Reflections

This is the time of year when we stand at the crossroads and look both ways, backward and forward. What did we do with our time in the past year? How did we fail or succeed? What are the projections for the next year?

What did we do in 2017?

• Had family sale in January for Leroy's mom
• I started on an assignment to write a book on the history of the John F Martin company
• I spoke at 18 Mennonite schools in February and March
• Had public sale for Leroy's mom in April
• Caught our breath in May
• We celebrated our 50th anniversary in July and were honored with a party in August
• My book, Loyalty Test, finally appeared on the market the beginning of August
• I was the main speaker on a Burkholder tour arranged by the historical society in September
• I started a new writing project in October and the John F Martin book was released
• We went to see The Ark in Kentucky and Flight 93 Memorial in November and I finished crocheting an afghan
• I reached "threescore years and ten" in December

What are the plans for 2018?

• Get great-grandparent degree in January
• Go to Sarasota in March (haven't been there since 1972)
• Finish current writing project
• Scrapbook 2017 pictures

     Tentative plans

• have a quilting
• crochet an afghan
• retire from Shank Door (???)

And of course there's all the daily routines to fill the days and goals in other areas. There's the perennial need to lose weight, grow grace and knowledge of the Lord, and keep learning new things. There is no end mark for some of those  things. I'll turn my face toward 2018 and keep plugging away as long as I live.

Icing On The Cake

I had a great 70th birthday. Gifts, cards, phone calls, and the works. Leroy brought me a dozen roses. I thought he was up to something when I saw him get some money out of my wallet but I knew enough not to ask questions on my birthday. If it sounds crooked that he took money from my wallet to buy them, remember he's the one who earned the money so it was his to start with.

We went out to eat for supper, using a gift card we got for our anniversary this summer. Since I didn't have to cook, I had the whole day to entertain myself however I wished. So I had fun writing a story.

The icing on the cake was an email from a fellow Burkholder researcher. We can now go back one more generation in our Burkholder ancestors. 

The earliest Burkholder to which we could document our line was Joseph Burkhalter who was born in the 1620s and married Elizabeth Widmer. They lived at Ruderwil in Switzerland. Now the church records from Trachelswald show that Joseph was born June 6, 1623, to Jost and Cathrin (Fueni) Burkhalter. They were married in 1612 and lived on a farm named Haslematt (or Heslimatt) within sight of the famous Trachelswald castle. Many Mennonite tourists visit this castle because Anabaptists were imprisoned there. We were in the castle and looked out over the countryside but did not know we had an ancestral home on the next hill. 

Haslematt is the house/barn in the foreground and the castle is in the background. It's only a few miles from here to Ruderswil where three generations of our Burkholders lived before the fourth generation emigrated to Pennsylvania in 1754.

Now that we know Joseph's parents were Jost and Cathrin, the next question, of course, is, "Who were their parents?" Since Jost and Cathrin were married in 1612, they had to be born in the 1500s. Genealogy research is never finished but I am delighted that we can go back one more generation. What a birthday present!

Numbers Roll

I have one more day left in my sixties and then Thursday the numbers roll to the big 7-0. Yikes! That sounds like a number for my mom or grandma, not me!
One of my friends who went on one year ahead of me and knows the ropes gave me this poem in a card.

Poem for Seniors

A row of bottles on my shelf

caused me to analyze myself.

One yellow pill I have to pop

goes to my heart so it won't stop.

A little white one that I take

goes to my hands so they won't shake.

The blue one that I use a lot

tells me I'm happy when I'm not.

The purple pill goes to my brain

and tells me that I have no pain.

The capsule tells me not to wheeze

or cough or choke or even sneeze.

The red one, smallest of them all,

goes to my blood so I won't fall.

The orange one, very big and bright

prevents my leg cramps in the night.

Such an array of brilliant pills

helping to cure  kinds of ills.

But what I'd really like to know

is what tells each one where to go.

I can laugh at that one because I don't have all those ills or take so many pills. But I can identify more with the second one she gave me.

On Growing Older

Everything is farther away than it used to be. It is twice as far to the corner and they have added a hill, I noticed. I have given up running for the bus; it leaves faster than it used to. And it seems to me, they are making stairs steeper than in the olden days.

Have you noticed the smaller print they are using in the newspapers? And there is no sense in asking people to read aloud; everyone speaks in such a low voice I can hardly hear them.

It is almost impossible to reach my shoe laces. Even people are changing. They are much younger than they used to be when I was their age. On the other hand, people my age are so much older than I am.

I ran into an old classmate the other day, and she had aged so much I didn't even recognize her. I got to thinking about the poor thing while I was combing my hair this morning, and in doing so I glanced at my reflection. You know, they don't even make mirrors like they used to!

Memories are Keepsakes

It must have been at least two years ago when Daryl and Velma said they want to give me a weekend at a cabin for my 70th birthday. I was supposed to think who I would want to invite and give them plenty of notice so they don't plan anything else for the first weekend in December. So I started thinking who I would invite to fill the seven bedrooms in the cabin. 

Of course, I can't do anything like that without my sisters so that was a given. Who else? My three friends from our teen years. We four girls hung out together every weekend and did all kinds of crazy stuff together until we got married. I am the last of the four to turn 70 this year. I told them way back in February this year to reserve the first weekend in December for my birthday party. There was still some room so I invited the sister-in-law who is closest to my age. That was a winning combination!

We went to the cabin Friday evening and people started trickling in about 6. I only had to pack our clothes and bedding because Daryl and Velma brought all the food and did the cooking and dish washing all weekend. We had the whole weekend to visit with our friends. We talked, ate, played games, put puzzles together, etc. What a party! Velma loves to cook and we were very well fed.

This picture has too much glare but it's the only one I have of us putting puzzle together.

This was our "gang" of four girls and still going strong more than fifty years later. Some friends come and go in our lives but we have stuck together through it all. We're all a couple months apart and lined up by age. Dolores was the first to turn 70 this year, then Anna Mary, Laverne, and me. You can see I'm both last and least.

We scattered to attend various nearby churches Sunday morning and then came back to the cabin for lunch. During the week before, two couples said they would go home Saturday night so Velma said I can invite four more for Sunday lunch. I couldn't pass up the opportunity to have company without having to cook! I had a little trouble finding people on short notice but three more came, another old friend from teen years and a cousin and her husband. Sunday was the official birthday dinner complete with a cake. Velma avoided a starting a forest fire by putting only 6 candles on the cake.

These are the ladies who were there on Sunday. 

Lidyan (cousin) Betty Ann and Carol (sisters), me, Millie, Anna Mary, Laverne

We sisters dressed alike on Sunday. Carol got the fabric in Mexico this summer. 

We looked forward to this weekend for a long time. We had a lot of fun reminiscing about the good old days and catching up with each other's lives. All too soon, the weekend was over and passed into the memory category. Weekends only last a short time but memories are keepsakes forever.