Ending and Beginning

Tomorrow Gerald takes his last test and finishes his third year of college. So tomorrow is the end and of the school year and the beginning of summer. He will begin his summer employment the same day he takes his last test. His textbooks will move upstairs and I will once again be able to call my desk my own--for awhile. I won't be here to enjoy the space very long.

I started packing to go to Israel this week. We are on the countdown now with eleven more days to go until lift-off. We talked about doing this sometime for nearly 40 years, and the time is almost here. Sometimes it still doesn't seem real. We will return June 13. Gerald will be here to look after the place and take care of himself. By the time we return maybe he will have decided if he wants to be a bachelor permanently.

Stoltzfus House

Nicholas Stoltzfus was born in Germany in 1719. He married an Amish girl in 1744 and came to Pennsylvania on the ship Polly. The ship landed in Philadelphia on October 18, 1766. This is the sea chest in which he brought his belongings across the ocean. (How many of your belongings could you take with you if you could only take what fit in this chest?)

Nicholas and his son Christian bought land in Berks County in 1770 and built a stone house which still stands along the Tulpehocken Creek.

At that time, Berks County was a wild and wooly place to live. Nicholas died in 1774 and by 1801 his son Christian moved to Leacock Township in Lancaster County which was a more safe place to live. The Stoltzfus house passed through a long succession of owners. In 1989 it was inhabited by squatters and then was abandoned. Mother Nature took over and covered the house with a curtain of dense foliage so its shameful state of disrepair could not be seen.

While the house quietly stood its ground against urban sprawl, the construction of a super highway, industries, and the ravages of nature, the Stoltzfus clan who could trace their lineage to this spot blossomed and grew in other places.
In the year 2000, some of the estimated one million descendants of Nicholas Stoltzfus formed a committee to preserve and restore the old house at 1700 Tulpehocken Road, Wyomissing, Pa. Every year, on the second Saturday in May, a benefit auction is held to raise funds for the preservation and restoration of this historic house. This year we were finally able to get there. I had seen the outside of the house before, but had never been inside. I wanted to go to the auction mostly because the house was open for free tours.

This is the kitchen.

This is the front door which opens into the kitchen. A wooden panel at the bottom of the door slides up to cover the nine panes of glass in the top half of the door for safety during Indian attacks. For this reason it is called an "Indian Door."

The barn that once stood on this property collapsed in 1924. Today ground was broken to reconstruct a barn.
The Nicholas Stoltzfus House serves to remind us of the important part the Amish played in the history and development of Berks County. I think he would be pleased to know his descendants are maintaining both his property and his faith.

Christian Stoltzfus' German Bible

Mother's Day

My mother died on July 30, 1993. Every year when Mother's Day rolls around I miss her all over again. All the ads focus on what you can do for your mother and there is not one thing I can do for mine. The opportunities to express my love and appreciation for my mother are over. I am always glad when the Mother's Day fuss is over.

There was a time I wished Mom would just let me alone to live my own life. Somewhere between my "terrible teens" and thirtieth birthday I did an about-face. I realized how wise and wonderful my mother was and valued her judgments over my own. I also realized I would probably not always have her with me, for children normally outlive their parents. I panicked whenever I thought about trying to live without Mom. I talked to her nearly every day and could not imagine being unable to call her. Sometime after I moved into the forties the panic diminished but I certainly did not look forward to losing her.

All of Mom's siblings lived well into their 80s and her one sister is now 94. I expected Mom to be with us at least until she was 80. When she was diagnosed with a terminal illness at the age of 66, I was caught unprepared. I had two months to adjust my expectations before she died. I went to see her every single day of those two months and was able to accept her death when it came. She helped me do that by expressing her eagerness to go be with the Lord. I have not LOST her because I know where she is, and someday I'll be there too.

The older I get, the more I hear that I look just like my mom. The mirror tells me that is true, but I don't feel I have ever measured up to her in other ways. She was only 4' 10" (so am I) but she towered over me in wisdom and character.

Today Royer's delivered 18 pink and white roses with my name on them---for Mother's Day. When I measure myself against my mother, I know I don't deserve them. I am humbled but grateful to have children who love me in spite of my flaws. Enjoy the roses with me and thank God for your mother, whoever she is or was.

Memories Last

I had one of those "how can they do this to me?" moments today. I got a letter from the people who own the place where I was born and grew up. The wife invited me to call her to make arrangements to see the place before the house is torn down. They are planning to sell it to a developer who will fill it with apartment houses. The house will have to be torn down to make way for a road. I suppose I should have expected this to happen since the place was already on the outskirts of town when I lived there and the farm across the road was recently turned into a development.

My parents sold the place in 1967. Subsequent owners made changes and the place no longer looks like it did when I lived there. The eleven acres that my father bought in 1947 has been reduced to five acres. The garage, brooder and chicken houses were torn down, a small addition to the house was removed and an attached garage was added. The barn was covered with red tin and the silo removed. The house was remodeled inside and out.

Although much had changed, I could still drive by, point to the house, and tell my children this is where I was born. This is the stream in the meadow where I slopped. This is the barn hill where I sat to watch the fireworks on the Fourth of July. This is the tree my brother fell out of and broke his arm. This is where our garden was. This is the porch where I sat and shelled peas by the bushel. This is where I walked through the corn field to get to the mulberry trees. This was my bedroom. This is the room where I dated their father.

After the house is gone and the field and meadow are filled with apartment houses, my children and grandchildren will hardly be able to visualize my birthplace no matter how well I describe it to them. But then, I'm not a famous person and money talks. I cannot expect the owners to turn the place into a museum in my honor. No matter what happens, I can still show my children the aerial picture of the place as it looked when I lived there. And no one can bulldoze my memories. They will last as long as I do.

Extreme Makeover

It is finished! Leroy rolled the last coat of "Blushing Tan" paint on the living room walls last night and this morning I put everything back in place. Here's the new look. Scroll down to see how it looked before anything was done. I want to put a border at the top yet whenever I find something I like.

New Look

The weather this week is gorgeous. It's sunny and in the 70s, making it warm enough to open windows. This is just the kind of weather I was waiting for to do some painting in the living room. Yes, the living room. After 40 years of the same paneling, the time has come for an extreme makeover. Last summer we tore the paneling off the front hall and had it replaced with drywall. I would have liked to do the whole living room, but that was more than His Highness would allow. I thought maybe in a couple years we will finish the job, but in the end decided I am willing to compromise and just apply a couple coats of paint.

I started yesterday and it will take me all week. The old paneling is so porous it takes two coats of primer and two coats of the color. It is the same color we painted the hall last summer. This is how it looked at noon today with the job about half done.

We are a house divided. He thinks it was fine the way it was and I voted for change. What do you think? Shall I go on or scrape it all off again?

2008 Model

Kaden Michael, son of Jay & Marilyn Martin (fourth son, fifth child), born on April 17, at 9:27 am, weighed 6lbs 2 oz. and was 20 1/2" long.
Since he was 5 1/2 weeks early, he is still in the NICU at Ephrata Hospital. He is doing very well, is off oxygen, IV and feeding tubes. He is a little jaundice and is under light for treatment. We are hoping that he will be able to come home this week!