Another celebration

Just got word that Mt. Calvary is having another celebration Sunday in honor of their 100th year. Wish I could be there.

I pray the service will be a blessing to all who attend. Pastor Cook is delivering the message on Sunday. He was pastor after my father. I enjoyed listening to his sermons on the several occasions I had to return to the church on our visits back home.

ttfn

Another year

Well, Alan and I are celebrating another year together -- we will have been married (tomorrow August 27, 2010) for 44 years.

It was a lovely, almost fall-like day. It was one of the happiest days of my life, and one I had dreamed about for several years. We were engaged for only a year -- the longest year of my life in some respects, but the shortest in others.

I remember when I told my mom the date we had set. We had been engaged for several months and hadn't decided on a date. We knew we wanted to get married while Alan's parents were on furlough from a missionary stint in Kenya, and that end-date hadn't been set yet, but we knew they would be returning to Kenya in early fall. We also knew we wanted to be married before he started his junior year at Rutgers because we needed to line up student housing. So mom should have known that we'd be getting married some time in late summer of 1966.

Well, I came home from a date with Alan, and he had told me he had gotten us student housing and we would get married two weeks before school started and would start paying rent on our housing in early August, getting married in late August, 1966. Mom got this news in late March 1966 and told me it would be impossible to get a wedding ready in six months. I told her it wouldn't.

I'm very organized, and I had a list of things to do before I got married, and mom didn't even have to do anything but give me names for invites. By the time the next week was out I had purchased my wedding gown and veil and shoes. I had decided on my bridesmaids. Arranged for a date at the bridal shop in Runnemede to purchase bridesmaids gowns, purchased my invitations, arranged for a cake and caterer, and thought I was all set.

Then mom dropped the bomb. She said I hadn't asked to use the church. Excuse me? Dad was the preacher. I knew the date was open and no one else was getting married (in the church family) that date. She said I still had to formally ask to use the church. I felt so silly doing that. So, I wrote a note to the deacons and trustees requesting the use of the church for that date. I knew mom was putting me on, because I knew that when people wanted to get married, they only had to ask my father to use the church and they got married. But mom was adamant that I was to ask permission from the "powers that be". Dad had already given his permission and written the date on his calendar.

I waited on tender hooks for several weeks, asking the head of the trustees each Sunday if I they had decided I could use the church. Believe me, by the time I finally got permission, I was about to find another church in which to have the wedding. They were all pulling my leg, and it wasn't a leg I wanted pulled. I wasn't amused by the joke they were all pulling on me.

Other than that little bauble, the wedding went off without a hitch. And we lived happily ever after. Yeah, right. However, I have to say, that I remember the good times more than the bad times, and while Alan and I "fight," it's really our way of communicating, a way our children can't understand.

Do we still love each other? You bet we do. And it seems that we are getting nearer to our "first love" feelings the older we get. I guess it's because we know that today might be our last day together on this earth. Ouch! Did I really say that?

Well, we are getting older and older and older and more frail as the days progress. Time is flying by and can you believe it's almost Christmas again? So, we make sure we greet each other in the a.m. with an "I love you" and end each day with an "I love you," praying that we'll both see each other in the morning.

We won't do anything to "celebrate" our anniversary. We've tried for the past few years to do something special but something always comes up and interferes, so this year we're just going to REMEMBER the day. Look at our album. And relax.

ttfn

Home-going

My dear friend Dawn lost her battle with cancer and is now safe in the arms of Jesus. I shall miss her, but I know I shall see her again when I, too, meet my Lord some day.

I wish I could go back to Runnemede for her funeral, but I cannot because of other family obligations.

Dawn taught children -- she told me once she was not a school teacher, she was a children teacher, and I had to agree. She taught the little ones (K-3) and retired a few years ago.

The last time I saw her on May 22, she looked beautiful and didn't let on that she was suffering at all. She did admit to being tired, but then with all the chemo and radiation she'd had in the previous days and weeks, that was expected.

Contributions can be made to Mt. Calvary Union Church for the stained glass fund.

ttfn

Prayer for Dawn

A dear friend, one of my bridesmaids, Dawn Anderson, is in 24-hour hospice care. I am praying that God will be merciful to her and keep her from pain as she ends this life and goes into the arms of our Lord and her saviour.

Dawn and I had time to talk when I went home in May and she made it through the Sunday events and seemed to be okay. She wasn't, but she let me think she was. I'm glad I had that time with her, even though it was just a little bit.

Please pray for her and her family. Her sister is with her.

ttfn

Recipe update

Check out Runnemede Remembered Recipes today for an update.

TOMATOES!!!!!

Yes, it's tomato time. It's my favorite time of the year (except for Christmas). And I recall that my mom always planted tomatoes, and we enjoyed the fruits of her labors for the whole year. During the summer we enjoyed raw tomatoes and during the winter we enjoyed the canned tomatoes she put up the previous summer.

Mom's tomato garden was between the garage and the back of the church. At the time I lived there it was fenced, about 15 x 15 and she grew tomatoes, basil, green beans (not a whole lot), zucchini, lettuce (Bibb), and probably some other stuff that I just can't recall.

But now it's my time to BUY tomatoes. It's the time of year I make friends (again) with the local farmers -- those who sell at Lunken Airport. I went to the same tomato farmer for over 25 years. He died, so I picked up another one after that, and I've been visiting his stand for about 10 years now. He's Marty.

And Mr. Schneider is the corn man. He's been selling his corn from his truck (along with melons) for the entire 35 years we've lived here. He's really getting old and his children are helping him. But he and his wife are there every day asking: "What can I get you, honey?" And I get my usual 12 ears (13 actually) of the best corn around here -- not as good as Jersey corn, or the Jersey corn I remember-- and two cantaloupes, so sweet and luscious, and a couple of cucumbers.

Then I hop over to the next stand and get my zucchini and my peppers and some onions. All fresh picked.

Yesterday I really lucked out. My tomato farmer had been to North Caroline over the weekend and picked up the best peaches. I recall my mom always sugaring the sliced peaches to make them sweet enough for dessert. These peaches need absolutely no sugar. And they are so juicy, you really need a paper towel when you eat one.

So, I'm thinking about all these wonderful fruits and vegetables, and I fondly recall the days when my mom grew her own.

ttfn

I wonder

I wonder -- when did Runnemede have it's Fourth of July celebration? Did they have a baby parade? Did they have a bicycle parade? Was the parade on The Pike or Central Avenue? Did Mt. Calvary have a float as they had planned? Anybody know the answers to these questions? Let me know. Comments please.

I miss the small-town ambiance on the 4th of July and while I was able to view seven fireworks displays from my sun porch, it just wasn't the same as spending time in the morning at a parade and then having a picnic in the afternoon, and then watching the fireworks in the evening, and coming home exhausted -- even like did when I was younger.

I wish I could have transported myself to Runnemede for the 4th. Of course, we don't have that technology yet, and getting on a jet plane, going through two airports, twice, isn't my idea of transport. I mean I can almost drive to Runnemede from here in the time it takes to go through the check-in at the airport, and then hopefully get a non-stop flight to Philly. Go through the Philadlelphia airport, get some sort of transport from the airport to Runnemede, watch the parade, and then do it all over again. Whew! I'm exhausted just thinking about it.

So, if anyone out there has any info or pictures of the 4th of July happenings in Runnemede, 2010, post them or send me a comment and I'll tell you how to get them to me.

ttfn