Marge and I were on our way "out West".... Our mother's were worried and wanting to change our minds, and me being the oldest of 11... I had younger siblings looking up to me. But we were determined... now I am aware of the many prayers that protected us.. as a mother myself... and protected we were! WE arrived in Boulder, Colorado and ended up in a Christian commune... We were seperated from the men, wore long dresses, had Bible study and prayer along with chores. I was prayed over to stop smoking the first night there and have not smoked since! I broke up with a boyfriend... we had been talking about moving in together. I started to think that this life I was living was like being a nun and that I wanted to be a nun.
When I arrived back home a month later... My parents had heard the Lord calling them to become Catholic... wanting to become a nun, I was already to join and was very excited to become Catholic! I have never looked back.... being Catholic has been a total love affair for me! And Pat was aware of my journey, as he is a brother of Marge/Raterra, and was following our journey through her. My Catholic faith was huge in his attraction to me amongst other things of course. I know that when I put on my 2 piece swimsuit and went out to get some sun with my rosary when I was there for Marge's wedding made an impression on him... When I got home from Colorado... a changed person... I either asked my mom for some jobs to do for her in our huge house or she asked me if I would help out... My job was to wash the 5 bathrooms twice a week, and then we had the "farm" and the garden and freezing the vegetables. Those would be similar "family jobs" to our canning yesterday.
I was learning how to help out for one of the first times... my parents felt that we were not there to do the work they had with our growing family, but it was good for us to go to the farm. I also see the purpose of it was to teach us how to work and to learn skills that could come in handy for our futures... like painting and plastering and sanding floors. WE lived in downtown Mpls... just behind the Guthrie and to spend the summer there would have been inviting many challanges with all of us kids, so my parents bought a building site in Wisconsin that we all worked on the get livable and put in a big garden for fresh food for the family!
Here is the mob that my parents were trying to teach how to work for the betterment of the family and to keep us out of trouble's way!
Here is the mob that my parents were trying to teach how to work for the betterment of the family and to keep us out of trouble's way!
Thanks to Raterra... I now have the life that she grew up with... the life that my parents wisely saw as a good way to help us stay safe and learn to value of work and work shared in the family for the good of the family... This has been one of the most wonderful lessons I have learned, with great joy, as a young farmer's wife.. at the feet of my amazing wonderful mother in law! She taught me all that I know about canning and mostly about how wonderful it is to have these Big Family days of canning or freezing where there is so much activity and many hands needed and appreciated to do all the tasks needed to get 80 quarts of applesauce sittting on the counter today and an entire apple tree empty of it's red fruit and all of them now in jars for the year ahead!
Ruth picks and hands them off to Mary to put in the pails... with all the nice big red apples... they are full in short order, and it is nice to work with those big apples too... the birds are attracted to the redness as well as the bugs, so we had to pick the tree and make sauce now!
So often Ruth will say to me what a good willing helper Mary is to her. They were out shoulder to shoulder painting the barn a few days before and now the job of apples and all the different ways she can help her mother and spend that kind of time "working" together, and Mary is very good at conversation about anything that crosses her mind.. that makes you smile and sometimes laugh out loud with glee!
Each job that makes up the whole is shared by many and we accomplish one end - yummy food!
"Never to lose sight of the intentions for which God wants me to pray, tosuffer, and to act. In the midst of exterior activities and my obligations, to keep my inner attention fixed on God, to offer everything for those I love, for those Jesus desires, for the Church." Elizabeth Leseur - 1941 - was a French married laywoman
"Here I am, Lord, ready to do your will." We humbly serve one another in reaching the goal of a big day filled with family in the labor of love!
the men took over the picking of the tree inlcuding 5 year old, Simon. to take the apples from grandpa up in the loader bucket!
Driving the loader is John with Godson, Davey.... Davey thought only grandpa drove the tractor - so now Uncle John is up there with grandpa on that pedistal. And he wanted his shirt off like his Godfather too!
The night before little 2year old Dave had helped his mom make centerpieces for an outside back to school party... he likes to help out too!
I must end this for today... I have been coming back and forth as I wash my 80 jars of applesauce and clean the kitchen! this could go on and on, but this is enough! I leave you with the joy of family lingering in your hearts and minds.
Loving Lord, thank you for all the life lessons that we learn as you watch over us on this journey of life. Jesus we trust in your wisdom and love! Amen and Halleluia! Bless-bless, Barb
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