Immigrant daughter 64

Back to a glimpse of another memory of my past. Carl and I had so many good years and I remember that one day a voice from his past came calling. We were living in Muncie at the time and the phone rang and I said hello this is the Moody residence and there was a hesitant voice asking “Is this where Conrad  lives?”. And after a few questions back and forth I put Carl on the phone to talk. When Carl finished talking he had such a glow on his face when he sat down and told me this.

When growing up in one of the foster homes he was befriended by another foster child who was adopted. This boy lost touch with the others because his new parents moved out of the mid west to another region. He, like Carl, never forgot his past and he was  trying to find some of the other kids he remembered growing up with. When checking back with the Children’s  Aid Society and other agencies he found out about Carl who was also inquiring about his past. I am not sure about all the particulars but he found out that Carl lived in Muncie. He made a phone call to find out if the Carl who lived here was the Conrad who lived at a particular place many years ago. And from there this voice of the past came alive and brought a flood of tears and remembrance of part of his life he had long forgotten.

Carl told me he had forgotten this, because this boy was adopted and he had not because Carl was unruly and wild and did not take correction well. Carl told me all this was true because he was told nobody cared whether he lived or died. This man who called was a  boy who befriended when Carl  when they growing up and he remembered him after all these many years wondering what happened to him. Isn’t it strange how the Lord brings to light things long forgotten?

Carl invited him to come out to the house for a visit after finding out he was passing through on his way to California. This young man grew up and became successful in engineering with a large firm. He stopped  by for a minute on his way to California which turned out to be quite an enlightening visit. The visit lasted several hours filling in some of Carl’s past.

It was great for me because I heard things that are not written in any of Carl’s record.

When we lived in Little Rock while our kids were growing up we lived there right before the eruption of the school system between blacks and whites. We lived on the outskirts of town and sort of missed all the problems of the inner schools. There were blacks in the school but not that many and all kids were treated the same at least where we lived.

Some of the things they are showing  in the news we lived through them without any mishaps. My DIL and her mother and I went to see The Kings Speech and it was excellent. There again her mother and I remembered very well living at the time of  this crisis  England was having with the King giving up the throne to marry  a divorced woman.

If you have not seen it you a missing some history  very well done, because the movie casting was excellent and the story true.

I haven’t been to see many movies because there are very few worth seeing. They just don’t make the westerns as they used to be and when they remake any movies too much garbage is added. I realize this is kind of short and sweet But its raining and it is getting dark outside even though it is in the afternoon.

This new month was Carl's’  birthday month and one birthday I gave him a surprise party even though he is gone he is not forgotten at least by me.

Well this weekend is super bowl time and I will enjoy watching and eating popcorn having as good a time by myself as best as I can. So until next time, I am Immigrant Daughter.

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.

IMMIGRANT DAUGHTER 59

 

It seems like ages ago since I have been in my blog Immigrant Daughter.When you let your brain get out of gear it is hard to get back. I will try to pick up  our life in Muncie, Indiana. We did so many things that I may extend some of the stories I already mentioned.

We attended several churches there, But when we first arrived in 1990 we were still members of the Episcopal Church and we tried to attend there first. They had a man there that didn’t know his Lord personally and was leading his group down the path of destruction so we didn’t stay there long. We then tried a Nazarene  Church close to where we lived and that didn’t fill our need. In the evenings we went to a Fellowship and Praise group  and found out there was an independent Evangelical church out in the country in our end of town. We attended on Sunday and knew we found our new church home. The Pastor preached the Gospel without giving his opinion about what it said. We sang praise and worship songs that gave glory to the Lord.  The group was a good mixture of young and older people. They did not have “Church Membership” so to speak. If you came you were on the roll as being there.

The Pastor surrounded himself with men to be accountable to. It was a great body of worshippers praising the Lord Jesus Christ every Sunday. We felt very much at home and became involved in the activities in the church and out of church.

Carl was always wanting to give food to those in need and he found out about “Christian Ministries” doing just that,  so we volunteered two days a week down town working in their food pantry doing anything we could. We  collected food and held various food drives. We went and picked up donated food from churches in Muncie because we had a large van.

We became so capable they offered Carl the job to overseer the the task of running the Pantry. This was right up our alley and we had the time for it because we were “retired” and worked for free. They insisted on giving us $200 dollars a month which we donated back to the ministry. We had lots of fun while working very hard keeping the place clean. We were never to busy to talk to people. Lots of time people just needed someone to listen to them.

We expanded the food items to include frozen foods because there was a commercial frozen food locker that kept wanting to give  their extras to the pantry to pass on to those in need. Most of the “needy” had refrigerators with freezers across the top and at times we would try to get one donated to the family  if they needed one. I am so glad I don’t have to mess with the plastic bags that are in use now the brown bags held more neatly.

I really do miss not being involved in giving help. But we live in a time when there are more give away programs than those in need. The standby is the Salvation Army for collecting items for give away programs that they have become very selective at what they will and will not take. We truly are a land of plenty.

I miss my independence of being being able to do for others. This getting old has its’ drawbacks.

When the pastor “retired” we lost something that was never recovered in that fellowship. They spent a lot of money on the Childrens church building, and as time past the young pastor was too dictatorial and forgot the adults and preached like we were children and neglected worship so people stopped coming. So we looked for another place to worship. And the place turned out to be a place that had a very large sign on the highway coming in to Muncie. We were able to see the sign but not the church building. So were searched and found it.  One Sunday Carl and I attended and were very blessed. It was a large congregation that made you feel “at home”  the very first visit. It was a joy and also the name fit, it was called “Glad Tidings” and had a pastor that could preach that was a blessing to us. Again we found we were home.

One of the things the churches did in the Muncie area was have funeral dinners for the family members whose love one passed on. I was involved in handling the dinners.  Instead of donations I just cooked the whole dinner and had workers to help serve. I realized with Thanksgiving Day this month I remember cooking  the Turkey at the church and having dinner for anyone to eat whether members or not. That was so gratifying and as I think back Carl and I did so many different things together that we never had time to get bored with each other.

One of the Fun things we did was meet once a month with other Christians couples to eat a meal and sing songs. It was at least thirty people to set a table for and that meant the ones with the large houses hosted. This was a bring  a dish of your choice and the hostess provided the meat. I understand they are still meeting and eating together. I sure tasted dishes that were new to me. There was one couple who always brought beans and franks and ended up taking them home.

Isn’t it amazing just what we will remember. When Carl was in the working world at Christmas time we received many Christmas cards. I also like to send cards, so as we got the cards I hung them up on red ribbon that was attached to the curtain rod so that we were able to see the beauty of the cards. I did that for many years and then people just stopped sending cards or even writing notes. I use to write a note in every card I sent giving an update of our family. We really lost the personal touch. The next time you see a Hallmark card shop stop in and buy a card to remember someone that you haven’t seen. The computer just can’t give that personal touch.

Until next time, I am Immigrant Daughter

IMMIGRANT DAUGHTER 42

When we lived in Muncie Carl and I did quite a bit if volunteer work with collecting food from the various churches to give away at the Food Center. This created a job offer to set up and run a Food Pantry that would screen families in immediate need. The city had an item in their budget with a paid employee trying to combine how to spend the money allotted to new comers that needed immediate help.

We were asked to open and organize the collection of food and stock a pantry for immediate distribution as needed, and we call it the “Food Pantry”. We had to buy fresh items like meat, bread and eggs that required the center to have its’ own building with refrigerators and freezer so that we could lock the center when we were closed. Carl and I had full control of the food pantry and answered to Sally who was paid by the county. She one girl working for her that screened the families in need. It is amazing just how many free loaders show up to get food they don’t have to work for. That is why the screening was necessary because they had to realize they couldn’t be on the constant take. After so many days the source would dry up and theycouldn’t get any more free food until a month had passed. Sally trusted us and gave us lots of leeway. Once we were set up it was easier to arrange donations of food and monies from individuals and organizations. The Council of Churches in the area was a big help.

This was something Carl and I could work at together because we really were not ready to retire. The churches did a great job of collecting food in their congregations on a monthly schedule. This was rewarding in many ways while it was also work.
Every year a Crop Walk was scheduled. This was a 5K walk thru the city from 9am to 4pm and anyone can sign up to walk by paying an entry fee to compete for the prizes donated by business in the area. How this worked was walking the required route in the best time after you signed in. Of course there was an entry fee. This was fun and good exercise. I have several pictures of Carl and I in our German outfits, knickers and knee socks that were wool. Muncie weather was definitely cold enough to wear these. We did this pantry work for five years always giving back the small fee they gave us.

This article and picture was in the local newspaper and it was the last time we were involved in this project.
There is always a time to step down and let someone else come in with new ideas. We always said no one is irreplaceable and it best you learn that in any endeavor. It is always the better when you choose the time to step down and leave on good terms. No hard feelings that way.

At church this past Sunday for coffee time they surprised me by helping me celebrate my birthday, which was the 15th. For refreshments they had 80 cupcakes stacked up in a tier. The kids loved it because it was easier to take one and eat it on the spot.


Holland America sent me this wonderful card. I thought it was pretty enough to share.

The last two days have been outstanding. Since my sister Electra arrived we haven’t stopped talking except to sleep. She has filled in many of the different times of my childhood. It is something special about being the baby of the family. There are many stories I was involved in and have no knowledge of that my sister kept hearing that I looked like my mother more than any of the children. We both had dark hair like moms, my oldest sister had light two-tone hair, with one eye dark and one light. The way girls color their hair today with a mixture of shades Sophia’ would have been be in style. My next sister Marie had auburn hair with brown eyes. My two brothers had dark curly hair and my sister Electra and I had dark brown straight hair that looked black. But when I was younger as a little girl I had light brown hair. It’s amazing how our growth changes in intervals. Once we pass puberty we really change constantly.

In our immediate family the children are all with different color hair and complexions . After my family I am not surprised. In the summer I just get dark and Carl had to cover up because he burned easily. When he was aboard ship he told me that he was a constantly burned sailor even with a shirt on all the time. And as he grew older that didn’t change so he just suffered with sunburn and being red all the time.

I see I am near the signing off point, so until next time, I am Immigrant Daughter.