So you think you believe in Christian education? Let me tell you about a lady who is the champion of all champion Christian education believers. Come along with me...(her own words)
"My great, great, grandmother, Nancy Jane, was half sister of David Lipscomb. You probably recognize that name. Nashville, Tennessee, David Lipscomb University." She says, "When my sister Nan and I went there, when it was a two year school called David Lipscomb College, we decided we wouldn't tell the other students of our ancestry, it might be considered bragging." But we are getting ahead of the story.
Born in Belvedere, Franklin County, Tennessee on May 2, 1916. She was the oldest of the children. Her Sister Nan and she were the "big uns" and her sister Frances and brother Felix were the "little uns". Her mother passed away when she was only 8 years old. Her Dad, Felix Caskey Ray, worked as a young man at the mill in Belvedere, Tennessee, an operation run by her great grandfather. They would grind meal and chicken feed and flour. There was another mill nearby which was run by her other grandfather on her mother's side. By the time she remembers that mill was no longer operational but the kids would swim there and picnic around the area.
When she was eleven her father remarried and she had a mother again. Mama Grace, who had a sister who had nine children. She, her sisters and brother had so many new friends. They were never without someone to play with. It was a happy time. She loved visiting her Grandma and Granddaddy in Belvedere. They got to take off their shoes and do what every came to mind. They never played in the house. That was for when you were sick, or it was raining so hard you couldn't go out. If it was only sprinkling they did play outside which was nice especially if it had been really hot.
Again, in her own words, "Grandma took care of the house and chickens, and the yard. The chickens were tame because she petted them. When I was about 2 years old Grandma said to catch a chicken to take home and I came around the corner with one under each arm." Before they had Mama Grace and her relatives, there were only four of them and Felix, the only boy, pretty much spoiled by Granddaddy. Every day Felix would run to Granddaddy and ask where his nickel was and every day Granddaddy would give him a nickel. "During the Great Depression, we knew we were poor, and Grandma told us not ask for a nickel. There were none to spare."
One of the fun things to do when we were growing up was to go swimming in the cattle trough. We could jump in just as we were, clothes and all. They would dry when we got out. We didn't know anything about swimming suits. No one did. You just went swimming in your clothes."
Once a year the kids would get to go to the County fair and they would get in free with their mother's friend Miss Lizzie She entered all sorts of things, like pear preserves and chickens and pickles in competition at the Fair Each of the children got a whole Dollar to spend and they knew it came from their Daddy who worked for Aetna Insurance Company and was off inspecting property that had burned and was insured. They would eat a hot dog and a pickle and those things costs a nickle. So they were rich for the entire day, but had not learned how to save and spent the entire Dollar in the day's visit at the fair, eating and riding all the rides.
In her words about childhood: "Another place we would go would be to Aunt Lemas or Aunt Tullias for a week at a time. Nan and I, since were were the 'big un' would go together. Aunt Lema was an old school teacher and she was pretty strict. One day she sent us to the store to sell cream from her cows, it was a quarter of a mile on a gravel road. Each of us had a tin bucket of cream. Nan spilled hers and we were mighty scared what she might do to us but we went on to the store and sold the rest. In the meantime the store lady called and told Aunt Lema on us. We got the money and went back home and told her what happened. We were surprised that she didn't scold us. Instead she told us how proud she was that we told the truth." She later told about her sister Frances taking a friend and going to Aunt Lema's house for a week and according to Frances, the aunt had saved up dishes for a week for them to have to wash. "From then on Frances never wanted to go back to Aunt Lemas."However Mary loved going because they would sit on the porch in the swing and the Aunt would ask school questions. Playing school was one of the ways they got educated.
She has few memories of her mother, Mary Dixie. They lived in Nashville, and she remembers walking to Church with her She says, "I remember her calling us in when she was about to die and she hugged and kissed all four of us, starting with me and Nan. Then she looked over at Frances and Felix and wondered aloud, who was going to take care of the babies."
Later after her mother died, everyone gathered at the grandparents' house. The kids were on the porch and could hear everything that was said. Mary recalls, "I was Aunt Lema's favorite so it hurt when she offered to take Frances instead of me.
Her Grandmother Ray was laid up in bed from a fall and she overheard the conversation and called everyone into the bedroom and proclaimed that "These children will not be separated. Felix can hire somebody to do the work, and we will oversee the children. They are all staying here with us." That is exactly what happened until Mama Grace came into their lives, and they moved to Nashville.
Even after moving to Nashville, the children spent the entire summer at the grandparents home which was their second home, They would go immediately when school was out, take off their shoes, and run and play the entire summer, but also work with whatever Grandma had for us to do which she always made fun. When summer was over they would put the shoes back on and back to Nashville they went.
She tells, "All summer long we studied the Bible and went to Church. It was then we would put the shoes back on. Our Bible class was in a corner of the auditorium. Since we had already learned the lesson at home, I would listen to the grown up lesson, It was more interesting than my class. Granddaddy was the teacher." She goes on to explain, "Even when it wasn't Sunday we would wake up hearing Grandma and Granddaddy discussing the Bible. They might disagree on what the Bible said and they would look it up to see who was right".
When their Dad married it was an adjustment for the children. Mary explains, "For instance, Mama Grace didn't know how to cook, so she would buy groceries and put up a schedule of who was to cook and who was to do the dishes. Grandma had taught each of us girls to bake our own birthday cake and make our first outfits by the time we were 9 years old so we pitched in and cooked and cleaned up.
Mary attended Hume Fogg High School in Nashville She remains friends with Geraldine "Gerry" Blair, There were 350 members of her Senior class. Dinah Shore a national singing star who later had her own television show sponsored by Chevrolet, was a year ahead of her in school. She was very active in the school talent shows and activities, One year she was in a program and sang "Throw Another Log on the Fire." Mary remembers that the audience liked her so much that she came back for encore after encore, proceeding to throw another log on that fire On their way home after the program, Mama grace said she thought Dinah was never going to get that fire built.
While they lived in Nashville with Daddy and Mama Grace, they went to church at the Hillsboro congregation which began in some one's basement. The first paid preacher was J.P. Sanders who had come from Sherman, Texas to attend school at Vanderbilt. He heard of a new school opening in California and asked Nan along with some other students to go to the new college, Pepperdine. Nan was already his secretary and she would continue in that job in California. Mary says, "I begged Daddy to let her go." No one had ever been that far from home. It was like going to a whole other country. The worse part was the first Christmas. It was too far to come home. But they did get to talk to Nan on the phone and Mary remembers everyone crying that Christmas. It was the first time the entire family had been apart on that Holiday.
Finally some friends of one of the students were going to drive to California and they had a brand new car. Mary didn't know them but they heard that Margaret, one of her friends and her wanted to go so they offered them a ride. Mary and Margaret bought the gas for the trip and paid for their own lodging and food. Mary says, "Jesse, who owned the car was a tightwad and he would wait to see what we had on our plates and ask for some of our food and that way he didn't always order for himself."
Nan had met Everette and they married, After that they rode out on the bus to see them. Nan wouldn't go to the store until it was time to start the meal and she would never buy ahead. This highly aggravated Mary who took over the kitchen in its entirety and that was part of her rent. Finally a man at Church told her that if she was going to stay she should find a job According to Mary, "He offered me a job at his insurance office and then I paid Nan and Everette board and rent. Everette was preaching at Santa Rosa and would practice in front of Nan. He wanted me to sit in and listen and tell him whether it was good or bad, but I told him, no thanks, hearing it one time was enough for me." This was her only other job until her kids got old enough to go to junior high school.
"I went to David Liscomb College as I said and I met my future husband there, J.E. 'Buddy' Ryan. Then when I went to California to stay with Nan and Everette, I knew I had a really big crush on him. I got so homesick for the South that I went back home but before I did, I sent a note to Buddy Ryan. After I got home he came to call on New Years. In less than 2 months we married and were married 53 years til he passed away. We first lived in an apartment in Russellville, Kentucky. I remember that Buddy didn't care much for our first landlady and called her Miss Fussbudget. We lost our first son, Edmund Ray at that time. Buddy's sister Clair had the first grandchild, a girl named Jane. Everyone was at the hospital and no one had mentioned it was Thanksgiving. I didn't know that the Rays didn't celebrate Thanksgiving at all, they just went to the field and on with work as usual. So since I was home, I killed a hen, made a full blown Thanksgiving Dinner for everyone and from that time on it was a big celebration for the Ray family."
"Buddy and I had our second son, Timothy Edmond Ray when we lived in Middleton and it flooded so that Buddy had to ride a boat to go back and forth to work so we moved back to Russellville. There we had our third child, Ruth Jeannette and we moved into a new house with a new baby girl. "
Life for the Rays with two sweet children and with Buddy working as a tobacco agent was ideal. Buddy was an Elder in the Church and life was good. "I don't ever remember going without, or not having enough to eat or clothes for the children. Buddy was a good provider. When the kids got old enough to go to junior high school, I wanted them to go to David Lipscomb where there was then a junior high, high school and two year college. My mother's dream was for all her children to get a Christian education. Nothing was more important. I never forgot that. So to afford the cost I went back to work for David at the school where I stayed for several years"
"My name was Mary Ella and while I was in college the teachers nicknamed me Mella. I have never given up using that name and it is what most people call me today."
Finally she ended up with us in Wichita Falls, Texas. We feel blessed that she did. However, she will be quick to tell you that there is no place on earth prettier or more wonderful than Tennessee, especially Franklin County, Tennessee. She is in relatively good health and is able to be self sufficient. She resides in a cute little permanent trailer, right outside her daughter's back door, which means that she has all her own "stuff" but where she also has someone to fuss over and to fuss over her. She eats at least one meal a day with her family, and is close to them, especially her grandchildren. She did what the woman in Proverbs did and God in his wisdom will "give her the reward she has earned and let her works bring her praise at the city gate".
Thank you Steve and Ruth Kizer and thank you Lord that you brought Mella into our lives.
Monday, September 6, 2010
Monday, July 5, 2010
Leta
She has always been there. I don't remember a time that I didn't know where she was supposed to sit and how quickly she comes and goes. This is the lady that taught us the word Nonagenerians. She gave a PARTY, It was her 90th birthday. She instead made it a party for every 90 year old in our congregation. She wrote a poem, she coordinated all the decorations and rounded up persons to assist her. The President of the Poetry Society read a poem she wrote. She has been a poet for as long as I have known her. This is about what I knew of Leta. Well come with me......
She was born on May 8, 1917. Woodrow Wilson was President of the United States of America. He went before Congress and asked permission to enter the war against Germany on April 2 that year and World War I began. A month later Leta entered the world.
Born in Oklahoma and lived all of her life in Southern Oklahoma and Texas. Her father and mother married when they were 21 and 35. Her father was a part time actor in traveling tent shows and a chef among other things. Men of that day and time were "Jacks of all trade" doing what ever it took to make money to feed their families. Her brother, George Howard, five years older than her was a friend all their lives.
It was almost time for her to be born, April storm season. Her father was terrified of storms. Her mother not so much. There was a community storm cellar. Her father wanted them to go, her mother was frightened because there was a "feeble minded boy" who went to the cellar and she was afraid that her baby would be marked. She refused to go. There was a new Methodist Church just up the block, Mother would not go there either. They weathered the storm right there at home, but the Methodist church was destroyed. It may be that there was a purpose to her life and that God watched even while she was carried close to her Mother's heart.
Times were hard. Men could barely feed their family. Her dad had fallen off a ladder and could not work. It was time for Christmas. Her Mother and Dad went out into the pasture and found a large weed which was very green. They cut it and brought it in the house. Cranberries and popcorn were strung and decorated the weed. They put oranges on the weed and her Mother bought an undressed doll, crocheted clothes and hung those on the tree also. The real surprise was her father had carefully carved out a doll bed and made all the accessories. Somehow they found her brother a toy gun and a drum It was a wonderful Christmas Years later she would read stories and feel as if they were describing her Christmas. She never wondered if she was loved by her family. It was shown to her every day.
Leta's Junior year she wanted to take typing. You had to pay $1.00 a month for a typing course. Her Mother sold a hen for the dollar and Leta learned to type. She then got a job for one of the welfare offices typing and was able to get together enough money to buy a sampler suitcase full of Newton Products which cost $5.00. She went door to door selling from that sample case .
Her father died after battling asthma caused by working in dust from gins and chafe from wheat combining, His lungs were ruined. There lives were harder than I can even imagine. The land was dry, there was no way to water the stock. Cattle were being killed because they could not be fed or watered. The last four years of her father's life, her family shared a four room house with a man, his wife and kids. She does not have a lot of patience with someone who complains about being crowded. The man was able to get a cow that had been shot. He gave half of it to Leta's family. They had meat all year long. She doesn't have much patience with you if you complain about your meal.
Leta was considered a hard worker back in the times when it was mandatory to survival Her brother joined the CCC, and she got into the National Youth group. Both organizations founded to help people to work to feed their families during the Great Depression, Her job through this organization was in the County Clerks office. She began a lifelong period of "building contacts" That might be a lesson for us to teach today. She got where she was when she retired by carefully planting seeds of hard, precise work everywhere she went. She got along with the people she worked with and they would contact her about jobs. She never went backward from the moment she started in the County Clerk's office. She needed more money so she did what was natural to her. She went to work in the telephone office FOR FREE. She liked to learn and also needed to learn. There she built more contacts. Finally, they paid her for 6 hours a day, 7 days a week, fifteen cents an hour. But she learned and she showed her abilities, She then reached what would have been the ultimate job, hired by Retail Merchants for $7.50 per week and greatest of all she did not have to work weekends She told the phone company "good bye"
Always active in Church, she kept building her contact list, Soon everyone in the area knew that if you wanted something done and done well you looked for Leta. If she had an hour during the day and you would pay her, she was yours The war began in 1939 and salaries were raised. She worked several places and finally came to Draughons Business College becoming proficient on every office machine that existed at the time. In January of 1945 she heard (again from a contact made long ago) about a job at Halliburton and she got that job making $57.00 per week. She stayed til 1951 and her salary rose "some"
During this time she came to Wichita Falls, stayed a couple of days with friends and applied at Sheppard Air Force Base for a job, Back in Duncan, still at Halburton she bought her first house close enough to walk to her job, In order to make ends meet she rented out a bed room, She became a landlord, Something she still is today.
In December, 1951, through many trials and recommendations of friends, she finally went to work at the Base in the accounting department. A place she continued to work until she retired She sold the house in Duncan and bought the home where she lives today. Her mother lived with her from 1951 to 1957. Even though her home is some distance from the Base, she never drove. Rode the bus, or if someone close was working in the vicinity, she would arrange for a ride. She looks back and realizes it was difficult to get around but you just managed.
She made friends at church; she taught children's Bible Class for years and Vacation Bible School. She saved every penny she could, determined to complete a college education. In 1960 she quit her job and rented her house, enrolled in ACC and moved into a dormitory with an 18 year old roommate. She graduated from ACC with a degree in accounting and a minor in education and in Bible at age 46.
To pay for her education she would work every holiday and vacation day at jobs found with the help of contacts she had made all those years. She had to take 6 major tests in one day and remembers it as the most daunting thing she ever accomplished. One of my favorite quotations that Leta used a lot was "God took care of me. There were many thorns in the garden but without the thorns you wouldn't have the roses."
It was hard for a woman just out of college above the usual age for a new graduate to make it in the world, but make it she did. Made of steel and cotton, she survived and the world knew she was there, She ended up being a driving force in the teaching section of accounting at Sheppard, She was loved and respected. She took very few vacation days and hardly ever a sick day. In fact she had enough time accumulated that she drew a full salary for over a year without working before she retired in 1983.
She and her friends would eat out, go to movies and she sang Tenor in a ladies quartet. Mostly her life revolved around Church and friends there.
Leta took on a role at Tenth and Broad that was difficult, one might say impossible, but then here came Leta She was in charge of visitation at the hospitals and it was her job to "organize". She sent visitors out "two by two" taking a page from the new testament trips. This was not a one visit, have done my duty, go home. This was an all day event, beginning at 9:00 in the morning with training on "how to", and a list of name all ready for you to go. When the day was finished every person had been visited. If you were in the hospital during that period of time you knew about Tenth and Broad Street Church of Christ.
She held this post for 25 plus years before finally giving it up. In addition to the job she would reward members of her visitation team and Ladies Bible Class members with multiple course lunch once a year at her home where she gave her annual report
Leta still walked everywhere, or rode the bus to work or sometime had someone going the same way she was. She just never saw a need to drive. One day with time on her hands, something that she did not waste, she went to the Church building. At that time we had a house on the lot, across from the building where the clothes for those who needed them were kept. Ladies would work on sewing, ironing and generally organizing supplies. She was working alone. Needed to go over to the Church building for something, did take her purse and lock the door to the house. On her way back she recalls a man darting quickly, snatching her purse and taking off. Fortunately, she was not hurt, her purse was later found with only the money missing and she made a decision. At age 58, Leta went to driving school.
Driving school was just fun. She believes she may have gone through more than one intructor, but finally it was time to take the test. She passed the first time. Leta hit the road. Her first automobile was a bright yellow Mazda named Buttercup. She graduated to a BMW in 1987, and never looked back.
Today Leta is computer literate, checks her email, except when the computer is down and stays abreast of the news.
Travels with Leta: Went to Mexico with her sister in law. Good friend Lou Ellen Foster told her where to go and what to do and most importantly where the Church met. She went and of course made friends with Christians in her two visits with them. She and her sister in law stayed in an inexpensive hotel right in the middle of town where they could walk everywhere. They then traveled by bus to a small town where they stayed with her sister in law's Aunt with all three of them sharing a small bedroom.
In 1983 it was time to say "I'm going to Disneyland". Bought a train ticket. Traveled all by herself. Wonderful trip. Of course found a Church and attended. She won't have much patience if you tell her you were somewhere and couldn't find a place to worship.
Then there was Hawaii. Nephew traded the use of an RV for a home and car and she went along. Says it is the most beautiful place on earth.
Her last big trip was with four other ladies to Alaska in 1992. What a great trip and what fantastic memories she has
.
This is the poem she wrote using language taken from the Gettysburg address and I close, reprinting it with her permission.
(red letters from the address)
Four Score and ten years ago our parents brought forth to this country a new generation blessed with abilities to progress and prosper-unequaled by many previous generations,
Now, as nonagenarians we have survived the great depression, two world wars, a police action, Vietnamese war, Desert storm and are now experiencing the War on Terror, being tested whether this nation or any nation can long endure. Many of our generation gave their lives in past battles. We are a part of the few remaining nonagenarians who have lived to witness and experience all of this historical era
We have seen the evolving of transportation, communication, medicine, astronomy and meteorology-to name only a few. The brave men and women, living and dead who struggled are a part of this nonagenarian generation. The world will little note nor long remember what we say here but it can never forget what this nonagenarian generation contributed . It is rather for the living of this generation to share the torch of unfinished work with a younger generation who can continue the task remaining, They too have skillfully toiled along with us. We honor all generations who have given a full measure of devotion and pray that their efforts were not in vain; and that this nation, under God, will be blessed with abilities for all future generations of America.
We pray for freedom and liberty to use these abilities to make America a more God fearing generation and that it not perish from the earth.
She will tell you again, God has been good to me and watched over me. I have had more roses than thorns.
I began this as a way to put down something about our nonagenarians. I did not realize it would be such an experience for me. It has been a blessing. On behalf of my generation and those after me. Thank you Leta.
She was born on May 8, 1917. Woodrow Wilson was President of the United States of America. He went before Congress and asked permission to enter the war against Germany on April 2 that year and World War I began. A month later Leta entered the world.
Born in Oklahoma and lived all of her life in Southern Oklahoma and Texas. Her father and mother married when they were 21 and 35. Her father was a part time actor in traveling tent shows and a chef among other things. Men of that day and time were "Jacks of all trade" doing what ever it took to make money to feed their families. Her brother, George Howard, five years older than her was a friend all their lives.
It was almost time for her to be born, April storm season. Her father was terrified of storms. Her mother not so much. There was a community storm cellar. Her father wanted them to go, her mother was frightened because there was a "feeble minded boy" who went to the cellar and she was afraid that her baby would be marked. She refused to go. There was a new Methodist Church just up the block, Mother would not go there either. They weathered the storm right there at home, but the Methodist church was destroyed. It may be that there was a purpose to her life and that God watched even while she was carried close to her Mother's heart.
Times were hard. Men could barely feed their family. Her dad had fallen off a ladder and could not work. It was time for Christmas. Her Mother and Dad went out into the pasture and found a large weed which was very green. They cut it and brought it in the house. Cranberries and popcorn were strung and decorated the weed. They put oranges on the weed and her Mother bought an undressed doll, crocheted clothes and hung those on the tree also. The real surprise was her father had carefully carved out a doll bed and made all the accessories. Somehow they found her brother a toy gun and a drum It was a wonderful Christmas Years later she would read stories and feel as if they were describing her Christmas. She never wondered if she was loved by her family. It was shown to her every day.
Leta's Junior year she wanted to take typing. You had to pay $1.00 a month for a typing course. Her Mother sold a hen for the dollar and Leta learned to type. She then got a job for one of the welfare offices typing and was able to get together enough money to buy a sampler suitcase full of Newton Products which cost $5.00. She went door to door selling from that sample case .
Her father died after battling asthma caused by working in dust from gins and chafe from wheat combining, His lungs were ruined. There lives were harder than I can even imagine. The land was dry, there was no way to water the stock. Cattle were being killed because they could not be fed or watered. The last four years of her father's life, her family shared a four room house with a man, his wife and kids. She does not have a lot of patience with someone who complains about being crowded. The man was able to get a cow that had been shot. He gave half of it to Leta's family. They had meat all year long. She doesn't have much patience with you if you complain about your meal.
Leta was considered a hard worker back in the times when it was mandatory to survival Her brother joined the CCC, and she got into the National Youth group. Both organizations founded to help people to work to feed their families during the Great Depression, Her job through this organization was in the County Clerks office. She began a lifelong period of "building contacts" That might be a lesson for us to teach today. She got where she was when she retired by carefully planting seeds of hard, precise work everywhere she went. She got along with the people she worked with and they would contact her about jobs. She never went backward from the moment she started in the County Clerk's office. She needed more money so she did what was natural to her. She went to work in the telephone office FOR FREE. She liked to learn and also needed to learn. There she built more contacts. Finally, they paid her for 6 hours a day, 7 days a week, fifteen cents an hour. But she learned and she showed her abilities, She then reached what would have been the ultimate job, hired by Retail Merchants for $7.50 per week and greatest of all she did not have to work weekends She told the phone company "good bye"
Always active in Church, she kept building her contact list, Soon everyone in the area knew that if you wanted something done and done well you looked for Leta. If she had an hour during the day and you would pay her, she was yours The war began in 1939 and salaries were raised. She worked several places and finally came to Draughons Business College becoming proficient on every office machine that existed at the time. In January of 1945 she heard (again from a contact made long ago) about a job at Halliburton and she got that job making $57.00 per week. She stayed til 1951 and her salary rose "some"
During this time she came to Wichita Falls, stayed a couple of days with friends and applied at Sheppard Air Force Base for a job, Back in Duncan, still at Halburton she bought her first house close enough to walk to her job, In order to make ends meet she rented out a bed room, She became a landlord, Something she still is today.
In December, 1951, through many trials and recommendations of friends, she finally went to work at the Base in the accounting department. A place she continued to work until she retired She sold the house in Duncan and bought the home where she lives today. Her mother lived with her from 1951 to 1957. Even though her home is some distance from the Base, she never drove. Rode the bus, or if someone close was working in the vicinity, she would arrange for a ride. She looks back and realizes it was difficult to get around but you just managed.
She made friends at church; she taught children's Bible Class for years and Vacation Bible School. She saved every penny she could, determined to complete a college education. In 1960 she quit her job and rented her house, enrolled in ACC and moved into a dormitory with an 18 year old roommate. She graduated from ACC with a degree in accounting and a minor in education and in Bible at age 46.
To pay for her education she would work every holiday and vacation day at jobs found with the help of contacts she had made all those years. She had to take 6 major tests in one day and remembers it as the most daunting thing she ever accomplished. One of my favorite quotations that Leta used a lot was "God took care of me. There were many thorns in the garden but without the thorns you wouldn't have the roses."
It was hard for a woman just out of college above the usual age for a new graduate to make it in the world, but make it she did. Made of steel and cotton, she survived and the world knew she was there, She ended up being a driving force in the teaching section of accounting at Sheppard, She was loved and respected. She took very few vacation days and hardly ever a sick day. In fact she had enough time accumulated that she drew a full salary for over a year without working before she retired in 1983.
She and her friends would eat out, go to movies and she sang Tenor in a ladies quartet. Mostly her life revolved around Church and friends there.
Leta took on a role at Tenth and Broad that was difficult, one might say impossible, but then here came Leta She was in charge of visitation at the hospitals and it was her job to "organize". She sent visitors out "two by two" taking a page from the new testament trips. This was not a one visit, have done my duty, go home. This was an all day event, beginning at 9:00 in the morning with training on "how to", and a list of name all ready for you to go. When the day was finished every person had been visited. If you were in the hospital during that period of time you knew about Tenth and Broad Street Church of Christ.
She held this post for 25 plus years before finally giving it up. In addition to the job she would reward members of her visitation team and Ladies Bible Class members with multiple course lunch once a year at her home where she gave her annual report
Leta still walked everywhere, or rode the bus to work or sometime had someone going the same way she was. She just never saw a need to drive. One day with time on her hands, something that she did not waste, she went to the Church building. At that time we had a house on the lot, across from the building where the clothes for those who needed them were kept. Ladies would work on sewing, ironing and generally organizing supplies. She was working alone. Needed to go over to the Church building for something, did take her purse and lock the door to the house. On her way back she recalls a man darting quickly, snatching her purse and taking off. Fortunately, she was not hurt, her purse was later found with only the money missing and she made a decision. At age 58, Leta went to driving school.
Driving school was just fun. She believes she may have gone through more than one intructor, but finally it was time to take the test. She passed the first time. Leta hit the road. Her first automobile was a bright yellow Mazda named Buttercup. She graduated to a BMW in 1987, and never looked back.
Today Leta is computer literate, checks her email, except when the computer is down and stays abreast of the news.
Travels with Leta: Went to Mexico with her sister in law. Good friend Lou Ellen Foster told her where to go and what to do and most importantly where the Church met. She went and of course made friends with Christians in her two visits with them. She and her sister in law stayed in an inexpensive hotel right in the middle of town where they could walk everywhere. They then traveled by bus to a small town where they stayed with her sister in law's Aunt with all three of them sharing a small bedroom.
In 1983 it was time to say "I'm going to Disneyland". Bought a train ticket. Traveled all by herself. Wonderful trip. Of course found a Church and attended. She won't have much patience if you tell her you were somewhere and couldn't find a place to worship.
Then there was Hawaii. Nephew traded the use of an RV for a home and car and she went along. Says it is the most beautiful place on earth.
Her last big trip was with four other ladies to Alaska in 1992. What a great trip and what fantastic memories she has
.
This is the poem she wrote using language taken from the Gettysburg address and I close, reprinting it with her permission.
(red letters from the address)
Four Score and ten years ago our parents brought forth to this country a new generation blessed with abilities to progress and prosper-unequaled by many previous generations,
Now, as nonagenarians we have survived the great depression, two world wars, a police action, Vietnamese war, Desert storm and are now experiencing the War on Terror, being tested whether this nation or any nation can long endure. Many of our generation gave their lives in past battles. We are a part of the few remaining nonagenarians who have lived to witness and experience all of this historical era
We have seen the evolving of transportation, communication, medicine, astronomy and meteorology-to name only a few. The brave men and women, living and dead who struggled are a part of this nonagenarian generation. The world will little note nor long remember what we say here but it can never forget what this nonagenarian generation contributed . It is rather for the living of this generation to share the torch of unfinished work with a younger generation who can continue the task remaining, They too have skillfully toiled along with us. We honor all generations who have given a full measure of devotion and pray that their efforts were not in vain; and that this nation, under God, will be blessed with abilities for all future generations of America.
We pray for freedom and liberty to use these abilities to make America a more God fearing generation and that it not perish from the earth.
She will tell you again, God has been good to me and watched over me. I have had more roses than thorns.
I began this as a way to put down something about our nonagenarians. I did not realize it would be such an experience for me. It has been a blessing. On behalf of my generation and those after me. Thank you Leta.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Purpose of this Blog
The purpose of this blog is to record a bit of history of some Senior Adults who are members of our congregation. I completed talking with the first subject a few weeks ago and I miss going by her home on Tuesday afternoons, but now check on her and will go by regularly just to say "Hi"
It will post as soon as I go by her house later this afternoon and get her approval of the final draft.
If you have read some of "Out of My Head" this blog may sound familiar. Sorry I do tend to repeat myself.
We had a speaker at Church recently who spoke of there being 5 generations alive in the world today and hence in our congregations. The first is a group called, and I applaud the persons who chose the clever name, "Senior Adults". We will refer to them as "SA", Born 1926 or before. I want to tell you about them. (paraphrased from the book by Dr. James Knapp)
In the 1920s nearly half of the population lived in the Country. Education was not encouraged. More than 60% of persons over 15 were married. Autos went from being a novelty to being a necessity. Women were not permitted to vote but they have seen women serve as Governors, Senators, Judges, anything they want to be. They have seen and experienced air travel. They have seen a man walk on the moon. They knew slavery and now they see a black Supreme Court Justice and a Black President. They have seen it all.
One of the announcements on the morning he spoke of generations, was to wish a Happy Birthday to Mary who was celebrating her 94th birthday. Always at Church, always with a kind word. Attends our Young at Heart get togethers. She lives in a small trailer behind her daughters house, and cooks and cleans, helps tend the garden and is completely self sufficient.
Can you imagine the stories we have available to us. I have decided that I will make it my aim to learn and "Put It Down". I got my notebook together, chose a
"first subject" and made arrangements to go by thinking one afternoon after work would do it. I carefully made a list of questions. I now have finished 6 visits, approximately 2 hours each, and never got to ask a question. When I did she would tell me "I'll get to that but first you need to know".
This generation is more resilient than those that followed. That makes perfect sense, they had to adapt more than the rest of us. Now range in age from 80 to 100 and the biggest challenge is loss of health, independence and loved ones.
I hope you will look for the first visit which should be posted this week. I have tried to make it much shorter.... but failed.
She will be thrilled if you tell her you saw it, but you have to move quickly cause she moves really fast.
It will post as soon as I go by her house later this afternoon and get her approval of the final draft.
If you have read some of "Out of My Head" this blog may sound familiar. Sorry I do tend to repeat myself.
We had a speaker at Church recently who spoke of there being 5 generations alive in the world today and hence in our congregations. The first is a group called, and I applaud the persons who chose the clever name, "Senior Adults". We will refer to them as "SA", Born 1926 or before. I want to tell you about them. (paraphrased from the book by Dr. James Knapp)
In the 1920s nearly half of the population lived in the Country. Education was not encouraged. More than 60% of persons over 15 were married. Autos went from being a novelty to being a necessity. Women were not permitted to vote but they have seen women serve as Governors, Senators, Judges, anything they want to be. They have seen and experienced air travel. They have seen a man walk on the moon. They knew slavery and now they see a black Supreme Court Justice and a Black President. They have seen it all.
One of the announcements on the morning he spoke of generations, was to wish a Happy Birthday to Mary who was celebrating her 94th birthday. Always at Church, always with a kind word. Attends our Young at Heart get togethers. She lives in a small trailer behind her daughters house, and cooks and cleans, helps tend the garden and is completely self sufficient.
Can you imagine the stories we have available to us. I have decided that I will make it my aim to learn and "Put It Down". I got my notebook together, chose a
"first subject" and made arrangements to go by thinking one afternoon after work would do it. I carefully made a list of questions. I now have finished 6 visits, approximately 2 hours each, and never got to ask a question. When I did she would tell me "I'll get to that but first you need to know".
This generation is more resilient than those that followed. That makes perfect sense, they had to adapt more than the rest of us. Now range in age from 80 to 100 and the biggest challenge is loss of health, independence and loved ones.
I hope you will look for the first visit which should be posted this week. I have tried to make it much shorter.... but failed.
She will be thrilled if you tell her you saw it, but you have to move quickly cause she moves really fast.
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