the room so he could talk to Betty privately.  She told him what she wanted and I became Health and also Financial Power of Attorney.  Her nephew signed as a witness.

It was not an easy job locating all her investments.  As statements came in I filed them and made note in her ledger.  Betty’s husband had been doing all financial business and she knew nothing about it so was no help.  I kept being surprised with a new investment.  Somewhere.  Slowly I learned and was not to be traumatized with money matters.  I was thankful for all my business courses and bookkeeping.

Betty had me check out Nursing Homes and in our judgment the best and also the cheapest one – an Eden home – was close the hospital.  Edgar and I could walk there which was really nice.  Betty decided she wanted to go there and they accepted her and put her on their list when they had a “room and bed” they would call me.  By the time she had to leave the hospital this time they had a room so she moved there.  We went down daily then three times a week and finally every Sabbath afternoon.   We enjoyed the visits as did Betty.  She was full of memories to share of summers she spent in Berea, West Virginia, or Clarksburg after her Grandparents moved there as well as Rockville and Westerly memories.  Betty was happy in the nursing home and the last 2 or 3 years had a private room in the new wing.  She loved it and loved all the employees there.  A very caring atmosphere

Within two years her finances were close to gone paying $5,000 + every month for Betty’s comfort and care.  She asked me to check on State Aid which I did.  I thought I would have to sell her beach-access home and all her belongings.  I did get three bids on the furnishings and a local one was thousands above the other two.  Betty had many valuable antiques.  Some I would have loved to have – a rocker Betty had when young – but knew Betty needed all the cash from the sale I could get so did not ask her if I could have the chair.  Was a sad day for Edgar and me when we watched them clean out Betty’s home.  So many memories through the years.

As I went over records I came across the deed to Betty’s home and after her husband’s death Betty had the lawyers draw up a new deed with her neighbors’ names, the man and his wife both, so actually Betty owned only 1/3 of her home.   I could not sell it without their consent.  I spoke to them and they were unwilling.  I could not believe my ears.  They were “Christians” and leaders in the church Betty went to.  I had to fill out papers to put Betty in the State care.  They said she can keep her Life Insurance polity and her home but when she died 1/3 of the vale of the home would be theirs.  I let this family know and they soon came up with 1/3 of what the Tax Office said her home was worth, $99,000.  They got a lawyer and I had to sign papers letting them own Betty’s home for $33,000 cash.  That money allowed me to wait another year before I had to put Betty on State Aid.

Yearly I had to fill out papers again to retain State Aid.  Not more than a year later Betty told me she saw in the paper her home had been sold for $250,000.  Again I was more than shocked as well as disappointed in them doing that while Betty was still living.  There was nothing I could do.  Again I wrestled with God knowing I must forgive them, but how?  Finally I was able to say with Jesus, “What is that to thee; follow thou me.”  God helped me forgive from my heart and I had peace and joy in helping Betty as much as I could.

Betty died suddenly.  She had a little over $1,000 in the bank at that time.  The State took all her Social Security except $50 each month.  That was to be used for anything that Betty needed.  We kept Betty in Depends and Tic Tacs she loved besides other personal needs and occasionally clothing.  The State had let her keep $3,000 when they began her care.  That slowly dwindled but I had plenty as long as she lived.  I had a funeral contract and paid for that before I put Betty on the State.  When I notified her insurance agent there in Westerly of her death they sent me a little over $10,000.  Edgar and my names were on her Insurance contract so each got over $5,000.  Edgar needed new hearing aids badly and I insisted he get them now.  That was $6,000.  A tithe went to the Missionary Board in her memory, flower bouquets went to the Social Worker, Manager of the Nursing Home and Nurse’s station on her wing.  I was so happy with the loving care Betty had received. We sent a bouquet to the Social Worker, the Manager of the Nursing Home, and the Nurses’ station on her wing.  I was so thankful and happy with their loving care of Betty.  I was really shocked the State did not take Betty’s Life Insurance money.

Betty took out a $1,000 life insurance policy when she got her first job and bought her home, while at that job for $3,000 in the 1930’s.  Her parents, my father’s cousin, Stella Bee and her husband, a Seventh Day Baptist minister, retired and moved to that home.  They lived there when we moved to Ashaway so we spent many evenings in their home eating popcorn and visiting and playing games – often dominoes.  These were good years and I was thankful to be able to get to know and help Betty in her later years.  She was 93 when she died.

The last year that we lived in Westerly Edgar said many times, “I don’t know how much longer I can continue to: take care of the lawn, have this large a garden, live in our own place.”  Melissa and her husband, Scott, took over care of our yard.  What a blessing that was.  They made a hard job look easy as we watched them manicure our lawn in less than an hour.  Scott mowed while Melissa trimmed.

Ernie and others of our children offered us a home with them when we felt we could no longer live alone.  We could not consider it as long as Betty lived but after she died and all her legal things were taken care of we did begin to consider what we should do.  We had gotten our funeral contracts and paid for our funerals and made arrangements for burial at the ministerial circle in the HopkintonCemetery where the church in Ashaway first stood.  We could leave that area with peace of mind when we decided it was time.

During the summer Ernie and Cathy asked us if we would like to come back to North Carolina where winters are easier and live with them.  We talked to Ruth and the other children.  They all thought that perhaps we should move to where we were not fully responsible for home and lawn care and even more important we could walk daily all winter.  Our health depended on regular walking.

We decided to make the move.  Ernie and Cathy’s lease on their rental home was up the middle of October and they would rent a larger place two families could be comfortable living in.  Ernie flew up to Rhode Island in time to get our U-Haul truck and load it with the help of all of Ruth’s family plus Ruth and Walt.  All was loaded easily by mid afternoon.  We all spent that night in Ruth and Walt’s home.  It was special being at Ruth’s overnight again.  Many days and nights we had enjoyed being in their home.  These last 6 years we were there often for meals and also holidays but never over night.   My sister, Beth, and husband, Joe, came that evening so they could drive us to Durham, North Carolina.  They were sure that the constant jarring in the truck would cause us more back problems.  Joe had been a professional truck driver so we did not say, “No,” when they offered to drive us down South.  Ernie left the next morning early pulling our car on a trailer behind the U-Haul. We were sure it would take all of us two days.

Time with Ernie and Cathy’s, Again Near Richard and Michelle

We enjoyed our trip to Durham as we visited and enjoyed the scenery while Joe drove.  Was a special memory building trip.  So good to leisurely visit with Beth and Joe two days.  Actually we arrived by mid morning and Ernie had arrived not long before us.  We were at our new “home” and so glad to be “home.”  Cathy’s parents were here and they prepared chicken gumbo for everyone mid afternoon or before.  Some of Richard’s, Beth and Joe, Ernie, Cathy and her father unloaded so fast we could hardly keep telling them where to put things.  We got our bed set up and made up ready for a good night’s rest.  It was amazing how settled we were by nightfall.  Beth and Joe went home with Richard and Michele.  He brought them back the next morning for breakfast.  Cathy’s parents were at a motel so returned the next morning too.

Ernie and Cathy were still unpacking from their move so each arranged things and unpacked boxes or stored them in the attic until our next move if we could.  That much less to pack then.  By July they wanted to have a place in the country.  Their lease on this house would be up the end of June.

We soon were settled and enjoying North   Carolina sunshine again as we got acquainted with Tretan and he became comfortable with us.  Edgar was so “turned around” every time he went out the front door that I usually went with him for a walk.  He had our address and phone number in his pocket.  Once he did go alone and had to stop and ask directions he was so mixed up.

We have a bath adjoining our bedroom in the back of the house here and the Library/study is beside it.  The living room, laundry room and kitchen are in the front of the house and in the middle of the rotunda are their two bedrooms and a bathroom.  Our couch in the living room makes into a double bed and we have a double air mattress with electric air pump that we can put on the floor in Tretan’s room when we have company.  There is a nice patio at the side of the house and nice big fenced in yard behind the house.  Really nice space and wonderful neighbors.

Within a week of arriving we went to their “block party” (meal to share and visiting in the street).  That block was closed off.  Was nice to meet and visit with so many neighbors.  Any direction we walk here we can go through or around a nice Park.  West of the house is a Golf Course.  A really friendly neighborhood and any time of day we greet many others walking, many with dogs or young children.  We have no side walks so walk in the streets.  We also can walk to the BaptistChurch we attend which is really nice.  We attend a Senior Bible study on Wednesday a.m. which is special – the fellowship and the study.

Our car sat along the side of the road for three weeks or so.  Edgar said several times, “I should just sell the car for I know I will not drive it here.  This place is too confusing.”  I knew I was not able to drive here and I did not want to try.  I finally said, “If you really want to sell the car let us sell it instead of talk.”  Rich heard our conversation and bought the car for Shauna.  She needed a car.  Edgar felt good with someone in the family having it.  It was bothering him having it sitting along the road too.  We gave Ernie the money we got; they sold their small car and they bought a van we could all ride in comfortably.  Everything worked out well and we drove the car to Savannah to Ace and Annita’s the week he bought it for Thanksgiving.  A wonderful trip.  We look forward to more trips.

Edgar and I worked together on our Christmas letter and cards so dear friends and family far and near would know our new address.  When we got all those out it was time to prepare for Christmas and get our family gifts out.  This year it seemed easier to send each family some money for a family game or something else.  I did not have the energy to make candy and cookies this year.  Christmas Eve we went to Rich and Michele’s for a meal and gift exchange.  We all drew names.  Edgar made bird houses and I made dish rags.  We both enjoyed making the gifts.

A tent-like storage building/shop was set up in the back yard and Edgar enjoys it almost daily.  He goes with Ernie to the Shop mornings three days a week and loves doing that.  I keep busy and happy every day here at home.  Tretan is a big joy.  We try to walk two, maybe three times each day and sometimes pull Tretan in the wagon to a Park to play.  He loves going outside wherever you go.  The boys put up two clothes lines and Tretan loved sitting in the wagon before he began walking.  Now he runs all over the yard.  What a happy, on-the-go boy he is!  We love watching him grow and learn new things day by day.

Medical Challenges, And God Is So Good!!

Two days after Christmas Edgar came home from the Shop for lunch and I had lunch ready as usual.  We have our main meal at noon and of course Ernie’s have theirs at evening when Ernie gets home.  We had just finished eating and Dad and I started to clear the table.  Cathy was next to the kitchen in their bathroom putting Tretan on the pot so he could be put in his bed.  I put applesauce leftover away, went back to the table and got ketchup and the butter dish to put away.  My left hand would not open the door so I put the butter dish on the counter and used my right hand over my left and aloud said, “Open the door.”  The next thing I remember Edgar and Cathy were there on the floor beside me and Cathy was saying to Dad, “The ambulance is on its way.  They want me to stay on the line.  Yes, she is conscious now.”  Then Cathy said, “You stay with Mom.  I’m going into the yard.  I hear them coming.”  They were soon in the kitchen.  I remember telling them I was alright.  I know they got the IV going.  I know when they put the neck brace on me and slipped the backboard under me.  That hurt.  Within fifteen minutes after I fell I was in the DukeHospitalTraumaCenter I heard them say.  I remember painful X-Rays and tests and Edgar, Cathy and Tretan, then Ernie and Richard were there.  I was told I had a stroke and my head was cut but did not need stitches, also my left shoulder was fractured.   I was taken to the Stroke unit.  Tretan could not come onto that wing, so they came in one at a time.

December 27 was Wednesday and by Thursday mid-afternoon Ruth had arrived by air from Rhode Island.  Helen and Kenny were at Catherine Jeanne’s for Christmas vacation so Helen and Catherine flew together from there.  They arrived Friday afternoon and came to the hospital with Richard, who picked them up at the airport.  I think all the girls stayed at Richard’s  Friday night.  Ace and Annita arrived at Richard’s en route back to Savannah from their New Hampshire home.  It was so special to have four of our girls there together and two of the boys.  Dad slept in a chair in my room the first night, Ruth stayed there the second and third nights, and then Annita took a turn.

By Friday I had regained use and feeling in my left arm, hand and leg so the doctors released me to move me to the Cardiac Unit.  Tretan could come in to see me there.  The cardiac doctors had been seeing me while I was in the Stroke Unit.  They were sure my fall was from my heart problem not the stroke.  I needed a new pace maker.  In 2003 doctors in Westerly had tried to remove my old pacemaker so they could implant a new one.  The wires of the old one were grown in and totally clogged the vein they were inserted in so they were cut off and left.  The old pacemaker was removed but they could not insert a new one.  There were no veins they could insert the wires through.  With meds they regulated my heart.  These doctors said I needed a new pacemaker immediately so Friday I went to surgery and they found no veins around the heart they could use so they rescheduled cardio-thorasic surgery for Tuesday, January 2. The children all staid until surgery was over and I was out of ICU on Wednesday back on the cardiac floor.

In ICU I had IV’s inside my right elbow so I could not bend my arm to help myself eat or drink.  My left arm I could not use because of the fractured scapula.  I was totally helpless to care for my own needs.  Dad and the children were there through the day and someone was with me nights.  I was able to get out of bed and to the bathroom with aid by that Thursday and walk a little pushing the IV pole.  Ruth went home on Wednesday and Helen and Catherine Thursday.  Annita staid until I was home.  I got home Friday afternoon finally.  Annita slept on the couch.  Went on home to Savannah by AmTrak train.  Was so special for me and also for Edgar having the girls here.  Sunday afternoon Alois and Diana came to visit.  They staid at Rich’s over night and came back for breakfast Monday.  They left not long after breakfast.  Was so special having them here and seeing Alois feeling better.

I went back to the cardiologist, Dr. Lowe, who did the surgery to have the staples removed and the Nurse Practitioner and Physician’s Assistant actually removed the staples for me after a two hour or more wait because the doctor had emergency surgery.  They had talked to him and learning I was not having Physical or Occupational Therapy at home he wanted the orthopedic doctor to see me before I left.  The women had me take off my sweater to get my blood pressure and commented that my left arm was at least twice, maybe more, the size of my right arm.  Even with bathing daily (no showers because of the incisions) and taking my blood pressure to record it daily I had not noticed.  After removing the staples the women were taking me to another floor to see the bone doctor.  The elevator door opened and my doctor stepped out and recognized us so went with us to the other doctor and we had no signing in or waiting there.  He escorted me to an examining room the nurse led him to and he examined me while I waited on the other doctor.  He said I must return to the hospital until they get to the cause of my swollen arm.  Maybe a blood clot from the fractured shoulder.  The orthopedic doctor said I should begin therapy immediately so my shoulder did not “freeze” and cause serious problems with recovering use of my arm.  It seems it was not a clear fracture but it shattered in splinters so they put my arm against my body in a sling.  No wonder it was so painful and me so allergic to some pain killers I do not like to take pain killers at all.

Back in the hospital they began IV diuretics and with tests that very day found a blood clot under my arm.  They needed to dissolve that.  I was also building up a lot of fluid in my lungs and having trouble breathing.  I walked some in the hallway each day “panting” my way along a couple days.  Edgar walked with me always. The first day the Therapist walked with us and then a nurse.  After a couple days I was able to walk to the cafeteria with Edgar and Cathy, Ernie and Tretan to get lunch.   Richard and Ernie’s were there off and on through the day.  Ernie brought Edgar early each morning and he wanted to stay at night but I insisted he go home.  Nurses were very attentive and came quickly to answer a bell.  I got along fine through the night.  I was in the hospital five days and still lots of fluid in the left lung where the surgery was done.  Finally they tapped off two quarts of fluid and let me go home again thankfully.  I remained on Lasix but doubled what I took daily.  Hopefully that would prevent further build up.  It was so good to be home.  Ernie put a recliner in our bedroom and I slept in it two nights.  The third night we elevated my side of the bed more and I slept in bed.  I was very protective of my left shoulder but did sleep some.  Part of my problem was I thought I had to have my eyes open and stay awake in order to keep breathing so I was awake a lot while in the hospital and then at home the first week or so.  I never got so it was easy to breathe.  I was always conscious of breathing.

The therapist showed Ernie the size of table that I needed for dangling my left arm over and letting it hang and just move up and down and in circles with the movement of my whole body along the table.  Ernie made me a table and brought it home.  I was ready for home therapy.  Faithfulness paid off and I regained full use of my left arm in time.  Dangling it as my body moved kept it from freezing and after six weeks I began therapy and though painful at first was soon moving my arm freely and able to dress myself without aid.  So many things we take for granted and forget to live thankfully praising God for His blessings of health and strength daily then living in the awareness of His presence as we seek to honor Him in every area of our lives in our home and wherever we go.

Edgar and I got so we could walk several blocks together again.  All was going well.  Then I began to “pant” again walking but we kept walking because I knew I must to keep up my strength.  It got bad enough that I told the doctor.   He checked me and found fluid in both lungs now.  He changed my diuretic from Lasix to Bumex and in three days I had lost ten pounds of fluid.  I lost eight pounds the first day and night.  The doctor had me return in one week and asked me to call if I got worse.  I was to weigh myself daily before I dressed and if my weight went up two pounds in one day call him. In a week returned to see Dr. Crawford.  His staff said  he had an emergency and I waited an hour and forty-five minutes to see him.   When I was finally able to see him he kept saying, “Amazing,” as he examined both lungs.  He said he found no fluid.  He hugged me and said I had just made a very difficult day worth it all.  That has been a week ago now and my next appointment with him is early April.

We are again walking maybe 10 blocks at a time and walking to church twice a week, enjoying each new day God gives us. Edgar is again going to the Shop with Ernie three mornings a week and enjoying every moment there.

So many times in my life I have grown spiritually because I experienced traumas where I had to fully trust in our loving, ever present God to be where I could not be and fill the needs of loved ones I could not fill.  My father’s illness when the doctors said they had done all they could.  The toilet down the path at home gave me privacy and became my sanctuary of prayer and tears.  My mother trusted God to heal if it was His will.  I had a child’s faith in a loving Father and I believed God would heal.  He did.  My father lost his right leg in the hip joint and I learned my father was the same man without a leg.  The leg was not “my father.”  I might never have learned these things if I had not experienced them.  Now I can better love and support and  encourage others who have similar traumas to work through while trusting our loving, all-powerful, ever-present God to walk with us and fill their needs and the needs of our loved ones according to His will.  Our God is able to do exceeding above anything we ask or think.

Illnesses of our children have taught me so much I might never have learned otherwise: Annita and Robert’s polio; Willy’s Hodgkin’s Disease; Richard’s many broken noses; Leon’s bicycle accident when we were told he might never talk again, then later his soccer accident and surgery; Ruth’s arthritis in her legs while in Grade School (our doctor feared bone cancer and sent us to a specialist in Boston); Catherine Jeanne’s heart murmur as a baby; Helen’s fistula on her wrist that had a “sharp” scratchy spot (The doctor drew a whole very rusty sewing needle. He was sure it had worked its way through her body since she had been crawling and came to the surface safely years later; Esther’s years of learning how to live with Bulimia; Ernie’s eye problems from birth and years on a submarine in the Navy. Each experience taught me God is trustworthy and loving and wants me to reflect His character as I care about those who suffer in this life.

The lease on the Durham rental home will be up the end of June.  In April Ernie and Cathy began watching Real Estate ads in the paper and on the computer for property in the mountains or country in North   Carolina that they might like and could afford.  Richard and Michele have bought 80 or so acres within sight of PilotMountain near Mount Airy, North Carolina for their retirement home one day.  The “Flying Eagle” woodworking business is not growing fast enough to cover costs and pay Ernie’s full time employment right along.  They gave it a good try with full page ads, etc., trying to build up the orders but they did not come in steadily so Ernie knew they need to get full time work, one of them anyway.  Cathy got on full time with her work writing college science courses – biochemistry, etc.  Ernie worked at the Shop until near time to move.  In late May or June Richard moved all the business equipment to the Work Shop on his farm.  He also cleaned out the shop and took lumber that was left up to the farm.

Ernie and Cathy found nothing they could afford in North   Carolina so decided to look just over the line in Virginia, northwest of us.  Ernie rented a car and late in April went toward Wytheville, VA to check out homes they saw for sale by Real Estates on the computer.  He was gone three days looking at several places.  The next weekend he took all of us up to check out homes he liked, at least two but maybe more homes and make a final decision – yes or no, keep searching.  We were each impressed with the home in the edge of Cripple   Creek.  It backed up to the National Forest – a big plus!  It was kept up and just beautiful inside and out.  The lawn was beautiful, kitchen was large and modern with a bay window over the sink.  The back entry room had a washer and dryer behind folding doors.  Rooms were large and ceilings high.  It had a full front porch with a swing on it and a screened in porch just off the dining room through French doors.  There was a large patio outside the kitchen door.  We all agreed that this place could be “home” if all worked out well.

In May we all came back again for the “walk through” inspection.  It was thorough – attic to basement.  All went well and “the price was right” so they took the leap.  The “closing” was in June.  We loaded the truck and Ernie drove the truck while Cathy and family followed with the van loaded to the Real Estate Office in Wytheville.  After signing papers and receiving keys we all drove to our new home and parked in the driveway to unload.  The neighbor boys were soon in our yard offering to help and they are strong kids and were a lot of help unloading and carrying inside.  Each box was labeled according to the room it went in so that helped so much.  We set up beds as they were brought in and furniture was put in place where we wanted it.  The kitchen was a priority so I began unpacking boxes so we had cooking and eating items ready for our first meal at home by evening.  We were all ready for bed that night!  The swing was still on the front porch, compliments of the former owners and a big “Welcome” bouquet of fresh flowers in the bay window in the kitchen.  We had a wide and long hallway in the center of the house with seven doorways leading to other rooms so Tretan had the perfect large oval to push or pull toys around and around in the house.

Our bedroom is beside the bathroom on one side and Ernie and Cathy’s on the other side of the bathroom.  So handy for each of us.  We have two long lace curtained windows looking out on to the porch in front and two matching windows on the other outside wall looking down at our next door neighbor on that side.

Very soon we bought a beautiful, large – 10 by 20 inside measurement and 14 by 20 with the full front porch – Amish cottage they placed on the flat just under the wooded area of our back yard.  The cottage has a long window on each side of the front door with a nice big window in it.  Later Ernie insulated the inside of the cottage and placed a long window in the one end toward the garage and now chicken yard and house.  The other end is two big wood doors fastened together.  In winter I keep the 40th anniversary quilt the children made us hanging up over those doors.  Inside the doors Edgar has chicken yard fencing attached to the corners to keep the chickens who run loose in the yard from jumping into his cottage.  In summer those double doors are fastened open with wire hooks at the front and back of the cottage.  Swings are attached to that side of the cottage for the boys so it is really “homey” up there.

I kept looking down on a big and long carpet rolled up on the next door neighbor’s porch.  One night a few weeks later I lay awake wondering how we could buy carpet for the cottage when suddenly I thought of that rolled up carpet so next day I asked our neighbors if it was laying on the porch waiting to be hauled to the dump?  She said she had thought about using it in a remodeled room upstairs but decided not to do so and if we wanted it she would gladly load it in her pick up truck and bring it and the padding for it up to the cottage.  What a blessing!  The rug fit perfectly wall to wall and I had a piece just large enough to cover the inside of the wagon when pulling the boys in it.  With the padding it is well cushioned and really looks nice in the cottage.  A red carpet.  We bought a futon so we can make a double bed up there for a guest room when needed.  Really it is Edgar’s study and art studio.  We all enjoy going up there to visit him and enjoy the porch breezes.

Ernie and Cathy quickly fenced the back yard to keep the dogs and Tretan safe out of doors.  The first summer Edgar spaded and tilled a small garden of the flat behind the house.  It produced well and kept us in fresh vegetables.  The concord grapes gave us some juice for jelly as well as good eating along.  The second summer Ernie and Cathy did the gardening and added another garden area on the other side of the driveway.  They added more variety in herbs and vegetables.  They also planted two apple trees along the driveway.  They bought 10 little chicks and two hives of bees which are all in the fenced in area behind the house.  The end of the double garage toward the cottage was turned into a chicken house and a chicken yard fenced in between the garage and cottage.    The fence opens so the chickens can be in the larger fenced yard during the day.  We now get 5-7 eggs most days!

From our front porch which sit high off the ground, we can see Cripple Creek itself and the bridge over the creek with our community Crockett’s Chapel just beyond.  We live on a hill and our drive is rather steep.  At the end of the drive is a double garage – utility sheds really.  We have a car port on the flat just beyond the house beside the yard gate.  The second winter Ernie and Cathy cleared the woods behind the cottage of underbrush and vines clinging to trees so they can extend the chicken yard up the hill through part of the wooded area.

Ernie built a porch rail around the front porch to match the one on the screened in porch.  It has part rail and a gate across the wide front steps.  There is a native rock walkway up to the porch from the road below and nine steps up to the porch which is now “child safe” when sitting on our swing or glider and enjoying our front porch.  We look down on four homes from here.  Once we get down our driveway we have pretty level walking for a mile all through town passing our Country Store lovingly called “The Mall” which was also the Post Office when we moved here to Cripple Creek road on the other end and back home on Cripple Creek Road.  Frances Mill Road goes through town branches off of Cripple   Creek right in front of our home.  Our Post Office was closed in January of 2008 but we can still get stamps at the store.  The store is old and weather worn but entering the front door you marvel at how anyone could get so much into that space and still know where to find whatever people ask for.  Things hang from the ceiling everywhere and boxes are piled up in the aisles.  Two people cannot pass in the aisles no matter how small.  People have been known to find things they could not find at Lowes in town.  One is amazed at all he carries there.  You ask for it and he probably has it – somewhere.  Hardware, garden produce, groceries, wedding gifts etc.

We knew that the best way to really get to know your neighbors is to begin to worship with them. We went to Crockett’s Chapel the first Sunday we lived here and have gone every Sunday since if we were home and well.  These are sincere Christians who live their faith and really want to grow in love and Christ likeness.  We love them and can work closely with them supporting their witness.  Edgar and I have taught Senior Sunday School classes and we taught the Adult Bible class at VacationBibleSchool last summer.  We have a Methodist pastor who was raised Baptist and is a strong “one Body in Christ” man.  He preaches God’s Word clearly and is a good pastor.  Many denominations but “one Church”.  We love him and his family and also the church family.  We can grow spiritually and serve needs with them.

In early summer each year we have “Cripple Creek Day” with a big parade through town to the old Grist Mill in the edge of the village along Cripple Creek.  Ernie and Cathy attended the Cripple Creek Day Planning Committee last winter each month at the church fellowship hall.  It is like a summer Fair with many “Food” and “Craft” booths as well as many “church” booths.  They sell souvenirs and have live Groups, cloggers, and other entertainment on stage all day long.  They come from this area and neighboring states.  They always have a “Duck Race” on Cripple Creek in the afternoon.  You buy a “numbered” duck or several ducks – $1.00 each and keep the ticket for there are prizes for winners.  One section of the grounds is all children’s safe equipment, games and entertainment for a price.  It is a gala affair and well attended from near and far.  Lots of fun and lots of work for planners.  Richard’s family came up to enjoy the day with us.  Gary, who lives in a home attached to the Mill, gave tours of the Mill all day long.  Richard, Dad and I went on a tour.  What an immense open area right now.  They are renovating it planning to open a restaurant and Bed and Breakfast as soon as they can.  How nice that will be.

A big event the summer of 2007 was our Family Reunion at Annita and Ace’s home in Center Harbor, New   Hampshire.  The Reunion was July 25-30.  Over a week before the Reunion we flew to Manchester, NH to help what we could to get ready as well as be there and rested when people began to arrive.  We did what we could daily to prepare food for freezing and be sure all was ready on time.  Those with young children all stayed at Elizabeth and Josh’s farm home about a mile from Annita and Ace’s home.  It was child proof already.    All were at Annita’s for all meals and through the day.  They have a Lake front home with beach, swimming and dock area that kept little ones entertained.  Counting Edgar and I we were a family of 97 members and 28 were not able to be there but we enjoyed each one who came and missed ones who could not be there but knew they were with us in spirit and we were thinking of them.

Wednesday, July 25, 2007, Helen’s, Robert’s, Willy’s, Leon’s, David’s, Kevin’s, Elizabeth’s, were all gathered with bells on ready to celebrate as we ate and visited together.  Thursday Ruth, Chris’, Heather, Melissa’s, Richard’s, Ernie’s, Noelle, Catherine’s, Baron and Amber, Trevor and Shauna’s arrived.  Coral’s family came when they returned from a week’s vacation with Kevin’s folks.  What a wonderful few days with all the children and many of their families together and enjoying each other.  Worship in music, God’s Word, and song is always a special Sabbath for each of us as part of our being together again as a family.  We were thankful to be at Annita’s a week before people started coming and three days after most had left to help what we could and also rest up before and after the big gathering.

Friday, August 10, that summer Ernie and Cathy, Tretan, Edgar and I drove to West Virginia for our Randolph/Bond Reunion in Berea, the mountain village where my father was born.  We gathered at the Seventh Day Baptist Camp Joy (Jesus, Others, then You).  On the way we stopped at my friend, Freda Swiger’s home to visit her and catch up on High School class member news.  Then we stopped at the cemetery where Grandpa and Grandma Randolph are buried on our way to Uncle Rex and Aunt Phyl’s home which is where I grew up.  They have kept the home and grounds up so beautifully but were not at home.  They already left for the Reunion.  We just walked around “remembering” for a while then drove on to Berea.

Greg and Julie were in charge and did a great job planning and preparing.  It was a big gathering again.  Don Richards and Edgar had the morning worship service in the Church on the camp grounds.  The church was full.  Some cousins I had not seen in many, many years so that was special.  It is always good to visit ones who are always present too.  Family is special and we always enjoy competition in volley ball games as well as table games and table tennis, pool and hockey.  We staid in a Bed and Breakfast near Berea with Mae and George and also Beth and Joe.  What a great experience and good food served family style.

That was a busy summer and fall.  November 8 Annita drove up from Savannah, Georgia, and took us the next day to Columbus, Ohio, for my brother, Alois, and Becky’s wedding.  We had all met Becky at the family reunion in August.  Her husband died a year or so before Mary Ann died.  They were special friends of Alois and Mary Ann through the years.  The wedding was Sabbath, November 10.  My brothers and wives and sister, Beth, and Joe were there.  Mae and George were unable to come so we missed them.  Was so good to be with Alois and his family on this special occasion and had a Motel within walking distance of Alois’ home where Becky and Alois will live.  Sunday Annita took us to Raleigh and we spent the night with Ben and Jen then Annita dropped us off at the airport Monday morning as she drove on South to her home.  We flew to Burlington, Vermont, to Esther’s for a week of fun and visiting in her home before going on north to Leon and Susan’s for Thanksgiving week.  It was so good to have relaxed time again with Esther, Tony, and the girls.  How the girls have grown and changed and yet they are each the same loving, playful, creative girls.  Sabbath day Leon and Susan picked us up and we went on South first to Leon’s school maybe 12 miles away for a tour and then a school play production for the public.  This was a great experience and held many memories of plays I have been in and also attended through the years.  After the play we drove almost to the Canadian border to Leon and Susan’s beautiful farm and home overlooking Lake Champlain.  Was so good to meet and begin to love Susan’s teenage daughters, Leah and Lindsey.  Lindsey is just starting her teens and Leah graduates from High School next year, 2009.

Esther and Tony and girls came up for Thanksgiving Day along with Susan’s Mother and other members of her family.  It was a beautiful day of feasting and thankfulness and visiting.  We even got some table games in as we visited.  Sabbath day Leon and Susan took us back to Esther’s and we went to their new church with them Sunday.  It is a large church and special activities for every age group so they are at home there and all being fed spiritually and challenged to grow in Christ.  Monday a.m. Esther and the girls took us to the airport to return home before they went to school.

Cathy’s parents came the day we left and used our bedroom while we were gone.  November 13, on David Brannon’s birthday, Gabriel Berend, 8 pounds 4 ounces and 21 inches long, was born in the front seat of the van as they arrived at the Emergency Room entrance door of the Hospital.  Trauma for them AND the Hospital staff but all was well finally and Gabriel was a healthy normal baby in every way and Mommy was ready for some good rest when she got over all the excitement.  Daddy also.  It was good to get home again and meet, hold and love our new grandson, Gabriel, and also big brother, Tretan, for we had really missed him.

Tuesday, December 18, we went to Ruth and Walt’s for 10 days of celebration and visiting.  We were so happy to get there in time to attend the Christmas Cantata with choir and full orchestra.  Mr. Bob Spargo, Chariho Jr.Sr.High School music teacher and band director  when our children were there, played trumpet and it was so nice to visit with him after and we were each full of memories to share.  He had good memories of our children in band and Glee Club.  Robert had been student band director under him also.

How special it was to have Christmas once more with all of Ruth and Walt’s family in their home.  A very special time together and relaxed.  Steve and Cindy Rudolph, Annita, Liz and Owen came for Sabbath and the Cantata that evening.  It was so good to visit with all of them and enjoy little Owen that day.

December 27 we returned home as we recounted our year and all the blessings we had experienced together.  God is so good.  Was an easy return trip and so very good to settle in to “home” routines once more.  Visiting is always great but “there is no place like home”.

Our first winter in Cripple Creek was mild and we thought that was great for we could walk and enjoy it almost daily all winter.  Annita and Ace stopped as they returned to Savannah after Christmas.  It is always special to have them stop overnight and once we met them in Wytheville for breakfast as they were driving through.  That was fun and we had a good visit as we ate.  2008 was off to a good start.  In early spring we got gardens going again.  This year Ernie and Cathy are doing most of the gardening.  We did plant glads and they were beautiful when they bloomed.

In early summer Meredith Wheeler’s wife, Naomi, and daughter, Rebecah, just out of college in Texas, stopped to visit a couple days or so while Rebecah was getting into a summer Music Theatre Program in a nearby College.  Was so good to have them here.  Naomi and Meredith have since moved to New Zealand where Meredith has in a position in a College.

Our daughter, Ruth, taught Second Grade in AshawaySchool these last several years.  The 2008 Spring semester was very stressful and she considered quitting but finished the year and was ready for vacation.  When school was out Ruth drove down here for a few days to visit and get so she could think about us in our new home setting.  She drove Edgar and I on south for one and one half hours to Richard and Michele’s 80 acre retirement home and farm Sabbath day while Ernie, Cathy and the boys were away.  We had lunch with Richard’s family and spent the afternoon visiting before returning home.  It is always nice to go there.  Our first visit Richard drove us in his four wheel drive farm Jeep (I think!) all over his acreage.  We forded the farm creek several times and once drove in the creek bed a little way then up the bank and around the hill to the hill meadow that we drove through to another meadow which will become their vineyard and indeed is terraced now ready for the first plantings of grape vines.  Then we came full circle to the large well stocked farm pond where we have enjoyed fishing or watching others catch fish when we visited them, right to the kitchen door again.  Ruth, Richard and Michele walked the farm grounds that afternoon while Edgar and I visited with Michele’s mother, Neva Hunt, as we walked in the yard area.

Ruth had visited Lancaster County, Pennsylvania,  Amish country as she came South which made it a more restful trip traveling alone.  We had a few days of visiting and touring this area.  It was so good to have her join us in worship and Sunday School and meet so many good friends here.  On her way home Ruth drove to Williamsburg, Virginia, and toured that historic town a while.  It was so special having her here and she plans to be in Kansas with us in August.

Another big event of 2008 was our Kansas Wheeler Reunion in Nortonville, Edgar’s home town.  We flew to Kansas City on July 30 arriving in the late afternoon.  Sam, brother Charles’ son and wife, Nancy, picked us up at the airport took us grocery shopping en-route to Nortonville.  We spent $80.00 or maybe a little more.  They have no grocery store in Nortonville now and there were two when we moved there in 1981.  I had a list of groceries I would need during our stay there.  Turned out we pretty much used them all.  We gave Charles and Reba the left overs so was glad they could be used.

We staid in the Parish House beside the SeventhDayBaptistChurch.  It used to be the Parsonage when Edgar grew up there.  They have four large bedrooms upstairs and one down stairs besides the couch double bed in the living room.  Down stairs is the large living room, dining room and kitchen and two bathrooms.  Our family had the entire house and we filled it full.  Worked perfect for our big gathering.  We had Charles and Reba come across the highway each evening for supper with us so we had more time visiting with them.

Thursday I baked dinner rolls enough for the weekend.  I fried chicken and had it ready to put in the oven to bake.  I snapped and cooked fresh green beans and also carrots and cooked and  mashed potatoes, had the huge dining room table set and ready to eat by 5:30 when I had asked Charles’ to come over.  We were on the side porch welcoming Charles and Reba when William, Jen, Matt and Kacie drove in.  Before they got into the house Helen, Kenny and Stephanie arrived.  Perfect timing.  We enjoyed our hot meal while we visited.

Friday we girls made cinnamon rolls for Sabbath, made a huge meat loaf and scalloped potatoes for supper with fresh sliced tomatoes and also cucumber and onions in vinegar.  Ruth flew out to Kansas   City and rented a car arriving just as we were all outside welcoming Charles and Reba.  Again perfect timing.  We were ready to sit down and enjoy a good meal together as we visited.

Sabbath Day we all went to church and Sabbath School then took our cottage cheese and fruit salad and the cake (local people brought a covered dish and dessert) with us to Winchester, three miles or so south, to the Community Building in the City Park where Wheelers were swarming like bees everywhere.  It was not overly hot while we were in Kansas so outside was pleasant thankfully.  The building was air conditioned and expect it was needed with so many people inside at tables visiting.  Some we had never met and some we had not seen in many years so we were so very thankful we were able to be there and have so many of our family with us.  Robert, Dawn and Christopher came to Winchester.  They had been teaching and attending VacationBibleSchool all week and their program was Friday evening so they could not leave home until Sabbath a.m.  We were so thankful they got there for the shorter visit at least.

Dale Wheeler, Darlene and Norris’ youngest son, was host along with others in his family.  They grilled hot dogs and hamburgers along with corn on the cob so we really feasted as we visited all afternoon.  It was a very special time for we Wheeler cousins and families.  Hope we can do that again before too long.  Winston’s son, Jerry, has volunteered to host the next Reunion at his home.

Robert’s were in the Parish House with us over night.  Yes, we found plenty of room and Uncle Charles’ children came over in the evening which was great to visit with them some more.  Louise and Roy’s son, Melvin, wife, Beulah, and daughter, Sherry, and four daughters were in church and at the Reunion.  Sherry, husband and family live in St. Joe, Missouri.  We had not seen her since she grew up.  Was nice to get acquainted with her family also.  Charles’ family and Merlin’s family were there but none of Uncle Bob’s could come.  We missed them.  Was so good to visit with and catch up on people we had not seen in years.

At noon Sunday only Helen’s family and Ruth were left.  Willy’s and Robert’s had to drive home by night so they left by mid morning.  It was so very good to have that many of our family there even for a short time.  Helen’s left right after our lunch of “left overs”.  Those left overs kept tasting good to us each day until we left on Wednesday.

Each day Ruth took Dad wherever he wanted to go.  We visited the cemetery in the edge of Nortonville where all our area relatives are buried, visited people still living locally and Ruth took us to visit Winston at his home.  Only Edgar went in to see him for he does not even know his own children now part of the time.  He still has his jolly laugh Edgar said.

Ruth took her Dad out Tuesday and they just drove around remembering and talking about the home place, the country school near home, the nearby towns and had a good time together while I got packed up ready to depart on Wednesday.  I got all the laundry from the bedrooms and bathrooms done and put away.  We tried to leave things like we found them – really clean!  Tuesday evening we met Charles and Reba, Kent and Lois, Sam and Nancy in Atchison at a Restaurant for supper and then we all went to Kent and Lois’ to visit a while.  This was a special week at home in Nortonville again for Dad and for me.

Wednesday Ruth took us to the airport as she went to her plane.  She dropped us off at our airline and she turned in her rental car then went to her airline.  Our departure was an hour before she left so it worked out really well.  We were home before dark.  We ate supper at our favorite – Wendy’s – before leaving Roanoke as we came home.  Home looked so good and our own bed “felt” so very good.  We have an air mattress bed, “Select Comfort” queen sized bed belonging to Esther and Tony.  They were not using it so gave it to us while we lived in Westerly, Rhode Island, until they need it again.  What a blessing it has been.  We know we are spoiled.  Each side can be kept automatically at the firmness we need individually for comfort.

Gardens produced well this year and kept us in vegetables all summer.  We even froze or canned some for winter.  Ernie did not get his deer he hoped for but neighbors gave him one and half of another one they could not use.  We are enjoying all the venison we want right now.  Ernie’s new bee hives did not produce honey for us yet but had all they needed for their very cold winter so far.  Another year we look forward to all the honey we can use also.  The Chapel family make apple butter each Fall (outside fire with a big iron kettle over it).  We hope we can help do that next Fall.  We bought a dozen pints of apple butter and are enjoying them.

Thanksgiving Ernie took Edgar and I to Richard’s for a few days of celebrating there on the farm.  Cathy’s parents came here for a week or so from Louisiana.  Neva, Edgar and I tried to put a puzzle together while we were there.  She finished it the day we left she said.  Was fun “trying”!  Nathan brought us home and was here over night.  Dad’s cottage has a nice futon we made into a bed and blew up an air mattress we put on top of the mattress on it to make a higher bed easier for me to get into and out of.  We slept up there until James and Carolyn Potts left.  Was good to have a day or so to visit with them also.  The cottage has a radio, record player, CD and tape player combined.  We also have a TV and VCR up there so what more could one desire when camping out.  I forgot to mention the bedside pot we kept after Mom quit coming to our home for winters.

Finally we enjoyed a Christmas in Cripple Creek.  Ernie and Cathy really did the home decorating this year and we were so glad to watch them enjoy that.  The Christmas program at church was special with every class participating and we were thankful Ernie, Cathy and the boys were able to enjoy that also.  It was a good year.  Santa was good to each of us.

Now 2009 has begun and this has been a COLD winter so far.  It began in October with snow and low temperatures.  November was cold also and January had its very cold days getting to zero at night.  Ernie installed a wood stove during the fall and it heats the house cozy warm on the coldest days.  How thankful we all are.  We enjoy sitting in the dining room and relaxing in the warmth here.  The stove has been well “tested” this winter and passed the test with high numbers.

I have been in therapy three days a week all this year, 2009.  Next week, February 19, I expect to stop therapy and continue exercises she gives me to do at home.  My breathing has improved 100% and I can turn my head easily from side to side and up and down again.  I am walking without my cane and feeling so much more steady on my feet.  I am thankful for these last two weeks of milder weather so we can do our mile walk daily and hope that continues now.  I do not want to lose what I have gained.

Now we are looking forward to a Spring visit for several days with Esther, Tony, Lauren, Aidan and April.  EstherHomeSchool’s the girls.  Their trip will be “dotted” with Field Trips along the way visiting Historic sites and maybe museums.  They may plan some Field trips in this area while here and we do plan a trip to Richard’s farm and also nearby MountAiry in North   Carolina.  It is Andy Griffith’s home town and a tourist area.  We are also looking forward to having Catherine Jeanne, Patricia and Sydne here for a few days during their summer vacation.

“This is the day that the Lord has made.  I will rejoice and be glad in it.”  Psalm 118:24.  God is indeed good.  I have had a good life.  God has given me the most supportive and loving husband and family one could ever have.  Praise God.

Next Chapter

Table of Contents: https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/2013/11/03/memories-of-xenia-lee-wheeler-table-of-contents/

 

Links to my site:

Introduction https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/2013/07/14/introduction/

Graphic Arts https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/2013/07/14/i-graphic-arts/

Architecture https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/2013/07/14/ii-church-architecture-and-its-incorporation-of-art/

Music https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/2013/07/14/iii-music/

Theology https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/2013/07/14/iv-theology/

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Xenia Lee: 10 DENVER AND FULL CIRCLE TO NORTONVILLE

The Rewards and Challenges of Denver’s City Ministry

We found families in our new church home that we had known years before in the Plainfield, New Jersey and DeRuyter, New York churches.  That was special to have them in our church family again.  Soon we got to know our new Brothers and Sisters in Denver.  The organist, it turned out, was related through her husband to my father.  Uncle Elmo and Aunt Madeline were in Boulder and we had all holiday meals together in one of our homes.  Was so special living near them.

The denominational Women’s Board was here in the Boulder/Denver area and I was quickly involved in that work.  The next year I became secretary.  I enjoyed all my work on the Board and learned so much.  We had monthly meetings.  One year I represented the Board at the International United Church Women Convention in Los Angeles, California.  That was so special meeting and visiting with so many sisters in Christ in other countries including Communist countries.  There were committed Christian women throughout the world.  We had small group discussions as well as General Assemblies.  A great week sharing and listening and growing spiritually.  To God be the praise!

We had never served a big city church, so did not know what to expect.  We found that the needs are the same as every church we had served.  We found the “same” people housed in different bodies.  People need sincere love, sensitive listening and encouraging.  We quickly loved these new friends and co-workers in the Kingdom church.  People felt welcome in the parsonage and came in often to visit.  We were used to this and it helped us feel at home quickly.

Attendance was small when we arrived in Denver.  Many area people no longer attended church.  Edgar called in every home of church members as quickly as his schedule would allow.  He wanted me to go along for the first visit, which I did.  Edgar and I were always early risers so he went to his study around 5:00 a.m. so he could have some time for Bible study and meditation before interruptions began.  I had that time alone to get my day started right before I needed to awaken Esther and Ernie for school and Catherine for her job at the Nursing Home.  She decided to work a year and save before starting college.  She also worked for a veterinary, thinking she wanted to be a vet herself.  It was special having her home one more year.

Once a month they had a Fellowship Meal after church so Edgar suggested they have a “Home Coming” Sabbath that week and invite all area members to be our guests.  Many were in church worship that day and remained for the meal after.  More than one family began worshipping regularly again and became close friends.  Most weeks we had some visitors in church and some became active members.  Church attendance grew.  We gave God the praise.

We were blessed with a large, enthusiastic, faithful group of young adults with young families.  They began a Sabbath School Class called “Caraway Street,” patterned after Sesame Street and teaching the young children truths to apply to their lives, memory of Books of the Bible and many Bible verses.  These young people asked Edgar to lead them in a Bible study each week, which he did.  They began with “The Survey of the Bible” and progressed to topical studies. The women also had a Women’s Bible Study weekly.  I began going to that, but soon realized I needed to offer to keep their children at the Parsonage during the study.  I loved that and the women were glad to be free to get all they could from the study each week.  Michele taught these women when Rich started medical school and they moved to Denver.  We were glad they were still in Fort Collins during Catherine’s first year there.  We really missed Catherine, but soon Helen was transferred to a Social Security office in Denver and again lived with us.

The entire church family welcomed her and was supportive and encouraging to her and to us.  We got permission to partition the huge Family room in the basement so Esther and Catherine (when at home) could have a bedroom on one side and Ernie on the other side.  Helen had the upstairs large bedroom and bathroom.  David eventually slept in Ernie’s room at one end of the wide hallway up there.  It had a window and cross ventilation.

Esther and Ernie moved to the partitioned bedrooms in the basement, and Helen had the upstairs room, hall and bath.  Was so special having Helen home a year or so.  She became active in the church and helped with “Caraway Street.”  Rich and Michele had Nathan in August and in November David Christopher was born.  The following January Brian Ashby was born and Christen Lee in March and Michael Edgar in May.  Was nice to have some grand children now in Colorado.  We really missed Catherine being at home with us.

I babysat for David when Helen went back to work.  It was so special having Helen at home again for a year or so.  When David was nine months old, Helen was transferred back to the Clarksburg, West Virginia Social Security office.  How we missed Helen and David but she was glad to be back in West Virginia again.  We adjusted in time.

The winter David was born, a neighbor, Jocille, asked me if I knew anyone who might baby sit her newborn son, Preston, when she had to go back to work at United Airlines at the airport.  I thought one of our young mothers might want to baby sit to make some extra money and be home with their child.  No one wanted to do that, so I told her I would do it for her but did not want to be paid for it.  We became fast friends and David and Preston were little chums as they grew together.  Preston missed David, too, when they moved.  Jocille borrowed my hand flour grinder to grind her own wheat berries into flour.  It is not easy work!  As a result, she bought us a gift of an electric stone ground flour mill since I would not accept pay.  What a wonderful, useful gift we still use today!  Preston had a sister, Meredith, and we kept both children while Jocille worked until we moved.  We hear from them every Christmas and have followed both children’s “squash” career.  Both have earned gold medals in the Olympics in “squash” competition.  Their father was a “squash” professional on a team.  They both played squash when very young.  When I began caring for both children, Jocille insisted she pay me and I did let her do that until we left.

Immediately after our arrival in Denver, Edgar realized he was expected to report to some Diaconate members on his daily calls and other activities.  By the third year, they discovered Edgar would listen but he answered to God in what he did and not to man.   This did not sit well and more and more they began “telling him” what he was to do and criticize things he had done.  Attendance at worship continued to grow and many were baptized and some joined the church.  Everyone was openly supportive of Edgar’s ministry except his deacons and deaconesses.  He just would not let them dictate what he was and was not to do.

The “Head” deacon, Dr. Ted Horsley, and wife took us out with other families, at times, to fancy restaurants and at least once to a Dinner Theatre.  They bought Edgar a proper “black” suit and me a “proper” evening dress for formal occasions.  We thanked them and wore those outfits on occasion.  It was not until later that we began to feel that they were laying groundwork for “buying” our loyalty and support of them, especially at business meetings.  Some diaconate members almost avoided visiting with us.  They were friendly if we drew them out in conversation but never initiated a visit.  Other deacons and deaconesses were friendly and open the first few years and freely visited us in our home and invited us to their homes.  Edgar was able to work closely with the Diaconate in planning and carrying out ministry that helped us as a “family” grow closer in Christian love and respect one for another.

I remember one morning Helen started to work and on the other side of the church as she went down the drive she saw sleeping bags on the patio with people in them.  She came back in our drive to tell her Dad.  He went over and invited them in to eat with us which they did.

Esther and Ernie walked along the canal at the edge of our back lot to the footbridge to cross and go on to school another block or so.  More than once Ernie brought home sleeping bags “he found.”  He also found a lady’s purse with ID and meds in it, a stereo and speakers “almost” covered with leaves and brought them home.  The police were getting used to us calling them.  I told Ernie not to bring any more sleeping bags home.  That was someone’s bed and they would need it next night.  One evening he hurried inside and quickly said, “Mom I found another sleeping bag but I did not bring it home.”  In the midst of my praising him he added, “Someone was in it.”

A homeless shelter for street people in mid-Denver was two homes away on the other side of the church building.  Edgar let them, welcomed them, to play basketball where we had a hoop mounted in our church parking lot.  Some church members complained to them and they quit coming.

One summer we had 2 bicyclists from Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota stop and asked if they could sleep in the church building that night.  Edgar let them and we invited them to eat breakfast with us.  They were bicycling to the West Coast up the coast to Oregon and back to Minnesota by school time again.  They said they would let us know how the trip went.  We heard nothing, but Christmas time we had a “Thank you” again and a full agenda of their travels.  They did bike to Los Angeles then put their bikes on a train and went by train up the coast and then back home.  We were glad we had helped them a little along the way.  Could have been one of our own adventurous children.

I remember an obscene phone call I had one evening that shocked me so much I said, “I cannot hear you.  Can you repeat that?”  I heard the same filthy language but that time had time to think and said, “I’m sorry, I cannot hear you.  This connection must be bad.  Give me your number slowly and I will try to call you back.”  He did and I noted it and called the police, hoping a police woman would call back instead of me.  They explained that if they did and charged someone it would not hold up in court because they tricked the man.  I was not so smart, after all.  The police woman came to the house though and took all the information.  I never heard from the man again thankfully.

This reminded me of the only other obscene phone call I ever had.  That was in the middle of the night at Conference when we were staying in a school dorm.  Again I could not believe what I was hearing and said, “I don’t know who you think you are talking to but I will let you talk to my husband,” and handed the phone to Edgar.  When he answered whoever it was hung up.  He never awakened us again that week of conference.

Always we felt the love, support and encouragement of all the church family except the deaconate and fortunately they only met once a month.  By the time things reached a climax, not one deacon openly supported Edgar.  The wife of one of the younger deacons came to Edgar with things she knew about Dr. Horsley’s personal life that “did not match what the scripture says a deacon should be,” she said.  She really wanted to do the right thing and wanted Edgar’s help doing it.  She was willing to meet with Edgar and the Dr. and as brothers in Christ talk about this thing.  Before the meeting time she called Edgar to let him know that maybe she was wrong about Dr. Horsley so there was no meeting.

Actually Edgar was already “informed” of what she had revealed to him by others who knew also.  He was seeking God’s timing, leading and wisdom in how God wanted him to bring the subject up to the Doctor.  One of the deaconesses sometime later came to Edgar thinking Edgar “knew” of the doctor’s straying morally, and felt she must apologize to him for not telling him what she knew to be true earlier.  Now Edgar knew he must confront the Doctor with the concerns of this Diaconate member and ask him, if her concerns are true, to step down as “Head” deacon for the sake of God’s Kingdom work until he can “clear” his name and straighten up his life.  Edgar got an appointment to see the doctor and visit with him.  Very soon all the diaconate knew of Edgar’s conversation with the doctor.

The regular quarterly church business meeting was very soon and everyone gets a copy of the meeting agenda when they arrive.  Under “correspondence” at the beginning of the meeting the secretary had several letters of resignation from diaconate members.  The first one read was the Doctor’s letter stating that “the Pastor has asked me to resign as a deacon so I am asking the church to take my name off of the “Diaconate”.  Someone, as if prompted already, made a motion to accept his resignation letter to be discussed under new business.  Everyone voted “yes”.  They read another letter stating that “because Ted Horsley had been asked to resign, and is resigning, I am resigning as a deacon also”.  Again someone quickly made a motion to “not accept other diaconate member resignation letters at this time but ask other deacons and deaconesses to reconsider and if, at the next regular business meeting, they still want to resign submit their letter again.”  This was quickly seconded and soon voted through with no objections.

Under new business the Doctor’s letter was again read and discussed.  Someone made a motion to accept the Doctor’s resignation.  It was seconded.  There was some discussion and in the end only the doctor’s wife objected to his being removed from the diaconate.  This was a tense business meeting but we as a family of God had done what each felt we had to do as Christians.  Not too long after this, the Doctor and his “new wife” moved from the Denver area.  How very sad that this has to be some of the DenverChurch history.  It humbles us and we feel bad it had to be.    We especially felt for Mrs. Horsley and worked to help her through her very difficult trauma days.  I don’t believe any other of the deaconate asked to resign.

Diaconate members were all so “unChrist-like” as I saw them and I really questioned whether I could take Communion from their hands the following Sabbath.  I began to pray earnestly about what I should do.  The deaconate roped off every other row so they could personally serve each one in the congregation.  “How would it effect others if I refused to take communion that day”?  God indeed is good.  He taught us true forgiveness.  During our roughest days we prayed “without ceasing,” wondering what God wanted us to do.  I heard two times a voice in my heart saying, “What is that to thee?  Follow thou me.”  I knew I must forgive and concentrate on being Christ-like, myself.  God, in his time and then justly, would judge other people.  That was not my job.  A huge weight was lifted immediately and I was able to see diaconate members in a new light – sincerely doing what each thought was right.  God truly works in every experience we have to equip us to better serve Him preparing us for what He knows is still ahead.

Slowly, things with the Diaconate changed.  Edgar and I both felt the need to make a call at the Cox home to get to really know them, their day by day lives and how we might need to support and encourage each of them.  Myrna asked us to come for a meal and bring Esther and Ernie.  We were so glad to do that.  It was a great evening of sharing and learning to really begin to know their family, finally, as we shared dreams, concerns and blessings.  The children went to the basement after supper to play games down there.  We could openly share personal feelings.  Gary and Myrna felt the need to explain why they had tried not to be too friendly with us at church.  Myrna said that they and the Horsley’s had been accused by church members in years past of causing the recent Pastors to leave the church.  They and the Horsley’s, at the Doctor’s suggestion, had agreed together to not be too close to the new pastor and that is why they have only tried to be “supportive” of Edgar.

Now we knew why the Cox’s seemed to hesitate to really be open and friendly with us.  We shared heart to heart and it was very revealing of their honest desire to be supportive.  I said “That is really strange to hear of your pact with the Horsley’s  before we arrived, for Edgar does not dare go to bed each evening until the Dr. has called to find out what Edgar has or has “not” done that day, and he is free with advice, also.”  They were obviously shocked but I spoke truth and it was too late to take it back so I could only say I was sorry I revealed that truth to them.

As we returned home, we felt really good about our visit that evening and were assured that the Coxes were sincere and wanting to be supportive in ministry.  We were so thankful we finally initiated the visit.  We just got home and “the phone rang”.  Edgar went into his office to answer it.  During our ministry in Denver we were always careful not to share with anyone things we were told as we visited in homes.  It was Dr. Horsley, and maybe he knew we were going to Gary and Myrna’s and called them  to see how the evening went but some way he knew some of our conversation and challenged Edgar openly because of my telling them about his  phone calls each day to check on what Edgar had or “had not” done.

Things got openly worse from this point on.  The diaconate got more “demanding.”   One older and supportive deacon died and an older and very supportive couple (both deacons) moved away to warmer climate.

Edgar and I continued to feel God’s leading and knew His blessing.  Looking at church records we noted that the last four anyway ministers had left the active church ministry from this church.  Pastor Al Rogers went to the Memorial Board from here; Pastor Ken Smith became President of Milton College from here; Pastor Warner went into secular work and Pastor/Missionary John Conrad developed Multiple Sclerosis and retired from pastoral ministry.  We could only guess how this happened from our own experiences here.  We determined we would not become discouraged and quit.  God called us here and He will not forsake us but lead us to victory.

One diaconate meeting the deacons insisted that I must attend so I did.  What an eye opener.  Edgar asked if he could record the meeting for his own reflection later and they said, “No, their meetings are secret – just between them.”  I was prepared with pen and notebook in case they said, “No.”  I took notes on every critical word they said, so was never invited to attend a meeting again thankfully.  The whole meeting was spent tearing Edgar apart, then at the close they had a prayer time asking God to bless the things said and done!

Edgar had a call to the North Loup, Nebraska church and was personally interested but knew he must stay on to finish what he had started and trust God to give him patience, wisdom and love to minister to the larger church family.  He was not going to quit nor let the diaconate cause him to leave.

There were certainly things about a large city ministry that we only had samples of before.  Occasionally, we had had someone stop, wanting money for food or other family needs.  Now in Denver it was almost a daily experience.  Talking with other pastors as far away as Boulder sometimes they had made the rounds.  If a family was hungry I fixed more than one meal and set them down at our table to eat with us.

By the time we had another call, the diaconate were working together with the pastor again.  All the trauma had messed up Edgar’s stomach and digestive system, but he now had a church family working together to build up and support one another as they served the needs of the community.  It seemed the time to leave and let a new pastor come.  He was “choosing” to leave, not being “voted out.”  People were supportive and understood this was God’s leading.  Edgar had a call to his home church in Nortonville, Kansas.  It seemed the right time to make a change.  Esther and Ernie were in the first year of High School – Esther 10^th grade and Ernie 9^th grade. They lived with Leon and Linda so they could start school the first day and not have to move again in late November.  It was hard to leave them and return to Denver but knew this was best.  Leon and Linda, Jon and Coral welcomed them.  When it was time for Edgar and I to leave, the church surprised us with a big party and a gift of a set of china and goblets for sixteen place settings.  A deaconess had bought the gift.

We Serve Edgar’s Home Church

Helen and David moved South of Topeka, Kansas that Fall of 1981.  Again Helen was transferred.  They came to Nortonville weekends and stayed with us.

We moved to Nortonville the Sunday after Thanksgiving.  Rain clouds chased us the last few miles.  I had plants and TV and things that might break in the car.  The truck had arrived just ahead of us and it had been unloaded and all things in the house.  We quickly unloaded our car when we arrived.  The rain arrived in a cloudburst.  We were in the dry.  Leon and Linda, Jon and Coral brought Esther and Ernie home.  We were a family again.  We had a beautiful fern in the front picture window, a welcome gift from Helen and David.  The church had bought the home next door for a parsonage, and it turned the old parsonage into a Parish House, pastor’s study and S.S. classrooms.  We were happy in the smaller home.  It had 3 bedrooms, 2 baths besides the large living room, dining room and kitchen.  The basement was finished and we partitioned off 2 bedrooms with solid drapes.  Worked well and I had two double beds and some folding cots down in the basement.  Our laundry room, game room and cellar were down there.  We had a back covered patio with a hanging swing.  How we enjoyed that.  Soon, Nortonville was home.

I was asked to be the “Story Lady” at the local Library one morning a week for an hour.  The former pastor’s wife, Muriel Osborn, had done this and they loved her.  She had a degree in Early Childhood Education.  I did not.  I would have pre-school children and this was challenging but I could not tell them, “No.”  I loved that time with town preschoolers and thankfully had no discipline problems.  I had no helper and 12 to 15 children most weeks.  We prepared a program twice a year for the residents in the nursing home which was very close to the library and we walked over there.  That was fun for the children and for the residents.  I used a lot of repetition so we sang the same songs to start our Story Hour each week and had a song we sang when it was time to go to the Story mat so I could read books on various themes.  Another song when we moved to low tables and chairs for our related craft.  Time went quickly and I loved those children.  We had a Christmas cookie decorating party in the Parish House each Christmas which the children and their mothers loved.  I am thankful I had that experience.  I looked forward to that each week.

The Church women in Nortonville had never had a Church Women United emphasis.  I talked it up and we invited women from each of the five churches in the small town of Nortonville to attend an organizational meeting in our parish house.  We talked about community needs we might work together to fill.  Women from every church, Catholic, Lutheran, Methodist, Christian and Seventh Day Baptist were there.  They were excited to work together to start a used clothing Bank where anyone could come and get free clothing.  We advertised for clean used clothing and worked one day a week to mend, iron, wash if necessary and organize items to give away.  Many women helped weekly.  The fellowship was great.  Our Clothing Bank was soon open two days every week in our Parish House.  Women from every church actively helped and many hands made light work.  Through this Clothing Bank we were able to minister to other special needs that surfaced as we visited, and God used us to draw our churches in town into His Body in Christ as we served Him together.  Was a good experience for all of us.

I taught a Sabbath School class wherever we lived.  This was always time consuming all through the week and such a joy as I related to children of whatever age, PreSchool to Jr. High.  I grew, too, as I prepared and taught Bible truths to live out in life.

Edgar did not get his stomach healed all during his ministry in Nortonville.  He had come full circle and was back in his home church that had first licensed him to preach.  God had protected him from teenage rebellion many youths live through.  Area people knew him as a hard working, conscientious youth, so the whole town welcomed him home and he was able to minister to many town people as well as to his own congregation.  Families that had dropped out of regular worship returned and were active and faithful again.  God blessed his ministry, and it was special for me to live two doors from Edgar’s mother and across the street from brother, Charles, and wife, Reba.  Also Merlin and his wife, Juanita, were in church and lived in neighboring Leavenworth.  I got to know, respect and really love Edgar’s family and friends I had only known by name.  Being in Nortonville was good for all our family.  Edgar loved to go out to the farm and spend time walking around.  The barn was being taken down by a church member for the good lumber from it.  Edgar happened to be there on a windy day when suddenly the barn began to creak and soon swayed and caved in on itself as he watched.  An emotional moment.  He was glad he was there.  No one else was around.  The farm home was gone and only the washhouse and cellar behind the house were left.  Edgar painted and did some repairs to preserve them.

The second Christmas, all our family got home except Ruth and Walt and girls.  Willy and Jen had been married that fall.  Leon and Linda and family lived in Nortonville, Helen and David in Kansas, Richard and Michele came from Denver where he was in MedicalSchool.  Rob, Connie and family came from Ord, and Ace and Annita and boys from Detroit, Michigan area.  Noëlle came from the Phoenix area and Catherine Jeanne came from Baton Rouge, Louisiana where she was in graduate school.  Was so special having that many home together.  God is so good.  What a blessing our children are.  A true gift from God.  How much we learn about God as parents ourselves: Love, patience, grace, forgiveness.  The more children we had, the more love God gave us to “love” each one equally.  I might never have learned that.

Many staid upstairs in the old parsonage and we ate our Christmas dinner over there.  What a celebration, and Edgar’s mother joined us.  Other relatives visited during the day.  Someone got the “pig” game and what fun they had playing that in the evening. Edgar took everyone on a guided tour of the home farm, school he attended and Seventh Day Lane where the original church was built and later moved to Nortonville as well as the parsonage.  Lots of history.  Think Robert recorded the Tour on his movie camera.

Leon’s family often came for supper Friday evening before Bible study and prayer time.  That was special.  Leon graduated from college, then went to Seminary in Kansas City.  Harold King and Don and Charlotte Chroniger were there, too, and all came to church regularly.  Because so many people traveled long distances, the women decided to have a Fellowship Meal each week for any who wanted to stay.  This was well attended and good fellowship and people continuing to visit leisurely through the afternoon at times.  How we missed Leon’s when he was called to Ashaway and went there as pastor.  Life is change in process, for sure.

While we were in Nortonville, Helen and Kenneth Brannon were married.  This time all of our children got home to help in the great celebration.  My brother, Rex, and his wife, Phyl, came, too.  Everyone helped and many hands made the work easier.  Esther had taken an adult course in cake decorating in Denver and she was really professional.  Her cakes were beautiful for every occasion.  She is and was a real artist.  Ken and Helen and David may have lived another year in the Kansas City area so we saw them every weekend.  How we missed them when they moved to Adam Center, New York, up near Watertown and the Canadian border.  Catherine Jeanne and Gentry Gamble were married shortly after Helen and Ken in Louisiana.

Before long Esther was looking at colleges and we were glad she chose a school not too far from home.  She went to Topeka where some church friends were going, also.  She came home weekends, which was special for us.  Then, next thing we knew Ernie was graduating from High School and off to college a little further away, but many weekends he got a ride home with other friends from Nortonville.  He was in KansasState at Manhattan, Kansas.

The summer after Esther’s first year of college she spent the summer in Summer Christian Service Corps in Riverside, California.  That summer Baron was born and Esther decided to take off a semester of school and take care of him so Catherine could continue medical school at Tulane University in New Orleans.  She did that.  In the fall, Edgar turned sixty-five and Catherine asked if he was ready to retire and, if so, would we come to live with them until she finished medical school.  Edgar considered it and the more he considered it the better it sounded and we knew Catherine needed help she could count on and we really wanted Esther to go back to college the second semester.  Edgar’s health continued to be not good so he announced in the church worship that he would retire on February 1, 1986.

Edgar’s last Sabbath was a big celebration of his ministry with many family members present and many town friends at church and the afternoon celebration.  It was very touching and a combination of sadness and celebration.  It was so hard especially to move away and have Esther and Ernie feel they have no home to come home to now.  They knew they could stay with Grandma but we knew that would not be the same.  It was emotionally traumatic for each of us to leave them in Kansas and be so far away in Louisiana.  Robert and Connie and family came for Sabbath day.  Connie took the girls back to her parents near Omaha, Nebraska, and Robert and the boys traveled with us to Catherine’s.  Robert had his pickup truck with some of our things in it.  Bill and Marie Prentice who were church members drove a cattle trailer down with the rest of our belongings.

Next Chapter: https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/2013/04/26/xenia-lee-11-retirement-and-more-full-circles/

Table of Contents: https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/2013/11/03/memories-of-xenia-lee-wheeler-table-of-contents/

 

Links to my site:

Introduction https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/2013/07/14/introduction/

Graphic Arts https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/2013/07/14/i-graphic-arts/

Architecture https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/2013/07/14/ii-church-architecture-and-its-incorporation-of-art/

Music https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/2013/07/14/iii-music/

Theology https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/2013/07/14/iv-theology/

Home Page https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/

Xenia Lee: 9 RHODE ISLAND

Wherever we have gone to serve, the parsonage floors were always waxed, the refrigerators full and the cupboards well stocked.  I had been told by a former pastor’s wife not to expect people in New England to be really friendly, so I  knew that would be different.  God had blessed us with wonderfully supportive, honest, open and friendly church family wherever we served Him.  They awaited our arrival with open arms and eager anticipation.  We were impressed.

Ashaway was no different.  When packing, we had labeled boxes carefully so it would be easy to find whatever we needed.  Someone or several people in Ashaway had unpacked the boxes, and dishes and pots and pans had been washed and put away, ready for use.  Silverware in drawers and kitchen linens.  The same women had gotten sheets, covers and bed spreads, and all the beds were made up, ready for us if we arrived in the evening from our family vacation.  I was overwhelmed with their sensitivity and desire to give us a special welcome surprise.  Tired from our long vacation, I was not looking forward to all the boxes to be unpacked before we could eat or sleep.  We had a real “welcome home” and not a box in sight.  Ones still packed were in closets, so we began to feel at home immediately and news spread quickly that we had arrived.  People began coming to the door to welcome us and bring food prepared for us.  Everyone so happy to meet us.

 I felt sorry for Pastors’ wives who complained about being a pastor’s wife, and I knew some who got their husbands to leave the ministry God had called them to.  Many were helpmates in the ministry of God’s calling.  For me, I felt sorry for women and children who had to move to a new home in a new area and feel isolated and alone while settling in.  I felt the Pastor’s family was blessed.  Always, our new home glittered, it was so clean, and we were surrounded by new “family” who loved and were eager to welcome us.  There is no life as full of blessing as the pastor’s wife, I am sure.  I recommend it to anyone committed to Christ, growing more Christ-like and serving Him faithfully.  I have grown through adversity, illnesses and other life experiences to be more sensitive to others going through such traumas, so I was able to encourage, support and serve them in love.  That might have been difficult if I had not experienced that, also.  How good our God is.

I was impressed with the “huge” parsonage in Ashaway.  I was also impressed with the friendly church members.  There were five bedrooms upstairs – one of them had been remodeled to make a large bathroom. Again I could iron in the bathroom easily and I did.  Downstairs, we had two living rooms, pastor’s study, dining room and kitchen, all roomy and well-furnished.  We had a front winding stairway and a back stairway in the house.  There was still an outdoor toilet attached to two storage sheds behind the house.  We had a large yard, double garage with a second floor storage area and space for a large garden. Our property bordered the school grounds in the back, the Catholic church grounds on one side and a neighbor on the other.

Our driveway was also the Catholic priest’s driveway and just beyond our two homes, the Parsonage and the Rectory, it became two driveways going into our separate garages maybe six feet apart.

We had good relations with the priests.  They did not seem to stay long.  The priests came into our home to visit and we went into their home to visit.  The housekeeper was known to even take clothes off my clotheslines and bring them in the house for me.  If it looked like rain and I was not home, she would fold them and bring them into the house for me.  She was a good friend and the young children loved to go over there because she gave them cookies.  First, she brought cookies into our yard to give them.  One day Esther or Ernie or both went over, knocked and pointed to the cookie jar they could see in the window on the porch.    She thought that was so cute.  I did not.  I just thought how they could have been hit by a car not expecting children at the rectory.  Edgar put up a fence with a gate behind the house.

When we arrived in Ashaway, the church was preparing to celebrate its 250^th Anniversary since it was organized in 1708.  We had several days of celebration.  A long weekend.  Quickly we learned about the long history of the congregation there .  A member had written a play to tell the history of the founding of the church.  Area church families joined us in celebrating.  The church sanctuary and balcony were full.  We were really impressed.  I had never been north of New York City, so had no idea what to expect.  I met a cousin of my father, Stella Bee, who was married to Pastor Harold Crandall.  We became good friends.  Many years later I was privileged to be Power of Attorney for their only child, Elizabeth Markolf.

The first school year our Ashaway School was overcrowded in some classes, so Annita and Ruth had to go on a bus from our school north to the Hope Valley Elementary School.  The bus brought them back to the AshawaySchool again in the evening.  Annita had Marcia Madsen who had graduated from Salem College with my sister, Beth, the spring before.  Marcia had been in our home with Beth, so Annita was excited to have Marcia for her sixth grade teacher.  Ruth had Mrs. “Clock.”

In Salemville, the school children learned some Pennsylvania Dutch phrases like, “red up your desk.”  They had wondered if they should color their desk red?  Watching other children there, they had discovered that “red up” meant to clean off your desk.  In New England they had to learn to keep the “r” silent when it was inside a word, but if some words did not have an “r” at all, you might add an “r” to the end.  We knew twins there who were “Esta and Emmer.” A dozen in Pennsylvania Dutch did not mean twelve: it could be any number more or less than twelve but near twelve.  Here in New England “Aunt” was pronounced “Ahnt,” not “ant.” Ant was a little crawling bug.  Soon our children were saying “Ahnt” with the rest of the children.

When Ruth got her first report card we discovered Mrs. “Clock” was really Mrs. Clarke.  Robert’s fifth grade teacher in Ashaway was Mrs. “Potelo,” until her husband died suddenly at work with a heart attack.  Edgar had his funeral.  His name was Partelo.  Edgar often had community people’s funerals and also weddings.  Mr. Partelo had been a church member, we learned.  After he died his two daughters and Mrs. Partelo began coming to church regularly and the girls were baptized and joined the church.

Ashaway church women were great.  They had an active Ladies Aid and Parsonage Committee.  Never did I ask for something they turned down as not needed or a bad idea.  I asked after we were in Ashaway a year if we could move the dining room to the other side of the kitchen and make that room into a parlor.  They agreed, so we moved things around.  The parlor had the piano in it and it became known by the neighbor children as the “music room.”  The children all took piano lessons and the second year we were in Ashaway Annita, clarinet, Robert, trumpet, and Ruth, saxophone, playing in the band.  Richard, slide trombone, and Helen, flute, soon joined them.  That room did become the “music room.”

Neal Mills was pastor in Rockville and II Hopkinton at Hopkinton City.  He had SabbathSchool hymn books with books for a band or orchestra that were the same hymn books.  As long as they were in Rockville we had holidays together, one year at our home, next at their home, but we always had a music fest in the afternoon with Martha at the piano and Neal directing.  The children loved that and how proud Dad and I were of each one of our children.  God truly blessed us with our family.  They were always a “plus” in our ministry.  God is indeed good.

We used the parlor for family devotions and music practice mostly.  For general use we had a living room beside the dining room.  I needed a living room that was off by itself and always ready for guests “in case” Edgar needed it for counseling.  Edgar’s office was in the back of the house and people had to walk over toys to get to it most of the time.  This worked better and it was just inside the front door, through the hallway, very convenient.

The Ladies Aid Parsonage Committee took on some project every year to keep up or remodel the parsonage without us asking.  The kitchen was remodeled, hardwood floors were laid down throughout the living rooms, hallway and dining room.  Edgar’s study was moved from the back of the house to beside the front door, across from the parlor.  The glassed double doors that belonged in the archway between the dining room and living room were found stored in the upstairs of the barn, refinished and hung again so Edgar had privacy in his new study.  The back room off the dining room was turned into a library and used for doing school work.  Four children’s desks were in there and a toy cupboard below the wall bookshelves.

One day Edgar came in the back door and asked, “Have the children left for school?  I need the bathroom.”  He did not know I had company, Eleanor Crandall.  She laughed and said, “We women have been talking about putting a half bath, anyway, downstairs.  We had better get busy and do it.”  They took out the back stairway and put a deep bathroom in, narrow but long enough.  Over the bathroom was an extra deep closet upstairs.  Bedrooms were repapered and painted.  Some plastered walls replaced with wallboard and sealed, then painted or papered.  It was almost embarrassing, all the remodeling, etc. they did while we were there.  We were so happy with our large, spacious home already.

Like Salemville and DeRuyter, with children in school we soon were involved in PTA and got acquainted fast with other parents as we worked with them on committees and projects.  The PTA in those days was welcomed and active in school education providing what the school board budget could not, but needed to be done for our teachers and students.  Edgar worked closely with other Ashaway ministers and they met together monthly for Bible study, sharing and encouraging.  We enjoyed being part of the community.

Vacation Bible School was a community activity.  Always held at our church because we had larger space and more classrooms.  We had teachers from all churches involved who had planned and worked together to prepare for this special event.  God blessed this joint venture and mutual love and respect followed among our Brothers and Sisters in Christ.  These were good days.

Our daily, except Sabbath, newspaper was owned and operated by Seventh Day Baptists, hence no Sabbath paper.  On Sunday one instead.  We had not been in Ashaway many years when the Circulation Department of “The Westerly Sun” called to ask if one of our children would like to deliver newspapers in Ashaway.  Annita and Ruth went together to deliver papers all around the block we lived in.  Before long, other routes opened up and all the older children had paper routes.  At one time they delivered newspapers all over Ashaway.  When Annita graduated from High School, or maybe before, Noëlle and Catherine took over her paper route.  Our children were faithful, courteous paper deliverers and loved by customers.  They were a big plus in our witness in the neighborhood and as a result church attendance and membership more than doubled.  One year the family was honored as the newspaper deliverers of the year by the Westerly Sun and we received a reward of a new Savings Account at the local bank.  I think it was for $10.00.

A Memorial Day parade was held every year by the Veterans of Foreign Wars.  Lots of decorated floats, the school band, police, fire trucks, politicians and any town child carrying fresh flowers to decorate graves with flags on them.  Many years Edgar had the address at the cemetery.  All of Ashaway attended this parade.  A big celebration.

Our Ladies Aid had a “Turkey Dinner” annually and sold tickets for it, 250 or so tickets each year and sold some at the door.  These were well organized and many hands made light work.  I learned so much from our capable women who had things written down for future reference.  They each knew what she (or he) was to do and there was no confusion.  Men, women and youth all worked. Was a great time of fellowship preparing vegetables and setting up the dining room night after Sabbath.  The meal was Sunday noon and a second setting and third.  Menu was always roast turkey, mashed potatoes, turnips and squash, turkey gravy, mince, apple and pumpkin pies, cheese wedges, rolls, tea and coffee.  People came long distances to attend yearly.  That was our big money making project.

One year we had monthly Food Sales to raise money for new folding tables and chairs for the Fellowship Hall.  We put a men’s and women’s bathroom in the Parish House another year, and, of course, the parsonage was kept nice and a lot of remodeling done.  I took my turn being President – that was a good experience.  I learned a lot.  We drew names in December and had “Secret Pals” all year long, then at our Christmas Party and gift exchange revealed our names.  We had a limit to what could be spent on our gifts.  This was fun as we sent cards, flowers, food throughout the year to encourage and support our secret person.  Really fun.

Through the year we had a Mother-Daughter Banquet, Father-Son Banquet, summer all church picnic, prepared Thanksgiving baskets for ill and shut-ins (usually 10-15).  We were active in Church Women United always, and I took a turn as an officer — in Denver, I was treasurer.  I represented our women in Ashaway on the Westerly Area Church Women United Board.  We had a Day of Prayer celebration, May Fellowship Day and World Community Day with all area church women welcome.  We took turns entertaining these well-attended celebrations.  I represented our denominational Women’s Board one year at the big International United Women Convention in Los Angeles, California.  A great privilege to meet and get to know so many sisters from all over the world.  What a joy and inspiration!  Another time I represented our denomination at the Baptist Women’s Fellowship of the Americas in Kansas City.  The president was black and the fellowship and services reflected their culture: full of life and praise and worship.  We whites were way in the minority and that was a good experience for me.  Helped me learn what it feels like in the minority so I had a new empathy for like people in public gatherings.  So much learned from ecumenical worship and fellowship.  We can feel our oneness in Christ!  We are truly of one spirit, so truly sisters and brothers.  God is so good and greatly to be praised.

When we first went to Ashaway, health insurance was not part of Edgar’s salary, nor had it been elsewhere.  Leon had a bicycle accident and was hospitalized in Westerly, then transferred to Lawrence Memorial in New London for a few days.  Our medical and hospital bills were big.  Some way neighbors on Leon’s paper route found out about it and began raising a fund to pay them.  We paid very little ourselves.  Some church members were embarrassed and began talking about adding health insurance to Edgar’s salary and also Denominational Retirement.  We got Rhode Island Blue Cross and Blue Shield which really covered medical expense thereafter thankfully.  We really needed that when I had so much heart problems and was in Deaconess Hospital Intensive Care Unit in Boston for several days before I had my first heart pacemaker in 1972.  They only lasted two years at first, so needed a replacement in 1974 and 1976.  All bills were paid by Blue Cross.

Annita began falling a lot in Junior High School.  When barefooted she would trip herself – her toes were curling under her feet.  The doctor sent us to the Post-Polio Clinic Robert went to.  The doctor there put her in special Sable shoes that came up over the ankle and laced from the toe up.  The doctor said that otherwise she would have “club feet” and not be able to wear a regular shoe as an adult.  She had many “stretchings” which were done at the hospital under anesthesia.    I asked if for church she could wear other shoes and he said, “No.”  We obeyed.  She had to wear high top shoes all through High School, but before graduation was able to wear a regular shoe.  All those growing years had been hard because children made fun of her.  The end result paid off and she has had no further problems with her feet that we know of – even as a Registered Nurse working long hours on her feet at the Hospital.

Robert had one more surgery after we went to Ashaway.  They stapled his left knee to stop growth in that leg and help the right leg to catch up.  I am sure it helped, but Robert had to have a lift on his right shoe to help balance his hips.  Robert’s feet were different sizes and widths.  We bought Sable shoes for him because they could be bought by the individual shoe and fit to the individual foot.  They were what Annita wore those growing up years too.    The Polio Foundation paid for both of the children’s post-polio check-ups and treatments.  What a help that was.  By the time our children started school they were experimenting with Salk polio vaccine.  They each got the vaccine.

The Easter Seal campaign started as the Polio Foundation.    It became Easter Seal and provided Post-polio care.  What a blessing for us.  In Pennsylvania Robert went to Easter Seal Camp so he could have daily water therapy his doctor said he needed.  He was excited about going but very unhappy there.  We could only visit once half way through the three week camp.  That was so hard for him and for us.  Never again did we “send him to camp.”  The children went to church camps and also to New England Christian Endeavor Camps but Edgar was always on the staff.  I sometimes cooked for camp too.  Good years – wonderful memory builders.

Edgar had a large Christian Endeavor (CE) Youth Group and another large Junior Christian Endeavor group of children.  One year he took a carload of youth to the International CE Convention in Philadelphia.  Here they actually met Richard Nixon, when he was Vice President for President Eisenhower, and heard him speak.  How excited they were.  Another year they made a Christian Endeavor banner that stretched across the road and sent two members to Washington, D.C. to carry it in the Fourth of July parade down Pennsylvania Avenue.  Our family all went along and from the sidelines cheered them on.  We had a free Historical Scenic Tour of the Washington and area.  So much history.  Very special tour.  Later, when Helen worked for the F.B.I. in Washington, D.C., she took us on other tours through museums as well as historical monuments, etc.

The Christian Endeavor Society planned, prepared and led our Sabbath worship, even bringing the Bible message on the planned theme, the first Sabbath of February each year.  That was Christian Endeavor emphasis day.  The church family looked forward to this.  The youth grew in Christ year by year.  God is indeed good.

One year Annita and Ruth traveled by bus to represent our youth at the International CE Convention in Houston, Texas.  They stopped over Sabbath with the Metairie Church family in New Orleans, Louisiana en route to Houston.  Annita was asked by our Board of Christian Education to represent our SDB Youth on the Curriculum Board at CE headquarters in Columbus, Ohio one year.  They planned themes and other helps for weekly meetings three years ahead!

The entire church family gathered quarterly for a social and fellowship time.  This might be a planned program with active games or table games, and always refreshments.  Different families or organizations were host and hostess for the evening.  These were always special.

Many pastors were beginning to fill up every day of the week with a church meeting, committee or Board meeting.  Edgar always spoke against this in favor of having any special committee or Board meet on Wednesday evening.  That was when choir practiced each week and later was Bible study and prayer time.  This was the only evening he scheduled meetings.  It was too important that families have family time at home most evenings – our own family included.

We had a very large Sabbath School.  There was a class for every age or grade beginning with pre-school then kindergarten and First – Sixth grades.  There was one Junior High and one Senior High class.  Nearly everyone who came to church came to SabbathSchool.  The “teachers” wanted a Bible Study class, too, so Edgar began a “Through the Bible Survey” course for them through Moody Bible Press.  Weekly tests turned in were graded by a Moody Institute professor and certificates given at the close of the course.  Edgar taught this course many times ordering text books from Moody Press.  Other Bible classes followed year by year.  We had committed, faithful teachers who were growing in the Lord as they taught the children week by week.

I took my turn being Sabbath School Superintendent (and also taught classes as a substitute, when needed).  This was a good experience and a time of spiritual growth, myself as I prepared Opening Exercises weekly that set the tone for the class theme for the day.  We used Unified Lessons, so each week all the classes taught the same “Bible truth” at a level each class could grasp the truth being taught.  Besides the Unified Adult class, we usually had one or two other classes that adults could choose from each quarter.  Some always wanted the Unified Lessons because our Denominational “Helping Hand” quarterly always followed it.  This was the only SabbathSchool material for adults our S.D.B. Board of Christian Education provided.  Our Sabbath School classes, wherever we lived, always were good for planting seeds of truth that took root many times in lives and produced a harvest of new fruit in the Kingdom church.  Praise the Lord!  It was His work, lived out in teachers’ teaching and children’s learning and applying truths in actions.  God is ever present and seeking to draw us to Himself in love and service.  Teachers are His instruments.

While we were in Ashaway Catherine Jeanne was born.  She arrived in a hurry at the close of a busy weekend of company and meetings.  The Missionary Society was located in Westerly and Edgar was active in it serving several years as President.  Some years I was a member when the children were older.  October 25 was quarterly Board Meeting so we entertained Pastor Leon and Mrs. Iris Maltby Friday night, Sabbath and Sunday until Board meeting in our home.  Many times we were guests in their home in Plainfield, New Jersey.  We volunteered to keep them.  Dave and Betty Pearson were home on furlough from Malawi, Africa and taking courses in Boston so would be at the Board meeting.  I asked them to stop en route to Boston and have supper with us.  This they did.

The Board meeting was at 2:00 p.m. and people had left to attend it.  Annita and Ruth were selling Christmas religious cards so planned to go out and hopefully get some orders.  I went to the bathroom and realized today our baby was preparing to arrive.  The girls had just left so I called to them down the street and they came back.  I told them I would be going to the Hospital soon and asked if they wanted me to help them change guest bedding and do laundry before I left for a few days.  They decided “yes,” so they hung laundry as I washed things.  At the same time I was mixing bread hoping to get five new loaves made and baked before I left.  This might carry Edgar and the children through until I was home again.  Edgar and Pearsons arrived for supper. It was ready to sit down.   I said nothing but excused myself after prayer to put bread in the pans, explaining “I was working against time.”  I knew my time at home was running out fast and I dare not eat or drink just in case.  Pearsons left right after supper to get home before too late.  I was thankful.  I told Edgar I needed to go to the hospital “right now.”  I did call Elinor Crandall and asked if she could come to stay with the children while Edgar took me to the hospital.    She did not live many blocks away but I knew it was time to leave and we did.  Our doctor had his own hospital in their home.  First story was offices and patient rooms, second floor was delivery room and operating room.  Third story was his home.  I had heard women had to walk up a flight of stairs to give birth and then walk back downstairs afterward.  I got to my room and put on my hospital gown quickly.  The nurse said she would go fix an enema for me.  I said, “I hear I will need to walk upstairs to deliver.”  She said, “Yes,”  so I added, “I had better walk upstairs now.”  “Okay, I can give you the enema up there as easily as here,” she said.  I lost no time getting myself upstairs.  As we passed a room she said, “That is the delivery room,” and kept on walking, to get my enema, probably.  I turned around and went into the delivery room and got on the delivery table.  I had met my doctor coming down the stairs as I climbed up and said to him, “You had better come back upstairs now.”  He said, “I will put instruments to sterilize, in case I need them.  I’ll get my coat and come right back up.”  The nurse noticed I was no longer following her, so she came back looking for me.  She was surprised to see me on the table.  “It is easier to get on here between contractions,” I assured her.  Thank goodness she came back.  The next contraction began and with the contraction the water broke with a burst, and with the gush of water Catherine arrived – too quickly –no time for me or her to adjust.  The nurse, surprised, caught Catherine as the doctor walked in the door.  He worked with her and encouraged her to breathe.  Neither of us remembered to wonder what sex our baby was.  Once she was breathing, I asked, “Is it a boy or a girl?”  The doctor had to check.  We were both frightened because she had arrived so fast.  Catherine Jeanne evened out our family: four boys, four girls, the perfect family (for then).  Catherine is still a girl on the move.  She has not slowed down yet.

When Catherine was two years old we had a call from the Hospital Chaplin at Hartford General Hospital in Hartford, Connecticut asking if we would be willing to take in, love, and raise a four year old girl who has been moved into four he is aware of in her short life, maybe more, homes.  “She needs a loving home where she can be a part of a family the rest of her life.  Right now she has serious emotional problems.  Please consider this prayerfully with your family,” he ended.  We did.  The children were excited and wanted us to make her a part of our family.  I was concerned whether I would be able to fill her needs with all my responsibilities already.  We just could not say, “No.”  She needed us and for some reason God put us on the Chaplin’s heart: Edgar’s cousin Audrey’s husband, Wendell Stephan, who knew us and our family well.  We called him and said, “Yes.”  He arranged to have Noëlle Fontaine brought to our home to live.  We had not met her and, even more traumatic, she had not met us.  This was trauma not only for Noëlle, but also for her mother’s brother, George Allen, who would have rather raised her as one of his own children, but he and his wife, Joyce, had four young children including a newborn Joyce was nursing.  They did come as often as they could to visit and always spent New Year’s Day with us.  Noëlle’s Grandma Allen came once a month and spent the weekend with us until Noëlle graduated from high school.  We took Noëlle to visit her Mother in the hospital and later the Nursing Home twice a year, Christmas and June for Noëlle’s birthday, as long as we lived in Ashaway.

The State of Connecticut paid us something each month for the first 2-3 years we had Noëlle, and they carried health insurance on her until we got Legal Guardianship of her.  Noëlle’s Mother fought our adopting, so we settled for Legal Guardianship and she did not object to that.  When Noëlle was eighteen she had her name changed from Noëlle Fontaine Szarras Weld to Noëlle Fontaine Wheeler.  In school she had always been “Wheeler,” so this just made it legal according to the law.

When Noëlle first came to our home the day after Christmas, when she was four years old, she hated everyone and everything – even herself.  I knew she was afraid to “like” anyone so she would not be hurt if she was taken away again.  You could just see inside her what she was thinking.  She “hated” Helen the most openly those first few days because she had to sleep with her and did not want to do that.  I put Catherine to bed after Noëlle and when Cathy Jeanne was settled in her room, I went back and took Noëlle up and rocked her a while before putting her back in bed.  She never wanted me to hold her and rock her. Yet, when I put her to bed she just screamed because she did not want to be there, either.  My heart bled for her.   Finally, one evening I said to Noëlle, “If I put you back in bed, will you go to sleep without crying?”  She insisted, “Yes.”  And she did.  No more crying at night.  One victory.

Noëlle was not a good eater.  She never wanted to eat at mealtime, but she had to sit on my lap while the family ate.  My legs were black and blue where she kicked me that first week.  Noëlle did like chocolate milk, spaghetti and apple sauce, so all the family had those foods often.  Everyone ate some of each food I prepared.  That was very hard for Noëlle at first.

One morning, maybe a week or so after Noëlle became a part of our family, she came into the kitchen as I was mixing yeast bread and stated, “Momma, I like you!”  “You do, why?” I responded, and quickly she added, “Because you like me,” very matter of factly.  My mind and heart reminded me of the words of John in John 4:17: “We love Him because He first loved us.”  This took on new meaning for me.  From that day on Noëlle began to feel at home and to be able to “love” again herself and others.  God truly is ever-present and active in our lives today.  We were over our first hurdle.  All would be well.

Noëlle was a small girl for her age and Catherine soon was her size.  By the time they were both in school, they were the same size and had many “twin” dresses and short sets.  The housekeeper at the rectory wanted to monogram their initials or names on their clothes which she did.  She was so good to all of our children and had the older ones help her with housecleaning and errands at times.  By Junior High School Catherine was much taller than Noëlle.  Willy was just nine months older than Noëlle so those three children grew up together and before we left Ashaway all had graduated from High School.

Again we experienced how God goes ahead of us, preparing the way.  Noëlle had constant colds and ear infections that first year.  She had a terrible cold when she came to us.  The doctor felt like she needed to have her tonsils out before she began kindergarten.  The doctor told us we would take Noëlle to the Hospital and leave her.  The day of surgery we could not go to the hospital and the next a.m. we could take her home.  I felt I needed to stay with her as she was a special case and needed reassurance.  I got nowhere with the doctor.  A day or so before Noëlle would go to the Hospital our family was traveling on I-95 and saw a lady with a flat tire on the lane opposite us.  Edgar went to the next exit and went back to check on her.  She was still there, hoping someone would stop.  We were glad we came back.  Edgar changed her tire for her.  Turned out she was the Nursing Supervisor in Pediatrics and would be on duty the day Noëlle had surgery.  She assured us that Noëlle would probably sleep all day the day of the surgery but promised to call us after surgery and if we needed to come to the Hospital to be with her she would call again.  The nurse did call us twice.  Noëlle slept all day and night, they said.  She healed amazingly fast and that was the end of the constant colds and ear infections, as the doctor predicted.

Catherine was soon my shadow and helper whatever I was doing.  How the years flew by and all the other children were in school.  Next year Cathy Jeanne would begin.  I was happy for her and she was excited, but I was sorry for me.  I was going to miss her!  My heart had begun skipping beats a lot, so I began doctoring for that soon after Catherine was born.  When Cathy Jeanne was 7, Esther Hope was soon to make her appearance on November 21.  When I had gotten pregnant with Esther, my heart suddenly beat perfectly again – no skips at all and a strong pulse.  I felt like a new person.  Hence Esther Hope’s name: because she had come to our home for such a time as this, bringing with her hope and great celebration.  She had a home full of brothers and sisters to hold and adore her.  She was the apple of everyone’s eye.  Was like starting over for Edgar and I.  We did not think it would be fair to Esther to have to grow up alone, and God must have agreed for a little over a year later Ernest Paul arrived.  We were starting over and raising a family in the 60’s and 70’s and it was much more challenging and difficult than it was in the 40’s and 50’s.  This really helped us to relate to the young parents of that day.

Ernie’s delivery was much more difficult than others and my heart began skipping beats again.  That continued and got worse until in May, 1972, when at Deaconess Hospital in Boston I had a pacemaker installed.  Instantly I was a new person and we all rejoiced.  As I mentioned earlier, every two years the pacer had to be replaced with a new one.  I had one in 1974 and again in 1976.  The last one was good for 4 years!  They were getting smaller and they lasted longer.  Mine did 99% of the beating whenever checked.  By now, 1976, all the children except the little ones had graduated from High School.  Catherine had all her requirements completed so she graduated as a Junior.  She got no recognition although her average was higher than the Senior valedictorian and again the valedictorian in her class the next year.  It did go on her transcript though.

That summer Catherine was chosen by the local Lions Club to be the exchange student to Switzerland during the summer.  What an honor and good experience for Catherine.  We had a student from Denmark.  That was a good experience for us, also.  A friend came with her.  The friend was housed not too far from us.  The friend’s father died suddenly so she returned home early with her girl friend so she did not have to travel home alone.  We heard from our student for several years.

Robert and Ruth had graduated from Salem College and Robert was married, Ruth also, and she was expecting her second child.  Annita had graduated from Baptist Hospital School of Nursing in Boston and was married and working in WesterlyHospital.  Leon was married and had our first grandchild.  How things had changed in Ashaway.

 Willy decided to stay home one year after graduation and continued working at Guild Guitar locally to save up for college.  January and February he was “house sitting” while a family not far from his work were away.  In January he began having a wart on his foot treated weekly to remove it.  One day before he went for his treatment he was home and said, “Mom, feel this knot that has just come in my neck.”  I did and suggested that he have the doctor look at it that day.  The doctor said it should be biopsied as soon as possible.  He was sure it was “nothing serious,” but we should get a biopsy.  Annita was a nurse at the Hospital and Willy’s doctor reassured her it was NOT cancer, but he wanted to know exactly what it was.  Maybe “cat scratch” disease.

About that time I awakened twice one night with a distinct voice saying, “This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified in it.”  John 11:4.  I wrote that verse out and kept it fastened in the kitchen on a cupboard and in the bathroom on a mirror.  I was sure God had spoken to me to reassure me and to prepare me for something.  I told Edgar I thought Willy may have cancer and told him about the “voice” I heard.

It was cancer, Hodgkin’s Disease.  This did scare us for we had just had a church member die with Hodgkin’s disease after a long battle with it.  We knew it was serious.  Willy was sent to Rhode IslandHospital in Providence for immediate removal of his spleen hoping to catch the disease before it spread throughout his body.  This was terrible surgery.  Recovery was very slow and painful.  He was in I.C.U. several days, then hooked up to I.V.’s, was using oxygen and had a pump going.  We held on to the promise I had heard and told Willy about it as well as the other children.

Some days Edgar could not go to Providence, so I drove up alone after I got the children off to school.  On one of those days, I found Willy very sick and weak.  He could hardly talk.  I delayed going home, but finally knew I must.  After praying with him and leaving him in God’s care, asking God to prompt the nurses as necessary to fill his special needs through the night, I told him, “I will see you in the morning.  I must go home now.”  Very weakly he said, “Maybe.”  That statement stayed in my mind and heart.  The youth had recently sung a musical which included “There’s A Sweet, Sweet Spirit” and “Through It All.”  I sung the words all the way home to keep my focus on God’s presence and power, not only with me, but with Willy and his doctor and his nurses.

Finally, William was home again to regain health and strength so he could begin radiation treatments daily.  Late in April those treatments finally began.  They were hard on Will, also.  They continued into July.  I remember more than once taking him to the Emergency Room at Westerly Hospital during the night.  Nights seemed to be worst for him.  In June, Robert was home and he insisted we go to bed and get some rest while he sat up with Willy.  That night we had to go to the E.R. again.

Guild continued to have Willy come in when he felt good enough and to work as long as he could.  They had promoted him to “tuning” the guitars and he really enjoyed that.  He became really good playing the guitar then.  What a blessing this was.  He still was earning some money as he recovered.

Edgar and I were sure he would finish out his ministry in Ashaway.  This was truly home to us.  We felt as long as he continued to grow in the Lord he could feed his flock there.  Then a call came from the Denver Church, and we both knew God wanted him to go there.  We could not say, “No,” to God.    After Conference in August we left.  The church had a farewell reception for us and a program honoring us.  There were well over 200 people in attendance.  People we loved and would miss.  We had permission for Willy to live in the Parsonage until he was strong enough to drive his car to Lincoln, Nebraska where he would start college in September.

A day or so before we left Ashaway, Richard and Michele came from Fort Collins, Colorado for one more visit.  We left them in the parsonage with Willy when we left to move.   En route back to Colorado, Rich’s left in time to meet Catherine’s plane when she returned from Switzerland and take her home with them.

Was difficult to leave Ruth, Walt and Rebecca in Westerly, also Ace and Annita as well as Leon, Linda, Jon and Coral in Massachusetts.  By the time we got into Pennsylvania, the trauma of leaving our “home” surfaced and we all cried our way across that state, sometimes out loud and the rest in our hearts.  We had Esther, Ernie, also Ellen Bowyer and Noëlle who we would leave at a Mennonite College north of Wichita, Kansas.  That night we got to Edgar’s Aunt Marcella and Uncle Frank’s home at Bluffton, Ohio.  My pacemaker was in its last guaranteed year so I had monthly checks on it.  I had one the week before we moved.  Not hearing otherwise from the doctor, we continued to follow our plan and left on schedule, Sunday a.m.  The children, as usual, had a schedule of our travels day by day until we arrived in Denver.  Monday my heart doctor called Ruth because he could not get us and told her I needed to have my pacer replaced immediately.  Shall we go on and have it done as soon as we arrive in Denver, or shall I fly home, get the new pacer, and then fly to Denver as soon as I can travel?  It seemed wiser to return to Ruth’s home in Westerly and get the new pacer there.  I did that.

After Edgar and the children saw me safely on my plane to return to Rhode Island, they traveled on to Kansas and visited Grandma Wheeler one day then went on, leaving the girls at the college and getting them settled into their Dorm.  Then on to the Denver parsonage, our new home.  The moving truck arrived the same day.  Cathy Jeanne soon arrived, too, and she, Esther and Ernie unpacked and put things away, organizing all the rooms.  Catherine became hostess and housekeeper, and Edgar was so proud of her and also of Esther and Ernie, who cooperated with her and helped all they could.  When I finally arrived the next week the house was in order, ready to live in.  I praised the children.  So, thankful, Catherine was home again and had enjoyed her summer and the families she lived with.  God is so good.

Next Chapter: https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/2013/04/20/xenia-lee-10-denver-and-full-circle-to-nortonville/

Table of Contents: https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/2013/11/03/memories-of-xenia-lee-wheeler-table-of-contents/

 

Links to my site:

Introduction https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/2013/07/14/introduction/

Graphic Arts https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/2013/07/14/i-graphic-arts/

Architecture https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/2013/07/14/ii-church-architecture-and-its-incorporation-of-art/

Music https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/2013/07/14/iii-music/

Theology https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/2013/07/14/iv-theology/

Home Page https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/

Xenia Lee: 8 DERUYTER AND ORDINATION, SALEMVILLE

DeRuyter

Edgar worked the night after Sabbath until the Sunday paper went to press, after  1:00 a.m.  We planned to leave early Sunday morning, getting to Grandpa and Grandma Randolph’s in time for breakfast.  Someone at the Times was going to drive our pickup truck with our things in it to DeRuyter for us.  We were ready to leave in the morning and Edgar said, “Honey, you are going to have to drive the car.  I will drive the truck and you follow me.  You’ll get along good.”  I had had a driver’s permit twice and driven quite a bit but never felt confident enough to even take the test.  I remember I did go to Clarksburg once to take my test while still living in West Virginia and practicing parallel parking before we got to the Police Station.  While parking a woman hit and dented a fender, so I went back home instead of taking the test.  I had a permit while living in Alabama, but again I did not take the test.  I did not feel confident enough.  I just did not want to drive badly enough, probably.  Because Edgar was away a week at a time for camp or Conference, he wanted to know I could drive if I needed to do so.

I did not have time to worry then about driving, and my mind was soon occupied with following Edgar on the highway.  Some of the children rode with me and some with Edgar.  Helen was almost a year old, so I took the girls and Edgar the proud boys.  They were so excited riding in the truck.  I got along fine on the regular highway.  When we got into Chattanooga, two or three lanes of traffic were going each direction.  That was scary but I had no problem.  Then we came to a detour with Police directing traffic.  Edgar was stopped.  He talked to the policeman and told him his wife was following him in our car.  I sat behind him thinking, “That policeman will be able to tell I have no license to drive.  We are in trouble now!”  He waved Edgar on and me to follow without stopping me.  Big relief!  We got to Grandpa and Grandma’s.  They were living with Aunt Avis and Uncle Archie and LeMoyne, who never married.  I was ready to stop and rest an hour or so.

During breakfast I said, “I’d like to be able to close my eyes and be up home.”  We planned to be at Mom and Dad’s to sleep that night.  Grandpa quickly said, “You had better not try that or you may be.  That reminder jarred me wide awake and kept me that way through the day.  Was a long day with no super highways like today.  We traveled the two lane highways and it was constantly winding up and down the mountains.  We were all glad for each stop we made at parks along the way to visit, relax, run and exercise as well as eat and drink food we brought along.  Finally, we pulled into Mom and Dad’s driveway, thanking God for his protection and care throughout the trip, keeping me alert and able to drive safely all that way.  That night when I went to bed my mind was still going around curves that ended with yet another curve in the opposite direction!  We know how to appreciate the Interstate Highways through the mountains today.

Alois was due home from Korea the next day.  I asked Mom and Dad if they thought he would be glad to drive our truck to DeRuyter.  If so, we would leave the truck and all go on in our car, hopefully.  I felt God protected me and others as I drove this far, but I did not “have” to drive any further if Alois could.  Mom and Dad thought Alois would be glad to make the trip.  I breathed a deep sigh of relief and thanksgiving.

Remember I said temperatures had not been as low as 90 degrees at night for ten days.  We felt cooler air as we drove north all day.  How good that felt.  What good sleeping temperature in West Virginia.  Next day we traveled on to DeRuyter and to even cooler temperatures.  We had no clothes with us for cooler air.  They were all in the truck.  Church members thoughtfully brought in sweaters or jackets for all of us.  It was wonderful to be back in DeRuyter where we had been during that summer while in Seminary in Alfred, New York.

This was a busy and good pastorate.  Churches in the community joined in special services Christmas and Easter and CommunityBibleSchools.  The ministers met together once a month for Bible study, prayer and planning.  Edgar worked part time at the DeRuyter Gleaner, a weekly paper.  I was asked to work at the bank but felt I was more needed at home, so turned them down.  Alois soon came with our household belongings and clothes.  Now we could really settle in.  Our garden was producing and just waiting for our arrival.  I was still able to get many vegetables and fruits canned for winter.

DeRuyter was a small town and everyone knew everyone.  We soon got to know our neighbors.  Edgar drove a school bus into the country and around DeRuyterLake, getting to know and love many children and their families on that route.

There were many adjustments to make and one was “school.”  Annita began First Grade and Robert began Kindergarten – that was voluntary and not required schooling.  Now Ruth became my “little mother” and helped to keep an eye on Richard and Helen.  Whatever I was doing, they were all close by.  Laundry days they helped hang socks and handkerchiefs.

Edgar noticed the school had an after-school “Adult Education” program with several choices of classes, including Drivers Education.  He signed me, up then told me he had done it.  He wanted me to be able to drive if it was needed.  Never wanting to again have to drive without a license, I was glad to take the course.  Book learning came first, then actual driving, ending with a road test like we could expect when we took our test at the Motor Vehicles.  The instructor often marveled at how well I “shifted gears,” started out slowly and then picked up speed, etc.  I learned to parallel park perfectly. I felt confident taking my test at last and did a great job, the policeman said.  No checks against me.  I never told anyone in that class I had driven before.  I did tell them I’d had a learner’s permit twice before but never felt sure enough of myself to take the test.  Now I could legally drive the car.  What a great feeling of accomplishment that was!  We were all so “proud” of Mommy.

The Catholic Church in town took their children out of school one hour a week for church schooling.  It was called “Released Time” and was available to others who wanted it.  The ministers worked together to rent a room in the Town Hall – the old DeRuyterAcademy – not far from school.  Volunteer parents met the children at the school and escorted them to the Town Hall and back to school.  A “Child Evangelism” team taught the Bible classes.  Bible stories came alive on their flannel boards.  I was impressed with lessons learned and truths taught when I escorted kids.  A good experience.

We lived several blocks from the school and Robert and Annita walked.  Thankfully they did not have to cross the highway, just side streets.  We were in a snow belt and snow just kept piling up with temperatures below zero at times.  The Principal at school lived across the street from us.  He gave Edgar permission to pick up our children on his school bus and take them to school because Robert had too poor blood circulation in his right leg to walk in such bad weather.  Neighbor children had to walk, so we never let Annita go on the bus.  Edgar did pick up Robert when it was real cold.  Parents took turns walking with all our area children.

How the children loved playing in the snow.  They even made an “igloo” with us and played in it many days.  Snow was piled so high along the highway we could not see the tops of cars traveling on the street in front of our home unless we were looking down our sidewalk or driveway into the street.  Edgar said in places on his bus route the snow was higher than the bus where it was plowed off the road.

That summer vacation, the doctor scheduled a time “to take tonsils out.”  All the children and parents went to a nurse’s home and the doctor took several children’s tonsils out on a kitchen table that one day.  It was not a good experience for Robert or for me, seven months pregnant with Leon.  As we waited Robert kept telling me, “I told you I did not want my tonsils out.”  A church member had a heart attack that morning and they called for Edgar to come so I went with Robert alone.  We remained overnight in the nurse’s home and went home the next day.  Robert ate a piece of toast before we came home.  I was shocked.  He healed fast.

Robert kept having sore throats that turned into ear infections and was out of school a lot.  He loved school and his teacher, Miss Pool, loved him.  She told me once that she had to change her way of teaching and not “yell” at anyone but find other ways to get their attention.  Robert always took it personally and was scared by it, “pulling into a shell to hide.”  She said she needed to learn not to yell so he helped her.

On April 3, 1954, Edgar was called to ordination by the DeRuyter Church.  The church was full with church family and friends.  By this time Don Richards had married Edna Ruth, they had Dan, and they were at Alfred Seminary, so they drove up.  Edgar’s mother came on the bus and stayed a while.  I was so happy for all the loving help.  I did not feel well a lot of the time.  Area S.D.B. ministers and families were all there.  Cousin Harold Crandall came from New York CityS.D.B.Church and Pastor Hurley came from Salemville,  Pennsylvania Church.  He had the sermon before the “Ordination Council” met.  Edgar had given his statement of belief during morning worship. In the afternoon the “Ordination Council” convened and questioned Edgar about his beliefs.  The Council voted unanimously to ordain Edgar. Ordination followed.   I was so proud of him and know his mother was, also.  She represented his home church and as such brought their greetings.  Was a special day, full of blessing and memory builders.

Before long, Robert was running and playing in the yard.  Wherever we lived Robert had an orthopedic doctor who treated him and recommended exercises or treatment.  He took off his right leg brace.  I no longer could keep track of where Robert was by hearing the “click, click” of his brace every step he took.  With exercises, he was soon holding his own and keeping up with his friends running and playing.

Lucille Bana, a dear friend I met in the Drivers Ed class, came in to our home one day a week to help me however I needed help – doing laundry, ironing, canning, whatever.  We paid her and what a blessing she was.  When Leon Ashby was born on August 15, she staid with the kids and came each day for two weeks to do what she could.  Again, what a blessing.

Our family doctor had a private “Maternity House” in another Registered Nurse’s home.  She and her husband and their two children lived on the second floor.  Her bedroom had an intercom in it that allowed her to hear the babies breathing down stairs.  Patients had a bell to ring if we needed her.  The doctor’s office and home was less than a block away, so very convenient.  This was an easy delivery.  I got along great and Leon was a healthy and happy baby who came home to lots of loving care and attention from brothers and sisters.

To help with the “after pains” in the Maternity Home, I was given Demerol pills.  With each pill I felt more like I would pass out.  I called the nurse and told her everything was spinning around.  She called the doctor.  My blood pressure was very low.  The doctor left patients in his office to check on me.  He said he came on his son’s bicycle that was parked at the back door.  Immediately, he knew that I was having a bad reaction to the Demerol so I got a shot and soon felt better. I had codeine for a migraine headache once and the same thing happened.  For years, the doctor had me wear a “medic alert” bracelet that said “allergic to Demerol and codeine.”  The doctor said that, “in case of an accident I might be given a shot of Demerol or codeine, and that would kill me instead of my injuries.”  I wore the bracelet!   Edgar heard the doctor was called to the maternity home on an emergency.  He was relieved to see I was doing fine when he got there and Leon was doing fine.  Leon slept through the night before I left there.  The doctor later told me that that was the only time he was ever called to the Maternity Home on an emergency after the baby was delivered.  The nearest hospital was fifteen miles away.  Only the very ill went there.

Rose Stillman (a cousin of Dad, Ernest Wheeler), who lived in Milton, Wisconsin, knew Edgar from college days there and she kept contact with us and took pride in our children.  Later Annita, Helen and Richard knew her support and love when they lived in that area.  Rose had a sister, Ruth, and neither of them ever married.  Ruth proudly claimed Ruth as her namesake and sent gifts and clothing just for Ruth through her early years.  When Ruth started school she sent a dress and a little drawstring purse to match.  I made Annita an outfit to start school that year and Robert a new shirt.  They all had new clothes for the first day of school.

Ruth began Kindergarten.  Now half of our children were in school.  Richard became my big helper and took “watch care” of where Helen and Leon were and what they were doing.

During one of Leon’s monthly doctor checks he suddenly quit breathing.  I was glad I was holding him and in the doctor’s office.  The doctor revived him immediately, but did not give him the shot he had planned to give him.  The doctor just said watch and call if needed.  He lived a few blocks away.  A few days later just as I was putting Leon in his “doorway swing” he quit breathing again and I revived him, then took him to the doctor.  He sent us on to the hospital in Cortland.  He had pneumonia.  He was in oxygen and on antibiotics several days.  Lucille Bana helped at home and I stayed with Leon.  Finally, we brought him home!  We were happy to be a family again.  God is so good.  Leon began to put weight back on and all the family cheered him on as he developed and learned new things.

Salemville

The years in DeRuyter were good years, both in the church family and in the community.  New pastures beckoned us, however, and Edgar accepted a call to Salemville, Pennsylvania S.D.B. Bell Church.  This was a more rural church, but the parsonage was close to the church on one side and up against the next door neighbor’s garden behind their home on the other.  More than “close” neighbors.  An older couple lived there.  More than once when we had company in the house, in summer especially, we would see one or both of them right under our kitchen sink window which was open, eavesdropping.  I thought about throwing a glass of water out the window more than once, then thought better of it.  We laughed about it but did take note and remembered it as you will read later.

The Guyer family lived on the other side of the Fosters, who were next to us.  They had children the ages of our older children and they played together a lot in one of our yards or homes.  They were good friends and church members.  We had known them when we lived in Plainfield, New Jersey.  Small world!  We were now about three hours’ drive from my home and in the same Association of churches.  We got home much more often now.  Holidays could be spent with our West Virginia family again, especially Christmas.

Again, in Salemville we had wonderfully supportive and encouraging church members and community people.  Pastors worked together to reach all the people and fill needs.  Members who had dropped out of church, or at least regular attendance, came back and soon the small sanctuary was full and more SabbathSchool rooms were needed, a study for the Pastor and a large Fellowship Hall.  A big project, but many volunteers completed the extension on the back of the church.  Men and women’s bathrooms were just inside the entrance toward the parsonage.  Now the outside toilets could end their usefulness.

The parsonage was compact and cozy, but very drafty in winter.  Down stairs, half the space was kitchen and dining room, combined.  The other half was living room.  Since Edgar needed privacy for his study, we got permission to partition it with removable walls.  There was a back and front doorway, so this worked well.  In the center, between the two rooms, was a stairway leading down to the basement and furnace heating our home, and upward to the bedrooms.  There was a large bedroom and three smaller ones.  One of them was converted into a bathroom.  I ironed laundry in the bathroom to be near the bedrooms.  A hallway was large between our bedroom and the girls’ bedroom, so we put a crib in the hallway.  Leon slept in it a while until Willy needed it.

How excited Annita, Robert and Ruth were to get to ride the bus.  It stopped in front of Guyer’s home, so everyone could stay warm or out of the rain until they saw the bus coming.

Mr. Foster was church janitor so had an “excuse” to come into our yard and on into the church any time of day or night.  He was strict and angrily yelled at the children, so they did not like him.  He would say, “One boy is okay, two is half a boy and three is no boy at all.”  The two Guyer boys were usually in our yard as I liked to know what my children were playing and they seldom went to the neighbors.

One day Mr. Foster accused the boys of plotting to “kill” him by putting something on the outside basement steps to cause him to fall.  We did find rocks covered with leaves that Fall day.  The boys confessed they put them there and said they were sorry.  They told Mr. Foster they were sorry and asked forgiveness.  We thought that ended the matter.

Fosters talked on the phone a lot and seemed to thrive on gossip, and some other people welcomed it, so Edgar had a problem in the church family he could not seem to be able to resolve.  The majority of the people were supportive and new people continued to visit and become regular in attendance.  One day, Mr. Foster had a bad stroke and was bedfast quite a while.  Edgar was in their home daily and at times he fed Mr. Foster and often carried him to the bathroom just off their bedroom.  After we left, Mr. Foster died and the family called for Edgar to come back to have the funeral.  He did and took Leon along with him for company.  Leon was four years old.

Joe Boyd’s family was in the church.  Beth came to visit and met Joe and his family.  They may have gone to Senior Camp together, also.  They began dating and after we left Salemville were married.

The year before we left, William Raymond was born.  He was named for William Kagarise who was the father of two middle aged men in our church family.  He had built barns for a living and worked most week days on the addition to the church building.  He ate lunch with us right along and we loved him so Willy got his name and Grandpa Wheeler’s middle name Raymond.

Grandpa Will’s favorite expression seemed to be “close enough.”  Edgar had been trained in home building by Uncle Oris Stutler, who thought that only perfection would do when building homes, so he would correct the “close enough” work until it was perfect to prevent a worse problem later.  It was an addition to be proud of.  We did feel badly that some families who disapproved of having meals in the church building, even the addition, left the church and worshipped elsewhere.  I am sure there may have been other reasons, as well.  That is always tragic when there are divisions of opinions and that causes a split in the body.  That really hurt but time did heal the wounds.

William was less than six weeks old when the children brought flu home.  Willy got the flu and was weeks getting over his cough.  The poor baby would cough and cough until he was too tired to nurse.  He did not gain weight like he should have so I was concerned.  At last when we took him to the doctor, Willy had one of his coughing spells in the doctor’s office and the doctor prescribed something that cleared it up.  Willy was three months old.  Soon he was making up for lost time and gaining fast.

Christmas we went to Mom and Dad’s again.  Our 1950 Ford sedan was uncomfortable traveling for the nine of us.  So Edgar traded for a 1955 Ford Ranch Wagon.  How we loved traveling in that car.  Such a big difference.  The children did not have to sit on each other’s lap.

While in Salemville, I was invited to go to another Church Mother-Daughter Banquet by a dear neighbor lady as her guest.  I especially remember one year when another Pastor’s wife was the feature speaker.  She shared her experiences and observations through the years as a Mother.  She told a story that “hit home” with me.  It began:

I set out to introduce my child to the Father.  The first Mother was harsh, strict and constantly corrected and tried to whip her child into shape so he would be perfect and worthy to meet the Father.  Finally they came to the Father and her boy hid against her legs and held tight, not wanting to meet the Father.  He was too afraid.

The second mother constantly kept her child on the move.  There was so much to learn and experience en route, and she wanted her baby to experience, see and hear everything.  When he was tired and wanted to stop to rest, she rushed him on to the next experience.  Finally they met the Father.  Her son fell exhausted at the Father’s feet and went to sleep.

The third mother took her child’s hand in her hand to lead him to the Father.  They ran and frolicked in the sunshine as they started off, then stopped in the shade of a tree to read a book she had brought along.  She read to him and then listened and laughed as he read to her.  They walked a little further and stopped to take in all the things the l loving Father had created and made for them to enjoy: grass, trees, flowers blooming in the meadow, birds that sing, the gentle breeze that blows the meadow grass and also the clouds in the sky.  Again, they walked by the brook and walked and splashed in the cool waters to cool off, meandering on until they saw the loving Father.  The boy ran on and left the mother to hug the Father and sit on his lap.

I was reminded of Jesus telling his disciples, “Let the children come to me and forbid them not, for such is the Kingdom of heaven.”

The speaker also reminded each of us we can decide what our day will be like when we awake each morning.  She said she recites Psalm 118:24 as her first thoughts before she rises from bed early, before her children are awake: “This is the day that the Lord has made.  I will rejoice and be glad in it.”  I decided to make that verse mine and I still recite it to myself and it sets the tone for my day.

These two parts of her talk made a lasting impression on me, as you can see.  God was teaching me little by little how to live in awareness of His presence.  God is good.

Duane and Adeline Ebersole were special friends and came to visit often.  They had a son Richard’s age and a daughter Helen’s age.  Cathy had long curls that her mother was very proud of.  They often played together.  One day, the week before Willy was born, Adeline and Cathy were at the parsonage.  I was washing and waxing all the floors, so she insisted she help me and the girls went out to play.  Cathy had long curls her mother was very proud of.  As Adeline left, she went around the shrubs calling the girls, and suddenly began to scream near the church steps, scaring me.  So I ran to her.  I envisioned that Cathy had fallen down the church steps and was unconscious or worse.  Helen had cut off each curl that had hung down her back earlier but we could not find the hair.  I stupidly said, “At least her hair will grow back.”  Adeline called to get an appointment to have Cathy’s hair cut right.

By evening everyone in the community knew what had happened.              That evening Edgar and I went to their home and I apologized, knowing what I said sounded unsympathetic, and I was truly sorry and asked for forgiveness.  I had found Cathy’s curls still intact in Helen’s doll suit case.  Adeline said the beautician wanted to know who had cut Cathy’s hair – she would like to hire her for she did a good job and Cathy’s hair needed very little trimming.  She was really cute with short hair.  Adeline also asked forgiveness.  Duane and Adeline and children came to Ashaway on vacation to visit us.

The day came when Edgar had a letter call and some phone calls encouraging him to say he would come to the First Seventh Day Baptist Church at Hopkinton, Rhode Island.  His family learned he had accepted the call at the same time the church members did – at the close of a worship service.

Friends and church family kept our kids while Edgar and I drove a U-Haul truck to Ashaway and unloaded boxes and furniture into the rooms they would be unpacked in.  Same day, we went back to Salemville by bus, loaded our car, picked up our children and drove to West Virginia and on.  We spent three weeks visiting family from West Virginia to Kansas and places in between.  Although we had moved Leon’s bed and Willy’s crib, when we got home to Ashaway they cried to go “home.”  They had gotten homesick on vacation and never got to return “home.”  My heart broke for them.  “Why did I not think of that before we moved?”  I should have known how little ones would feel.  I decided we would never again take a vacation as we were moving.

Next Chapter: https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/2013/04/20/xenia-lee-9-rhode-island/

Table of Contents: https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/2013/11/03/memories-of-xenia-lee-wheeler-table-of-contents/

 

Links to my site:

Introduction https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/2013/07/14/introduction/

Graphic Arts https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/2013/07/14/i-graphic-arts/

Architecture https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/2013/07/14/ii-church-architecture-and-its-incorporation-of-art/

Music https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/2013/07/14/iii-music/

Theology https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/2013/07/14/iv-theology/

Home Page https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/

Xenia Lee: 7 SEMINARY AND THE MINISTRY: I LEARN AGAIN TO PRAY WITHOUT CEASING

Hammond

Edgar goes to Seminary

We moved to Hammond in May, and Mom and Dad let Edna Ruth spend the summer with us.  She returned home on the train in August.  How good it was to have her there to help with Annita that summer.  She went to South Eastern Youth Camp in Arkansas and that was a special treat for her.

Edgar and I chose a family doctor who had attached his private hospital to his office.  I had told him my experience with Annita and he assured me he would be there for me and he was.  With Annita my doctor had gone on vacation.  Annita came early and I had to take whoever was on call at the time.  Also, because she was early, I began to plan early, then Robert arrived two weeks after my due date.  That seemed like a long wait to us.

Edna Ruth was in church youth camp and DeLands were staying with us a few days while the men put a new roof on the parsonage.  I had a doctor check-up at 7:30 a.m., August 5, so Edgar and Annita drove me to my appointment.  I had begun labor during the night so did not eat breakfast before we went.  I figured I’d be in labor all day, at least, so I insisted Edgar go home, say nothing, help with the parsonage roof and come back at noon to stay with me. I was sure people would know I was in the hospital plenty long enough before this baby was born then.  When Edgar got to the hospital Robert Edgar had just arrived.  How excited we both were.  We had a girl and a boy – a perfect start to our family.  Edgar spread the happy news and I had many visitors. In five days I was able to come home in our car from the hospital.  This was improvement, also.

The parsonage roof was put on and campers were home that day from camp.  The five DeLands went back to New Orleans and we were a family at home.  Edna Ruth was a great help the next week or two before she had to leave for home and school.  It was so special having her with us all summer.

Robert grew like a weed.  Annita adored him and kept him entertained for me.  However, evenings he would cry from his 5:00 feeding to the 8:00 feeding, no matter what we did.  Church members who lived close by often came over to try their touch at calming him.  Feeding him every three hours and putting him to bed after his 8:00 feeding worked, for he soon slept all night until 5:00 a.m.  We usually got up about then so that worked great.

When Robert learned to stand, he no longer wanted to sit in church.  His morning nap was church time, so I took the carriage to church and he slept in it during the sermon, usually.  We had theatre seats in church that folded so he could not lay on them.  One Sabbath I was not watching closely enough and Robert had awakened, sat up, then stood and reached for the carriage handle bar, turning the carriage on its nose with a big commotion, then began screaming, of course.  Another Sabbath, he insisted on standing on the open seat beside me as he held onto the back of the chair.  Suddenly the seat folded with a bang, and Robert’s feet slid through.  I tried to keep him calm and work his feet out but they were there to stay.  Edgar was in the middle of his sermon, distracted with what was going on with his family.  Suddenly Robert realized he was stuck to the seat and began to cry.  Edgar announced a song while he and another man pulled the seat apart to release Robert’s feet.  Edgar went back, picked up where he left off and finished the worship service.  Such is the life of the Pastor’s family.

Polio Epidemic

The summer Robert would turn one, we had Vacation Bible School in Hammond soon after school was out, then went to Metairie to housing developments near our church families that lived there.  They helped us and we had Bible Schools in two residential developments with good attendance.  The week we went back to Hammond, Annita got very ill with flu-like symptoms and it became very difficult for her to breathe at all.  The doctor said I was crazy to take our kids into the developments: I deserved to have sick kids.  One night we were not sure she would be able to keep breathing.  Suddenly she took a deep breath and her breathing was back.  How we thanked God for His goodness and ever presence.  Not many days later Robert got sick.  He was not nearly as ill and seemed to get better fast.  Edgar suffered with a lot of muscle cramps and pain two or three days.  Just did not feel good.  Fortunately I did not get whatever it was, four months pregnant with our new baby.

All seemed to be okay by the weekend.  The next week Edgar was directing Southeastern Church Camp in Metarie.  He did not want to leave the family alone, seventy-five miles away, so arranged for me to help the camp cook.  I always enjoyed cooking and it was nice to help in camp.

Southern Baptist Seminary had bought land in Gentilly and were moving its crowded campus.  The student housing apartments were to be ready for occupancy by time for school to begin, so Edgar signed up for one.  Knowing we’d be in New Orleans when it was time to welcome our new baby, I began going to a prenatal clinic at Women’s and Babies’ Hospital.  My doctor was Dr. Blood.  I loved her.  She was pregnant with her first baby – twins, it turned out.  Our babies were due close together, which was exciting.  When I had a check-up, we stayed in Metairie after our Sabbath afternoon worship service in the Coalwell home.  Edgar made calls in the area Sundays and then we traveled back home after my check-up on Monday.  I was doing better this pregnancy.

My next check-up was during camp.  Robert was very fussy during the night before and the morning of my doctor visit.  He screamed with pain, but would seem to calm down if I laid him across my lap with his head hanging off my leg.  He could almost go to sleep that way and maybe he did during the night.  When babies are sick and obviously in pain, but cannot tell you where they hurt, it is really hard on everyone.  I rocked Robert a lot that night and the next morning.  I put Robert down and he walked off to play while I helped with breakfast.  Robert was walking by the time he was nine months.  He came to me again crying with his arms raised so again I began to rock him.  When I finally put him down so I could prepare to go to the doctor, his legs were useless.  I tried again.  It was obvious he was not making them useless because he did not want down.  Robert really could not put any weight on his legs.  Edgar had another man take over as camp director and we left with Robert to see my doctor.  I was fine, so she checked Robert and thought we should take him to Charity Hospital Emergency Room, which we did.  The doctor there, after examining him, asked what we thought might be wrong with him.  “We were afraid it might be infantile paralysis,” we answered.  He looked at us and said, “It is polio.”

There was a polio hospital in the Charity Hospital complex.  We were sent there to have Robert admitted.  This was unreal and we were scared!  In shock!  Once in the PolioCenter I was asked to come into the office to answer some questions while Edgar took Robert to get him settled in his room.  We followed orders!  We were told there was a two week quarantine for new patients so we could not come to the hospital again for two weeks.  Visiting hours were two hours on Sunday afternoon and again on Wednesday afternoon or evening.  However any hour of the day or night we were welcome to call and inquire about him.  Robert had never been away from us day or night since he was born.  Two weeks seemed like an eternity.  We left the hospital asking God to comfort Robert, to watch over him, prompting someone to love him and fill his special needs for us.  “Pray without ceasing” became a reality and we grew closer to the Lord through this experience.

When we got back to camp and reported that Robert had polio the staff convened to consider whether they should close camp and send campers home.  Parents were called and all wanted us to finish camp week, which we did.  Betty Butler, now Pearson, was in camp, and she was the only camper to come to us and say how very sorry she was that Robert had polio.  We learned later that a staff member asked the campers to not say anything to us about Robert.  This began our long vigil – six months!

There was a terrible epidemic of polio that year and no one knew what caused it so people shunned places it might be.  Our whole town, of course, knew our son was paralyzed with polio.  We would see people walking down the sidewalk on our side, cross to the other side before they got to our home, then cross back again beyond our home.  We understood.  We could not feel bad about it or hurt.

The only hospital in all of Louisiana that would take a polio victim was the Polio Center in Charity Hospital.  Charity was just that.  There were no charges but we found you also had no rights.  Two weeks is a long, long time night and day to wonder how your baby is and if someone is taking loving care of him like you want.  We never knew the name of Robert’s doctor nor did we ever see a nurse.  Only aides were available on visiting hours.  They never knew anything: “we’re sorry.”   We were, also.

Even though it was a long distance call, Edgar encouraged me to call the number they gave me.  I did.  I could hear babies crying and wailing in the background all the time I talked.  I asked how Robert was doing and visited a little.  I hung up and bawled.  I did not believe one word that person said.  It was all “canned” statements and not convincing.  I was worse off when I called than when I just prayed and trusted.  I did not believe they were being honest, anyway.  I never called again.

Finally the day came when we could visit.  We staid overnight with a church family Sabbath, after services.  We were lined up outside the PolioCenter half an hour before we could get in the locked doors.  We met and visited with other parents.  There were eighteen babies in the large room Robert was in with the “under a year” babies.  Cribs were lined up just so you could walk around them.  We were glad to see Robert and he was so glad to see us.  His pajama top had ribbons attached to the shoulders and these were tied to the crib sides so he could not turn over.  If he was sitting up when we got there, those ribbons were tied to the top of the side rails to anchor him.  First thing we always did was untie him and take him out of the crib while we were there.  We took turns holding him and we played with him with toys we had taken after the first visit.  Those two hours were soon gone and we were told to leave and the front doors were again locked.

Before long, we saw an article in our paper saying they needed volunteers to train to work in a local “Field Emergency Polio Center.”  The Supervisor of Nursing at the PolioCenter would be teaching the six week course three days a week.  A church woman and I signed up and were accepted.  We rode the Greyhound Bus to the County Seat, Amit, Louisiana, where the class was taught.

I said nothing in our classes about knowing anything personally about polio.  Our teacher began teaching with background knowledge they do have about infantile paralysis, research that is being done today and progress in discovering what causes it.  Polio was a mystery and therefore the word was frightening.

For whatever reason, we were facing a real crisis.  We had an epidemic this summer of polio, not only in children, but many adults were coming down with it and, “Our only Polio Hospital in Louisiana is over-crowded already,” she said.  They were preparing to open “Field Polio Centers” in several areas of the state and we were being prepared to work in them.

Yes, I had taken “Home Nursing” courses in High School and they were very helpful through the years.  I did enjoy nursing the ill, but secretly, I took this course in order to hopefully find out why Robert was kept in the hospital week after week and what and how they were working with him to help him recover.  I wanted to be informed and able to care for him when we brought him home.  I wanted to know what kind of care he was having today so I said nothing about Robert’s being in the PolioCenter now, one of those epidemic victims.

We hardly had a class that the instructor did not come down hard on the parents of children in the hospital now.  Nurses were overworked and it was hard to get children cleaned up and ready for parents to visit.  Parents brought and left toys that could choke or injure a child, they did not obey rules about giving their children things.  She obviously had no use for parents.  They were all in one category as far as she was concerned and they might close visiting hours completely since parents will not cooperate.  We heard this in some form in every session, probably.  I was glad she didn’t know I was one of those “parents” she loathed.  We finished classes and I was ready to help Robert when we got him home.  I also had a certificate of graduation and would be called if they opened a Field Hospital here.  I never got the call but the class had prepared me for the telegram we received not long after.  “The PolioCenter has been closed to visitors temporarily.  We will notify you when you can see your child again.”

God is good.  He had prepared me for this trauma.  I felt like I “knew” why this had been done.  We were saved from anxiety that Robert’s health was worse or something like that.  “Pray without ceasing.”  Yes, this is possible.  I had learned to live and breathe communion with my Lord and Savior.  Annita continued putting Robert’s dishes on his high chair every single meal.  He was always with us in thought and on our tongues around the table at meal time.

One long week went by, then two, then three and four with no second telegram.  When we were allowed visits, parents got to know each other as we waited and visited together outside until the doors were unlocked.  In the grocery store one day, I saw another “parent” and I said to her, “When do you think we will ever get a telegram saying we can visit our children again?”  She looked at me and said, “What are you talking about?”  I explained.  They had not received that telegram and visited their child every week.  Now I was the one left wondering what was going on.

Edgar and I talked and prayed and planned to go to the Polio Center the next visiting day.  We did walk in with the many parents waiting there.  We knew very few of them.  “Strange,” we thought.  Looking around, we did not see Robert.  Then I began to cry.  It had been so long maybe we did not know him.  We continued to look.  We did not see any of the babies who had been in that big room with Robert or any of their parents.  Very strange!!  Finally we found a nurse and began asking questions.  She finally looked at the records of patients to tell us where to find Robert.  After an eternity she said, “He is not here.  We have no record of him.”  We were insistent.  “We know he is here.  We brought him here, we visited him here for over two months until we received a telegram saying visiting was closed temporarily and we would be notified when parents can visit again.”  She listened and was sorry.  Since we were insistent, she said we were welcome to look around and see if we could find him.  Again I began to cry.  Finally she said, “You could go to the main Hospital Administration office.  They have records of who is in every center.”  We went to the main office very confused and anxious by now and repeated our sob story.  The lady there began looking but said, “No, he is not in the PolioCenter.”  We already knew that.  We were still insistent.  She looked further and suddenly said, “Oh, a month or so ago some of the babies there got infectious diarrhea and some died.  They moved them all to the InfectiousCenter.  I will look at those records.”  Sure enough, she found our baby and we were escorted to that building.  On the way she said the records showed that over two weeks ago parents were to be informed they could visit again.  Someone did not follow doctor’s orders.

We found Robert, finally, and he had lost so much weight we were shocked and wanted to take him right home with us then.  We were told that if we took him out of the hospital before he was released, they would not accept him back again and no hospital in the state will take a polio victim.  We could not take that chance so left him there.  He was never moved back to the PolioCenter because it was so crowded.  How we thanked God for His mercy and healing Robert of the diarrhea.  We learned some of the babies had indeed died.  Several, evidently.  We prayed for comfort for those parents.  God has been so good to us and our baby.

Seminary began and we moved our family into the apartments on the new campus site.  Was easier now to visit Robert every visiting day, which one or both of us did.  Edgar rode city buses and streetcars to the old campus across town for his classes.  I typed at home for students so earned a little money.  The PlainfieldChurch took us on as a “mission project.”  We received a love check monthly from them and a “Care” package of goodies often.  They had a local market deliver us a Thanksgiving and a Christmas food basket.  We owe the parishioners there so very much.  We often had encouraging letters and notes from brothers and sisters there.  God is so good.

Thanksgiving eve (our meal was ready to go into the oven next morning) and I prepared for bed, but before I got into bed I began to ooze fluid so knew our baby was preparing to be born.  I had had daily contractions for two months and the doctor said that week to come right to the Hospital if I had any signs delivery was close.  We took Annita to a Church family to sleep over and went to the hospital.  Ruth was born during the night Thanksgiving morning.  We truly had a Thanksgiving Day.  Again we realized how very much God had blessed us.  Ruth was a good, healthy baby.  She ate and slept for the most part those first weeks.  No colicky crying times.  That was a new experience for us after Annita and Robert.

In early December we had another telegram from the Hospital.  It said, “You can take Robert home for the day Christmas and bring him back the day after if you want to.”  We were excited, but then remembered Robert does not even know us now and it would just be added trauma for him and trauma for us taking him back.  We told them we did not want to bring him home just for the day.

The next week before Christmas we received another telegram saying, “Due to your child’s condition, he cannot go home for the day Christmas.”  What had happened?  We had not planned to bring him home, anyway.  More trauma.

The day before Christmas, we received a third telegram saying, “If you can be at the hospital before 3:00 p.m. Christmas Eve, your child can go home to stay.”  En route to the hospital we bought clothes we thought Robert could wear.  Other parents were already there.  Each had received both telegrams, too.  Did someone think that was a funny joke?  I did not think it was funny.  Ruth was exactly four weeks old when we finally brought Robert home to stay.  Finally, all our family could really celebrate Christmas together.

Robert just sat in my lap, obviously scared, and we sang to him all the way as we drove home to our apartment.  Robert had not known darkness so we left a small light on all night.  Robert still cried a lot and when he was not crying we could tell he was crying inside.  After Christmas Day we decided we should move back to the Parsonage before neighbors in the apartments began to complain about Robert crying.  We also did not want Robert to be moved to a strange place again when we finally moved back, so again Edgar traveled by bus to seminary on Tuesday and back on Friday.

We had no instructions at all when we left the hospital about Robert’s care.  Just a time to take him to the doctor.  I was so thankful I had had the polio nursing course.  It helped me to set up a schedule for Robert’s therapy each day.  We decided to try the Sister Kenny wet heat therapy.  Obviously whatever they were doing in the hospital did not help him begin to move his legs again.  For half an hour three times a day, we rung towels out of as hot water as we could stand and kept hot towels on his legs, then did fun exercises with him to move the muscles in his legs, all the while saying what we were doing aloud, hoping his brain waves would begin to get the message to his legs.

How thankful we were that Ruth was so good.  Annita gave Ruth lots of attention whenever she was awake that really helped, too.

Paint Rock

 In the spring, Edgar had a call to serve the Oakdale S.D.B. Church. That church body met near Athens, Alabama.  He did accept that call and we moved after school was out.  The church agreed to let him move back on campus to finish his seminary training and come to serve the church one weekend a month.  His seminary classes were Tuesday through Friday, so it worked out all right.

The parsonage at Athens was in the country and a church member gave us a good milking cow for the summer.  They also had a garden planted for us.  We were all soon right at home there.  That summer Mom and Dad came to visit.  Merlin, Juanita and Carol also came for a few days.  These visits were special.  Ted and Bea Hibbard and their family stopped overnight as they moved from Alfred, New York, where Ted finished seminary, to Hammond-Metarie Churches as their new pastor.  That was special having them there.  They were special friends when we were in Alfred.  They had six children so our children enjoyed them also.

Our cow pastured in our next farm neighbor’s pasture with his cows, so I, or Edgar if he was home, led her home morning and evening to milk.  Annita, again, was my good, faithful “little mother.”  She kept the children when I was milking in the yard where I could see them playing.  The hardest time was the LONG week when Edgar was at church camp with our youth and I had to milk morning and night then.  This was the week Mom and Dad came for part of the week.  What a blessing that was to have them there.  A church member gave us an Airedale dog.  She was wherever the children were.  That summer Robert learned to crawl really fast.  He could keep up with Annita crawling.  One day I heard Princess yipping loud and went to look.  Robert was near the road and she would grab hold of his pants, then let loose long enough to call to me, then grab Robert again.  We had no yard fence, so I began going outdoors also when the children were in the yard.  That was a good lesson I learned without someone getting hurt, thankfully.

We continued hot water therapy with Robert, but only twice a day now.  We were thankful to have him crawling.  He even learned to climb out of his crib without falling onto the floor.  Whenever he did this, he always crawled to me, wherever I was, beaming with pride because he got out.

Ruth was her happy self and before summer was over she was crawling with Robert.  Annita was wherever they were.

That summer, we became really spoiled with all the milk we could drink, all the butter we could use and good buttermilk.  All too soon it was near time to go back to Seminary.

We pulled a trailer with our furniture in it.  We got into Athens and stopped to service our car.  When Edgar started again, the rear axle broke and we were stuck.  Thankfully we were close to church members, so we had a place to stay with Uncle George Bottoms’ parents while George and Edgar found someone who would weld the axle on Sunday.  Took most of the day and we were on our way again.  Seminary  basic class requirements were completed, so Edgar was taking electives to get the hours he needed.  He really enjoyed the first semester.  I enjoyed typing for students.  Again the PlainfieldChurch made our family their mission project.  What a blessing that was!  They sent monthly goodie boxes as well as a check each month.  Wendell was still Pastor and, I am sure, encouraged them.  He and Audrey through the years our children were growing up continued to buy our children each Christmas gifts and high school graduation outfits for boys and girls.  Audrey also took Edgar and me shopping once a year when we lived in Ashaway.  We learned to be thankful “receivers,” always appreciative of their thoughtfulness and generosity beyond what we deserved.  We determined to live out our gratitude, also, by helping others whenever we could.  It was a joy to fill needs of those around us.

I remember one Christmas when our children bought and made Christmas gifts for a neighbor family who were having hard times and had children the ages of some of our children.  The children took wrapped gifts to their home Christmas Eve after dark, placed the gifts around the door, rang the doorbell and quickly hid in nearby shrubs until the parents gathered the gifts and went back inside the house; then they then ran home so excited.  After that, they always “played Santa” to someone.  That and going Christmas caroling were traditions at Christmas through the years.

All too soon the semester at seminary was over.  Sometimes Edgar traveled by bus, sometimes by train, and at least once had a ride with other students who were traveling on beyond Paint Rock.  Good fellowship as he traveled.

When Christmas vacation arrived, we all drove to Paint Rock.  George Bottoms’ parents had sold their farm at Athens and moved back to Battle Creek, Michigan, and the Orland Sutton family had sold their farm and moved on beyond Paint Rock to Sand Mountain.  Now our membership were mostly close Paint Rock, where the Butler family lived, so they were trying to build attendance for worship in the Butler home in the beginning.

Christmas vacation, the church scheduled a week of Evangelistic services with Edgar preaching, so Edgar really had very little “vacation.”  Then in the middle of the week Edgar came down with flu and was very ill two days.  He had a guest speaker those nights.  Attendance was good all week.  Some people continued to worship with others in the Butler home until they rented a building and later built a church building in memory of a son they lost in World War II.

Vacation was over all too soon and we returned to seminary for Edgar’s last semester work.  Annita, then Robert, and then Ruth came down with chicken pox right after we returned to seminary.  Later, we heard that one of the Butler children got sick the day we left.  Early January Edgar was up all night putting finishing touches on his term paper and retyping it.  I fixed his lunch, fixed breakfast, then typed while he ate, showered and dressed for class.  I finished just in time for him to leave for class.  Then that evening, about dusk, a telegram arrived saying that Edgar’s father died suddenly during the day.  Edgar had to go alone to Kansas, so he flew, then returned on the train.  He was sick when he got home and continued not feeling well all semester.  Was a very difficult semester and he was glad he was only taking electives.  He continued making passing grades but not as good as before.

In April, Edgar felt that he needed to quit school.  We stored our furniture in Paint Rock, hoping to return and moved home with Mom and Dad, Rex and Beth for six months while Edgar got back on his feet.  He had a good Osteopathic physician there who treated him weekly and helped him get a job as Assistant Director of the State Boy Scout camps.  Being outdoors, busy with people, and enjoying interacting with the boys did him wonders and he regained health and energy.

July 20, actually the 19^th, I called the camp and had Edgar come home.  Richard Lee was born the next day with no problems in the OsteopathicHospital in Clarksburg.  Again we welcomed home a healthy, happy baby.  Richard, too, nursed then slept mostly the first few weeks.  The second big excitement that summer was that Robert was finally walking, but he had big trouble going up and down the banks so hHHis doctor put him in braces, which were attached to his shoes and helped him keep his balance.  How very proud Robert was to take steps by himself.  We were just as proud of him.

Beth and Rex were such good help with all the kids that summer.  Our family lived in the “cellar house” again, which we enjoyed.  Was a blessing to be close to Mom and Dad, Rex and Beth.  Neighbors gave me a baby shower.

Mae and Harry Lewis were married soon after we arrived home, so I was able to help with the reception at the house after the wedding.  Mae and Harry graduated from college in May and they moved to Illinois where Harry had a teaching job.  At the wedding we met Don Richards, Edna Ruth’s boyfriend.

Finally, Scout Camps were over and Edgar was home again to stay.  By September he had gotten a linotype job in Scottsboro, Alabama weekly paper.  We moved back and lived on SandMountain overlooking Scottsboro.  Our lawn was “sand” and while the children loved it, I grew tired of it.  Sand was everywhere inside as well as outside.  I finally took up our living room carpet before sand ruined it.

Edgar needed other work because this job was not stable.  He applied and got work as a linotype operator at the Huntsville Times, a daily newspaper.  This job he loved and we bought us a new home in Athens, Alabama and moved in when the home was finished.  Our home was on a dead end street – the last one.  Robert continued to crawl if he fell.  He could get there faster.  Annita continued to be “little mother” to Ruth and Robert much of the time.  All three loved to hold Richard.

We lived in Athens three years traveling to Paint Rock early every Sabbath Day.  Ralph Soper, Minor Soper’s father, was Pastor in Paint Rock and their new church building was finally ready to worship in it.  Some community people attended regularly and many traveled some distance to church.  We all brought food to share and had a “pot luck,” usually in the Senior Butler’s home.  More space there.  Bob and Grace and family lived next door to his parents on the home estate.  Their children and our children were best friends. Many were the good visits we had in their home and they in ours.

Edgar received a call to go back to DeRuyter as full time pastor.  He accepted the call.  We were eager to get back into full time pastoral service again but we had much to do in preparation.  Our home had to be sold.  We had bought a home, three rooms, bath and kitchen, then built onto it two rooms and a garage before Helen was born on September 24, 1952.  Grandma Wheeler came to stay three weeks, and how nice it was to have her with us.

Robert had his first muscle transplant surgery the week Helen arrived.  Grandma stayed until he could come home.  Robert was in Birmingham, Alabama for his surgery and Grandma staid there until he could come home.  He was in the hospital two days.  Came home the third day, then we had to take him back to the doctor the next week and they put him in a leg cast for several weeks to let the muscle begin to attach to the bone in the foot.  This surgery was to help Robert pull his right foot around pointing straight ahead when he took each step.  Although Robert was able to walk, his right foot and leg did not grow like the left which came back strong.  His right leg was always weaker.  Robert never let that stop him.  Whatever Annita, Ruth and Richard did, Robert did through the years: play ball, climb trees, whatever.  He tried anything and most things he mastered.  We were proud of him.

Our home sold right away.  The Paint Rock church had no pastor then and they offered us the Parsonage, asking Edgar to be summer pastor until we left to go to DeRuyter.  This we did, and Edgar continued to work at the Huntsville Times part time until we left in July or August.  Before we left, we had ten days of hot weather that did not get down below 90 degrees through the night.   Edgar had made a window fan in Louisiana and it made it so we could all sleep at night with air blowing on us. We were ready for cooler days.

Next Chapter: https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/2013/04/20/xenia-lee-8-deruyter-and-ordination-salemville/

Table of Contents: https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/2013/11/03/memories-of-xenia-lee-wheeler-table-of-contents/

 

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Xenia Lee: 6 NEWLYWEDS

Edgar and I started talking marriage after I graduated.  I was only seventeen so I needed my parents’ permission to marry.  One Sabbath afternoon in June Edgar asked Mom and Dad if he could marry me.  They wanted me to finish college first.  Dad asked Edgar how much money he made, warning us that we could not live on love alone.  I think Mom and Dad were shocked at what his monthly income was and finally Mom said, “Okay, you kids, of course you can get married with our blessing.”

Edgar decided not to sell produce he raised in his garden so we could can for the winter.  We canned lots of peas, green beans, tomatoes, carrots, beets, huckleberries and black berries.  We made strawberry jam and later sour kraut.  Lots of good eating was ready for the winter to come.  We even canned pickled stuffed peppers. Edgar helped me.

Dad could not remember us kids’ birthdays but he had no trouble remembering Mom’s.  So we were married on Friday evening, August 10, 1945, which was Mom’s birthday.

We were married Sabbath Eve on the hill beside the Middle Island Church at “Vesper Knoll.”  Alois was Edgar’s best man and Mae was my maid of honor.  I wore a beautiful blue two piece dress with white insert in the blouse.  Aunt Lydia made my wedding bouquet.  It was a hot August day and Edgar did not wear his suit coat at my insistence but just his suit trousers, white shirt and tie.  The sun was setting as we were married.  Mom and Dad held a reception at the house.  Our yard and house were full of family and friends when we got back from the church.  We had wedding cake, homemade ice cream and lemonade.  Freda Swiger went from the reception to her home in Marshville and drove back and forth to work for a while.

That night we went back to my apartment.  We wanted so much to begin our life together with God’s blessing.  We each were used to reading our Bible, meditating on God’s Word and praying before bed each evening, so it was natural to read it together this, our wedding night, and pray together before retiring.  We have continued to do that to this very day.  God has blessed us.

Gasoline was rationed during the war and, try as Edgar would, he could not get gasoline to drive to Kansas to visit his family.  So we left early the next week by bus.  There was a popular song we sang all the way in our hearts if not aloud: “Honeymoon on a Greyhound Bus.”  Truly it was.  How exciting that trip was as I traveled west for the first time.  I had never even been to Ohio, our neighboring state.  I expected to see cactus anytime.  I saw lots of flat farms with huge fields of corn or grain.  This was exciting!  I kept a diary along the way.  I think I still have it somewhere.  I did when we retired, anyway.

The bus got into St. Joe, Missouri bus station and the war in the Pacific was over!  All public transportation ceased wherever it was for twenty-four hours while everyone across our nation celebrated.  We were to change buses there and get one into Atchison, Kansas where Mom would pick us up.  St. Joe was not far from Edgar’s home.  That is where they brought livestock to market.  Edgar called his mother and she came to St Joe and took us home.  All gas rationing ceased immediately.  There was joyous celebrating everywhere.  I loved Edgar’s mother right away.  She made me feel so at home.  We went next door half a mile down the road to Charles’ home where Dad and Charles were putting a roof on the new barn they had just completed.  That was still a solid barn when Edgar was in Nortonville as pastor in the 1980’s.

We decided to send a telegram to Mom and Dad.  We told them, “If you will drive our car to Kansas and pick us up, we will all drive to Texas to visit Uncle Ian’s and Bond who were in the service and stationed not far apart there.  They came and we all went!  Now I did see real cowboys and cactus – the real West of radio stars, Roy Rodgers and Dale Evans.

In Texas we had cabins on Dallas Lake for the weekend and Bond arrived Friday evening by bus.  It was a special weekend of fishing and visiting.  We took Bond back to his camp and then started home through the Southern states.  I was really seeing the United States!  Mom and Dad were as excited as I was to see each new state we crossed.  Finally, we were in West Virginia again.  This had been a most memorable wedding trip.  Not many newly married couples could brag about their Mom and Dad taking them on their honeymoon, or even that they took parents with them on their honeymoon.

Nearing Sutton, we had Dad drive around the mountain and up the gravel road to Grandpa and Grandma Randolph’s home while we walked hand in hand up the path along the mountain side to my Grandparents from the opposite side.  We arrived near the same time!  It was here in Grandpa’s orchard we first “held hands” as we walked together.  After a short visit we drove on home, dropped Mom and Dad off, visited with my brothers and sisters and went to our own home again.  Home felt good!  God has been good.

After our two week plus “honeymoon” Freda continued to live in our apartment and Edgar and I rented my grandparents’ home across the street from the college.  What fun it was to live in their home where I was born and remember visiting when I was young.  We now had a living room with a gas fire place, a dining room, kitchen, bedroom and bath and a study besides a nice front porch with a swing on it.  How nice it was to sit together in the swing and relax evenings overlooking the college campus below.  There were 90-plus steps up the hill from the street to our home.  There was a gravel road that wound around the hill and came within 100 feet of our home on the flat hill top.  We used that road when moving in and in bad weather.  We kept our car at the end of the side walk in a parking area.  We always walked around Salem if the weather permitted.

It was soon time for “Freshman” orientation and my first year in college began.  I had full scholarship and once I acclimated to my schedule and became acquainted with teachers and students I was excited about being in school full time again.  There were many Seventh Day Baptist students, for Salem was a denominational school as were Milton, Wisconsin and Alfred University in New York State, which also housed our S. D. B. Seminary.  These students we worshipped with and had fellowship with in church and SabbathSchool as well as Bible study on Wednesday evenings.  Some we continue to correspond with.

Not long after school began, I started having an upset stomach often and found it hard to stay on my feet to get routine housework completed daily.  When I forced myself, I only got sicker until I finally vomited and then I felt fine.  I hurried to get things done around the house – cleaning, laundry, meals, ironing, studying – until the cycle built up to vomiting again.  I tried to keep up with everything but after two or three months of this cycle repeating itself I got so far behind I knew I must quit school, which I did.  My baby’s health was more important than my schooling.  I could rest more without feeling guilty and it was easier to keep up.

Edgar and I put up with people openly disapproving of my pregnancy and even giving us sexual advice which we did not ask for.  This really continued through the years at times.  Well meaning people, I am sure, felt compelled to share their “knowledge” with us “for our sake”.

Christmas time came and I continued to be sick most of the time.  Morning sickness had turned to 24 hour sickness and nothing seemed to ease it except vomiting.  Fortunately I could vomit easily.  We went over home the day before Christmas and while there I began having serious stomach cramps and then bleeding so Mom said I should go to bed and she would call her brother, my Uncle Ian.  He was home for Christmas and was an OB/gyn doctor in Chicago.  Uncle Doc came over home to check me out.  That night I had a miscarriage.  Edgar and I were both devastated and both cried together, comforting one another as best we could.  I remained in bed over home a few days.  Edgar went back and forth to work from there.  The fact that “some” people were “thankful,” probably, about our losing our baby only increased our pain of loss.  God is good and we look forward to finally holding our “baby” one day.

Knowing some folks did not think we should have a family until I had graduated from college, because they had told us that, just caused us more sorrow when they said they were sorry we lost the baby.  I think it made me “angry” also.  Others would express sympathy adding, “fortunately you have lots of time and can have other children”.  This was not comforting at the time, either.  “No other child could take the place of the one we lost no matter how many children we had”.  I was sure of that and I would not want them to try to do so.  Each child is his or her “unique” self – a true gift from God given to us to raise for Him.  We took having a family seriously and sincerely wanted God’s will done in our lives.

 Alfred University

I continued to grieve and yet did not want people expressing sympathy.  I felt we needed to get away from Salem and Edgar decided to leave Salem and attend Alfred University and Seminary the second semester, which we did.  Wiring had caught on fire and burned our engine in the car, so we sold it and traveled by train to Alfred (Hornel), New York and lived in the Gothic on the Seminary grounds with other ministerial students Edgar had been in Salem College with.  Edgar hoped to finish college requirements while taking Seminary classes, also.

Edgar got a job at the Alfred Sun as a linotype operator.  I was secretary to one of the chemistry professors at the University.  I also baby sat often as I could.  Wendell and Audrey had a baby a few months old.  We got by easily and loved Alfred.  Besides Wendell and Audrey, Rex and Bette Burdick also lived upstairs in the Gothic where seminary classes were held on the first floor.  We had a bedroom on the first floor with our own outside entry.

Sabbath night while Merlin was with us I had a nightmare so very real that I was sure I was being chased by someone through the seminary and out the front door with someone still behind me.  I was aware of the outside light being turned on – but it was the light outside our bedroom door and I turned to look in a dilemma.  I “knew” I ran out the seminary front door not our door.  Edgar said “Xenia Lee, come back here.”  I questioned, “Is that you, Edgar?”  “Who do you think it is?” he asked.  Here I was in my night gown on the snow covered sidewalk in the freezing cold between the Gothic and the University Girls’ Dorm at 2:30 in the morning.  The light had awakened me with a start.  I had been sleep walking – or running!  Only time ever as far as I remember.  I was shaking all over so Edgar helped me back to bed.  Actually, I had fallen down our four steps – there is no step outside the seminary front door.  I had gotten up and kept running until Edgar thought to turn the light on.  He had heard me open our bedroom door and ran to it to call me back.  I got up and kept going.  When Edgar got me into bed he needed to go to the bathroom across the hall but I begged him not to leave me.  Merlin was sleeping in the guest bedroom just above our bedroom.  Edgar got our broom and pounded it on the ceiling getting Merlin’s attention and called through the ceiling and his floor to have him come to our bedroom.  He did.  I can only imagine what all went through his mind as he came quickly down that flight of stairs to our room.  Edgar explained his need and Merlin stayed in the room with me until Edgar came back from the bathroom.  Being awakened while “sleep walking” is traumatic, I can tell you.  I think we all went back to sleep before morning.  We were thankful Merlin was there that Sabbath night.

Yes, someone was still awake in the Girls Dorm to report, “One of the Seminary couples had a quarrel and fight and the woman ran out on to the sidewalk with her night gown on.  The man came out and pulled her back inside.”  Rumors spread quickly and they came back to us.  After the fact, we could laugh about it.  Merlin bought me a nice necklace while he was visiting us and I still enjoy wearing it.

The very next Sabbath night we seminary students and wives ate supper with Clora and Everett Harris in their home.  He was pastor of the Alfred Seventh Day Baptist church.  We had split pea soup and a Jell-O salad on a lettuce leaf.  Delicious meal but the farther I got eating it the sicker I became.  When we finished, I tried to help clear the table but finally sat on the arm of Edgar’s chair in the living room as the men visited and watched my chance to tell him, “I have to go home.  I am really sick”.  We had walked to the parsonage.  Someone took us home and called the doctor (one block away) and he came to our room.  By then, I was vomiting and so very sick.  I had appendicitis and the Dr. said to go right to the hospital quickly as we could and he would be there waiting.  Rex Burdick took us in his car and fog was so thick both boys had their heads out the window part of the time to be sure we staid on the road.  I lay in the back seat.  I was glad for a nurse I knew helping care for me.  That was trauma again for Edgar and for me but I got along great and was soon home again.

The doctor and wife worshiped at our church so we knew them.  They had five boys – teenagers down to one about old enough for school.  Easter time he had a medical meeting and took Mrs. Hitchcock along for a week while Edgar and I staid in their home with the boys.  They were good boys and was like being home again for me.  The Dr. lived beside the Alfred Sun so Edgar was close work now.  We enjoyed that week and Edgar and I enjoyed the boys so very much.  We helped them with home work and then we all played games in the evening.  I remember there was a fresh pineapple in the refrigerator and I had to ask how to fix it.  Our first fresh pineapple – not the last.

One weekend Rex and Bette took us with them to Rex’s home in DeRuyter, New York.  We loved Rex’s family and had a good weekend with them.  His older brother, Wendell, and Virginia were married the same day we were and lived nearby.  We staid in their home.

DeRuyter Summer Pastorate

When school was out, the DeRuyter Church asked Edgar to be summer interim pastor.  We went to DeRuyter.  We loved the people there and had a busy summer in church BibleSchool and camp programs.  We also gardened.  Church members had planted our garden before we arrived.  We celebrated our first wedding anniversary there.  We got a letter from Dad.  It said, “This next Sabbath will be Mom’s birthday.” He made no mention of our first anniversary.  So much for the memory jogger!

Edgar had his first funeral at DeRuyter, a memorable first taste of ministry responsibilities.  The church member lived and died in New York City.  Edgar had never met him or his family.  It was time for the funeral and no one had arrived yet.  They were all coming on the train and it was late.  The organist played as we all waited.  They were bringing their Adventist pastor with them and he and Edgar were to work together conducting the funeral.  Finally, they arrived.  Edgar did not get to meet the family even before the service.  And here came their minister in formal attire – tuxedo complete.  Edgar’s only suit was “blue!”  All went well but was traumatic for Edgar.  I was plenty nervous for him.  Certainly a memorable experience.

We went to Conference that August, representing the DeRuyter Church.  Ted Hibbard, another seminary student, traveled with us.  Conference was in Milton, Wisconsin where Uncle Elmo was pastor now.  It was fun to be in their home again and see Ann, Dan and John.  Grandpa and Grandma Randolph lived with them.  They had sold their farm in West Virginia.  It was so nice to visit with them, also.

I kept feeling sick each day at Conference.  We suspected correctly that I must be pregnant again.  The doctor had said to wait six months before I got pregnant again, and we did.

The trip home to DeRuyter was long.  We stopped in Illinois to visit Edgar’s sister, Louise and family.  I loved Louise immediately.  All Edgar’s family were special.  Merlin and Bob were in the service and I had not met Bob yet.  I had met Bob’s wife and daughter Sharon Kay while in Kansas.  Bob arrived home from Iwo Jima in August.  He and his wife were soon separated.  He was devastated that Marge left him.  They had a new baby due in January.

The Cellar House – Our Home

From DeRuyter we returned to Salem in time to start college again there.  We lived with Mom and Dad until we could finish their cellar house that was started and build a small apartment over it for us to live in.  Edgar would finally graduate in May.  He had been five hard years working his way through college.

In September Mom and Dad Wheeler brought Bob to Salem College to begin his college education.  He had gone into the service right out of high school as so many boys did.  He and Margie were separated – she left him.

Bob, Edgar, Bond and Alois tore down a vacated house and brought the lumber home to build our apartment over the cellar house.  It had outside steps along the cellar down to Mom and Dad’s back porch.  Years later, Mom and Dad attached a garage to their home and extended their kitchen to attach the cellar to the kitchen through a new kitchen doorway.  Now people could go to the cellar house without being out in the rain or snow.  Our home was two rooms: a living-bedroom and a kitchen with pantry.  It was very light and toasty warm with gas heat and a stove Aunt Gertrude gave us when they remodeled.  We moved in on Christmas Eve.

Mom went each day with Dad to school to do his hot lunch program.  They rode the school bus back and forth most days.  Beth was in grade school and had permission to go to Laurel Run one room school with Dad when she started school.  Rex, Edna Ruth, Mae and Alois were in Bristol Junior/Senior High School.  I usually had supper ready for everyone when they got home.  They really appreciated that.  I was just glad I could do something to help.  They were really helping us for we paid no rent.

Bob settled right into college.  Bob roomed and boarded with the Methodist Pastor and family “in Jarvisville” the first semester.  He rode back and forth with Edgar, helping the boys build the cellar house when he could.  It was special to get to really know Bob and love him as a dear brother.  He roomed in Salem after the first semester.

We always had Bob come home with us after church in Salem for dinner and Sabbath afternoon and at times we had other college students with us also.  This was a special time and we enjoyed sharing Sabbath dinner with guests.  I often prepared an oven roaster meal and it was ready when we arrived home.  Often we played games or took hikes as we visited after dinner.

Dr. Rose was my doctor in Clarksburg and at each monthly check-up he gave us a pamphlet describing how our baby looked and had developed to that stage of life.  This was very special to us and very reassuring that all was well and we could watch him or her grow.  I was sick again a lot of the time but was able to rest more and keep going to accomplish work that had to be done daily and weekly.  After Christmas, we only had our two rooms, of course, and they were “new”.  I continued having supper ready down home for them when they arrived home from school each week day.  That was easy to do and I enjoyed helping them that way.

Our baby was due in April.  When I went for my March check-up, Dr. Rose told me he would be on vacation the middle of the month but assured me he would be back before my delivery date.

Annita is born

On Friday night, March 21, 1947, I awakened early in the night all stuffy in the head, so reached for the Vicks I knew was on the bedside table.  As I was taking the lid off of the bottle I thought, “I put the green ink on that table last night when I was writing in my Journal.”  Just in case it was not Vicks I turned the bottle up to smell the contents.  (My straight pen had to be dipped into the ink often as I wrote letters or whatever.)  SPLASH!!  Green ink was all over me and the bed was well sprinkled also.  Edgar jumped up and turned the light on.  Looking at me he started to laugh then picked up the hand held mirror and handed it to me.  What a sight: I had green teeth, green hair, green all over my face and upper body as well as the bed around me!  I started to laugh and the more I thought what I looked like the more I laughed until I could not stop.  Edgar was about as bad.  We went into hysterics together.  I forgot I had a stuffy nose and it did not bother me again.  Time to get busy.  We kept a bucket of water up in our apartment so I heated water, brushed my  teeth, bathed, washed my hair and then had to curl it before going back to bed.  Edgar changed the bedding and made the bed up for us, cleaning up any other spills near the bed also.  I am sure a comic movie would not have brought more laughs that night.

We were finally able to get back to bed, but before I could get to sleep I felt like I had better use the “bedside pot” again before going to sleep so I got up and soon realized I was leaking fluid and had a bloody discharge, also, but no cramps or pain, so we did finally get to sleep again.  We managed to wait until after daylight and our breakfast to go down home to tell Mom what was going on.  How she laughed just hearing about it!

Sabbath morning I did begin having occasional cramps and pain so Edgar did not go to church.  I pretty much rested and walked or read through the day.  By late afternoon, pains were regular and much harder so Mom called the doctor and he said to come into the hospital, which we did.  Mom went with us and I was so very glad, for they would not let Edgar, or anyone, come into the Labor Room after they took me in there.  At least Mom was with him, I thought.  He never did well not knowing what was going on when I was not well or when our babies arrived.  Maybe because of this experience.

There were other women in the Labor Room.  The nurse who did my prep and examined me said I would probably deliver within an hour.  The doctor would come when they called and told him that I was ready, she said.  The Doctor ordered “something” put in the IV they had going in my arm.  Before the nurse went off duty she had me pushing down with each contraction “to help the baby along,” she said.  Women came and went and I was still there.  The night passed and I slept some between pains.  Pains were not regular as they had been.  A nurse observed me bearing down on a pain and scolded me saying that was harmful and not helpful for sure.  I stopped gladly for I was very sore from trying to bear down on contractions anyway.  The morning passed and on into mid-afternoon nothing had changed.  I was really thankful Mom was with Edgar to be sure he was eating meals.  I had had nothing to eat all day, of course.

Mom watched for the nurse to leave and she sneaked into my room and said, “Xenia Lee, you have to bear down on each pain as if you were having a difficult bowel movement.”  I said, “I cannot do that,” and she quickly and softly said, “I do not care what they tell you, you do as I say and you will have this baby,” and she was gone.  By now the nurse was not paying any attention to me anyway.  I did as Mom said and soon the nurse observed me and became very excited saying, “I see the head.  Get her into the delivery room quick.”  “You go call the doctor,” she said to another nurse.  Soon I was on the table with my legs strapped together against the table and being rolled to the Delivery Room.  Once in there I was put on the delivery table and again my legs were together on the sheet and strapped down awaiting the doctor.  A nurse popped her head in the door saying that the doctor’s line is busy and she could not get him.  Someone snapped, “Call the operator and tell her this is an emergency and have her break in to the doctor.”

My pains were almost continual now and severe.  I said, “Unstrap me and I am not afraid to have this baby with your help”.  More compassionate now, the nurse said, “I am really sorry but there is a rule here that no baby can be born without a doctor present.”  So we waited an eternity longer.  I had read articles, “war stories,” about women during the Second World War being mistreated by the “Powers that be” by strapping their legs together during labor letting the mother and baby die.  Then into my mind I thought of friends of ours in college who were expecting a baby in January and the wife and mother died during delivery.  The baby lived.  The husband could not find out from anyone what caused her death.  I wondered!

I remember seeing the doctor finally enter the Delivery Room.  Suddenly I had an ether mask placed on my nose with orders to breath in it and it would ease the pain.  I was aware of my legs being unstrapped and the next thing I remember was someone saying, “She is dead.”  I vividly remember hovering above the table seeing people around the delivery table with heads looking down.  I knew we had had a baby girl and she had died.  I had to find Edgar so he was not alone finding out what had happened.  I remember traveling through the hospital to a room with a water fountain.  It was beautiful!  I kept saying “Edgar, I have to go back and find Edgar.  He needs to be told and I need to tell him.  Please let me go back”.  A gentle but authoritative voice said, “She wants to go back.  Let her go back.”

I awakened in my room calling for Edgar but he was not there.  Mom was there reassuring me all was well, but I only wanted Edgar, so she went to look for him.  Soon he came into the room and I told him we had a baby girl but she is dead.  He assured me she is alive and he has just seen her.  “She is perfect and beautiful,” he said.  I was very confused because I clearly heard them say, “She is dead.”  I even had Mom see if I remembered correctly about being in that beautiful water fountain area.  I explained carefully where it was and what I had seen on the way.  Mom said it was the ether playing tricks on me, but to appease me she went to “look” for the water fountain anyway.  She came back excited telling me it was exactly as I described it and she found it right where I told her to go look.  Then she said it was in a part of the hospital she had never been in.  If our baby is okay then who – were they talking about? Me?  I had a strong feeling that if we had another baby I would not live to deliver it.  This haunted me for we did want a large family, if we had our “wants.”

In my daily Bible readings, I came to 1 Timothy 2:15 in which God spoke clearly to my heart and I held tight to that verse.  “But women shall be preserved (saved) through the bearing of children if they continue in faith and love and sanctity with self restraint.”  God is good and faithful in keeping His word.  I bear testimony to that.

Edgar came daily to the hospital to see me and brought Bob in with him at least once.  That day the nurse brought the wrong “W…” baby to the window and Edgar insisted that was not his baby girl.  Sure enough it was another “W..” girl.  Edgar was so very proud of Annita and said the other baby was ugly and he knew it was not our baby girl.  Bob got a laugh out of that.

I was in the hospital seven days and still not up walking about.  I went home in an ambulance.  Fortunately we had Health Insurance that covered all the medical and hospital bills.  I had good care at home and Annita Marie did, also.  We thrived with Mom and Mae’s loving, faithful care and were soon able to be outside in the fresh air and sunshine.

Annita weighed 5 lb. 6 oz. and was soon back to birth weight and continuing to gain rapidly.  She was our pride and joy and had lots of attention from Uncles and Aunts as well as parents and grandparents.  All were glad to take turns holding her.  Edgar even took her to work with him in evenings and laid her on the floor near him.  People really laughed at him but he did not care, he was so proud of her.  Annita had a lot of colic so cried off and on.  We soon learned to give her her bath in the evening before her 9:00 feeding and she would then sleep until her 2:00 a.m. feeding.

I am sure Annita caused more ache in Bob’s heart to see his new baby girl, Vicky Lee, and his older daughter, Sharon Kay, also.

Dedicated Service in Florida

At Easter time, cousin Elizabeth Fits Randolph, Pastor of the Daytona Beach S.D.B. Church, was home visiting.  Daytona Beach wanted a seminary student to do Christian service in Outreach for six weeks.  The Women’s Board of the denomination was in Salem at that time.  The Women’s Board would finance the project by paying that student so much a month and travel expenses.  Edgar was asked to go. We considered it and finally told them, “Yes.”  Bob and Edgar decided to buy a car together and we would take Bob home, visit there a few days and then drive to Florida.  In order to do all this we left before graduation so they mailed Edgar his diploma.  Bob rode or drove on to Florida with us and then hitchhiked back home to Kansas.  Bob had transfered to Kansas University in their pre-med program.

Our destination was Palatka, Florida.  We arrived there and Edgar knocked on the door where we were to stay.  A lady who answered did not invite him in.  She asked, “Where did you come from up North?”  He told her West Virginia and Kansas.  She said, “That is south of the Mason Dixon Line.  Come on in.”  We did gladly.  This was our first hint that some were not past the Civil War yet.”

Edgar’s work was to visit days, have evangelistic meetings each evening for a week, then conduct a week of all day long Bible School for the children, 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., probably.   I taught in BibleSchool and took Annita with me.  Edgar directed and taught.  Elizabeth taught a class, too. We had a picnic and program for the children and their parents the last day.  A memorable summer!  There is a Fellowship, maybe a church, there now.

After two weeks in Palatka we moved north to Carraway to repeat our visiting, evening services and BibleSchool.  The DaytonaChurch or Women’s Board furnished a trailer.  Elizabeth pulled it behind her car to each new location for us to live in.  In the CarrawaySeventhDayBaptistChurch one family, the Price family, are still active and leaders in that church.  They were in our BibleSchool.  At that time there was a Fellowship in Carraway and they had a pastor.  He worked elsewhere through the week but preached there Sabbaths.  He wore clean overalls each Sabbath.  There was a pail of water on the table beside the pulpit.  Occasionally he would reach over, get a dipper of water, and drink it, or he might place the bail over his head and drink straight from the pail.  People in the congregation would walk up front during the service and follow suit.

From Carraway we moved north to Florahome for two weeks.  Even though we were in the same trailer home, Annita seemed to know we had changed locations and she would not sleep that night.  She was six weeks old when we left West Virginia – our pride and joy.  At Carraway I saw a wild boar (pig) come into the yard while she lay in her basket in the yard near the door.  In Florida the trailer got very hot even though we parked in shade.  “Shall I trust the boar will not come near Annita or should I run, grab her up and run back in the door quickly?”  I ran to get her and that frightened that wild pig away.  I never left Annita in the yard again and went back into the house.  One night we left our garbage pail under the edge of the trailer home and were rocked during the night when wild pigs tried to get the lid off.  We learned not to leave garbage out at night.

As far as I know, only Florahome does not have a group meeting today.  That summer was a truly good learning time for us.  We loved the people.  They were “country” and sincere.  We had good attendance and good parental support everywhere for BibleSchool and evening meetings.

When our two weeks at Florahome were over it was time for Southwestern Association meetings in Hammond, Louisiana.  Elizabeth was going to drive to Hammond and would gladly pull the mobile home if we would go along.  We did and that was a good experience, also.

During the summer we noted that our S.D.B.  Publishing House in Plainfield, New Jersey, was looking for a new linotype operator.  Edgar applied and got the job, beginning September 1.  We wanted to get all our debts paid off before Edgar started seminary.

Edgar’s cousin Audrey’s husband, Wendell Stephan, was pastor in Plainfield.  We wrote them to please watch for an apartment for us.  They rented an upstairs three-room apartment and the occupants were leaving in September.  They wanted us to take it, which we did.  Was fun living in the home with them again.  We lived with them in the Gothic in Alfred when Wendy was a baby.  She was two now.  They were dear friends to us through the years.

Edgar could walk to work and loved his work.  The Plainfield people made us feel at home and we were active in the church, Ladies Aid, Young Married Class and fellowship.   These were good months in Plainfield.  We were very careful with our money and paid all our debts by February and were able finally to begin saving.

In March, Edgar had a call to serve the Hammond Church and to go to Seminary at Southern Baptist in New Orleans, they said.  Edgar applied and was accepted there, to begin in September.

Next Chapter: https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/2013/04/20/xenia-lee-7-seminary-and-the-ministry-i-learn-again-to-pray-without-ceasing/

Table of Contents: https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/2013/11/03/memories-of-xenia-lee-wheeler-table-of-contents/

 

Links to my site:

Introduction https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/2013/07/14/introduction/

Graphic Arts https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/2013/07/14/i-graphic-arts/

Architecture https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/2013/07/14/ii-church-architecture-and-its-incorporation-of-art/

Music https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/2013/07/14/iii-music/

Theology https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/2013/07/14/iv-theology/

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Xenia Lee: 5 SOPHOMORE, JUNIOR AND SENIOR YEARS OF HIGH SCHOOL

That Smartie, Edgar Wheeler

Edgar Wheeler came into Summers’ store one evening when I was standing behind the candy counter near the front door.  I took note, for I had not seen him before and there were not many boys his age still at home in the U.S.  The boys seemed to all be in some branch of the service as World War II was on.

As Edgar came back through the store I asked, “May I help you?  Would you like to buy a box of candy or something else?”  He said that he would “buy a box of those chocolate caramels, but I do not have anyone to give them to.”  Quickly I responded, not taking time to think, “You can always buy them for me.”  Immediately I wondered what was wrong with me to say that.  Edgar went on to talk with Mr. Summers about something.  Mr. Summers was on the Board of Directors of the Seventh Day Church of God Publishing House where Edgar was the linotype operator.  He put himself through Salem College working there.

As Edgar left he stopped again at the candy counter and said, “I changed my mind.  I want a box of those chocolates after all – and please wrap them to mail.”  I did as he said and he took the box of candy with him.  A few days later a familiar box came in the mail at home for me!  He had gotten my address from Lila Saunders, his home town acquaintance who also worked there.  By this time Edgar had been in the store almost daily and I noticed the young women all hovered around him.  By then I knew he was in college and I decided he was a college flirt.  I never thought that since he had to be one of the very few young men in college at that time, all the young women naturally wanted him to notice them.  They were the flirts.

Edgar was exempt from service because he was studying for the ministry.  As long as he was in school he was not called up.

The store closed at sundown Friday evening for the beginning of the Sabbath, then it opened again the next day, Sabbath evening, after sunset and was open until 9:00 p.m.  The “Blue Laws” prohibited stores from opening Sundays but Mr. Summers got special permission to be open Sundays because they were closed on Sabbath Day.  When I got home Friday evening I was told I had a box in the mail.  I was excited until I saw the box.  Dad said, “Aren’t you going to open it?”  I responded, “No, I know what it is.  A college smartie sent it to me.”  I do not remember if I ate any of that first box of candy because I gave it to my brothers and sisters to eat.  They were happy to eat “store bought” candy.

Some weeks later Dad asked, “Did you thank the young man for the candy?”  I said, “No, I did not write him a ‘thank you.’”  Dad shamed me enough that I realized I needed to acknowledge I received the candy.  I did mail Edgar a “thank you.”  Then before long I received another identical box of caramels for “Valentine’s Day.”  I quickly thanked him for that box.  I was not waiting for Easter time.

Edgar occasionally came into the store, and I noted how all the girls threw themselves at him.  I made myself scarce but we did occasionally visit.  That next year we had what you might call a “passing acquaintance.”  I let him know I was not interested in dating any boy.  School work, sports and my job took all my time.

For Christmas my sophomore year I got my first “store bought” coat and had it on one winter morning early as I waited for a teacher to take me to school.  There was a filling station in front of Aunt Lydia’s home and I waited there for my ride each Monday morning after I remained in Salem during the weekend.  Edgar drove in to get gasoline in his car and he spoke to me very friendly.  I secretly found myself being thankful I had my new coat on.  I said to myself, “Who are you trying to fool?  Why do you care if you are wearing your new coat or an old one?  You must like Edgar a little bit!”  That was my first hint deep inside me that Edgar was indeed someone “special” to me.  From this point on I had a “mission.”

One day that spring of my sophomore year in high school Edgar parked in front of Summer’s Store, and I noted a girl in the front seat with him.  The other young clerks in the store began gawking without being detected and they were wagging their tongues saying that he was engaged and that must be his girlfriend.  She, it turned out, was a friend of Allen Bond’s wife, Katie.  Allen Bond was Edgar’s best friend.  They had arranged a blind date after much encouragement and indeed he was engaged.  I decided Eleanor must be the right girl for Edgar and I had lost my chance to date him when I was ready to begin dating.

Edgar roomed and boarded with my Aunt Allie Fitz Randolph, so one day when she was in the store I casually said to Aunt Allie, “I hear Edgar is engaged to be married.”  She commented, “Eleanor is not the girl for him.  He plans to be a minister.”  I remembered her comment and had a glimmer of hope again.  Then I remembered, “I want children who are free to be children.  Parishioners in Alfred Station, New York thought Ann should be perfect even though she was only three.  She let a neighbor’s rabbit out of its cage once and caused quite a stir in the fellowship.  “We should have kept closer tab on where Ann was and what she was doing.”  I was the one “watching” her that day.  I made a mental note that “I would never marry a minister.”  They were expected to be perfect and to have perfect children no matter what their age.  I wanted my children to be free to be “children.”  That was that!

Now that I knew Edgar was engaged, I was not afraid he would think I, too, was chasing him if I was friendly.  So I more freely visited with him when he came into the store.  We could visit about any subject.

One Friday evening my parents came to pick me up and parked in front of the store.  I went out to tell them we were just closing up the store and I would be out in ten minutes.  Edgar was walking by just then and spoke to me.  My parents, Aunt Madeline and Aunt Gertrude all taught me manners.  I knew I must introduce him to Mom and Dad.  They were still visiting when the store was closed and I was ready to go home.  On the way home Dad commented that he certainly did not see anything wrong with “that nice farm boy.”  I had not told them that he was engaged.  I took note of Dad’s remark (I still remember it), and began praying for God to open my heart and eyes to His will where Edgar was concerned.  Should I “encourage” or “forget” him?  When my Daddy was so ill and not expected to live I learned that I could pray honestly about anything and God would listen and respond to me.  He truly answered my prayers.  I needed God’s wisdom and leading in what He wanted me to do about being friendly with Edgar.

Again that summer I worked in the store full time, not just weekends.  Edgar and I visited often.  In early June he went home on the bus (I thought).  He started on the bus, he said later, so I would not know he was hitchhiking.  I received a letter from him that he had written in the middle of the night after he walked across the Mississippi River bridge in St. Louis, Missouri.  He said a policeman stopped and asked him what he was doing sitting on the sidewalk.  He answered “writing to a friend.”  The policeman commented that he had never heard that reason given before.

After Edgar returned to Salem he broke his engagement.  I took note of course.  Aunt Allie told me about it gladly. Secretly I was glad also.

My Junior and Senior Years In High School

That 4^th of July, Bond borrowed a pickup cattle truck from the farmer where Bond worked. We children rode in the back and Mom and Dad in the cab with Bond.  All of us went to Sutton to Grandpa and Grandma Randolph’s home on Bug Ridge to celebrate the 4th of July.  Edgar went with us (I had asked Mom and Dad if I could invite him since Edgar would be alone on the 4th.  They gave permission.)  Edgar drove over home and rode with us children standing up in the back of the pick-up holding onto the cattle rack.  It must have been over seventy miles to Grandpa’s.  Can you even imagine letting a child ride in the back of a pickup “sitting down” for a very short distance on our highways today?

We had a great day at the farm roaming and talking.  Edgar and I walked alone through Grandpa’s large apple orchard and we visited all the way.  That was our beginning and we have held hands and walked through the years and still walk daily.  Life only gets better as we age and count our blessings.  God is so good and has been through the years.  That summer Edgar and I did some dating.  Mostly he walked me to Wednesday evening Bible study and prayer service or walked me home from the store when it closed at 9:00 p.m., talking all the way.

My junior year in high school we continued to be friends, dating occasionally.  I had little time for dating still.  We did visit often at the store.  I was on the journalism staff for our school paper and that was fun.  I was also in our class play that year.  A fun year!  We had no younger male teachers left by then.  All were in the service of our country.  Teachers were scarce and I was selected by someone to be a substitute teacher when needed at the grade school, which was beside the High School on our side of the street.   I found that challenging but also rewarding.  Of course I got no pay except, “Thank you.”  That was enough.

I did have a date for my junior prom with Eugene Matthey, a senior.  Bond had a girlfriend at Big Isaac and he took her and drove Dad’s car.  Gene and I sat in the back.  He was so bashful I am not sure we danced at all but I had a date like the other girls.  Bond dropped me off at home, then Eugene at his home before taking his girl home.  I felt all dressed up and excited about the Prom at a Hotel!  I thought about not going but was glad I went.

Summer came and again I stayed at Aunt Lydia’s during the week to work.  Edgar and I did more dating that summer.  Even went to some movies.  I taught in summer Junior Camp at MiddleIslandChurch and Edgar came over on Sabbath Day, Visitors’ Day.  The camp cook prepared a picnic meal for everyone and in the afternoon the campers conducted a worship service.

Evening vespers were on “Vesper Knoll” which was the hill top beside the church.  God spoke to my heart there as we watched the sun set.  Over a year later Edgar and I would be married on that knoll at sundown with a small group of family present.  That was a perfect sunset.  Pastor Marion and Erma Van Horn and their children were present.  Years later Pastor Van Horn pastored a church in central New York near the one Edgar pastored and we always got together with them for our anniversary during the years we lived there.  That was special.

Finally, I was a senior.  Many of the girls in my class were married to servicemen but were finishing school.  One was my best friend, Freda Pasey, who married Eugene Swiger who was in the Navy.  Through the years we have kept contact at Christmas.

Edgar and I were openly and regularly dating then.  I was editor-in-chief of our school paper and Edgar did much of the art work, maybe all of it, as we set up our page headlines and features.  Everyone was proud of the paper, “The Bristolite.”  The school had never had a yearbook printed, at least not during the war when I was there.  Our journalism teacher got permission for us to print one: class pictures, officers, sports teams, band, glee club, clubs, Last Will and Testament and Class Prophesy.  We in the Journalism Club put on a play that year to raise money to print the paper and the Yearbook.  Edgar got permission at the Church of God Publishing House where he worked to print the pages with pictures for us if we would furnish the paper.  That is what we did.  We even had a popularity contest and printed pictures of the winners.  Our journalism class all loved Edgar.  He was very popular around school.

The Year Book was going to be expensive so the Journalism Class decided and got permission to put on a play for the public to raise the money needed to print a nice Year Book at the end of our senior year.  The first semester of that year we practiced for weeks and then put on “Lay Down, You’re Dead”.  I was one of the lead characters.  I always loved acting and memorizing, so this was “fun” and lots of work and time.  In the Spring I was in our Senior class play which was a musical (quite a challenge for me but I loved it) called “Piggly Wiggly, Help Yourself”.  Again I was one of the main characters and I still remember some of the words to that song.

Piggly Wiggly, Help Yourself, in everything you do,
Piggly Wiggly, help yourself to win, it’s right up to you.
Only your own efforts will put you at the top,
Keep on hustling, don’t ever stop.
Piggly Wiggly, help yourself in everything you do.

This was a good year full of good experiences and many challenges.

When we had Senior Sneak Day, Edgar drove his car, full of class members, to Webster Springs for the day.  Later in the year he also drove a carload of our “Health and Nursing” class on a field trip to Weston to visit the Insane Asylum there.  That was very informative but also traumatic for many of us, including Edgar, as we went even through the locked doors to various parts of the hospital on our tour and visited with some of the residents (patients) there.

My Grandfather Bond was very ill during that year, and Aunt Lydia went home to help care for him until he died.  She called me at school since Mom and Dad had no phone at that time.  I had to tell Mom that Grandpa had died.  I called Edgar and he took me over home with the message for Mom.  Mom took their car and went to her home until after the funeral.  (Dad always rode the school bus to and from school.)  Edgar told Mom he would bring Dad and our family up for the funeral, which he did.  It was, of course, held in their home.  We grandchildren sat upstairs and the adults filled the downstairs.  It was a big funeral and Grandpa was buried on the hill near their home.  Grandma lived to hold Annita when she was a baby.  I had a four generation picture.

I had an unforgettable experience at the “senior” prom.  Juniors always decorate and prepare the program for the seniors around a theme.  That year, they chose a Hawaiian theme.  The president of our class had been called to the service and I was vice president so I became acting president the rest of the year.  That meant I had to give a “Thank you” speech to the junior class with all the teachers, escorts and board members present.  I was never at ease in front of people if I was the center of attention.  “I got through my planned speech without forgetting anything!” I thought to myself.  My next thought was, “What did I say last?”   I had no idea.  Thinking fast, I remembered how I ended my speech so I went to that, smiled and said “muchas gracias,” and sat down terribly embarrassed.

Jerry, one of the boys in my class, asked me to go to the prom with him and he was to take me home.  After it he said to me, “You wait here on the corner in front of the hotel while I get my car.”  I waited along with several other girls.  I waited and waited.  He never came.  Finally there was only one girl left and her mother would not leave until she knew I was safely on my way home.  Then a policeman walked by.  (Policemen walked the streets of town in those days.)  When I explained my dilemma to him he checked the parking lot a block or so away and came back to tell me it was empty.  I told him Mrs. Helmick and her daughter, Patty, would take me home.  We would go to Marshville to their home and leave Patty’s Mother, then Patty would drive me home and stay the remainder of the night – which was getting shorter all the time.  Next morning Mrs. Helmick would call the school and tell them we girls would be tardy coming to school but would be there.  I thought the policeman would report this but he did not, so when my parents came to town looking for me they went to the police and they knew nothing at Headquarters.  Mom and Dad called our Principal and he only knew he saw me standing on the corner waiting for Jerry.  Several others stopped to check on me also as they left the Hotel.  I was thankful Mrs. Helmick insisted she would not go home until she knew I had a ride home.  Mom and Dad had first gone to Jerry’s home on the way to town and found him home in bed so they went to the Police where they called the Principal.  When I got home with Patty, Mom and Dad had gone looking for me.  I can just imagine the trauma all this was for them not being able to find out anything and knowing Jerry was home sleeping!  Of course when they came home they were glad to see Patty’s truck there.  We were quite late going to school and when we arrived “everyone” seemed to know I had been “stood up”.  I “almost” felt sorry for Jerry – but not quite.  He reaped what he had sown for sure!  Trauma!!

School was soon out and I had graduated valedictorian of my class.  Yes I had to give a speech again.  This time I had learned “it is not over until it is over.”  I did not forget my lines.  We had achieved victory in Europe and hopefully the war would soon be over in the Pacific and our boys could come home again.  I spoke of the past and present and that a brighter future was on the horizon, full of hope and blessing along with peace.  Edgar proudly attended my graduation.  I bought my first dress from a Dress Shop in Salem, a white dress, to wear under our white graduation gowns.  I felt really well dressed.

Summer came and I began working full time at the store again.  I asked Mom and Dad if Freda Swiger and I could rent an apartment together for she worked the same hours I did at the store.  They gave permission and we rented an apartment near my Aunt Doc’s home.  Aunt Doc died while I was living in New YorkState with Uncle Elmo’s family and Aunt Elsie died after that.  Their home was made into apartments and some of my cousins lived in them.  A cousin, Greta Randolph, a teacher who never married, owned the home at that time and rented it to college students.  Our Ruth lived there two years while she was in SalemCollege.

When Freda’s husband, Gene, came home on leave, I stayed at Aunt Lydia’s home again until he left so they could have the apartment to themselves.  Gene’s mentioned how much they appreciated that many years later when we were in West Virginia taking care of Mom and Dad after Edgar retired.

Next Chapter: https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/2013/04/20/xenia-lee-6-newlyweds/

Table of Contents: https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/2013/11/03/memories-of-xenia-lee-wheeler-table-of-contents/

 

Links to my site:

Introduction https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/2013/07/14/introduction/

Graphic Arts https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/2013/07/14/i-graphic-arts/

Architecture https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/2013/07/14/ii-church-architecture-and-its-incorporation-of-art/

Music https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/2013/07/14/iii-music/

Theology https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/2013/07/14/iv-theology/

Home Page https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/

Xenia Lee: 4 OUR TURN TO HELP OTHERS

I Live With Uncle Elmo’s Family

I went to Bristol Junior-Senior High School again the first semester of my eighth grade. At Christmas time, Uncle Elmo and Aunt Madeline were home and came over to visit us. They had a daughter two years old, Ann, and they were expecting a new baby in the summer. Uncle Elmo was Pastor at Alfred Station, New York. Aunt Madeline was so sick they asked if I could go home with them and attend the next semester of eighth grade there while helping them in their home. Mom and Dad talked about it and decided to let me go home with them. That was an exciting trip for me who had never been out of West Virginia. The Pennsylvania Turnpike had just opened and our road we were traveling went under the Turnpike, which had two lanes of traffic going each way. I was really impressed.

When we got to New York State we began to see snow on the road, but we were soon “home.” The parsonage was huge, ceilings high, rooms spacious, a separate dining room and upstairs there were four, maybe five, bedrooms. One was Uncle Elmo’s study. I had my own bedroom. Ann had her own bedroom and Uncle Elmo and Aunt Madeline their room. Downstairs there was a “parlor” that was huge, besides the living room that opened into the dining room.

At church I met Jean Palmer who was in the eighth grade, also, and we became best friends and have staid in touch through the years. She and her husband came to visit us when we lived in Ashaway, Rhode Island. We always saw them when we went to Alfred. God has been good to give me good friends through the years. Jean came to visit me once with Uncle Elmo’s family after I went home. That was special.

Alfred Almond School was even larger – much larger – than Bristol. It had just been built in the country and opened the year before I was there. It had students from First Grade through Twelve. We had not previously registered, so I had to do that before going to my assigned home room. When I opened the door to my home room, everyone rose in greeting and I became embarrassed immediately. Then I realized that the soft bell I heard as I opened the door obviously was the signal to go to the first class. Now I must find my way to my first class. A kind student helped me get to the right place each period throughout the day. I wondered if I could ever learn my way around such a rambling building.

I found classes fairly easy but at times challenging which was good for me. Thankfully, I made good grades and did not have to take State Regents Exams when school was over.

I was on the softball team at school and loved that sport. I remember one very hot, sunny June day I had a heat stroke while playing. I remember after I quit playing and they were putting cool clothes on me. I just kept getting hotter and then got sick at my stomach. I avoided playing hard in hot direct sunlight after that experience.

Every Sabbath Eve (Friday evening), we ate by candle light and lit our Sabbath candle after our supper devotions. Uncle Elmo often led in a singing grace, afterward then we enjoyed our meal as a family. It was a good four months plus that I lived with Uncle Elmo’s family.

I especially enjoyed the Youth Activities at church, and I sang in the choir. I loved Uncle Elmo’s Ann and she loved me. We had good times as I played with her daily. I really missed Ann when I came back home.

While at Uncle Elmo’s I turned thirteen. I went home a teenager. For my birthday Aunt Madeline had made me a beautiful blue plaid jumper with a ruffly white blouse. I wore it proudly for several years. I seemed to have my growth by that time.

Dad’s school was out in May and mine not until after the first week in June was over. That first week of June, Mom and Dad drove to Alfred Station to visit Uncle Elmo’s and Mother’s brother, Orson, and family who lived in Alfred. Uncle Elmo had planned to take me home the next week and then he would take Grandma Randolph back with him to help when Aunt Madeline was in the Hospital. Not wanting Mom and Dad to leave without me, I went home with them! I had been away long enough.

Bond, Mae, Edna Ruth, Rex, Alois and Beth ran out to meet us when Dad drove into the driveway at home. What a happy reunion we had! Aunt Ada had stayed there while Mom and Dad were away to be with the kids at home.

Before I went to live in the Alfred Station Parsonage with Uncle Elmo’s I thought nothing about the size of our home. It was “home” and I loved it and I also loved the people in it. But when I walked into our kitchen I could not believe how low the ceiling was. I walked through the house and marveled at the low ceiling in every room. It was an adjustment being home again and sharing my bedroom with my three sisters. Nevertheless it was great to be home.

I Help Uncle Main and Aunt Gertrude

Before school began again that fall, Mother’s youngest brother, Uncle Main, asked if I could stay with them in Weston until the end of the first semester of school. They were expecting a new baby in the fall. They had three other children, two in school. Their second son had diabetes and needed shots daily. I did go to live with them that semester. Anna Margaret was perhaps three and we shared a bedroom.

The grade school was across the street from the High School a mile or more away from their home. I walked to school with Walter Lee and James Ian week days – the Grade School was across the street from the High School. I dropped them off, went to the High School and then joined the boys and we walked home together. We had to cross Main Street right in the middle of town en route each way. Uncle Main and Aunt Gertrude often thanked me for being so patient with the boys. They were easy boys to love and take care of.

While I was staying with Uncle Main’s, a friend, Dick Bond, from the church in Salem was visiting his Grandparents at Lost Creek. He asked me for a date taking me to a movie downtown. I accepted. Dick came on the street car. It ran behind our back yard. About all I remember about that date was Uncle Main encouraging his boys to tease us. Dick was as bashful as I was. I do not think we dated again. We were good friends. He was in Aunt Lydia’s home where I stayed in Salem sometimes and I went to his home some. His sister, Nellie Jo, and I were good friends. I do remember that Dick gave me some Jorgens hand lotion for Christmas. It was the first lotion I ever had. It smelled so good and it felt good on my hands and face. I do not remember giving him a gift.

While I was in Weston Ruby Oldaker was my best friend. Her twin brothers sang on the radio. They were famous in that area. I introduced Ruby to my family. She and her brothers came to visit, and next thing I knew Bond was dating Ruby and she had little time for me anymore!

I came home from Uncle Main’s just before Christmas. Aunt Lydia worked at Summer’s Variety Store in Salem. She knew they were hiring extra help during the Christmas season so I applied for work and began working for twelve or fifteen dollars a week. I gave part of it to Mom and Dad each week. Can’t remember how much I kept. They liked my work and hired me regularly on weekends and holidays. The next summer I worked all summer at Summers Store.

Activities

While I was in Morris School, Dad became a 4-H leader and started a Club at school. I joined 4-H as soon as I was old enough. 4-H projects were many and varied. Each had a booklet to read, fill out the blanks, and follow assignments weekly. We kept a required “journal” of time we spent working on our project and what we accomplished.

The 4-H Pledge we recited monthly at our meetings was, “I pledge my Head to clearer thinking, my Heart to greater loyalty, my Hands to larger service and my Health to better living for my club, my community and my country.” The four leaf clover was our emblem with a capital H filling the center of each leaf. When one project was completed, reported on or demonstrated and judged during a meeting, we could choose another project to work on. At the County Fairs 4-H always had a building full of projects of arts and crafts, sewing, canning, gardening, animal care – rabbits, chickens, pigs, calves, goats, lambs, horses. These projects were judged and County winners named. It was fun for me learning and also competing. My first sewing project included hemming a dish towel. Next I learned to use the treadle sewing machine safely, oiling and dusting all the working parts, then made an apron I was really proud of. In Baking I made muffins, biscuits and gingerbread that I took to the Fair one year. Do not remember if I got any ribbons.

I do not remember if it was in 4-H or in Dad’s “science” class projects that I made booklets identifying trees by their leaves and bark which I had samples of in the booklet. The leaves were pressed between pages of a thick book. I also made a booklet identifying wild flowers and weeds, etc. I loved that type of project.

I was in 4-H through Junior High. At least twice I went to summer 4-H Camp at Jackson Mills with other County children for a week. The first time I went was the summer after I finished Seventh Grade. Dad was on the Staff and I was thankful. I had been to Church Camp so did not get homesick. This was a much larger Camp Complex so I was a bit overwhelmed the first day but soon learned my way around. Projects I took and mastered were cooking, baking, sewing and canning. I did these anyway, but having to keep records faithfully was good for me to learn. I enjoyed each project I took. The next time I was in camp there were other junior high students that I knew so that was fun from the first moment. I was assigned to the “Cherokee” tribe team so I was a “Cherokee” from then on in camp. Teams were named for West Virginia Indian Tribes and we competed all during camp in games, dorm tidiness, co-operation, etc. There was a point system we were given the first day so we knew how we were being judged. Cherokees came out winners one year.

In Eighth Grade, while I lived in Alfred Station, New York, I was in “Campfire Girls”. Aunt Madeline was the Club leader and we met once a month in my best friend Jean Palmer’s home. We went on hikes, learned to identify birds, trees, insects, butterflies. We camped out overnight at least once, learning how to build a fire and cook a meal over the open fire. We slept in sleeping bags under the stars and that was special. It was on Jean’s grandparents’ farm.

Next Chapter https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/2013/04/20/xenia-lee-5-sophomore-junior-and-senior-years-of-high-school/

Table of Contents: https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/2013/11/03/memories-of-xenia-lee-wheeler-table-of-contents/

 

Links to my site:

Introduction https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/2013/07/14/introduction/

Graphic Arts https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/2013/07/14/i-graphic-arts/

Architecture https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/2013/07/14/ii-church-architecture-and-its-incorporation-of-art/

Music https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/2013/07/14/iii-music/

Theology https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/2013/07/14/iv-theology/

Home Page https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/

Xenia Lee: 3 DAD IS VERY SICK

In late July or early August of the year that I completed Fifth Grade, Dad had a very painful boil on his face. Teachers were only paid during the school year in those days necessitating a summer job. He was working at a summer job at a lime kiln in Jarvisville. While doctoring the boil, Dad became sick with a summer cold that would not get better, he was bedfast by mid-August, continuing to get worse by the day. We had a telephone by that time. The switchboard was in Big Isaac about a mile beyond Morris School, a village no larger than Jarvisville. A branch of the Salem phone service had recently been extended down the Ten Mile Creek road. We paid to have the service brought into our home. Mom called Dr. Davis in Salem who made house calls. He came late in the evening. He said that Dad must go to the hospital the next morning, if he was still alive. He would make arrangements for an ambulance to take Dad. Grandpa and Grandma Randolph had come that week to stay and help as they could for a few days. Grandma stayed on with us and Mom went to the hospital with Dad. Grandpa had to go home when school began. He was still teaching a one room school on Bug Ridge near Sutton, where they had a small farm.

Dad had osteomyalitis (a blood disease) and double pneumonia when he went to the hospital. There were no antibiotics on the market yet and Dad had very little chance to recover. Mother’s sister, Aunt Lydia Stutler, substituted for Dad as teacher all that year and gave Mom her monthly check so that Dad could keep his position at Jarvisville. He was in and out of the hospital all that school year. Sulfa and penicillin were finally flown in from a pharmaceutical laboratory in New Jersey. Papers were signed assuring the laboratory that it would not be held responsible in case death resulted from the medicines. Dad became a “guinea pig” in the use of sulfa and penicillin. He was written up in medical history as the first person to recover from double pneumonia. It seems that he received twenty-four tanks of oxygen and twenty-four pints of blood in twenty-three days. In those days the blood donor lay in a bed next to the patient and the transfer was done in one procedure.
Once while in Clarksburg Aunt Lydia took me to the hospital to visit Mom and Dad. It was so nice to see Mom and Dad too, but Dad was scary to me. He was in a big oxygen tent that covered his head and upper body, his eyes were too big and he was very thin with a voice so weak I had trouble understanding when he tried to talk.

Not long after I visited Mom and Dad in the hospital, Mom came to the end of the streetcar line in Wolf Summit early one morning. Aunt Lydia picked her up and brought her home before going on to school. That evening she picked Mom up after she left school and took her back to the streetcar terminal to return to the hospital. This was the first time Mom had been home since she left with Dad in the ambulance going to the hospital in August.

In mid-November Mom knew it was time for the arrival of her baby, so Grandma went to the hospital to be with Dad and Mom came home for the birth. Aunt Lucille came to stay and help with us children. Cleo Elizabeth was born on November 21. Dad insisted on coming home, so a few days afterward Dad came home in an ambulance to stay for a few weeks. A hospital bed was put in the living room and neighbors took turns sitting up nights with Dad. Mom was of course in bed for a week after Beth was born. I well remember Mom and Dad numbering two checker boards identically so each of them could lie in bed in different rooms while playing checkers. They opened the wardrobe double doors in the two front rooms and called out their moves to each other during their days in bed: “I move checker number _?_ to square number _?_ and each would make the move on their boards until one won.

Having Dad home was an answer to prayer. We children grew much in prayer during Dad’s illness. God does not always see things the way we do, selfishly, but He knows what is best in each case. He gave Dad many more years to live to ninety-one years of age. God is so good.

Within a week of his return home Dad had to go back to the hospital. Mom and Beth went with him. A cousin of Dad’s took care of Beth, and Mom went back and forth from the hospital to nurse her. This became too much and Uncle Orville and Aunt Lucille asked if they could keep Beth. They had four boys and no girls. Finally Mom let them take her home with them until Dad was home again. Mom did not feel that she had any other choice right then. Beth lived with Uncle Orville’s for nearly two years, I think.

While in the hospital, Dad’s leg became so painful that he could not endure the pain. The doctors looked for cancer or a bone infection from an injury. Finally they amputated the leg at the hip joint discovering too late that they did not need to do so. The doctors were certain it must be cancer, but it was osteomyelitis. The doctor never charged for the surgery.

The Christmas after Beth was born our whole community got together and delivered groceries and gifts, filling our home with love and Christmas carols. We children had our first puffed rice and puffed wheat cereal that I can remember, and we had lots of oranges and grapefruit. We had many food items that Mom and Dad had never bought. A Christmas we’ll never forget. Easter time a seamstress in Jarvisville made look-alike smocked dresses for we three older girls. How proud we were wearing those dresses to church. We would gladly wear them any time Mom would let us.

Grandma Randolph continued to live with us all that year and until the school year ended. She went home to help with farm work, raise their own garden, and prepare for the next winter’s food supply.

Not long before school was out Dad was brought home by ambulance again, this time to stay. Then the very hard work began: to gain strength and muscle tone enough to actually walk again. His left leg was weak from inactivity, and his knee had set up so that it had to be broken and healed before he could stand on it. Uncle Orville and usually one of his teenage sons came daily to get Dad out of bed to stand again and then to walk with aid. They “made” him get up some days despite Dad begging them not to. He may never have gotten out of bed again without Uncle Orville’s deep commitment to help him walk again. Dad went to the Veterans Hospital in Clarksburg and was fitted for an artificial limb but never adjusted to wearing it so it sat for years in his closet with his shoe and sock on it! I caught my breath the first time I opened that closet to hang up my coat and saw that leg with shoe and sock “staring” at me. (An entire artificial limb attaching to the shoulder was developed after World War II).

After that, Dad came back as a teacher and principal. He taught there until Beth was ready to start school, when he moved to Laurel Run one-room school which thrilled him. Mother did his hot lunch program and tutored students who needed help. They made a good team.

This is my story so here goes again. When Dad came home, Mom was busy caring for him and managing the farm and household. She assigned a job to each of us children and taught us to do them well. The kitchen was my job and I learned to prepare meals, bake bread, muffins and biscuits, and cookies and cakes. Mom was overseer. Mom did laundry but we girls could hang it out to dry and do the ironing later. I learned to sterilize jars, to can fruits and vegetables, to plan menus and meals, to keep the house clean and to put clean clothes in the drawers and closets. Mae and Edna Ruth helped me with everything I did.

Dad became overseer of household work. Mom helped the boys with farm work, milking, gardening, making hay, mending fence and cutting filth (tall grass and weeds). We all worked together and learned to enjoy our accomplishments. Sometimes neighbors came to help us.

Uncle Orville was school Superintendent and he agreed for Aunt Lydia to teach as substitute for Dad a second year. Before the end of that school year Dad was teaching again. (Dad taught in Jarvisville three or four more years.)

When school was out that May, I went to Uncle Orville and Aunt Lucille’s to stay a week so Beth would know me before coming home to stay. I got acquainted with Beth, too, and her schedule and eating habits so that we could finally bring her home. That year Uncle Orville was President of the Seventh Day Baptist National Conference. They would be traveling all summer so it would be a perfect time to bring Beth home, we decided. Thankfully, we were a complete family again. Beth’s crib was beside my bed so I could reach in between the rails to quiet and reassure her during the night. Beth was happy to be home and we all adored her. When I became engaged to Edgar and we announced our wedding date, Beth was in Second or Third Grade. She began to cry saying, “I was going to marry Edgar when I grow up.” She adjusted to my marriage and loved to come visit us in our home. We enjoyed having her.

When Beth was ready to start First Grade, Dad was moved to the Laurel Run one-room school two miles north of Jarvisville toward U.S. Route 50. Dad received permission to take Beth to school with him in Laurel Run. Government run “Hot Lunches” in school had begun so Mom applied and was hired as manager of that program in Laurel Run. She was menu planner, chief cook and bottle washer as well. When not working in the kitchen, Mom tutored any student needing extra help in any subject. Dad’s students were often top graduates in High School and went on to get higher specialized degrees. Mom and Dad made a good team.

Four years before Dad retired, the Laurel Run School was closed and he was sent to West Milford Elementary School to teach. He taught the “overflow” students from the Fifth and Sixth Grades in a separate portable building set up in the school yard. Dad liked that challenge and a measure of freedom in a building all his own. However he was ready to retire and did at the end of the school term in 1966. He and Mom were free now to come help us when Esther was born November 21, 1966. They thankfully were able to come again when Ernie was born February 1, 1968.

Next Chapter: https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/2013/04/20/xenia-lee-4-our-turn-to-help-others/

Table of Contents: https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/2013/11/03/memories-of-xenia-lee-wheeler-table-of-contents/

 

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Xenia Lee: 2 EARLIEST MEMORIES

My father always had a car, parking it wherever the paved road ended. From there we walked home. When I was a preschooler, the road was paved further south to within a mile from home. How much easier that was for small children!

I do not remember, of course, when Alois Edmund was born on July 21, 1929, nor Elsie Mae on Christmas Day, December 25, 1930.

The fall of 1932 I remember well. I was only four but wanted so much to go to First Grade. My father was the teacher at the Morris School one room school one mile south of us when we were old enough to start school. The school was to be closed at the end of the 1932-33 school term because they lacked two students having the minimum students to keep a school open. Dad persuaded the School Board to let a boy, Charles Criss, and me begin school in January in order to keep it open that year. The school would be open another few years. Charles turned 5 before the end of December and I turned 5 in February. Needless to say I had the advantage of Charles for Dad began working with me evenings and weekends so I would be caught up with other First Graders when I started school in January of 1934. Also, I loved playing school with Bond and learning all he could teach me day by day. I was ready when second semester began.
The worst part of preparing to attend school was definitely all the shots we were required to have. The County Health Nurse stopped at our home as she went by to give these shots. After the first shot I knew what to expect when I saw her coming. Each month for three months I got a shot. We only had diphtheria and typhoid immunizations, maybe tetanus at that time. Soon after I had smallpox immunization also. Whooping cough, polio, pneumonia and measles shots came later when we were raising our children. But getting the shots was no fun! In mid-October the nurse stopped. Edna Ruth had been born October 12, Columbus Day. I saw the her coming so I crawled way back under the house through much soft dirt where I often played “make believe” with my toys. I refused to come out and no one could reach me so I felt safe! Mom was still in bed but called out the window that was open above me to come inside “right now” and get my shot if I thought I was big enough to sit on the bed and hold Edna Ruth who was born about a week before. I gladly emerged from under the house for my shot and then my treat – holding my newborn baby sister. This was the first of many times holding her. Holding little babies was a joy to me clear back then – I loved them then and I still do. It is no wonder I love that still today and watching them grow into man and womanhood.

God is so good. He is “love,” God’s Word tells us, and “we are His workmanship.” No wonder we “LOVE because He loves us” I have learned many valuable lessons in life.

Christmas Day Blizzard

I remember well one Christmas Day when we all drove to Grandpa and Grandma Bond’s at Roanoke, south of Weston. It was an enjoyable day with cousins there. By noon clouds began to roll in and it began to snow. So we started home hoping to get there before dark. The car did not have a heater so we were cold when we got to the end of the paved road. The snow had turned into a blizzard with strong wind. So we stopped at the Weekly’s to warm up before trudging on home in the blowing snow. I remember warm chocolate and cookies around the wood stove as we warmed up. Nice and warm again we put on warm coats, snow pants, boots, hats and mittens to walk over the hill on home. Just over the hill Coffindaffers lived. We were frozen and Bond and I crying as we walked beside Mom and Dad who each carried younger children. Their lights at Coffindaffers looked so good to us and we stopped. Again we unbundled, warmed ourselves around the fire, drank more hot chocolate and ate more cookies. Once warmed up and wanting to get home, Mom and Dad thanked the neighbors for warming us and inviting us to stay all night, and we braved the storm again. We could almost see home and got along well until we had to cross the creek and crawl up the last bank to our home at last. On the way I dropped my mittens in the snow. I climbed the hill slowly again crying with the cold. How well I remember Dad bringing in snow to rub on my hands as he slowly thawed my hands and fingers. The pain was severe as my hands thawed.

Our living room quickly warmed us with our nice fireplace heat. We all crowded near the heat to warm up thankful to be safely in the shelter of our own home. This had been a Christmas our family would never forget! I cannot remember ever again traveling to Grandpa and Grandma Bond’s home for Christmas after that.

Our Home

There was a gas well on the farm that Dad bought. Hope Natural Gas Co. bought the gas and gave Dad free gas to use. That use went with the land to any future owner of the homestead. We had good gas heat, gas lights and a gas cooking stove. The company was generous in the amount of gas our family could use monthly or yearly. We never once had to pay for gas through the years, even when boiling down maple sap from our sugar maple trees to make maple syrup each year, usually in February, on the gas stove.

In the 1930’s electricity became available as electric lines were extended down Ten Mile Creek. We were in no hurry for it because the gas heaters kept our home warm and the gas lights were almost as bright as electric lights. Neighbors who used kerosene lamps and wood stoves were quick to change over to electricity, a big step forward for them.

The winter of the Christmas Day blizzard was very cold. We lived in the two front rooms of the house. They had the only gas fireplaces which backed up to each other in the wall. Those rooms also shared a “walk in” clothes closet and when the double doors were open we could walk through from room to room.

Mom and Dad put the kitchen table and benches in the living room so that we could stay warm while eating meals. We all slept in the other room. There were two double beds – one for Dad and Mom and one for all of us children. We kept each other cozy warm as we curled up together to sleep. I remember eating snow that had blown in through cracks around the windows through the night. We often scraped frost from the window panes to eat in the morning.

Mom would put on her coat and stocking cap before going to the kitchen to prepare meals and bake bread. How good hot biscuits soaked in sausage and milk gravy tasted for breakfast in that warm room. Then later in the day we sometimes had cornmeal mush which I loved with butter on it and milk with it. We often had a big pot of soup with fresh warm bread for a wonderful main meal. We never lacked for food! Mom and Dad raised a garden and Mother canned fruits and vegetable to last us through the winter. They stored potatoes, sweet potatoes, squash and apples in our cellar, which was dug into the hill behind the kitchen. Mom also canned or cured all our meats when they butchered pigs, calves or chickens.

There were four beautiful sugar maple trees around our home, one at each corner of the house, and we loved playing in the shade of those trees in the summer time. There were four rooms in the house and a long room with porch attached across the back. On the porch was a pitcher pump from which we drew water to drink and use for cooking. We had to prime the pump so kept a metal pitcher of water close by for that purpose. We started to pump the handle as we slowly poured water in the pump and suddenly the pump took hold and began to draw water up through the pipe from the well some feet below the surface of the ground. We could only get a big bucket of water at a time but soon we could get another bucket. One dry summer our pump went dry and we carried drinking water from a “spring” on our neighbor’s property a quarter of a mile around the hill. We usually had rain water stored for washing hair and doing laundry but that was long gone so we brought water from the creek and heated it outside in the copper kettle for laundry day. After I left home Dad had a deeper well dug and a bathroom with plumbing put in the kitchen also. They never had a water problem again after that. The back porch later was developed into the bathroom.

Our Play
There was a nice deep front porch full length across the front two rooms. We could play on the porch, or even under the porch was a favorite play area in the deep soft dirt. Our imaginations were great and I well remember Bond and I taking hunting trips and Bond always being able to kill rabbits and squirrels. He would say “there goes a rabbit – POP I shot it. If I dared say “I shot it” he would say “oh, it is not dead – POP there I got it”. I can remember running to Mom to “tattle” on Bond and being told that I could revive a rabbit and then kill it also if I wanted to do so. I am sure I tried it but memory tells me I could never “out imagine” Bond whether we were eating imaginative goodies or killing game for a feast.

My mother tells me I watched out for my younger brothers and sisters like a mother hen her chicks. She tells me of a time Bond and Alois and I were playing in the back yard and happened on to a hornet’s nest in the ground. The hornets were frightened and wanted us to move away from their nest so they swarmed us and began to sting us. We screamed and Bond began running for his life as he hollered for Mom. I was close on his heels. Mom said as she came into view I suddenly stopped, ran back and picked up Alois to carry him to safety. She always said, “I knew then you would make a good mother one day.” I am not sure how “good” a mother I have been, but God has blessed us with eleven children and we have been happy and proud parents of each one thanking God as each grew into the adults they are today. We continue to marvel and thank God for His Presence and leading as He gave us health, strength and wisdom one day at a time through the years.

There was a picket fence around our home to keep us in the yard. Mom turned her canning jars upside down on the pickets. As we children grew, the fence was removed and we began to explore the farm. There were two huge nearly flat rocks peeping out of the ground on top of the hill behind the house. One was Elsie Mae’s home, one mine, and one Edna Ruth’s when we “played house,” which was often. We visited each other in our “homes.” This meant we must prepare meals, of course. We ran down to the house to get food. Sometimes Mom would pop corn for us. At other times we got carrots, radishes or turnips from the garden to wash and eat. At other times we got a jar of canned fruit, sauce dishes and spoons to take to our “homes.” It could be sweet or black cherries, pears or blackberries that Mom had canned. How we loved to play house. The boys even got into the game, especially at “meal time.” Precious memories, indeed.

Our mailing address was Wolf Summit and our mail box was on the hill above our “homes.” The mail carrier rode a horse to deliver mail. It was exciting when we could take a letter or a Sears or Wards catalog down to the house. We could spend hours looking at the catalogs but always they ended down the well-worn path beside the house in the “out house” or “toilet.”

And I remember so well early spring walks through the woods and across the fields with Mom and Dad looking for the first signs of new life everywhere. Nature was reawakening! Edgar and I still enjoy our daily walks observing what is going on around us and marveling often.

Lessons learned

I do remember an incident around getting our mail from that mail box on the hill. Beginning at young ages we children had “jobs” that were our own to do regularly. That week it was my job to bring the mail down to the house from our mail box every day. Dad got home from school just about dark and asked where the mail was. I had forgotten to bring the mail in. Dad told me I had to go get it, which I started out to do and then came back saying it was too dark and I could not see. He gave me a flash light and away I went again, cautiously. I went up the hill and across the flat, past we girls’ rock play houses and finally up the hill to the rail fence at the dirt road. I climbed the fence as I heard screaming in the thicket and something flew out at me. I jumped off the fence and streaked to the house as fast as my legs would carry me, screaming all the way. No way I was getting the mail – I thought. I was wrong! Dad assured me it was only a quail that I had frightened and it makes that noise when it is frightened. He made me turn around and once more go to the mailbox for the mail. I was so frightened to go that Dad finally said he would go with me “to the top of the hill behind the house” and watch me from there until I returned. I was still reluctant and very watchful leaving Dad but did again make my way across the flat and up the hill to the road. Across the fence I climbed and quickly removed the mail from the box, closed the box and lost no time retracing my steps back down to Dad. I do not remember forgetting to get the mail when it was my turn again. As soon as Bristol Post Office began a rural route in front of our home Mom and Dad changed their address to Bristol. This remains to this day.

Another lesson I learned the hard way was “obedience”. Disobedience always ended in some manner of punishment. At times it was spanking. This time it was even worse. My brother Bond and I were “rubbing snuff”. Many country people had “spittoons” (an earthenware crock with sand in the bottom) beside their door on the floor and maybe one inside beside their favorite chair. Snuff was powdered tobacco stuffed inside the lower lip and left there to melt and bring about a brown saliva one wanted to spit out into the spittoon. It was a filthy, dirty habit, my parents said, and it ruined ones teeth in time and could stunt ones growth.

I remember one Sabbath afternoon Mom and Dad were sitting in the yard reading aloud. Bond and I secretly made “snuff” (white sugar with a teaspoon of cocoa mixed with it) and were “rubbing snuff” a little too gleefully, and Mom caught us! We knew better for we had been “caught” in the act before and each received spankings. This time we each were switched with a willow switch Dad kept handy for that very purpose. This was much worse than spanking. I do not remember ever being punished like that again. I am sure I never mixed up “snuff” again either.

Chores

Summers of drought our pump would go dry until we had some good rains. These times we must carry water from a spring on the neighbor’s farm just west of us. We children walked along the creek around the hill to the hollow. A nice cool spring was near the bottom of the hills where they were joined together by a small stream. We carried buckets proportioned according to our size – larger children had larger buckets. One summer we trudged along the quarter of a mile to the spring several times a day. All our drinking and cooking water came from this spring when our well was dry. Our running water, hot and cold, that we have today has us spoiled for sure.

There was a smaller spring just east of our home where the two hills met. This was a nice, cool spring and Mother kept our milk sitting in that water in gallon earthenware crocks – bowls with slate for a lid, held down with a stone or brick so no animals might steal our milk. Other foods we wanted to keep cool would be placed in the spring water also.

When the cream raised on the milk it was skimmed off to let clabber for churning butter in our gallon Daisy Churn, turned with a crank. Some cream was used on cereal – I did not know until I got married one could eat cereal without cream. I learned rather quickly though. Of course some of the cream was saved also for whipped cream to go on ginger bread, jello or chocolate pie.

There was a day when wash day was real work. It began early in the morning. When we were short of rain water in the rain barrels under the eaves we had to carry creek water for washing clothes and two rinses. The copper kettle outside was filled with water. It had a wrought iron stand it sat inside of and we built a fire under it to heat the water. Another kettle was half or more filled with water and placed on the kitchen stove to heat. This water had shaved lye soap and bar soap in it. White clothes or dish towels made from white sugar or flour bags were placed in it and it was brought to boil for fifteen to thirty minutes. When those were removed one by one with a two-foot or so piece of an old broom handle the sanitary napkins were placed in the water to boil a while.

We never heard of disposable sanitary napkins. Our sanitary napkins were made from old sheet blankets cut in 1½ X 2½ foot pieces. These were folded in from each narrow piece to maybe three inches wide and pinned to a garter belt when needed. When removed they were placed in a washbasin of cold water, left to soak a while, then rinsed out and dried and placed in the laundry basket ready for washday next week.

When I was young Dad got Mom a gasoline powered Maytag washing machine, which really sped up her wash days. The first two years after Edgar and I were married I did all our laundry the “rub-a-dub” way on the washboard, placed in a tub of hot water. I had hot tap water and cold rinse water so did not mind leaning over the rippled washboard to scrub clean each thing then rinse it carefully, wring it out by twisting and folding it until no water escapes, then hanging it on the line to dry outside.

Every cotton shirt, dress, pillow case, table cloth and doily had to be starched after rinsing, then hung to dry. Starch was made of corn starch or flour to thicken in a quart or so of boiling water. The corn starch was poured into a small tub of water large enough to rinse one thing at a time. When dry, these clothes were very stiff so we placed a towel in a basket, dampened each piece by getting a pan of warm water, dipping my right hand in the water then sprinkling each piece before folding, then rolling into as small a ball as possible. These were packed into the towel and wrapped with the towel to let them become evenly damp ready to iron next day.

Ironing day was just that – a full day of ironing. As a child we used metal irons heated on our gas stove. The handle came off and moved from one iron to the next keeping our iron hot for fast ironing. Soon after I was married I had an electric iron which controlled the heat. Made ironing very easy. I can remember days when our double doorway between the living room and dining room in DeRuyter and Salemville were filled with hanging clothes ready to be worn. There was a rod across each doorway where drapes probably once hung. I was glad when ironing and mending could both be done in one day.

Morris School

Finally, the day came to start school after Christmas vacation. I walked to school with Dad and Bond beside me. How happy, proud and excited I was. We took individual lunches in a little bucket with lids on it and a handle. How well I remember lunch time as we each sat at our desks to eat. Strangely children around me kept taking part of other children’s lunches. Before long I decided to get into the act. Eugene Matthey had a doughnut laying on his desk and I wanted it. “I will take that boy’s doughnut and leave him my cookie and fudge”. No sooner thought than done when he was unsuspecting. Eugene was in Second Grade. He began crying because I “stole” his doughnut. Dad called me to his desk and explained to me that the children around me were “trading” lunch items. He said, “One asks, ‘Do you want to trade my apple for your doughnut?’ If he does not want to trade you must not take it. That is wrong. That is stealing.” Then I cried and gave it back. I was embarrassed more than hurt. An older cousin of Gene’s gladly gave me her doughnut in exchange for my cookie and fudge and we were both happy. I never made that mistake again! I do not remember trading very often. Mom fixed us good lunches every day. My first lesson learned.

School was exciting for me. I felt so grown up and happy to be going to school. Everything about school was fun: reading, simple math, recesses, lunch times, nature walks, Easter egg hunts through the meadow and woods, making kites and flying them, preparing special holiday programs for our parents, community picnics and Field Day activities. Every day was a new adventure and I thrived on it. Soon it was May and warm enough to remember the thrill of picking wild strawberries ripe enough to eat and enjoy as we walked the creek going to and from school. Now was time to “play school” at home. Our younger brother and sisters were happy students some of the time. Bond and I did not tire of playing school. Of course Bond was always the teacher unless Mom intervened and made Bond let me have a turn being “teacher.” Summers were soon gone and it was time for school to open again the first Tuesday after Labor Day, the first Monday of September. I went to Second Grade and Third Grade at Morris School also.

School Routine

Before school convened each morning we had a flag-raising ceremony around the flagpole. The flag was carried carefully, attached to the rope on the pole, then raised into place by an honored student. We sang the National Anthem and pledged allegiance to our nation’s flag. We then got in line and filed into our classroom quietly, taking our assigned seats.

Our teacher, Dad, always read a scripture passage and had prayer to open our school day. Once we came inside our door we could no longer whisper or speak aloud unless called upon. Dad had finger signals for making any requests. “I need to go to the toilet” (hand in shape of a fist with one finger in the air). “May I go use the dictionary?” (two fingers making a V). “May I speak to another student about some class work problem?” (four fingers up). “May I go to the library section to get a book?” (all five fingers extended). This worked well. After the first week Dad said his discipline problems were over and he could concentrate on teaching. If Dad was hard on anyone it was his own children because he did not want to be accused of showing partiality to us.

During recesses Dad did not send us outside, but rather he took us outside for organized recreation and exercise. We played hard so that we would be ready to sit still when we returned to the classroom. Sometimes we played a game. Spring and Fall it would be softball, volley ball, ring tennis, dodge ball, “ring around the roses,” or “drop the handkerchief.” Whatever each age group played no one sat on the sidelines without written request from parents. In the winter snow we often played “Fox and Geese” (a big path of spiral rings with crisscross paths across the center). One had to stay on the path and not let the chosen “fox” catch him. The last person to be caught could be “fox” next time.

We often had spelling bees and “ciphering matches” which were math competitions. At the end of each school year we had a community picnic and invited another school to compete with our students in softball, spelling, math and some leg races in our Field Day activities. Parents were invited to this making it a grand climax to our school year.

Dad had Parent–Teacher meetings monthly in the evening when different classes entertained or different subjects were demonstrated to the parents to inform them of what was being taught in school. Special holiday programs were also planned – Christmas, Easter, etc. At Christmas, Santa always arrived to hand out a gift to each student. Sometimes we drew names so that each student brought a gift or made one for that student. I especially remember one program. We had a play, recited memorized poems, had group exercises, then sang lots of Christmas carols ending with Jingle Bells. We had bells to ring and we sang our loudest. Santa did not show up as expected, so Dad suggested that we did not sing loud enough for Santa to hear up at the North Pole. He opened the schoolhouse door and we sang our loudest. Sure enough, here came Santa with a “Ho-Ho-Ho” and a bag of gifts for each person present – apples, oranges, a box of candies and popcorn balls. What a Christmas! When we got home Uncle Elmo was there and how excited we were! He was in his late teens or early twenties and was our favorite uncle. He knew lots of fun songs, stories and poems. He took us on nature hikes and we would find mushrooms for Mother to fry. We only had mushrooms when Uncle Elmo picked them, as Dad didn’t trust himself to pick the right ones.

Scarlet Fever

While we were still in Morris School an epidemic of scarlet fever attacked the community. A boy in my class got pneumonia along with it and died. His family and ours did a lot of visiting back and forth and Mom and Hazle Burnside helped each other a lot on canning and butchering days. They made Christmas candies and cookies together each year. So the death of their son was like losing one of our own family and we all cried and comforted one another.

The week after school was out, Dad started summer school at Salem College. Bond got real sick with a sore throat and a rash. The doctor said “scarlet fever,” so the Health Department sent a representative to quarantine all of us in our home for six weeks, putting a “Quarantine” sign in our front yard warning people not to go into our home.

When we came into our front door we were in a small entry room with a door to the bedroom on the right and a door to the living room on the left. Dad was given permission to go and come as long as he never came into our part of the house. He lived and slept in that bedroom all summer. I am sure this was hard for Dad and Mom, but they sacrificed so that Dad could stay in school. He had one more year of summer school before he could finally graduate with his BA in education. Dad communicated with us through the windows daily

We children came down with scarlet fever one at a time, and each was very ill with sore throats, high fevers and rashes, and with each new case six weeks was counted again for our quarantine. I can hardly imagine how difficult this time was for Mom and Dad. Aunt Doc made a cream of camphor that she called white liniment and she kept Mom well supplied with it. Mom would rub it into our necks and chests until it dried and then began to get wet with sweat. She then put a warm flannel cloth over the liniment so that it would keep warm and penetrate deep. Mom credits this liniment with helping save the lives of all of us children.

Someone was sick all through the summer and all were quarantined inside the house. After a few weeks in bed we were so weak that each would fall down when we tried to walk. The most out-of-doors we got that summer was the fresh air that entered through the windows. The quarantine ended the week before school began again! We were like animals suddenly freed. We wanted to run anywhere and everywhere outside. I can still see Elsie Mae running up and down the bank and around the yard falling over because her weak legs would not hold her up. She would laugh, get up, and be off running again.

I remember how very sick I was and how it hurt to drink or eat. I had a high fever and Mom would wring out cool towels, wrapping them around me. Soon they were hot, so poor Mother had to keep replacing them. Our high fevers killed our outer skin. We would take hold of a loose end of skin and pull until it came off. I can remember one of my heels pealing in one shape of the heel. In time it peeled off each of us kids. In a few weeks we had new soft baby skin again.

The next step was to sterilize our house inside to make certain that no contagious germs were lurking in a dark corner, ready to attack some innocent person. Mattresses were all laid out in the bright sunshine after the surfaces were scrubbed with Lysol solution. All the furniture was washed with the same solution. Dad decided to remove all the wallpaper and backing and put up wallboard in each room to make the house warmer. They hired Uncle Oris to do this work so that it would be done more quickly. We had a “new” and noticeably improved home now.

That summer the road was paved in front of our home and it extended all the way to Morris School. At the top of the next hill Harrison County ends and the road is in Dodridge County. The branch going to Shady Grove was also paved to the Evangelical United Brethren Church (EUB) several years later where it becomes dirt yet today.

Jarvisville Years

Talk was around that Morris School would soon close for lack of enough students. So Dad went back to Jarvisville as principal when the position opened. I went into Fourth Grade that year. The school bus now passed our home carrying junior and senior high students to the Consolidated School in Bristol on Route 50 near Salem. We had walked one mile to Morris School so we had no difficulty walking two miles in the other direction to Jarvisville. If the weather was very cold we started in time to stop and warm ourselves at homes along the way. Other children joined us as we walked along, with Dad, of course.

In the Fourth Grade Dad continued to be my teacher. He then taught only Grades Four through Six and he was principal of the school. Miss Somerville taught First, Second and Third Grades, I think. I soon met many new students and made good friends in Jarvisville. With at least three times the number of students now in Fourth through Sixth Grades, we had some good competitive softball and volley ball games. I loved sports and thrived on the competition. We came out winners many times as we played other schools. Dad knew how to teach the basics and drilled us in catching, hitting the ball and running. He used the same techniques in teaching math, spelling and other subjects: repetition, drills, tests and games that teach. We played dominoes to practice adding and subtracting. In First Grade he used Rummy to drill learning numbers, counting forward and backward. Everyone learned and no one was left behind.

Every family in the Morris School community sewed a block to be put into a quilt to be put together and hand quilted as a gift of “thanksgiving” to Mom and Dad for their years of teaching and serving in the community. That thoughtful gift was used many years as a bedspread on Mom and Dad’s bed. A constant reminder of the love and respect of neighbors. I used that quilt as a pattern for the “50th Anniversary” Family Quilt I made for Mom and Dad in 1975.
Along in March or April of my Fifth Grade, Dad sent me to take a note to the First through Third Grade teacher across the hall. As I went out the door someone came running in the door almost late and knocked me against the door frame real hard. I went on and delivered the note then returned and took my seat. My leg “woke up” and became very painful just above my knee. It got so bad that I pulled my dress up enough to check out my leg, hoping that no one would see me. What I saw shocked me so I showed the girl sitting in the row beside me the actual hole in my leg. There was little bleeding around it. She was shocked and lifted her hand for permission to speak to the teacher. She told Dad I had a hole in my leg and it hurt badly. Dad called me to his desk, washed my leg with peroxide, and put a two-inch dobber from the iodine bottle into the hole. It went the full two inches in. Dad bandaged my injury and I went back to my seat. Trying to find out what object had penetrated my leg he asked if the person who ran into me had a broken pen or pencil and she did not. He then checked and found no splinters had come off the door facing. I have wondered since whether I could have broken off my own pencil or pen. My leg got stiff enough that I could not bend my knee by the time school was over, so Dad took me to Salem to see Aunt Doc. She bandaged it again and said something had certainly been stabbed into my leg. She had Dad get “Wooly Salve” at the drug store. It would certainly draw out any foreign object from the wound. Wooly Salve is a stick of what looks like black tar. A lighted match was used to melt the tar so it would drip onto a sterile gauze bandage which was applied and left over the wound. This was changed daily. Because the wound was not fully healed I could not go swimming in the creek in front of our house all that summer. By July it healed over like a huge inverted thimble – proud flesh with no feeling. In July, my Uncle Doc was home from Chicago for a visit. He had his girlfriend from Charleston, West Virginia with him. They were engaged to be married. We went to Grandma and Grandpa Bond to see them and to visit Aunt Pearl. While we were there Uncle Doc looked at my leg and with sterilized scissors and alcohol he cut a slit in the proud flesh to find that there was still a hole not healed in my leg. He wanted us to continue to use Wooly Salve to draw out whatever was still imbedded in it. Sure enough, one day there was yellow paint on the gauze as bandages were changed. Now we knew that a pencil or pen was in the wound. More and more paint was drawn out until no more was drawn out and no foreign object protruded from the injury.

Next Chapter: https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/2013/04/20/xenia-lee-3-dad-is-very-sick/

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Xenia Lee: 1 REMINISCENCES: AUNT DOC MAKES A DELIVERY TO THE FITZ RANDOLPH FAMILY

February 12, 2007

Again, I am wide awake at 12:55 a.m. I have had several nights like this. It is 1:55 now and no signs of sleep, so I will get up and begin writing memories.

Mom, Ruth Content Bond Fitz Randolph, and Dad, Ashby FitzRandolph, and my toddler brother, Ashby Bond, lived in Jarvisville, West Virginia the winter of 1927-1928. Dad had been a teacher at Shady Grove one-room school in 1927. Shady Grove was a country school farther down Ten Mile Creek toward Salem. I always liked driving to Salem by way of that school. The weather had to be just right for part of the way we drove in a creek bed because there was no room beside the creek for a road – for maybe 500 feet. We took the right fork in the road at the Little Morris one-room school, going by the Mount Olive EUB Church, joining the main road just out of Salem. It was a much closer route to Salem but only good in summer and then only if we had not had rain recently.

The Shady Grove School had been closed at the end of the 1926-1927 school term because there were not enough children the next year to merit maintaining the school there. Dad was moved to the Jarvisville two-room school as principal and teacher of grades four through six. He found it easier to start children in the first grade so he asked to have another one-room school when one was available.

The summer of 1927, Mom, Dad and Bond moved to Jarvisville close enough that Dad could easily walk to school. There were no paved roads that far out in the country.

Mom and Dad looked for a home and farm to buy. They bought the home they lived in until their health made it necessary for them to live with one of their seven children. It was winter by the time they bought it so they waited until spring to actually move to their new home. In the meantime, because Mom was pregnant at the time, they decided that Mom and Bond would stay with Grandma Jenny Bee FitzRandolph in Salem so that Aunt Doc, Xenia Ethel Bond, could deliver the child – me. Uncle Elmo lived with Grandma. He was then fourteen. Grandpa and Grandma Randolph had lived in Berea, West Virginia, but when their oldest child entered Salem College they bought a home across from the college administration building on Pennsylvania Avenue so that Uncle Brady could live at home while a college student. Grandma lived in Salem during the school year and Grandpa at Berea, where he taught grades one through eight in grade school.

Time came for Bond and Mom to go to Salem to live. That week I arrived right on schedule. It was a leap year which occurs every four years, February 29. Aunt Doc was sent for on February 28. She rode a horse to visit her patients in their homes or she used her horse and buggy for travel. She never had a car. She was in and out of Grandma’s home that day and Uncle Elmo was very concerned that I might be born on the 29th, which would rob me of a birthday three years out of four. Mom said it was after 11:00 p.m. when I arrived, a healthy baby girl. A boy and a girl, what a perfect family, for that time, anyway! Mom was kept in bed seven days after my birth so Aunt Doc continued to come and check on mother and baby daily. Mom and Dad named me Xenia Lee for my Great Aunt Doc and my Grandpa Florein Lee Bond, Mother’s Papa, whom she adored. Finally when I was two weeks old Dad came to Salem to bring Mom, Bond and baby Xenia Lee home to stay. What rejoicing as Bond saw “home” again. He went from room to room looking and laughing.

Aunt Doc was Grandma Lenora’s older sister. Aunt Doc and her sister, Aunt Elsie, lived together near the college. Professional women did not marry in those days. They were married to their work. Aunt Elsie was college registrar and taught Latin and maybe other subjects through the years. Grandpa and Grandma both had the Bond name, so Grandma did not really change her name when she married.

Aunt Doc had started medical school in Chicago at Northwestern Women’s Medical School. No women were accepted into the men’s school. The year she graduated, the men’s school opened to women students so she transferred there. She was in the first men’s and women’s graduation together. Some years later my mother’s brother, Ian, graduated from Northwestern Medical School. He continued in practice in Chicago in OB/gyn until retirement.

The paved road just came to Jarvisville and then it became dirt and continued on southwest. Another road went southeast over Mt. Olive hill to Buffalo Lake and on to Good Hope. When spring thaw allowed travel on the dirt road, we all moved two miles on south from Route 50 Highway, to our new home in the country. Here I grew up with my three brothers, Bond, Alois and Rex, and three sisters, Mae, Edna Ruth and Beth.

Next Chapter: https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/2013/04/20/xenia-lee-2-earliest-memories/

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Introduction https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/2013/07/14/introduction/

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Rev. Edgar F. Wheeler: 50 Some Life-Changing Experiences

Perhaps I should say “Life expanding experiences,” in the same sense of seeing a larger world than farm family life and location in northeast Kansas. College and seminary life are some of the major events that have defined my life.

WHEATON COLLEGE was my choice as a well-known Christian college. There I was introduced to a broader spectrum of culture and to the larger academic world. I grew in theological understanding. I began to develop a confidence in living away from home. That was not without some homesickness. In such a moment I sketched our homestead approached from the east one Sabbath afternoon. I still cherish that sketch.

MILTON COLLEGE, Milton, Wisconsin, was one more step toward independence. I now had my own car, the old Model A Ford. I was free to travel alone and to get acquainted with the northern states. I learned something of relating to difficult people and situations. Worship in a Seventh Day Baptist Church of considerably different atmosphere from the home church in Nortonville, Kansas gave me larger view. In general, it was a chapter in ongoing life. I was still anchored to home and the farm, returning in the summer to work.

SALEM COLLEGE, Salem, West Virginia, introduced me to a new and exciting culture. These folk were “mountaineers,” warm, simple, open. Here I made my final break with my “ancestral” background as my future home came about after return two summers to work on the farm. My work as a linotype operator in the Church of God Publishing House and my studies became my life. At age 25 I married a lovely Christian girl, Xenia Lee Randolph, on August 19, 1945, my love and helpmate ever since. I regard her as God’s gift for maturity, home and pastoral ministry.

NEW ORLEANS BAPTIST SEMINARY provided invaluable instruction and direction for future practical ministry. Over and again I have profited from the acquaintances of godly teachers, who provided their examples, insights and counsel.

Yet, underlying my life and calling were the faith and courage of my parents with their modeling of Christian living, and their perseverance during some of the most difficult years of our country’s history to that date. The drought and the Great depression were in themselves great teachers of frugality and determination. Memories of my parents, Ernest and Edna (Marie) Wheeler, are dearly appreciated.

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Rev. Edgar F. Wheeler: 49 What My In-Laws Gave Me

It has been wisely counseled, that if one is seriously dating a girl, get acquainted with her family. I found this to be a great benefit in my own case. Soon after I met and was enamored by my wife-to-be, I met her parents. I then understood why she showed so much maturity and good sense at her young age. She was sixteen when we first met, although I did not then know it.

Xenia Lee was cautious about my attentions at first. She had her reasons because of impressions she had gotten from my foolish antics around girls at the store where she worked: flirtatious and immature. She also thought of me as “just a college smarty.” It was only after I met her parents, Ashby and Ruth (Bond) Fitz Randolph, that her father said, “I don’t see anything wrong with that fellow.” Ten she took me seriously, and we began to date regularly, convinced more and more over the next year and a half that we belonged to each other.

Ashby grew up in Berea, a rustic area of the state. He developed a great appreciation of nature. While still a relatively young man, he had to have a leg amputated because of osteomylitis, a bone infection. Upon recovery, he continued teaching school, relying on Ruth’s presence to help him about. He was a man of strong conviction and perseverance. Ashby was a greatly respected teacher in the areas of Jarvisville and West Milford, West Virginia. Xenia Lee was one of his pupils through elementary school, and with that background preparation she became valedictorian of her high school graduating class at Bristol. He loved outdoor sports and, following retirement, that was his preferred recreation. I was drawn into that, not with his fervor, but with enjoyment.

Ruth Bond was the daughter of , and grew up near Weston, West Virginia on a wll-kept farm. She was enthusiastic about almost everything she did. She was her father’s helper on the farm and challenged her brothers by what she could accomplish. She, as did Ashby, had a competitive spirit in the good sense. She became a school teacher, also, and was a strong support and helper to her husband in his teaching. While Ashby was more sober, she had a great sense of humor. We sometimes got a chuckle out of hearing him ask her what she thought was so funny. She was a wonderful example to Xenia of what a good wife should be, an inestimable benefit to me during all our years of marriage.

I’m sure that there were times when they wondered about their wisdom in agreeing to our marriage. Still, they were patient while I tried to “grow up.” Being around them helped me to develop a broader view of human relationships. Generosity was a characteristic that they nurtured by their own example. My views of life generally expanded in our relationships with them.

Ashby taught me the finer points of nature, as well as how to relax. We spent many an hour together fishing. From him I learned about sharpening tools and some things about using geometry in building. He was not averse to telling me his opinion on some habits I had. One such occasion was on our honeymoon trip when we drove from Kansas to Texas to visit Bon and mother’s doctor brother, Ian. I had the habit of driving with my left arm out the window holding onto the drip rail that was common on cars at that time. He remarked, “Some people think they have to hold the roof on as they drive.” Then he reminded me of the danger in case a tire blew. I listened.

After our retirement, we went to live with them in West Virginia to help them, as Ashby was becoming more in need of care. These were good years with work and recreation interspersed, many evenings playing their favorite card game of Rook. Ashby grew more bedfast, and his care involved more strenuous lifting, as he was a big heavy man. Xenia and I developed back problems, turning care over to their son, Rex, and his wife, Phyllis. Then Ashby and Ruth moved to New York to be with their daughter, Mae, and her husband, George Bottoms. I realized how close we had become when, just before leaving on the trip, he looked up to me beseechingly and asked for prayer before they left their beloved home of many years.

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Rev. Edgar F. Wheeler: 48 Affection For A Car – About That 1936 Ford

My favorite car sentimentally was a desert tan tudor 1936 Ford. It connected two periods in my life: single life and married life.

I bought it from a veterinary in Winchester, Kansas in the summer of 1943. It was my transportation for Kansas back to Salem College for my second year there.

I met Xenia Lee shortly before Christmas, 1944, as she worked as a clerk at Summers Variety Store in Salem. That instant, our surprise meeting developed into romance, which was encouraged by many who knew us both.

After a brief hesitation on Xenia Lee’s part, I drove past her a couple months later, as she wanted a ride to school. I knew she was in high school, but was not aware of her age – 16. That was just before Valentine’s Day, and, encouraged by her thank you note for candy I had sent her right after our first meeting, I sent her Valentine candy. That seemed to draw a positive response, which was approved by her father after a chance meeting.

The Ford accompanied us in our courting through that summer and the next year, until our marriage on August 10, 1945.

We traveled by Greyhound to Kansas, where her parents joined us with the car, as the war and rationing ended. From there, it took us on our honeymoon, accompanied by her parents who joined us to visit Bond and an uncle in Texas.

Sadly, we parted with our Ford in our second year of marriage after it caught fire and was not satisfactorily repaired.

It was the car that brought two “worlds” together.

Next Chapter: 49 What My In-Laws Gave Me https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/2013/04/20/rev-edgar-f-wheeler-49-what-my-in-laws-gave-me/

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Rev. Edgar F. Wheeler: 47 Wheels

When I was born on October 28, 1920, the automobile had begun to be owned by many families, not just the rich and famous. My parents first owned a Maxwell and later a 1919 Chevrolet. From that they moved up to a 1923 of the same make. Those were open cars, called “touring cars,” and later “phaetons.” In 1928 or 19029, Dad bought our first car with a closed body: a 1926 Chevrolet two door sedan.

Around the mid-Thirties, Dad bought a 1929 Model A Ford. It was in a junk yard, having been damaged in a collision. With his usual make-do spirit, he bought a two door sedan body and, with the help of a friend, replaced the open body with the sedan. That was our family’s first experience with a rather nimble car with an all-steel body. After much family use, it was sold to brother Charles. In turn, he sold it to me after my first semester in college at Wheaton, Illinois.

I made considerable improvement in the Model A for appearance and comfort, including a heater and some body insulation. It was my transportation to Milton College in Wisconsin in 1941. Then I drove it to West Virginia to Salem College, where I completed college courses.

The summer after my second year at Salem in 1943, Dad located a 1936 Ford V-8 sedan (two-door). I was working at home for the summer and bought the car from the original owner, a vet in Winchester. It was a pretty car , tan with red wheels, built-in trunk and rear-mounted spare wheel with metal full cover. I sold the Model A to a neighbor, Mert Crosswhite. He used it up on the farm, and finally abandoned it in his pasture.

Back to the 1936 Ford. I proudly drove it back to Salem. My very best memories of it are the courting days with Xenia Lee. We started our honeymoon trip on a Greyhound bus. Then, Xenia Lee’s mom and dad drove the car out to Kansas, where we met. We all traveled together to Texas to visit Xenia Lee’s brother, Bond, who was stationed at Fort Hood and back to West Virginia. That car came to a sad end. A fire burned up the wiring, and it never ran right after a mechanic attempted to repair it. It was hard to part with.

While serving a summer pastorate in DeRuyter, we bought a 1937 Ford tudor sedan. It had been pieced together in a junk yard. It served us quite well for a couple of years, ugly as it was.

When my brother, Bob, returned from service in Iwo Jimo to Salem College, he also had a 1937 Ford. It was much better than ours. Bob and I got the “fever” and traded our 1937’s on a 1941 Ford. After he returned to Kansas, I bought out his share. We drove the car for a year or so. It
was a very comfortable car. I don’t remember why we sold it, or to whom. We then bought a beautiful, low mileage 1934 Dodge sedan at an estate sale. We drove it many miles in West Virginia, New Jersey, then down to Hammond, Louisiana, where I attended seminary in New Orleans and preached in Hammond. After a collision with a cow in an open range area, I repaired it and later sold it to the Coalwell family, who drove it to California.

We decided to economize and have no car, but soon found that it was not too practical with three children. I bought a 1940 Chevrolet 4-door sedan, had it repainted, and got good use out of it, although it was not an exceptionally good car.

This was followed by a 1950 Chevrolet in Alabama where we were in the pastorate at Paint Rock. It was a good car over all, with low mileage. We sold it when we went to DeRuyter, New York, again in the pastorate. Very briefly we had a cute little Nash Rambler, which we got in trade for a Studebaker pickup truck.

We got word of a 1950 Ford sedan with 9,000 miles, traded on a new Chevrolet at the local dealer. We bought it, and it was a very good car. It served until we traded it on a 1955 Ford Ranch Wagon. Our family had outgrown the sedan.

During our eighteen-year pastorate at Ashaway, Rhode Island, we bought a new 1964 Ford six-cylinder station wagon. It was nice, but disappointing in power. Finally, I sold it and bought a 1976 Plymouth station wagon, which was exceptionally good.

Retiring and returning to West Virginia to take care of Xenia Lee’s parents, we sold the Plymouth to Ruth and Walt. I bi-passed a couple of Ford Fairmont station wagons prior to getting a Tempo and a 1966 Plymouth Valiant. I also had a 1985 Escort when I supplied as pastor at the Lost Creek, West Virginia church. I enjoyed it for personal use. Then I bought a 1991 Ford Tempo sedan, our best car to date. After it reached high mileage, we traded it for a 1996 Buick Century. We moved up in comfort, important because its comfortable ride was an aid to Xenia Lee with her back and hip problems.

I guess I fit into the American craze for cars. In a way it was an extravagance. However, I cared well for those cars and never had to have a major repair done. Now, in my eighty’s, I woiuld like to get away from auto ownership with insurance costs. However, nowadays a care is not just a luxury, but almost a necessity. I do not expect to buy another car. Of all the cars I have owned, my favorites were the Model A, the 1936 Ford, the Plymouth, the Tempo and the Buick.

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Rev. Edgar F. Wheeler: 46 A Mountain In Kansas

My early life experiences of Kansas were generally limited to the area of Atchison County, Kansas. In 1941, I left my home state to attend college.

During our residence in Denver, Colorado, we returned to my Kansas home to visit occasionally. We then noted on the Kansas road map a site almost on the Kansas-Colorado state line a site designated as Mr. Sunflower, altitude 4,037 feet.

A mountain in Kansas? We had to see it! Accordingly, we left Interstate 70 at Oakley, traveling west to Weskan where we took a surfaced county road north. Calculating our distances on the map, we followed gravel roads west and north to the supposed area of the site. On two attempts we failed in our efforts to find Mt. Sunflower, although we did see the remains of a faded sign and later discovered that we were within a mile or so.

After we were in our pastorate in Nortonville, beginning 1981, my curiosity was whetted to see more of the sights of Kansas. On one occasion we had visited in Denver and on the return trip we decided that we HAD to find Mt. Sunflower. We turned south from I-70 at Kanorado, following the county road and carefully calculating the distances. At the second turn to the east, we followed a country road straight south until we came to a farm-ranch where we saw some men working on machinery. We stopped for directions.

I asked the owner if he had heard of Mt. Sunflower. He replied, “Yes, I have. I have lived here all my life. Come here and I will show you where it is.” He pointed to a high swell of the rolling ranchland. He said, “It is right there. It is on private land so you should not drive up to it.” We found the site and walked up to it, where we found a little fenced-off square with a sign and a “sunflower” welded from horseshoes. A sign named it and its altitude. It was just over the Colorado state line in Kansas. There was a nice view of ranchland in both directions.

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Rev. Edgar F. Wheeler: 45 Know Your Dad/Grandpa/Friend

Many of you have lived with me for many years, others have been around and seen me for only a few years. Since you are familiar with my face, have seen me sometimes serious, sometimes “silly,” you may feel that you know me. Many of your impressions have been accurate, others have not been. You have probably formed both favorable and unfavorable opinions. In fact, though, one never knows a person beyond the degree to which that person chooses to be known. That is the reason I am writing this.

Our background has great influence on the direction our lives take. Mine no less. My parents were devoted followers of Christ, living out their faith in simple honesty. They were faithful members of the church, which profoundly influenced my life.

We lived on a Kansas farm and lived through some difficult times of depression. Hard work and frugality were some virtues we learned. My parents taught us honesty, responsibility and respect for others. I was next to the youngest of five children who survived infancy, and we had a wonderfully close family relationship (with our share of childish fights).

Parental teaching and example were a major factor in my belief in God. The church was another. An acquaintance of youth was yet another.

It seemed that God planted in me an awareness of Himself from earliest childhood. My belief was sincere, but it was flawed. I believed that God was perfect, and that in order to be accepted by Him one had to be perfect as well. This caused me much fear, because I knew I was anything but perfect. My concept of God was that He would not hesitate to cast sinners into judgment (a burning hell picture in my mind). I had been taught about Jesus Christ, but that only made my fear worse, for now I had before me a perfect example of what I should be like. Again I failed in this, causing much anguish, especially during my teen years with their passions and confusion.

The change came when I was 18 years of age. A formerly wayward acquaintance came to believe in Jesus Christ as Saviour. His life was drastically changed (he experienced a new birth), and he introduced me to Jesus Christ as the Saviour whom God sent into the world to die for forgiveness of sin and to bring us to a relationship of love and trust for God. This was what I needed–to know God as the God of mercy, as well as the God of perfection.

John 3:16 became real to me: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” The 17th verse goes on to say, “For God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world should be saved through Him.” So that was what Jesus Christ and the cross was all about. God is love, and He is merciful. Jesus Christ came and died on the cross as proof that would call believers to God and make it possible for them to live in trust and assurance.

So my life, with all its flaws, is lived with the intention of living in the way that Jesus taught us by word and example that we should live. That is the will of God in our thoughts, words and actions. This is one way we can help others to know God and to know that He is to be loved, trusted and obeyed. Now I hope that you really know me.

It is the prayer of both myself and Mom/Grandma that each one of our family will be open followers of Christ and help others to follow Him.

Next Chapter: 46 A Mountain In Kansas https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/2013/04/20/rev-edgar-f-wheeler-48-a-mountain-in-kansas/

Return to Table of Contents: https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/2013/11/03/memoires-of-rev-edgar-f-wheeler-table-of-contents/

 

Links to my site:

Introduction https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/2013/07/14/introduction/

Graphic Arts https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/2013/07/14/i-graphic-arts/

Architecture https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/2013/07/14/ii-church-architecture-and-its-incorporation-of-art/

Music https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/2013/07/14/iii-music/

Theology https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/2013/07/14/iv-theology/

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Rev. Edgar F. Wheeler: 44 An Inner Look At Myself

3-2-05

I was asked to reflect philosophically on my life. I am not strong in that area.

My first thought is of the complexity of who I am. I am both a human being and a spiritual being. Human legacy and divine influence have combined to shape my life. I participate in ongoing human history, contributing by my own choices and actions, for which I bear personal responsibility.

Genes from my parents have sculpted my physical characteristics and personality. But, more than that, I have inherited a legacy of faith, integrity and love.

Pre-natal influence has been a vital factor, I believe. Assuredly, the spiritual nature of mothers is a telling factor. This is borne out in the choice of Mary to mother Jesus. It appears to be so in the case of Jeremiah, the prophet. The scriptures note several mothers in significant relation to individuals whose lives were noted for good or for evil.

In this connection, I mention my mother, who was a godly, patient, loving and courageous woman. What she was before my conception, during the time she carried me before birth, and her life during my childhood and maturing days has been a shaping factor in who I am.

Above all, I must acknowledge that the grace of God has been and is the truly life-giving factor. My parents shared with all fallen humanity the sinful nature and weaknesses. So have I! “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God,” describes me. But, “Saved by grace” that is in Christ Jesus,” is my story and my life today. I was “religious” by nature from earliest childhood. I was a frustrated and fearful person until the Gospel of Jesus Christ gave me peace with God and joy in life.

I am a common, everyday person in whom God is working to restore that “image of God.”

Next Chapter: 45 Know Your Dad/Grandpa/Friend https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/2013/04/20/rev-edgar-f-wheeler-46-know-your-dadgrandpafriend/

Return to Table of Contents: https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/2013/11/03/memoires-of-rev-edgar-f-wheeler-table-of-contents/

 

Links to my site:

Introduction https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/2013/07/14/introduction/

Graphic Arts https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/2013/07/14/i-graphic-arts/

Architecture https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/2013/07/14/ii-church-architecture-and-its-incorporation-of-art/

Music https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/2013/07/14/iii-music/

Theology https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/2013/07/14/iv-theology/

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Rev. Edgar F. Wheeler: 43 Who Am I?

Written March 1987 at Esther’s request

While quite young, I found that my name, Edgar, which I never especially liked, meant “Guardian of the family.” That sparked an idealistic sentiment to be just that – a responsible, reliable, loving and loyal person. Idealism has always been a motivating factor in my life, and at the same time has had its frustrations. My natural impulses have often not squared with my ideals, and yet the ideals have remained a necessary target with positive results.

My feelings and passions are intense, and I have a natural tendency toward impulsive actions. I have never liked much regimentation, preferring to act spontaneously. (I hate to have to read a lot of instructions on how to do something, preferring to try to figure things out as I go – sometimes with unhappy results.) Self-discipline has therefore been a very important element in my life, and one that I have accepted gladly, knowing that it is an essential to rising above self-defeating actions.

Fears have been present in my life, fear of disapproval, of failure, of suffering and separation, and of death. These have been pretty much conquered by taking a positive attitude that they are all a part of life experience. No doubt these were accentuated to quite a degree by circumstances and family environment. I think we in the family were always aware that my father’s was not good, his having had tuberculosis. We grew up in severe depression years, and it seemed that we generally absorbed the depressed and uncertain attitudes of our elders. This was balanced, to some degree at least, by the determination of our parents.

I can see the influence in my own thinking. My father was a good man of the highest integrity and I have absorbed this as a goal. He was a strict disciplinarian, sometimes a little harsh, it seemed. I have been determined to avoid excesses in this direction. Perhaps my mother’s calmer but persistent discipline of a gentler nature have helped bring a balance.

My life work has demanded confrontation from time to time. This has not been pleasant for me, but necessary. Remembering some very painful experience, I have tried to avoid unnecessary hurt to others, and have hoped to be able to offer something positive and encouraging.

I have jokingly been labeled a “sentimental slob” by a good friend. I confess to being a bit of a dreamer and a sentimentalist. Much of my past is very poignant in memory. It has been painful to have children one by one leave home. It takes a lot of disciplining and facing facts to control these feelings. Sentimentalism has at times made decision-making hard, but this has been one of my battles worked out to at least a reasonable degree, I think.

I like areas of solitude in my life. Surroundings help – a room by itself, scenes of beauty and quietness. At the same time, I enjoy social relationships, an openness to everyone in general, but a few special friends and confidants. I want acceptance, yet am somewhat self-conscious if the center of attention (like falling over my own feet when the attention of the crowd seems focused on me). I have never been overly self-confident, but have had a sense of success in many endeavors. So I am willing to tackle what seems to need doing or saying. Sometimes I have been surprised at the approval I have received.

So, who do I see myself to be? I believe I am a very ordinary person, without extraordinary gifts, but with great potential to leave my mark in the world. I see my fulfillment in living beyond myself, and particularly in helping to make the lives of others better. Much of that fulfillment has been in conquering the negatives and turning them to positives.

Next Chapter: 44 An Inner Look At Myself https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/2013/04/20/rev-edgar-f-wheeler-44-an-inner-look-at-myself/

Return to Table of Contents: https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/2013/11/03/memoires-of-rev-edgar-f-wheeler-table-of-contents/

 

Links to my site:

Introduction https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/2013/07/14/introduction/

Graphic Arts https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/2013/07/14/i-graphic-arts/

Architecture https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/2013/07/14/ii-church-architecture-and-its-incorporation-of-art/

Music https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/2013/07/14/iii-music/

Theology https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/2013/07/14/iv-theology/

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Rev. Edgar F. Wheeler: 42 My Pastoral Experience

My parents left me a rich and varied legacy, but the greatest was in religious values expressed in consistent moral and ethical living. Regular church attendance was the climax of lives lived on a high spiritual level. Theirs was a life witness more than “doctrinaire.” I can almost feel that religion was “in my genes.”

From early childhood I had a deep attraction for “God,” as I perceived Him. My earliest conceptions were akin to pagan superstition, especially as I related God to visible objects. My earliest imaginings of God could be called almost pagan. God was forbidding yet attracting. My life continued through my youth with good will toward God, yet, dominated with fear of His holiness.

Christian example and training, Bible reading prayer and meditation, congregational worship and teaching, began to dispel false notions. At the same time, those influences deepened reverence, along with dread.

Pastor Lester Osborn was my pastor during my most impressionable teen years. He was a forceful preacher and influences several of our youth toward pastoral ministry. He also became kind of an “ideal.” As I mentioned earlier, when we were teenagers, Allen Bond and I dreamed and talked of becoming pastors, to that calling by the dynamic ministry of Lester G. Osborn. Two other youth in the Nortonville church also answered that call. were inspired, our pastor. We dreamt of being dynamic, like him; of preaching the Gospel to “sinners” who would respond to the Good News. Allen and I shared our feeling that we had the calling. We saw pastoral ministry in the light of Pastor Osborn’s ministry.

Time has confirmed the correctness of that persuasion.

At eighteen years of age, through the personal witness of Allen Bond, who had recently become a believer in Jesus Christ as Savior, I “turned the corner” through faith in the redeeming grace of God through Christ. That changed the whole tenor of my belief. And, like Amos, who was called from harvesting sycamore trees, I became assured of God’s call.

As a youth I gained the respect of the congregation. The congregation recognized my aspirations toward Gospel ministry. However, encouragement to the ministry was not always forthcoming. The problem was not my perceived character. Some of the congregation had reservations due to my lack of natural attributes they deemed essential to that calling. I was “farm bred,” had a lisp, was extremely shy in public, and appeared to lack the gifted speech. My elders were kind, but they told the old story that went like this: “A young farm boy thought that he saw the letters “PC” in the clouds and assumed that it was a message to him to “Preach Christ.” Those who knew him best said that those letters might mean “Plow Corn.”

As the congregation observed my life (not faultless) and persistent faith, they began to encourage my life in pastoral ministry. After I was away in college I was surprised to be informed that the Nortonville congregation had voted to grant me a license to preach. That encouraged me and confirmed my sense of calling to pastoral ministry.

God has confirmed that call over and over again, making possible college and seminary training. And He gave me a wife who was fully in accord with that calling with qualities that fit a well-rounded ministry. All this is to say that we can look back over many years of pastoral ministry, a mixture of encouragement and discouragement, success and failure, joy and grief, and know that we have been instruments in God’s hands.

Although we might not have admitted it, Allen Bond and I felt that great respect would be given to those in Gospel ministry. That was our ideal view of pastoral ministry at that time of our youth. Dream and reality can be quite different. While my experience has since revealed this contradiction, I by no means have regretted accepting the call. Rather, it has brought personal fulfillment that neither of us could have then imagined.

I was naïve in entering the ministry as a profession. Deep conviction and faith made up for that somewhat. I dreamed of leading congregations in harmonious relationships. I had visions of individuals converted to personal faith in Jesus Christ. I cannot deny that I felt that personal respect would come with this service.

Seminary training was both challenging and pleasurable. Dedicated instructors at the New Orleans Baptist Seminary were a defining source of knowledge and wisdom that stood in good stead repeatedly in many situations. Those who stand out in my mind are Dr. J. H. Kennedy and J. Wash Watts, who was a polio victim who share our concerns and encouraged us when Robert became ill with polio. Their enriching teaching of the Old Testament helped me place it in its rightful place in the preaching of the Gospel. We were taught to humbly avoid presumptions that might lead us into compromising or destructive situations. This has become a bulwark for me, with God’s blessing, to stand strong in many potentially disastrous episodes that came to confront me.

The reality was yet to dawn upon me. There would be sad times with broken homes, illness and death. There would be administrative responsibilities which would call for motivating members to work together with vision and harmony. Resistance would develop from stubborn, self-willed members. And (surprise!) there would be personality conflicts with myself.

Our large family was a positive part of our ministry. Without exception, they showed respect for our parishioners. Their overall conduct was such that the parishioners thought well of them. They showed compassion for the unfortunate. In one instance they did extensive “patterning” to help a girl who, though brain malfunction, had become immobile, to regain physical capability. They were industrious, each one delivering daily newspapers faithfully in all kinds of weather. They were friendly and fun-loving, attracting other youth. Further, I believe we were able to model effective parenting. Our children had their individual traits, there were times we were disappointed, but they have shown personal incentive in leading functional lives.

Pastoral ministry demanded different roles. One role was Peacemaking. I once received a complaint from a renter in a house owned by one of our elders and respected church members. The complaint was that the landlord was swearing and threatening him. I went to the home of our member, and, sure enough, he was boiling. He had discovered that his renter had lied about keeping a dog in the house. While I do not remember what was done with the dog, I do remember that after a meeting together, they were able to reach compromise and peace.

In another case, a young fellow complained to me that his mother, a respected church member, was cussing at his dad. I went to the home on the pretext that it was just a pastoral visit. She met me at the door and said, “I know why you are here, and my husband deserving a cussing!” There was not much I could say, for I knew that he was a disagreeable fellow.

The unexpected was occasionally bizarre. I had been counseling a couple over marital discord. He was a big, almost threatening man with a drub habit. Early one morning I had a phone call from a morgue, asking me to come and identify a body. The request was from the wife. The victim had struck a light pole at high speed and had been thrown from his car and killed. I went alone to make the identification, and it was the husband. He was as he had been found, a rather gruesome sight.

One of the joys was the unfortunately rare case of evident conversion. A couple had been living together unmarried. I had dropped in on their home on a general community visitation. Their home was slovenly as their life style would indicate. I made repeated visits to them sharing the Gospel. In time they professed their faith, married, and their home was transformed!

One of the delights of pasturing was to visit Christian homes where there was holiness, love and commitment. Those were “food for the soul,” and there were many of them.

There were times when I was embarrassed to discover that I was less compassionate than some acquaintances who made no strong profession of religious faith. Painful, but wonderful lessons!

I found that I could generally relate to youth and was respected by them. I found that this was more difficult as home family environment and religious training declined in the community at large. I discovered, too, that youth tends to have a stronger appeal to youth. With my advancing age it seemed that the personal respect from youth was not as warn as in the earlier years. And yet some responded with real appreciation for “the wisdom of age.”

An acquaintance once remarked of me: “He is not a great preacher; but he is a good pastor.” That was the accolade! That is where my heart lay, although I did feel privileged to preach and especially to teach. I can say of pastoral life: “And I thought farming was hard work” But, above all, “It’s a wonderful life!” The love of God calls.!

There were many occasions for hospital visits, funerals and weddings.

I observed the outcome of many marriages through the years and decided that pre-marital counseling was essential. If prospective couples did not agree to this, I would decline to officiate at their wedding. This did not happen often.

Weddings had their similarities and their differences, as well. I remember one in which the groom was marrying a beautiful Hispanic girl. Tears rolled down his cheeks – in joy, I presume. After thirty-five years’ absence from the Rhode Island area, I was pleased to meet several couples who told me of their happy marriage in which I had officiated. During my eighteen year pastorate in Ashaway, Rhode Island, I had so many weddings that someone suggested that I was “Marryin’ Sam.”

Funerals could be difficult, and yet somehow there seemed to be more satisfaction in ministering during a time of grief than on joyful occasions. During my DeRuyter, New York time I was called on many times to conduct a funeral at the last moment, and for total strangers. The local undertaker did not like the other village minister, so he would call me in preference if the choice was up to him. Quite often there were opportunities to minister to the bereaved on a continuing basis.

Our pastorate in Rhode Island was a busy time, and my hours many times kept me away from the family in the evenings and at mealtime. Yet we were a close-knit family, and Xenia Lee was the mouding source. We did find time to share in our children’s school life, which was a very rich experience.

Vacation time was generally spent in conjunction with trips to General Conference meetings.

I served as General Conference president in 1970. I also served for eighteen years in Council on Ministry, the larger number of years as chairman. I did feel successful and appreciated for expediting discussion and business. I received a gold Seiko pocket watch and a plaque in recognition of my service upon resignation

I can truthfully say that pastoral ministry has been a wonderful life, especially with Xenia Lee as my wife and the mother of our children. I am convinced that she was God’s choice as a helper for me. Her personal faith, natural ability and intelligence, her patience and her love for people have, to my mind, made the difference between being a struggling failure and a minister who could relate to people and honor God. It was said of an egotistical pastor of our acquaintance, “He would be nothing without his wife.” No doubt that could be the case with me.

We have become convinced that the church is more than a repository for safekeeping of the Gospel. It is the foundation and launching area of the Gospel to all the world. Similarly, Christians must reach into “haunts of wretchedness and sin,” in keeping with the Savior’s stated life purpose: “To seek and save that which is lost.”

We have discovered to our chagrin that “many would be called but few saved.” But we have seen many hungering for righteousness and finding life through faith in the Christ of the Gospel. If there were hardships at any time (and there were!), we have experienced the Lord’s promise not to forsake those who trust in Him – and we have found the joy of suffering for Christ’s sake -if indeed we can – feel abused.

Our family gathered when I was President of the SDB General Conference.

Next Chapter: https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/2013/04/20/rev-edgar-f-wheeler-45-who-am-i/

Return to Table of Contents: https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/2013/11/03/memoires-of-rev-edgar-f-wheeler-table-of-contents/

 

Links to my site:

Introduction https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/2013/07/14/introduction/

Graphic Arts https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/2013/07/14/i-graphic-arts/

Architecture https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/2013/07/14/ii-church-architecture-and-its-incorporation-of-art/

Music https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/2013/07/14/iii-music/

Theology https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/2013/07/14/iv-theology/

Home Page https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/

Rev. Edgar F. Wheeler: 41 My Call to the Ministry

My parents left me a rich and varied legacy, but the greatest was in religious values expressed in consistent moral and ethical living. Regular church attendance was the climax of lives lived on a high spiritual level. Theirs was a life witness more than “doctrinaire.” I can almost feel that religion was “in my genes.”

From early childhood I had a deep attraction for “God,” as I perceived Him. My earliest conceptions were akin to pagan superstition, especially as I related God to visible objects. My earliest imaginings of God could be called almost pagan. God was forbidding yet attracting. My life continued through my youth with good will toward God, yet, dominated with fear of His holiness.

Christian example and training, Bible reading prayer and meditation, congregational worship and teaching, began to dispel false notions. At the same time, those influences deepened reverence, along with dread.

Pastor Lester Osborn was my pastor during my most impressionable teen years. He was a forceful preacher and influences several of our youth toward pastoral ministry. He also became kind of an “ideal.” As I mentioned earlier, when we were teenagers, Allen Bond and I dreamed and talked of becoming pastors, to that calling by the dynamic ministry of Lester G. Osborn. Two other youth in the Nortonville church also answered that call, inspired by our pastor. We dreamt of being dynamic, like him; of preaching the Gospel to “sinners” who would respond to the Good News. Allen and I shared our feeling that we had the calling. We saw pastoral ministry in the light of Pastor Osborn’s ministry.

Time has confirmed the correctness of that persuasion.

At eighteen years of age, through the personal witness of Allen Bond, who had recently become a believer in Jesus Christ as Savior, I “turned the corner” through faith in the redeeming grace of God through Christ. That changed the whole tenor of my belief. And, like Amos, who was called from harvesting sycamore trees, I became assured of God’s call.

As a youth I gained the respect of the congregation. The congregation recognized my aspirations toward Gospel ministry. However, encouragement to the ministry was not always forthcoming. The problem was not my perceived character. Some of the congregation had reservations due to my lack of natural attributes they deemed essential to that calling. I was “farm bred,” had a lisp, was extremely shy in public, and appeared to lack gifted speech. My elders were kind, but they told the old story that went like this: “A young farm boy thought that he saw the letters “PC” in the clouds and assumed that it was a message to him to “Preach Christ.” Those who knew him best said that those letters might mean “Plow Corn.”

As the congregation observed my life (not faultless) and persistent faith, they began to encourage my life in pastoral ministry. After I was away in college I was surprised to be informed that the Nortonville congregation had voted to grant me a license to preach. That encouraged me and confirmed my sense of calling to pastoral ministry.

God has confirmed that call over and over again, making possible college and seminary training. And He gave me a wife who was fully in accord with that calling with qualities that fit a well-rounded ministry. All this is to say that we can look back over many years of pastoral ministry, a mixture of encouragement and discouragement, success and failure, joy and grief, and know that we have been instruments in God’s hands.

Although we might not have admitted it, Allen Bond and I felt that great respect would be given to those in Gospel ministry. That was our ideal view of pastoral ministry at that time of our youth. Dream and reality can be quite different. While my experience has since revealed this contradiction, I by no means have regretted accepting the call. Rather, it has brought personal fulfillment that neither of us could have then imagined.

I was naïve in entering the ministry as a profession. Deep conviction and faith made up for that somewhat. I dreamed of leading congregations in harmonious relationships. I had visions of individuals converted to personal faith in Jesus Christ. I cannot deny that I felt that personal respect would come with this service.

Seminary training was both challenging and pleasurable. Dedicated instructors at the New Orleans Baptist Seminary were a defining source of knowledge and wisdom that stood in good stead repeatedly in many situations. Those who stand out in my mind are Dr. J. H. Kennedy and J. Wash Watts, who was a polio victim who shared our concerns and encouraged us when Robert became ill with polio. Their enriching teaching of the Old Testament helped me place it in its rightful place in the preaching of the Gospel. We were taught to humbly avoid presumptions that might lead us into compromising or destructive situations. This has become a bulwark for me, with God’s blessing, to stand strong in many potentially disastrous episodes that came to confront me.

The reality was yet to dawn upon me. There would be sad times with broken homes, illness and death. There would be administrative responsibilities which would call for motivating members to work together with vision and harmony. Resistance would develop from stubborn, self-willed members. And (surprise!) there would be personality conflicts with myself.

Our large family was a positive part of our ministry. Without exception, they showed respect for our parishioners. Their overall conduct was such that the parishioners thought well of them. They showed compassion for the unfortunate. In one instance they did extensive “patterning” to help a girl who, though brain malfunction, had become immobile, to regain physical capability. They were industrious, each one delivering daily newspapers faithfully in all kinds of weather. They were friendly and fun-loving, attracting other youth. Further, I believe we were able to model effective parenting. Our children had their individual traits, there were times we were disappointed, but they have shown personal incentive in leading functional lives.

Pastoral ministry demanded different roles. One role was Peacemaking. I once received a complaint from a renter in a house owned by one of our elders and respected church members. The complaint was that the landlord was swearing and threatening him. I went to the home of our member, and, sure enough, he was boiling. He had discovered that his renter had lied about keeping a dog in the house. While I do not remember what was done with the dog, I do remember that after a meeting together, they were able to reach compromise and peace.

In another case, a young fellow complained to me that his mother, a respected church member, was cussing at his dad. I went to the home on the pretext that it was just a pastoral visit. She met me at the door and said, “I know why you are here, and my husband deserving a cussing!” There was not much I could say, for I knew that he was a disagreeable fellow.

The unexpected was occasionally bizarre. I had been counseling a couple over marital discord. He was a big, almost threatening man with a drug habit. Early one morning I had a phone call from a morgue, asking me to come and identify a body. The request was from the wife. The victim had struck a light pole at high speed and had been thrown from his car and killed. I went alone to make the identification, and it was the husband. He was as he had been found, a rather gruesome sight.

One of the joys was the unfortunately rare case of evident conversion. A couple had been living together unmarried. I had dropped in on their home on a general community visitation. Their home was slovenly as their life style would indicate. I made repeated visits to them sharing the Gospel. In time they professed their faith, married, and their home was transformed!

One of the delights of pasturing was to visit Christian homes where there was holiness, love and commitment. Those were “food for the soul,” and there were many of them.

There were times when I was embarrassed to discover that I was less compassionate than some acquaintances who made no strong profession of religious faith. Painful, but wonderful lessons!

I found that I could generally relate to youth and was respected by them. I found that this was more difficult as home family environment and religious training declined in the community at large. I discovered, too, that youth tends to have a stronger appeal to youth. With my advancing age it seemed that the personal respect from youth was not as warm as in the earlier years. And yet some responded with real appreciation for “the wisdom of age.”

An acquaintance once remarked of me: “He is not a great preacher; but he is a good pastor.” That was the accolade! That is where my heart lay, although I did feel privileged to preach and especially to teach. I can say of pastoral life: “And I thought farming was hard work” But, above all, “It’s a wonderful life!” The love of God calls.!

There were many occasions for hospital visits, funerals and weddings.

I observed the outcome of many marriages through the years and decided that pre-marital counseling was essential. If prospective couples did not agree to this, I would decline to officiate at their wedding. This did not happen often.

Weddings had their similarities and their differences, as well. I remember one in which the groom was marrying a beautiful Hispanic girl. Tears rolled down his cheeks – in joy, I presume. After thirty-five years’ absence from the Rhode Island area, I was pleased to meet several couples who told me of their happy marriage in which I had officiated. During my eighteen year pastorate in Ashaway, Rhode Island, I had so many weddings that someone suggested that I was “Marryin’ Sam.”

Funerals could be difficult, and yet somehow there seemed to be more satisfaction in ministering during a time of grief than on joyful occasions. During my DeRuyter, New York time I was called on many times to conduct a funeral at the last moment, and for total strangers. The local undertaker did not like the other village minister, so he would call me in preference if the choice was up to him. Quite often there were opportunities to minister to the bereaved on a continuing basis.

Our pastorate in Rhode Island was a busy time, and my hours many times kept me away from the family in the evenings and at mealtime. Yet we were a close-knit family, and Xenia Lee was the moulding source. We did find time to share in our children’s school life, which was a very rich experience.

Vacation time was generally spent in conjunction with trips to General Conference meetings.

I served as General Conference president in 1970. I also served for eighteen years in Council on Ministry, the larger number of years as chairman. I did feel successful and appreciated for expediting discussion and business. I received a gold Seiko pocket watch and a plaque in recognition of my service upon resignation

I can truthfully say that pastoral ministry has been a wonderful life, especially with Xenia Lee as my wife and the mother of our children. I am convinced that she was God’s choice as a helper for me. Her personal faith, natural ability and intelligence, her patience and her love for people have, to my mind, made the difference between being a struggling failure and a minister who could relate to people and honor God. It was said of an egotistical pastor of our acquaintance, “He would be nothing without his wife.” No doubt that could be the case with me.

We have become convinced that the church is more than a repository for safekeeping of the Gospel. It is the foundation and launching area of the Gospel to all the world. Similarly, Christians must reach into “haunts of wretchedness and sin,” in keeping with the Savior’s stated life purpose: “To seek and save that which is lost.”

We have discovered to our chagrin that “many would be called but few saved.” But we have seen many hungering for righteousness and finding life through faith in the Christ of the Gospel. If there were hardships at any time (and there were!), we have experienced the Lord’s promise not to forsake those who trust in Him – and we have found the joy of suffering for Christ’s sake -if indeed we can.

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Rev. Edgar F. Wheeler: 40 From DeRuyter Pastorate to West Virgina, to Plainfield, New Jersey, to Hammond, Louisianna

At the end of a summer pastorate in DeRuyter, New York we returned to Xenia Lee’s home in West Virginia. We had bought a “reconstructed” 1937 Ford that summer, a car of several colors. Our garden had produced abundantly, and we did not want to waste anything. Things that were not canned, we picked and bagged, then built a trailer to haul everything.

We were barely started on the trip when a tire blew out on the trailer. A replacement of that size was not available, so we had to buy a couple of new wheels and tires. Hours were lost.

Then, as we got into the hills and mountains of Pennsylvania, we discovered that the car had a bad clutch, which would slip under load. So we did a lot of shifting to second gear. Late at night we parked along the street in a Pennsylvania town and slept. Early the next morning we were awakened by some young people peering in the window and remarking, “They are asleep.” The rest of the trip was, thankfully, uneventful.

Our summer was spent living in the “cellar house” we had built during college days. Our plans were that I would earn money and go to seminary in Massachusetts in the fall. As it turned out, work was almost non-existent. Those plans were cancelled and we spent the summer gardening, canning vegetables, and using Uncle Oris’workshop to make a baby crib.

Finally, in desperation, I contacted our SDB Publishing House in Plainfield, New Jersey, to see if there was an opening for a Linotype operator, work in which I was experienced. There was, and we promptly moved to Plainfield. Again, we used the homemade trailer. We had managed to buy a low-mileage, like new 1934 Dodge sedan which served us well.

Our home in Plainfield was the upper storey of the parsonage. Wendell Stephan was pastor there at the time. We enjoyed being with them, homefolk from Nortonville. I enjoyed my work at the Publishing House through the fall and winter.

In April or May the following year, we received a call to pastor the Hammond, Louisiana church and to attend seminary at New Orleans Baptist Seminary. It was a delightful trip to Hammond, progressing daily from chilly spring to full fledged Dixie spring. Annita was our only child at that time. Robert and Ruth were born during that pastorate.

The Coalwells, “Aunts” Phoebe and Mabel, Mrs. Severence, the LeBlanc’s, the Raiford’s, Delorene’s, Reba Theilen, the Campbells, Davis’ (?)and others gave us a warm welcome and introduction to Southern life. The “Aunts,” who lived a block away, were very concerned if they heard Annita cry.

John Campbell, an alcohol victim, “adopted” Annita as “My Little Kegoochie.” She became uneasy when he appeared under the influence.

Persus and Earl Deland wanted to be helpful as Robert’s time for birth neared. They “moved in” to be present at the event. When the time came, we left the impression we were making a doctor visit. The parsonage was being re-roofed, so I left Xenia Lee at the hospital and with some kind of excuse came home alone and got up enough courage (maybe as a distraction) to work on the steep roof. When I got news that Robert was born, I think that Persus was displeased at our ruse.

When Ruth was born, Reba Theilen, a lovely young divorcee, cared for Annita and Robert while I was with Xenia Lee in the hospital. Ruth was a contented, happy baby.

Polio was prevalent at the time. At almost a year of age, Robert was stricken. He had been so robust and physically advanced for his age. Suddenly, he could not stand or walk. Our doctor, Wiggins, gave us the chance to state our fears, and he confirmed that was polio. Six months of care at Charity Hospital, a traumatic time for him and for us, followed. When he was finally released, home was strange to him and reorientation was difficult. Annita had an aborted case which did leave her with some problems in her early teens.

I truly enjoyed New Orleans Baptist. The first year there, I usually left very early in the morning to board the Greyhound bus from Hammond to New Orleans. Occasionally I would drive. It was a long, rough ride on the “sevanys road” as far as LaPlace.

Friendship with the Plainfield church members followed us by way of monthly aid toward seminary expenses and medical care. One of my seminary teachers, J. Was (??)Watts, heard of our polio experience. He had been crippled by it in years past, and took a personal interest in our case.

One of my favorite teachers was Dr. J. H. Kennedy, O.T. He was very precise and the model of a Christian gentleman.

My father died in the winter of 1951. It was a sudden, unexpected death. Under duress of grief, family health problems and studies, then pastoring at Oshdill (Athens, Alabama), I was overwhelmed. I tried to continue in seminary, but just could not keep it up. We resigned our pastorate and went back to West Virginia. After weeks of inactivity, I got a job at my favorite work: linotype operator. It proved therapeutic. I worked at the Huntsville Times, Huntsville, Alabama and pastored the SDB church at Oakdale.

We bought a four-room house in Athens, Alabama. It had a good sized lot, which I cleared and gardened. We added two rooms.

We received a call to return to the DeRuyter, New York church. With some reluctance, we left the sunny and pleasant south for the rugged climate of upstate New York. I was complimented by the staff of the Huntsville Times for leaving a comfortable income for the meager income of pastoral ministry.

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39 From Salem College to a Start at Seminary and Return to Salem

Xenia Lee started college at Salem that fall. I also continued as a student. Xenia Lee became pregnant a few months later. We lost that child.

We were enticed to spend one semester at Alfred University, New York. We took our few belongings and traveled to Alfred via train. We had previously sold our 1936 Ford, since it needed repairs that we could not afford. Rev. Everett T. Harris met us at the station and took us to our apartment in “The Gothic” in which seminary classes were held. I took college courses, adding seminary studies. I also worked as a Lynotype operator at the Alfred Sun.

While at Alfred one night I found Xenia Lee walking in her sleep. She ran out the door into the snow. With difficulty, I awakened her enough to convince her who I was and to get back inside. Merlin was visiting at the time from his base at Camp Holaberd, Maryland. I called him down from upstairs to help get her calmed down. Just a day or so later Xenia Lee had to have an emergency appendectomy at Hornell, a town nearby. Rex Burdick took us to the hospital at 2 a.m.

After a hard winter in Alfred, we felt that combined study and work was not feasible. I just could not do everything.

We received a call from the DeRuyter, New York Seventh Day Baptist Church to serve as summer pastor. So, in June, 1948, Rex Burdick gave us a ride there. The summer pastorate was a pleasant and exciting time. During that time we bought a 1937 Ford that had been pieced together from the remains of other Fords.

After the summer at DeRuyter, we returned to Salem. My brother, Bob, joined me there for a year after military service and a broken marriage. Annita was born on March 23, 1947. I graduated from Salem in 1947.

College years were prolonged because of necessary employment. However, they taught me not only academically, but more about making and providing for a home. God provided me with a wise, wonderful wife and companion.

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Rev. Edgar F. Wheeler: 38 Our Honeymoon Route – August 1945

We left Aunt Allie’s in Salem, West Virginia by Greyhound bus on August 11, the day after our wedding. We had stayed there overnight in my “dorm room.”

We traveled through Xenia, Ohio. Mom met us at St. Joseph, Missouri, and we spent three or four days at my home in Nortonville.

Xenia Lee’s parents drove our 1936 Ford and joined us in Nortonville, Kansas. Gas rationing was ended the day we arrived in Kansas, via Greyhound bus. Her parents drove the car out there, with plans to visit brother Bond, who was stationed at Camp Hood, Texas. From Nortonville, we traveled together to Yates Center, Kansas, from there to Denton, Texas for two or three days, overnight at Vicksburg, Mississipi, Overnight at Fort Payne, Alabama, Overnight at Tazewell, Virginia, and then back home to Bristol and Salem. Xenia Lee and I first stayed in an apartment over the grocery store next to the college, and later to a house her Grandparents owned.

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Rev. Edgar F. Wheeler: 37 Our Honeymoon

Our honeymoon began on a Greyhound bus from Salem, West Virginia. From an early morning start to Kansas, we stayed overnight at the home where I had boarded during my college years in Salem, the home of “Aunt Allie” Randolph. The next morning we flagged the bus right in front of her house.

I guess we were so caught up with each other that I do not have a memory of much of the trip. But we were excited that we went through the town of Xenia, Ohio. Our immediate destination was the Greyhound bus station in St. Joseph, Missouri. There, my mother met us with their pickup truck. As we started toward the truck, our old tin-covered suitcase fell open and we had to retrieve our clothing.

Once at my home in Kansas, we created a lot of excitement for my family, other farm folk and church members. It was for them a novel experience to meet a lovely young blonde bride – and from West Virginia at that. Dad had hired two very common but good men. At the dinner table, the one, a quaint neighbor farmer, said, “My, she looks good enough to eat. When I married, I thought my wife looked good enough to eat. Later, I wished I had ‘et her!”

The other man was surprised to hear Xenia Lee tell of the West Virginia habit of putting salt on watermelon to eat.

The ladies of the church had a wonderful shower for my bride and made a scrapbook that we still have. Despite my faults, it seems that I was generally respected, so there was much excitement over my marriage. I proudly introduced my bride to Jennie Lynn (Medar), my school teacher in Land School in the eighth grade. We met her at the county fair at Effingham.

World war II ended on the very day we arrived in Kansas, so Grandpa and Grandma Randolph drove our 1936 Ford out to my home. From there, we went to Texas to visit Uncle Ian’s brother, Bond, who was in the service. Mom got her first glimpse of real cowboy country and cactus. Arriving in Texas, we stayed two or three days with Mom’s Uncle (Dr.) Ian Bond in Denton and Lake Dallas. Bond came from Camp Hood and we enjoyed fishing and visiting.

Starting back to West Virginia, we spent a night at Vicksburg, Mississippi. Among the “insignificant” things that I remember is our buying a watermelon on a hot day in Mississippi. We stopped on the roadside to eat it, and a smelly dead dog lay nearby.

In Alabama and in Mississippi, we truly felt that we were seeing Dixie Land. In Alabama the flat limestone outcroppings stand out in memory. A few years later we lived in Athens, Limestone County, Alabama and pastured a church there, then at Paint Rock.

Crossing a narrow neck of Virginia, we followed the Clinch Mountains, the setting for the book, “The Trail of the Lonesome Pine.” About mid-afternoon, we came to the ridge on which great Grandpa Randolph’s lived, near Sutton, West Virginia. The road was a mile or two east of their home, so we went afoot through the woods while Mom and Dad drove around the long way. It was exciting for us to take the hike just the two of us. Later that evening we arrived back home near Jarvisville. Xenia Lee had hiked this trail growing up.

It was a truly different kind of honeymoon with Xenia Lee’s parents. It has given us wonderful memories, as it expanded our world in the beginning of our wonderful life together. It was an exciting adventure for Dad and Mom Randolph, also. Neither had traveled west.

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Rev. Edgar F. Wheeler: 36 Memoirs of Our Marriage

Our daughter, Ruth, asked if Mom and I would write memoirs of our marriage, so this is the beginning of my memories. We will, however, be doing much of our writing together. One of the emphases in our remembrances will be on the influence that faith in and commitment to God has had on our lives individually and in our marriage relationship.

I begin with our romance. No apologies, if that sounds too sentimental, for it was just that and still has much of that warmth.

We first met in the winter of 1942. One of the factors in our favor was that she was employed at the F. L. Summers’ Variety Store in Salem, West Virginia, while I was employed as a typesetter at the Church of God Publishing House in which Mr. Summers was a moving force on the Board of Directors. Naturally we had lots of encouragement.

I was in my 20s, and my mother had, on one of my visits home, said, “Edgar, Dad and I are concerned that you will just date a girl and then make a foolish decision when you do decide to marry.

It was at that time that I met Mom, Xenia Lee Randolph. I’ll confess to flirting with a very pretty girl, and our romance had a start on a kind of silly note (maybe most romances do). She was standing behind the candy counter, and the conversation went something like this:

“Do you want to buy some candy?”
“I would, but I don’t have anyone to buy it for.”
“You can buy it for me!”
“All right, wrap it so I can send it in the mail to my girlfriend.”

I bought the candy and she wrapped it for mailing, with no suspicion of what I was up to. I then found my chance to get her name and mailing address from Lila Saunders who also worked there. I grew up in Nortonville with Lila, a sister of Wendell Stephan. So I mailed the candy to Mom (XLR). Lila always claimed at least partial credit for bringing us together in marriage.

Grandpa Randolph saw the candy come in the mail, and he did just what any good Dad would do and asked, when Mom came home, “Who sent you that candy?” Mom answered like she actually felt, “Oh, it came from a college smarty.” That was that until February when I finally received a “thank you” from her. I had been disappointed to receive no acknowledgment nor thanks. Nevertheless, I was now encouraged to send her another Valentine box of the chocolate covered caramels which I did and got a prompt “Thank You”.

We visited briefly a few times that winter at the store and once at the filling station in front of her Aunt Lydia’s home, where she stayed while working. She was waiting there for her home room teacher to pick her up Monday a.m. for school. Mom was still in High School.

The next summer, when Xenia Lee was working full time and staying at her Aunt’s home, her parents picked her up Friday evenings at sun down to take her home for the Sabbath Day. One Sabbath Eve I was walking by as Mom came out to greet her folks and tell them she’d be out in ten minutes, so she introduced me to them and we visited while she finished “closing” the store. Grandpa said to her on the way home, “I did not see anything wrong with that farm boy.” She took to heart her father’s evaluation of me and that was the green light I needed. By that time I had come to realize that Mom also had beauty of character.

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Rev. Edgar F. Wheeler: 35 Our Courtship

Xenia Lee’s family home was located on a country road between the small settlements, or villages, of Jarvisville and Big Isaac. Her father was a school teacher in the area. Her mother was his helper in getting around, as he was handicapped physically by amputation of one leg due to a serious infection. They were a close-knit family, having passed through a difficult time during her father’s illness, hospitalization, amputation and recovery.

I was welcomed to their home after I met her parents briefly as they came to Salem to pick Xenia Lee p on a Friday evening after two weeks work at the F.L. Summers Variety Store, where I first met her. My first impression of the family was that they were common, industrious and high-principled folk. Her mother’s garden was fairly dazzling in its productiveness.

Soon I was taking Xenia Lee home on Friday evening and sharing some events oike church attendance and July Fourth. Our dating could be called out of the ordinary in a way. I visited her quite regularly evenings at her dwelling with her uncle and aunt, V. Oris and Lydia Stutler. I was not permitted to interfere with her studies. Our relationships were social, allowing us time to become better acquainted with each other.

One unusual way we spent much of our time was just plain working together. I had gardened in spare time, selling vegetables for enjoyment and income. We would use her Aunt Lidia’s kitchen to can vegetables from my garden. Although at that point we had not openly discussed marriage, I think that there was an implicit understanding between us that we were prepar8ing for out life together.

We had a deep love and respect for each other. After about two years of courtship, the time came when we decided we wanted to marry and would ask the consent of her parents. I was about eight years older than she. To me, at least, our dating stands out as a high point in my life. Dating was not simply an adventure, but it was a meeting of minds and ideals. And this remains true after many years of life together with all its realities and “growing up” together. I regard it to be by God’s plan and purpose.

One occasion that stands out in our early acquaintance was on July 4, 1943. I was invited to go with Xenia Lee’s family to Grandma and Grandpa’s home Bug Ridge, above Sutton, West Virginia. Xenia Lee and I walked through their apple orchard hand-in-hand. It felt like “spring in the air” to us young lovers!

On another occasion, her mother apparently feared our becoming too affectionate. We had gone to make molasses. The driver’s window of my car was wide open and I could not close it. A heavy rain storm came. Xenia Lee had her arm around me holding a blanket over the window. Her mother said, “Do you have to have your arm around him?” Xenia Lee answered logically (and I hoped, gladly) “I have to hold this blanket so the rain won’t come in.”

We continued to date, getting more and more serious. Finally, her employer, F. L. Summers, said, “Ed, you have dated Xenia Lee long enough. Why don’t you throw a gunny sack over her head and take her off and marry her.” That was an old West Virginia expression. Delightful words once again.

We became engaged. Then, with persuasion, we got her parents’ permission to marry. Her father asked me, “Do you have the means of supporting a wife?” I proudly answered, “I earn $100 a month!” That seemed to satisfy him. So he granted permission. I will never forget the devastation I felt when I feared they were going to say, “No,” nor the happiness when they said, “Yes.”

We had happy days preparing to marry on August 10, 1945. We were married in the evening on a hillside at Middle Island Seventh Day Baptist Church in West Virginia. It was true love and a happy marriage, almost like a dream through all the serious realities of marriage. So ended my bachelor years with a happy conclusion. There remained some college years, but life was now complete.

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Rev. Edgar F. Wheeler: 34 Salem College (1941 – 1947)

First Year

After another summer of hard work on the farm, I was persuaded by Loren Osborn, who had been drafted into military service, to go to Salem, West Virginia, and take his job as linotype operator at the Seventh Day Church of God publishing house. My mother had to correct my assumption that it was right on the coast. It would be right “next door” to the state of her youth, Ohio. It sounded exciting to go to new and mountainous country.

So, I was on my way again in my Model A. A tire blew out right at Lane School, a mile from home. I was uneasy that Mom and Dad would hear of it from neighbors, the Hanks, and worry. That did not happen. It turned out to be a delightful trip. As always, I had problems with diarrhea before leaving home. Mom had fixed fried chicken and sandwiches to eat, and by the time I reached St. Joseph, Missouri, I was hungry and ate. I stopped at Louise’s on the way, then on to Ohio to visit Mom’s relatives. Then to West Virginia. I was entranced by the hills (“mountains”) and well groomed little farms and gardens.

Learning the Linotype machine was often frustrating, but I soon came to enjoy it and the personnel at the office. Allen Bond and I sometimes used their machines for some small jobs. Linotype provided a livelihood for years.

I enjoyed Salem and the college. It was definitely different and exciting country! I worked long hours, often going to work at 4:30 a.m., so as to be able to get to early morning classes. As I remember, that year was generally uneventful – until I came down with double mumps just before the end of the academic year. I felt miserable and had to wait a few days to drive home. I was still not feeling well to travel, but home beckoned! Again, seeing home as I came over the last little grade was a wonderful sight.

Second Year

After another hard summer’s work on the farm, I returned to Salem College in the fall. During the summer, Dad ran across a 1936 Ford V-8 for sale.

It was owned by a veterinary at Winchester and for some time smelled of medicine. Anyway, I bought it and sold my Model A to Myrt Crosswhite, a neighbor. The ’36 was a two-door (Tudor) desert tan or brown with red wheels. It was the trunk model with metal covered spare tire on the outside. The tires were very poor, and none were available because of wartime rationing. On the way to West Virginia, I had to get a tire at a junk yard and put a liner in it. Surprisingly, it served well.

I worked again at the publishing house. In general, Salem provided a change in life for me. I began dating. My parents were concerned that I would date one girl, and another, and finally marry foolishly. I almost did that. I became engaged to a decent girl who was a student at Philippi, West Virginia.

At Christmas time I met Xenia Lee Randolph at the candy counter at the variety store where she worked on weekends. I was struck! She asked me if I wanted to buy candy. Flirtatiously, I said I would, but I had no one to give it to. She impulsively said, “You can give it to me.” I said no more. I bought the candy she liked and got her address from Lila (Stephan) Saunders, and I mailed it to her. When her father asked who it was from, she said, “Some college smarty.” He said, “Don’t you think you ought to at least say “thank you?” She did, and that gave me ideas. I remember passing by her only once after that in Salem until near Valentine’s Day. I sent her another box of candy at Valentine’s Day. After that, our relationship grew, and I began to see that, beyond her attractiveness, she had superior quality.

That spring, I hitchhiked to Kansas for a few days. I went by bus to Parkersburg, West Virginia, then successfully got a ride with a soldier all the way to St. Louis. From there I caught a chilly night ride with another serviceman in a 1941 Plymouth convertible with the top down, all the way to Kansas City.

I don’t remember how I got the rest of the way home.

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Rev. Edgar F. Wheeler: 33 Milton College

After working on the farm the summer of 1941, I was persuaded by friends to transfer to Milton College in Wisconsin in the fall. A job was offered for room and board there, in addition to work as night janitor at the college. One reason for the change was the high expense at Wheaton.

By fall, I had acquired the old family Model A Ford, which had gone to Charles, who then sold it to me. I took Boyden Crouch and Ronald McClure as passengers. I stayed and worked at Calvin Crandall’s farm in the country for room and board. I worked HARD on the farm there. I brought my bicycle, so in the very early morning hours I rode into Milton, two miles away, to clean the gym from football players. Mud! I shoveled first, then mopped each morning during the football season.

In late November the weather got too cold to ride my bicycle to town. I didn’t want to drive the car. A job was then offered to me as night janitor at the college. So, I moved to campus. I shoveled coal, removed clinkers (rock nuggets left after coal burns) from the furnace, and cleaned. Quite an experience, policing students trying to use the facilities for personal and improper uses. I was threatened once, too. I had to act brave, whether I felt brave or not, and I watched around dark corners.

Professor Si Inglis was my French teacher – an interesting man. I also had courses in biology, Bible Survey, and English Literature. It was a good year, though the college was not too impressive. It helped to have Bill and Marie Prentice and Loyal and Lucille Todd (a former teacher at Lane School) living on a farm nearby. The church was an important part of both religious and social life.

Dating was a part of life that first semester. After that, there was just time for work and study. The Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor December 7, 1941. That considerably changed the lives of all Americans. At Christmas vacation I took Boyden Crouch and Herbert and Virginia Crouch to Nortonville. It was good to be home again.

At the end of that school year, I drove to Ohio where I picked up Grandma Lugibihl and took her home with me. We stopped overnight with Louise and Roy and family at Minonk, Illinois. I had several flat tires on the way. I got perturbed, but Grandma patiently said in her German way, “Oh, we’ll get there after a while.” In Missouri the clutch rod broke. It was too late in the day for a garage, so after being pushed to start it, I drove all the way in high gear. I finally stalled the car pulling into the driveway at home.

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Rev. Edgar F. Wheeler: 32 Wheaton College “Fresh from the Farm”

In January, 1941, I was off to Wheaton College. Mom gave me practical advice on caring for my clothes, without her to wash and mend, and such practical things. She helped me pack and gave me last-minute suggestions for living away from home. I later found that she had attached a note in my new leather-bound Bible encouraging me to be faithful in reading it. Dad took me to St. Joe, Missouri, where I boarded a Greyhound bus for Illinois.

I arrived the next day at the bus stop at a saloon in Napierville, Wisconsin, a few miles from Wheaton. The proprietor was interested in my plans and took me to my destination, the home of Mrs. Benson who lodged college boys. A couple days later, he arrived at my boarding house to offer me a job as bartender! Naturally, that did not fit into my plans in a Christian college, preparing for ministry.

What a life change from a rural Kansas farm with day-in-day-out work in all kinds of weather, to an urban, scholastic atmosphere! No more overalls and muddy boots, no more days exposed to the elements. Now it was study, classrooms, schedules, and meals at a cafeteria.. Now it was exposure to fellow students from many backgrounds and cultures: Paul Votaw, Kansas City; Leslie Flynn, Canada; G. Graham; Dr. Spaulding; Dr. Gregarian; and T. Richard Caufield, another country boy from Kansas.

I had a job working at the college cafeteria for meals – a good job although with late hours. I washed dishes, pots and pans at night, usually finishing around 11:00 o’clock. As a supplement, I took work for an evangelist, John R. Rice. I found the work not to my liking, and him overbearing. I quit the position after only a brief time. I found other supplemental work of odd jobs in outlying areas. Some of those jobs, and employers, were a story in themselves. Once I did house-cleaning for a woman who believed in horoscope. “Your “sign danger (March),” she said. Her husband fancied himself as an inventor – a spading fork (?)” High cleaning jobs were part of my hiring out.

I enjoyed the campus atmosphere and two classes, particularly: Introduction to the Old Testament under Miss Spaulding; and Anthropology under a German professor, Gregorian. Professor Gergorian was a blunt German. War was threatening. He counseled male students, “Pray you don’t have to go, and if you do go, pray you shoot straight.” “Miss” Spaulding’s teaching enriched my own teaching and preaching through the years.

I truly “kept my nose to the grindstone.” Right at the end of the semester, I had one date with a chubby, freckle-faced girl, Grace Nevines, from New Jersey. I felt like a real country boy and that was the end of that. And, of course, I did not return to Wheaton the next year. I did pass through Wheaton the next year, however, and our chance meeting was no more than a passing, “Hello.”

Reality dawned on me through acquaintance with other students that a “Christian” college did not ensure perfect Christian students. There were morally weak students, those with psychological problems, those in whom the love of Christ was not evident. Yet the atmosphere was generally uplifting. I learned that Christian ideals, even though not always attained, make better people. Beyond that, I experienced more of the grace of God through Jesus Christ.

I was excited about college – but homesick! That was somewhat assuaged by the companionship of my long time, hometown friend, Allen Bond, was also in Wheaton. That helped me feel more at home. Our Sabbath days were generally spent together. One Sabbath afternoon I recreated the old home scene by sketching a picture of the homestead.

Allen Bond Dad had shipped my bicycle via Railway Express. It got used daily to go to classes, and often on busy traffic ways where a bicycle did not belong – for extra jobs in Glenn Ellen and other outlying areas.

During my time at Wheaton, my sister Louise was married at Pekin, Illinois, to Roy Sullivan of Minonk, Illinois. I was able to be there and participate in the wedding party at the ceremony. I especially enjoyed seeing my parents, who were also there.

I eagerly awaited spring, so I could return home in Kansas. I rode with Paul Votaw of Kansas City, who was delivering a new 1941 Chevrolet. Merlin met me in Kansas and took me home the next day. He was very solicitous that I was “going straight” at college. That summer, home was a welcome sight. My Wheaton sketch heightened that expectation. That summer, and the next two were my last summers there.

I spent several years working my way through college. Necessary employment made it necessary to curtail college schedules.

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Rev. Edgar F. Wheeler: 31 Husking Corn – 1939

I have graduated from High School in 1938. I want to go to college, but my finances not allowing and my plans indefinite, I have agreed to stay at home and work on the farm of my father, Ernest Wheeler. My next older brother, Charles, has settled in farming. Sometime along I agreed that I would continue to work until corn husking is done this Fall, planning to attend college the second term at Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois. (Billy Graham was an upper class-man when I was there. He was already making a name for himself and well known around campus.) This college was chosen because of its reputation as a fine Christian institution.

Summer was ending in Kansas. The worst of the August heat was broken, although it occasionally showed a reluctance to depart. Mornings were cool. The Denver weather report described frost there in late September. One could hear a dry rustle in the corn fields and ears of corn were full. The sun rose later and set earlier.

In early October Dad decided it was time to start husking corn. The corn that was wanted for fodder had already been cut while somewhat green. The wagon was prepared. Its box was twelve feet long, four feet wide and three feet high. We heightened the box by adding boards a foot higher–adding four feet side boards on the left side. These were called “bang boards” by many farmers. As we husked the ears from the standing rows, we threw them against the boards, and they dropped into the box. A full load would be forty-five bushels in the ear. The team of horses would stay on the row that the wagon straddled, needing only a word uttered to move on or to stop.

Dad would buy boxes of kind of a flannel glove made for this purpose, as a pair was apt to wear through within two days. We also had a metal hook mounted on a metal plate and attached to our hand over top of the glove. One quick thrust of the hook opened the husk, than a bend over the other hand, and the ear was out and on its way to the wagon by air. (I still have that hook in my cottage – 2009.)

The harvest of 80-100 acres was on its way. Mornings were often frosty at the early hour just after sunrise when we went to the field. Sometimes we would be in the field next to the Albert Weishaar farm about a mile from home when we would see brother Bob’s school bus taking him to high school in Effingham.

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Rev. Edgar F. Wheeler: 30 Farm Experiences

As time went on, I was given more responsibility on the farm. I would run the cream separator – first a De Laval and later a Melotte (who else would remember such details?). We sold the cream and fed the skim milk to the calves and the hogs. By the time I was a teenager, we were delivering most of our milk to the Condensary in Nortonville, but we also sold whole milk and bottled some.

During the thirties, farmers sometimes received as little as four and a half cents a pound for hogs on the market. I think it was about the same for cattle. My father would listen on the radio for prices being offered when we had livestock ready for market, then try to pick the day when prices seemed best. We marketed at St. Joseph, Missouri, about forty miles from our northeastern Kansas home. Incidentally, that day would be one of the few on which we could get any distance from work on the farm. We went with Dad to market.

As I remember, fifty cents a bushel was considered a good price for wheat–our only cash crop. At that time, we cut wheat with a grain binder, and put the bundles in standing shocks until we and neighbors were all ready to thresh the grain (wheat and oats). The owner of a steam engine and threshing machine would do custom threshing on each farm, and farmers would help each other haul the bundles to the threshing machine. We “kids” loved the big dinners the women prepared for the workers!

Bread was around ten cents a loaf, and day old was often five cents or even less. Gasoline varied from twelve to fifteen cents a gallon. Men’s work shoes could be bought for $2.98, overalls for about the same. A new Ford or Chevy could be bought for around $450.00. That didn’t matter much to us, because we were more apt to buy a (often much-used) car for $150.00, or sometimes much less.

Our family, like so many conservative Midwestern farmers, thought of FDR as a radical, so did not appreciate him. Remarks were often made that he would lead the country into socialism and bankruptcy. We steered clear as much as possible from his new programs. He did initiate a farm program in which farmers were paid to reduce production in order to raise prices. I think we did profit somewhat from that. Some local farmers who could not “make it” got on WPA for a boost. The staid older farmers thought that was pretty degrading.

The “Dust Bowl” rolled like a dark curtain almost shutting the sun out at times. At the worst times there were lung problems because of breathing in so much dust. We wore damp handkerchiefs over our nose to filter out the dust pretty much inside or outside. Housewives had to contend with little piles of dust that filtered in around the windows. It was a bit scary, and people who thought a lot about the “end of the world.” Of course the dust resulted from drought, so crops were poor, if there were any at all. It was a little better in eastern Kansas than western Kansas and Colorado. We had to cut our corn before maturity because it completely died, using it for fodder.
None of our family worked for any government agency.

Entertainment was mostly home grown. We made our own toys generally and played table games in the evening when we had time. Also, our church had programs for the youth in which we participated–activities mainly socializing and table games. Movies were rare. I think the cost of a movie was ten to twenty-five cents, depending on age.

Farm families were far more fortunate than urban families during the depression, because we could pretty largely “eat off the land.” We raised our own meat, had our own chickens and eggs, had garden produce, etc. Urbanites often were on welfare or bread lines for food. There was a lot of patching clothes, socks, etc. Often, feed for livestock and chickens came in printed cotton bags that were used for dresses, aprons, shirts and underwear. Flour and sugar sacks were also printed cotton.

We farmed with horses until we could finally buy a well worn Fordson tractor. We always had a car, open (now called a phaeton), and in the lowest price range–because of make and condition. To sum up that part, it was one of the best times of our lives. There was a mutual support and family life. We did not have high expectations materially, and life was simply less complicated. To this day we who lived through those times benefit from having learned thrift and being conditioned to expend effort for what we have. In the very early thirties, we got that old Fordson. It was a cantankerous machine; but it would do a day’s work once we got it started, provided we had enough water to replenish the radiator. I remember yet the whine of the rear end. I could hear Dad plowing the west end almost a mile away. A McCormick – Deering 10-20 was next. It was a big step upward, rough and ready with its lugged wheels. Newer roads were developed, and the state forbid lugged tracvtors to travel on them. This led to a new rubber- tired row crop Farmall F-20 in 1939. Then tractors could be used to cultivate row crops.

Tractor farming was a great advance. There was no longer the need to pasture, feed, and sometimes doctor the horses for sore shoulders or other ailments. Once in the field, time was not lost resting the horses periodically. A couple of things I did miss, though. One was bird song – the meadow lark, the robin, the killdeer and other birds of the field. The killdeers nested on the ground right in the corn rows. When one approached their nest, they would make a mournful cry and do the “broken wing” act to lead approaching danger away from her nest. Their cry always gave me a sad, lonely feeling, especially in the field at the back of the farm, working alone.

I also missed the sound of the train whistles. The Sante Fe whistle had a rather high shrill sound. The Missouri Pacific was a low, pleasant tone. We could see the trains about ten miles to the north, leaving its trail of black coal smoke as it traveled across the horizon going to Omaha, Nebraska, and points west. All was drowned out by the unmuffled sound of the tractor.

1938 was an especially memorable year for me. I was eighteen years of age. First of all, it was a time of spiritual enlightenment. In the midst of the struggles of my teenage years, I was troubled about my relationship with God, in the light of guilt for sin. My close friend, Allen Bond, had left home to escape what he considered religious restraints. He hitchhiked to New Jersey. There he was converted and returned home as an enthusiastic witness for the Gospel. He brought me to faith in Jesus Christ as Saviour, for which I am happily indebted to him. That year the Nortonville church hosted Youth Conference for the Midwestern church youth. That was an inspirational experience for me.

I graduated from high school in the spring of 1938. I agreed that I would stay at home and work on the farm until I was financially able to go to college. That was January, 1940.

Fall was a wonderful season in Kansas. Summer heat was broken, the corn had ripened and crops were taken in to prepare for the winter. I remember the rustle of dry corn leaves, gray and cloudy skies in the north, shorter daylight hours, and flocks of Canadian geese heading south. Late September and early October we listened to the weather news. We would hear that Denver had snow, and we began to expect colder weather. That signaled time to start husking corn.

The drought years ended in 1938, and we had a bumper crop that year. Dad put Charles and me to husking corn off the standing stalks. Our wagon had high sideboards on one side, and as we shucked the ears out of he husk, we threw them against the board, and the ears fell into the wagon. We wore inexpensive cotton gloves, with a hook attached to a metal plate, which was secured to our left hand palm by leather straps. These pulled the husks loose so that we could snap the ears out. I would walk a little ahead of Charles doing the first row and helping on the second row as necessary. Charles did the second and third row. Rarely would I catch an ear on the side of the head!

We worked early and late in all kinds of weather in the fall of 1940. We got to the field a mile from home soon after sunup and unloaded the last load for the day after dark in the evening. We would see the school bus on which our younger brother, Bob, rode to Effingham to high school. I stayed on the farm until harvest was over that year. Charles and I finished husking just afternoon at the Ashley Riley farm we rented about two and a half miles from home. I remember the relief as we rode home on the last wagon load of corn. It was Thanksgiving Day and we were ready to “give thanks” as we sat down with our family later that afternoon to enjoy our “feast” together in “thanksgiving.”

My first car was a 1929 Model A Ford. I was the third member of our family to own it. My Dad first bought it around 1936 from a junk yard. It was originally an open touring car and had been damaged in a broadside accident. Dad bought a tudor sedan body and hired a local “jack of all trades” man to help change the body to the original chassis. It was the family car for three or four years and saw hard use with some teenage drivers. Later it came into the possession of my next older brother, Charles. Finally in 1941 I bought it from him. The mileage on it at the time was round 120,000 miles.

I proceeded to put new rings in the engine and generally “fancy” it up until it was a really nice car, in my opinion, one of the best Model A’s around. I drove it from Kansas to Milton to college, where it faithfully started in minus 30 degree weather. A year later I drove it to West Virginia to Salem College, without any hint of mechanical trouble. Finally I drove it back to Kansas the end of that school year. In Kansas, I sold it to a neighbor for the fifty dollars I originally paid for it. Years later I was told that he had completely worn it out and put it to rest in his pasture–I guess one would say, “Put it out to pasture.”

That car was truly part of our family and a very dear part of my life. I have often thought of how I’d like to have this resurrected Ford back again. It would be great to have a car so simple and dependable when later models have become so confusingly complicated. To me it is worth a mint in memories, as well as for its dollar value today.

The awaited departure for Wheaton College in Illinois came early in January of 1941. My mother helped me pack and gave me last-minute suggestions for living away from home. I later found that she had attached a note inside my new leather-bound Bible encouraging me to be faithful in reading it. I think Dad took me to Atchison to get on the Greyhound bus for the trip. The next day I was in Wheaton, settled in the home of Mrs. Benson who lodged college boys.

I enjoyed college in Wheaton, but due to expenses, I transferred to our SDB Midwestern college in Milton, Wisconsin the Fall term of 1941. While in Milton war was threatening and in early December the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and we were at war.

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Rev. Edgar F. Wheeler: 29 Transition

Upon graduation from high school in May, 1938, I entered my “footloose” years. That continued until I 2was nearly 25 years of age.

Although I had felt the call to pastoral ministry for some time, I remember being up town in Nortonville with the empty feeling of, “There do I go from here?” Before long my focus returned to going to college in preparation for ministry. Two problems had to be faced: Dad needed my help and did not want me to leave the farm; and I needed finances to attend college. With brother, Merlin’s, intervention, we reached agreement that I would stay on the farm until financially able to go to college.

This led to a kind of “treading water,’ from late May of 1938 until January, 1940. Charles and I were a team, carrying the heavier duties, as Dad’s health was declining. The two of us made a good team, sometimes giving way to youthful escapades, but generally working hard. That time strengthened our brotherly bonds, a closeness that has remained through the years. So, “seedtime and harvest” continued through 1938 and 1939.

I became known during that time as the “tar bucket,” meaning that I was the only one of my age who was not dating regularly. The week days were generally taken up with work. Sabbath days were respite and blessing, also a time of worship and of socializing with cousin Winston and friends of the church. One special event was a youth conference at our church in August, 1938. It also marked a break in the drought years, as a severe storm with heavy rain came during it. The fresh smell of rain and earth still stands out in my memory.

Finally, in 1940, I decided it was time to leave home for college. I had agreed with Dad to help through the harvest in fall, 1940. That harvest was memorable because it was the best crop in years, and for the camaraderie built with Charles husking corn day-after-day.

I enrolled in Wheaton College, Wheaton, Illinois for the second semester, which began in January, 1941. I chose Wheaton because it was a well-known Christian college. As January came, I was confused over my eagerness for the new experience, yet realizing that I was leaving home.

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Rev. Edgar F. Wheeler: 28 “1938”

1938 was an especially memorable year for me. I was eighteen years of age. First of all, it was a time of spiritual enlightenment. In the midst of the struggles of my teenage years, I was troubled about my relationship with God, in the light of guilt for sin. My close friend, Allen Bond, had left home to escape what he considered religious restraints. He hitchhiked to New Jersey. There he was converted and returned home as an enthusiastic witness for the Gospel. He brought me to faith in Jesus Christ as Savior, for which I am happily indebted to him. That year the Nortonville church hosted Youth Conference for Midwestern church youth. That was an inspirational experience for me.

I graduated from high school in the spring of 1938. I agreed that I would stay at home and work on the farm until financially able to go to college. That was in January 1941.

Fall was a wonderful season in Kansas. Summer heat was broken, the corn had ripened and crops were taken in to prepare for the winter. I remember the rustle of dry corn leaves, gray and cloudy skies in the north, shorter daylight hours, and flocks of Canadian geese heading south. Late September and early October we listened to the weather news. We would hear that Denver had snow, and we began to expect colder weather. That signaled time to start husking corn.

The drought years ended in 1938, and we had a bumper crop that year. Dad put Charles and me to husking corn off the standing stalks. Our wagon had high sideboards on one side, and as we shucked the ears out of the husk, we threw them against the board, and the ears fell into the wagon. We wore inexpensive cotton gloves, with a hook attached to a metal plate, which was secured to our left hand palm by leather straps. These pulled the husks loose so that we could snap the ears out. I would walk a little ahead of Charles doing the first row and helping on the second row as necessary. Charles did the second and third row. Rarely would I catch an ear on the side of the head!

We worked early and late in all kinds of weather in the fall of 1940. We got to the field a mile from home soon after sunup and unloaded the last load for the day after dark in the evening. We would see the school bus on which younger brother Bob rode to Effingham.

I stayed on the farm until harvest was over in the fall of 1940. Charles and I finished husking just afternoon at the Ashley Riley farm about two and a half miles from home. I remember the relief as we rode home on the wagon load of corn. We enjoyed a late Thanksgiving dinner with Dad and Mom.

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