Two Beautiful Daughters

Can the blessings of being the mother of two beautiful daughters be expressed in words?  Such intimate thoughts and feelings of motherhood, my motherhood. A story of Snow White & Rose Red. Our Sarah, our Rachel.  Sarah, first born, dark hair and eyes, beautiful bronze skin.  Rachel, her baby sister, blond and blue eyed.  In the very beginning, before your births, we were connected.  You to me, me to you in body and spirit.   The gifts of God to your dad and me. And in those joyous moments, a new reality of the call of God to love, cherish and parent our precious  daughters is ever-present, an almost overwhelming mission.   Oh, God, it will be a daily walk and calling upon you for your help to guide us and keep us as we pursue you in raising these beautiful girls of ours in the way you would have them to go.  And so, our parenting journey began with your dad and I, two flawed people, who loved you both more than life itself,  only desiring to lead you to life in Christ Jesus.  We laughed and cried.  We knew deep joy and depth of sorrow.  The mountains tops and valleys. We've had regrets and needed forgiveness. But through it all, through it all, we've learned to trust in Jesus, learned to trust in God. We've learned to depend upon His word.

An imperfect mother and dad, two beautiful daughters.  Not a work of ourselves but the beautiful  grace and faithfulness of God.

 "No greater joy has any man than to know his children are walking in the truth." lll John 1:4.

My darlings, my loves, my beautiful daughters, more than I could have ever longed for or dreamed of.

Remembering Clarence

My thoughts return to years gone by as I've connected with so many lovely pieces of my family history.
The beautiful little leather Birthday Book more than 100 years old with all the special events of my family recorded in the handwriting of my Great-Aunt Mary.  Black & white photos of my ever so young looking mom & dad,  dad often in his Air Force uniform.  A celery green cut-glass herring boat we used at Christmas, the Bible my Grandma & Grandpa Gerry received from friends at the Cashmere Baptist Church when they left Cashmere after their apple orchard burned. Photos of my beautiful Grandma Ruth.  And so much more.  Such Vintage Jewels that took me to an unexpected place as I began to re-discover, memories, vintage memories of family and friends so much a precious part of my life and history.  Laura and her family have been in my life for 55 years.  We lived in Poulsbo and our time together is a journey from childhood to present.    Times of sharing joy and sorrow, the best times and the most difficult of times.  Clarence was Laura's father.  It was always June & Clarence.  June, with her big smile and huge laugh, Clarence, a handsome Norwegian/Fin fisherman in Alaska.    I remember the day the call came  from Laura like it was yesterday.  June was gone in a twinkling of an eye.  "Absent in the body, present with the Lord."  That same day Clarence began his lonely journey without his June who he had walked with for almost 63 years.  But God's plan was already in place for Clarence as he peacefully passed from life unto death on that Sunday evening in March.  "Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever."   Celebrating the life of the father of my forever friend, Laura.  Amen---

Joy & Sorrow

 And so March 27 has come again this year with the familiar tug at my heart strings.   I find myself  days later deep in thought about living in the present with joy and sorrow, such extreme emotions.  Happy-sad day, has captured me once again.  It was joy that arrived in our home on March 27, 1952 with the birth of my brother John Robert Gerry Jr.  He had beautiful blue eyes and a cubby round little face that no one could resist. We called him Bobby.  Bobby and I, with our white blond hair and big blue eyes,  dressed in matching outfits, big sister and little brother.  And so for 25 years our family celebrated the birth of our Bobby on March 27th.  That date--joy, love, celebration.  So how could it be that our day of celebration, the date of my brother's birth, became a day of sorrow--the very day our beloved father died.  It was all so unexpected.  Dad---a heart attack?  Death had arrived before we did---- our father was gone.  "Absent in the body, present with the Lord," John Robert Gerry Sr.  Sorrow, pain, depth of grief.  It wasn't meant to be this way.  I adored my father.  I needed him.   We all needed him. He was the grandfather to my baby daughter Sarah. Depth of loss not to be expressed in words.   I miss my father everyday.  But then the Joy. My brother Bobby for 61 years. Joy & Sorrow, Sorrow & Joy, we will forever live together with the ever-present knowledge that all things past, present and yet to come are working together for those who love God and are called according to His purpose.  May it be so----

"In all your ways acknowledge Him"

The year was 1949. It must have been a Sunday, that October 11, when Grandma and Grandpa said good-bye to their life in Cashmere.  My Vintage Jewel, a black Bible engraved and given to Mr. & Mrs. W.E. Gerry by their "Cashmere Baptist Church friends."  Proverbs 3:6 "In all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy paths."  Such a sweet word for my grandparents as they left the only place they'd known as a family and looked to the Lord to direct their "path."  I long to know all the details of their decision to leave Cashmere.  The orchard had burned , as I remember for the second time and their life at the orchard had ended.  The cycle of life in the orchard, the beautiful Apple Blossoms and the harvest of their labors were to be no more.  How they must have agonized at leaving with an unknown future ahead, the place of their roots together and the birthplace of their two sons. But God had a plan which included me in the life of my Grandma & Grandpa at my birth on Feb. 13, 1950. God, in His graciousness, prepared the way as our family moved to Poulsbo where Grandma & Grandpa now lived.  Their little cottage was pink, overlooking Liberty Bay.  Grandpa always had a big garden and there was a Weeping Willow in their front yard with swing and a handy. place for a switch if needed.  It was dreamy.  It was too wonderful.  God had indeed directed their path and the path of their son, my father.  The Willow tree is gone but the grape arbor that Grandpa planted is still there as well as the Butterfly Bush Grandma started from a cutting taken from a bush at Lake Retreat Bible Camp we went to in the summer.  He has directed our paths.   

Grandpa owned an apple orchard

Summer has passed and ah, the beautiful colors of fall have arrived in all their splendor. It seems that most days and all seasons, my heart reflects on another part of my family history, my Vintage Jewels. My thoughts travel to Cashmere and our fall trip to buy the most beautiful apples one could find anywhere in Washington State.  But the apples were only the symbol of the reason for our travel.

My father grew up on an apple orchard in Cashmere, Washington and it's only of late that I have begun to understand his need to reach back to his life in the apple orchard, a jewel in his life as a child.  Thus our trip to Cashmere.  We drove the splendor of Blewett Pass from our home in Poulsbo on the westside of the state to arrive at Tiny's Fruit Stand to pick our boxes of apples and have a picnic lunch.  It was always a beautiful, sunny day and the site of  the orchards was intoxicating as we drove across the river and through the countyside of the valley.  As the boxes of apples had been collected we could now begin our drive through what was then a sweet little eastern Washington town that hadn't changed much.  We would tour the Aplet and Cotlet Factory, did we remember that grandpa had once worked there?  And the soda fountain where my dad had also worked at one time.

And then the site of the Cashmere Baptist Church, the centerpiece of Cashmere. The church my dad grew up in.  The church where my Grandpa built all the little table and chairs for the Sunday school The church where grandma & grandpa and their two little boys grew in faith and friendship.  Cashmere, a Vintage Jewel, the home of my father and his family. 

Almah Christine Nordeen

I have a very special treasure, a black tin box, which belonged to my Great Aunt Mary.  The box contains all sorts of wonders, a window into the past, and something so special, my Grandmother Almah's birth certificate  My grandmother was born in Kansas City, Missouri on June 16, 1888. She was the second daughter born to her parents, Augusta & John Gustaf Nordeen and the first generation of her Swedish-born parents to be born in the United States.  My childhood memories of my grandmother, my hand in hers, walking to the nearby cafe for a root-beer float.  I'm again, a little blond girl walking through her flower garden with her naming all the flowers in her garden, Sweet William, Pinks and bright red Salvia surrounding the Catalpa tree in her front yard. And our Sunday's at the North Kitsap Baptist Church, my heart is again with my adored Grandmother Almah.  I can hear her voice next to me "Sweet Hour of Prayer, Sweet Hour of Prayer, that calls me from a world of care, and bids me at my Father's throne, make all my wants & wishes known." My Vintage Jewel black box of memories .  Happy Birthday to you, my dear Grandmother Almah.  I loved you so------

Varmland, Sweden 1853 My Great Grandmother Augustine

My Great Aunt Mary's Emerson Birthday Book has given me a small window into so much of my past and my heritage.  My Great-Grandmother, the mother of my much-loved Grandmother Almah, and my Great Aunts Mary and Elida was born in Edsberg, Varmland County, Segerstad Socken, Sweden on July 23, 1853. Varmland County is just west of the middle of Sweden and oh, such beautiful country.  My heart can easily travel to the place of my Great-Grandmother Augustine's birthplace in the countryside of Sweden so many years ago.   Great-Aunt Mary  in her beautiful handwriting also recorded the passing of her mother and my Great-Grandmother Augustine in her birthday book.  Augustine Steuson Nordeen passed away in Everett, Washington on September 27, 1933.  Augusta was buried on September 29th.  We will have to meet another time, my dear Great-Grandmother Augustine and I.  In the meantime God has been good to me in His gift of my heritage of those who have gone before me who were believers in Christ.

"Hemma, Hemma. Fa Vi Hvila."  "Going Home, Abide with me."