A Little Bit About Me

My Graduation

Many of you weren’t alive during the 70s.  I was married in 1971 and by 1977 I had two daughters.  I am still married to the same man.  We now have two grandsons.  Where has the time gone?  Years from now you could be writing this same type of letter to other women.  Why do I say that?  Because when you get to be my age (well over 50 – okay over 60) you have lots of experience to share with those younger than you.  Experience is another way of saying testimony.  When you are my age, the things you have lived through are amazing.  Did you know that there was only black and white TV when my father brought home our first TV when I was 7 years old.  It was a “used” television.  Cable TV hadn’t been invented.  Neither had the internet or VCRs or DVDs.  We hadn’t had the humor of Bill Cosby yet, only the humor of “Leave it to Beaver”.  There hadn’t been a “news channel” invented to make us aware of all the things we think we need to know about, or to persuade us to believe.  Commercials weren’t any different than today, though, they were designed to SELL SELL SELL.  Did we want the newest and greatest?  Absolutely!  We had washers when I was little, but not a dryer.  My Mother hung out all of her wash.  My first dishwasher came after I was married – just about the same time we got a color television. 

My father passed away when I was 11 years old and my Mother was 2 months pregnant with her fifth daughter.  Being a widow didn’t put her in a position to lavish us with luxuries.  This meant that if you had a desire for something, you needed to earn money outside the home.  I wanted to be a model.  I babysat until I had money enough to take a modeling class at the local department store.  At 5’1” they didn’t see much potential in my being a model.  They did, however, offer me my first job.  I was 14 years old when I became the Easter Bunny in the department store.  I had to get a special work permit to work because I was under the age of 16.  This work permit also allowed me to continue working for them after Easter on weekends and the Christmas holiday season.  This job allowed me to help provide for my family.  Why tell you all of this?  Because the experiences/testimonies of my life are what make me strong in prayer and faith today. Most importantly, experience can build faith in others.  Why? Because at my age, you have walked through some pretty rough times. 

My Mother taught me how to have faith and know that God does provide.  Like I said, my father passed away when I was 11 and Mom was pregnant for her 5^th daughter.  She was also 44 years old.  My father worked in a steel mill.  Just writing that down brings back memories of my Dad and how I would grab his lunch box when he came home and just bury my nose in it and smell the scents of where he worked.  My parents purchased a different home in June of 1961 and Dad passed away in November of 1961.  Dad had an insurance policy through his work.  Mom knew she couldn’t make changes in her life until after she had her baby but then knew she would have to go to work outside of the home.  My Mother’s education ended two weeks into the tenth grade when she was hospitalized with a blood disease and not expected to live.  Mom, by faith, went down to the business college and took a GED test.  She then gave them every bit of my Dad’s insurance money to pay for her first semester of school and trusted that God would supply what was needed for her to obtain a college degree so she could go to work at a job that would provide for her family.  Without an education she wouldn’t have been able to have a job that paid well.  The blood disease (incurable) that put her into the hospital when she was in 10^th grade, is the same disease that allowed for her to go to college tuition free.  Plus it covered her books.  Mom graduated from college with a Junior Accounting degree at age 47 – with honors.  That isn’t the end of her legacy though.  When she retired, in her mid 60’s, Mom went back to high school and received her high school diploma at age 67.

 I hope these experiences/testimonies have bolstered your faith a little.  Each of us has a testimony that is meant to be shared with others.  Experience builds my faith; testimonies boost the faith of others.