Back home again March 2011

What a delight to be home! At least it was last week, when 90% of the snow in our yard was GONE. It was my daunting task to tackle cleaning up 6 months of doggie doodoo, and it was quite obvious that there had been many snowfalls, as there were layers of it exposed during the melting process - my task, I say, because it is my choice to have the dog… The garbage man (husband) will have the wonderful job of taking it to the dump. Oh the joys of having a pet. The good thing is that we only have one dog, unlike our son’s family, who has two, larger than ours, so he has more than twice the clean-up. The children probably get stuck with that job!

It was not so delightful to wake up to find all the snow back on the yard the beginning of the week ! And then more coming yet… Back to square one, with just the walks shoveled and a trail to the garden shed. The snow was so heavy that the sun deck needed to be relieved of the weight. Our metal roof that was finally cleared of snow, was in exactly the same state as when we arrived home in mid March. Obviously we should have extended our trip south another month…

Then when the news included 62 tornadoes in one day in North Carolina, and 240 throughout the USA the same day, how foolish we feel complaining about the inconvenience of another downfall of snow!!! Looking on the U.S. map shows that North Carolina is a very small state. 60 tornadoes would pretty well devastate the whole state.

It was a wonderful surprise to receive a telephone call from Jeanerette, Louisiana, in the middle of the week. There was Rosella, one of our homeowners, who was just thinking of us and wanted to keep in touch. When I inquired about what she had been doing recently, she replied, “Oh, just sitting here waiting for you to come back!” When we are asked why we do what we do with MDS, this is one more confirmation that God sends us to people who have a need for a special personal touch, even more than just help rebuilding their home. What an enormous blessing we receive from these contacts. Whether we ever get to see them personally again is unknown. She has never seen snow in person, so I wished she could have been here instead of on the telephone…

As you are aware if you have been following our story, we have tremendously enjoyed attending Cowboy Churches in Texas and Louisiana. Upon our return, we suggested to our home church, Grace Mennonite, that we would like to try that casual type of service here and were happy to find they were receptive to the idea. Accordingly, you will soon be seeing posters about a Cowboy Church service on Father’s Day, in the restored old-fashioned barn at Spruce Home Farm, followed by a dinner which can be purchased, and a Country Gospel Jamboree in the afternoon featuring Larry Krause and others. Any proceeds generated at the dinner and from goodwill offerings at the Jamboree will be donated to Mennonite Disaster Service. We hope we will see y’all there. It should be a very enjoyable Father’s Day! I sort of see it as akin to St. Patrick’s Day, where everyone is Irish. This Father’s Day we can all be “cowboys”. At one Cowboy Church we attended, the pastor told us to feel free to say “Eee-haw” instead of Amen!

Tribute to Hospital Chaplains Article for Shopper

Hospital chaplains are a tremendous blessing to patients in palliative care and their families. We have encountered two very special gentlemen in that capacity. First of all, our very own Pastor Dennis Serfas, with the Prince Albert Parkland Health Region has been a most dedicated, caring chaplain, for 15 years. Anyone who has had been in the position to require those services can attest to the fact that he goes above and beyond in his compassionate care. How difficult this profession must be! Daily helping terminally ill patients, and the people who love them, deal with the situation they find themselves in and have no control over, must take a special kind of person indeed. Pastor Joe Ball at the Brandon Regional Health Centre, was truly a Godsend for our whole family during the time Jake was in palliative care, from January 12th to March 13th. We had been told by our niece what a wonderful man he was, and that was immediately confirmed upon meeting him. His warmth and sincerity impressed us and it was apparent why he had “bonded” with our brother at this critical stage of his life. Joe Ball, in his words at the funeral, indicated that in this case, Jake knew how to live, but he wasn’t so sure how to go about dying. He appeared to be so “well” for so long, it was difficult to believe he was a dying man. His meeting with all of the family in Jake’s home the evening after his death was a huge blessing for all of us. He asked the family members to share their memories, whether good or bad, and it was a time of laughter and tears which we will all remember with great fondness. It truly allowed the grief to be present, but at the same time, ushered in the concept of celebrating Jake’s life rather than only grieving his death. None of the rest of the family had attended a church except for a wedding or funeral in many years. It was therefore very astonishing to hear many of the family say, after Joe left, “What church does he preach in. I want to go there!!!” Although being a Hospital Chaplain is a full-time job and Joe Ball does not preach on Sunday mornings in a regular church, the Good Lord surely has him in the spot where his exceptional gifts lie. Rita confirms that his calming presence helped her greatly in dealing with her loss.

And for Jake’s family, the Circle of Life continues, as on April 2, 2011, Easton Rachel, a new great grandbaby was born.

A very strange occurrence in the family the week after Jake died was grandson, Dustin’s 3 year old daughter, Brooklyn, asking her big sister to get her a pencil, whereupon she put it up above her ear, JUST LIKE HER GREAT GRANDPA JAKE ALWAYS DID in years gone by. They did not believe little Brooklyn had ever known about this habit. How did she know now???

Our own family has their own weird experience with our little granddaughter. At age 2 ½, she appeared to be having terrible nightmares in the early mornings and would wake up holding her ears and screaming: “Make it stop, make it stop”. They could not figure out what might be causing the nightmares. When asked “Make what stop?”, she finally told her Mom, “the quacking!!!”. Then Jeanie recalled that her Grampa Pugh, who had passed on before Emily was born, used to wake her up when she was that age, by quacking in her ear!!??! Gives me goosebumps just thinking about the possibilities….

Last week of February in New Iberia 2011

Although it is already April and we are back at home, there are still stories to tell about our time in New Iberia.

Our last week in February was a very busy one. It was unbelievable what we seniors accomplished in four short days!

Monday, the ladies painted doors and soffit at one house, while the guys took all the furniture out and began to put down laminate flooring throughout the living room, kitchen, back bedroom and loft. We all lamented that this laminate was going over top of beautiful, albeit well worn, hardwood flooring!

Tuesday, while the rest of the crew were finishing up the laminate, John and I were sent to the George house to remove and install one more window which had been ordered the wrong size and had finally arrived. Then we were off to Jeanerette, where John put the bathroom vent pipe in, and we got Rosella and her husband to sign off on the job card. We were happy to have one last visit and to say goodbye in person.

Wednesday was a very BUSY day. Last year, the MDS crew had repainted half of Karen’s bedroom, and built and painted a walk-in closet, as well as putting lino on half of her floor - that is all she could afford to get done at the time. This year, we were to repaint the rest of the bedroom, repair and put lino on the rest of the floor, fix two doors so they would close, put crown mould around the top of the ceiling, fix the folding closet doors, and replace some ceiling tiles in the living room. Well, I tell you, it was like a beehive in that house! First, the furniture had to be moved into the living room. The ladies painted the walls, and then the men fastened the crown mould on top of the wet paint. The poor subfloor was so rotten in places that we were wondering why the bed leg hadn’t fallen through! Plywood was put down before the lino was laid. By the time we left at 3:30 p.m., EVERYTHING was done and back in place. We were certain Karen was going to be one happy lady coming home to a “new” bedroom, and a bathroom door that she could actually close! We wished we could do much more work for her, but it was not on the list. As warm and homey as the house is on the inside, the outside looks like an old granary, and could really use some new siding! Maybe next year…

Thursday, the last work day for John and I, our crew started a totally new project. Betty is a grandma with a wonderful family. We had the pleasure of interacting with several of her grandchildren for the one day. Her 10 year old grandson and his friend offered to clean out the back porch. We were replacing the screen, ensuring there were no places where wasps and bugs could get in.

John always enjoys bantering with the homeowners. After we had been there for an hour or so, he asked the teenage grandson, Wilson, sitting in the living room on the chesterfield with his cousins and Grandma, if he would stand up. He did, and then John said “Thank you!” The kid said, “For what?” John said, “For not wearing your crotch down around your knees!!” They all laughed. A short while later, Wilson was helping haul in sheets of gyproc, and wanting to mud the nail holes. In the one day we were there, we realized it was our loss not to get to become more acquainted with this family, as the other workers would be doing. However, our time working there was completed.