Immigrant Daughter 60

It seems like a long time since I am getting back to my story of my life. But time has a way of getting away from me so I will just give you special incidents that I remember.

A few weeks ago in the Parade Magazine from the newspaper there was a beautiful picture on the cover of Hoover Dam that is 75 years old and the new bridge that was open to get across the Colorado River making it quicker to get on your way. I understand from the article that you can still get across the dam on the old road (which is on top of the dam) going East  only.  All traffic will be using the Mike O'Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial bridge.  This new bridge was built in part for national security reasons, as the Hoover Dam is considered our most vulnerable landmark.

When Carl and I first came across the Hoover Dam  it was still new and we took the tour going down to see the inside and how the turbines worked. It was magnificent to see. The picture shows at the bottom of the dam where they allowed the tourist to view this large structure and it looks mighty small on the outside. The thing I do remember was the elevator took some time to get down to the tourist section closer to the water. I remember the water was green.

Here are some pictures of the bridge.  Each span was built by casting each piece by piece in mid-air.  106 sections in all. 

This new bridge span gives me goose bumps just looking at it. It looks like it is all open but is is not. The road lanes are all inside away from the side of the bridge making it impossible to see anything from your car while driving.

Our children were small when we crossed over years ago so I am sure they couldn’t remember even seeing it. Our country has such a beauty that the Lord made, that it is impossible to describe with mere words.

We have seen a good bit of it in our lifetime and I would encourage you to expose your children to it if you can. The Grand  Canyon is another place Carl and I saw together. I have fond memories of the places we have actually seen together and I will say this there is no place like home no matter where you live.

I would like to admit I do like the four seasons. It is a good feeling f rom going through spring, summer, fall and winter, each one has its high and low spots.

Now that I lived this long and still kicking, I can appreciate how Carl loved being at sea away from all the distractions on the ground. He never could make up his mind just where he wanted to live. Each part of the country held different distractions. I just knew where he was I wanted to be and I had no preference. That is why it is so hard for me to live without him, but I know I must because the good Lord isn’t ready for me yet.

One day Carl said I want you to lean how to shoot and took me to the skeet shooting range. We sat through the short program to learn this isn’t a toy and how to be careful. The first time I didn’t do well but after a few times it was a good feeling to say “pull” and aim and shoot.  I hit more than I missed.

Growing up my dad always had a revolver in the house. We knew where he kept it and were allowed to handle it. As far as I knew there were not any bullets around. So when Carl wanted me to learn how the shoot I was not afraid to handle a gun. Carl always had a rifle in the house. When he became seriously ill with Alzheimer's I had to actually hide the rifle from him because he imagined people coming to get him. I have great respect for firearms.

When we lived in Muncie we lived on a dead end street that was on the bottom of a U, giving us two streets  in to our house in this small development of about 90 homes. We lived a happy life there and had many friends in Muncie. We lived there 13 years. We purchased a blue high back couch and chair that we didn’t own very long because there was couple with one child in our congregation where we attended church that was going through a tough time. They came to our home for Bible study and prayer and before I knew it the Lord instructed us to give them our lovely couch and chair because they needed it.

After checking into their situation it seems they had purchased one of the government homes  that needed lots of fixing up because that is all they can afford consequently they lived out of boxes and make shift furniture. He had a low paying job that required him to have two jobs. They had one son who was on fire for the Lord. Everyone he would met he would ask them :Do you know JESUS? and would proceed to tell them who he was. We were blessed by giving them our furniture. The Lord is so good.

Until next time, I am Immigrant Daughter.