Today we shall leave the ND Bible Camp. We've packed and our cases are in the trunk. We've said goodbye. We shall travel farther north to Cavalier, ND, where Bob's parents live. Others of the Bachman clan gathered there for an evening picnic. Dead tired, soon we were all bedded down in different homes.
Now it's Tuesday morning and I was anxious to go on to another town, Saint Thomas. We had moved there in 1987 and were blessed with wonderful neighbors. LeAnn called Donna and asked her if she could get these folks to come to the cafe for a breakfast and fellowship. After a happy time together, we said goodbye. Before we left, LeAnn drove to the nearby beautiful cemetery. We walked to the large stone where Chester's name was engraved, birth date, our wedding date and names of our three children. A beautiful geranium was blossoming, a gift from my friend, Donna.
We went back to Cavalier and there LeAnn's friend, Bonnie, and my daughter Debbie Sue and I said another goodbye and headed toward the interstate toward Fargo, ND, where Deb and I would go on a flight to Phoenix.
But there was another special friend I must visit in Grafton, ND. Willie Jane Angus had moved to St. Thomas, the same fall we moved there, and we became very close friends. Many folks got us mixed up, as to "who was who?" At a church supper, Willie was sitting alone and a couple sat nearby. The man asked, "Your husband is not with you tonight?" and she replied, "No." And he said, "Well, why isn't he here?" and she added, "Well, he's been dead 15 years." Then with a smile, she said, "Oh, you think I'm Avis, and that Chester is not here."
Now she is a resident in a nursing home in Grafton and I wanted to spend a little while with her. It was great to spend our review of years past. She was very generous and gave me many beautiful and useful garments. Let me tell you an event that happened at a ladies meeting at the ND Bible camp. It was called the Maidens Hour and the project was for anyone to bring something of the past and to tell its history. Our superintendent's wife was in charge of the event. "Just feel free to come to the platform and tell of its history or value." The first lady came and showed a beautiful quilt made by her grandmother. Others came forward with photos, dishes, etc. Finally, I stepped up and had nothing in my hands and smilingly said, "I am the best dressed woman in hand-me-down clothes." Then I told of my friend, Willie Jane and named dresses, suits, sweaters, coats, slips, nighties and many more gifts she'd given me. As I started to go off the platform, I raised my right arm and said, "Bless the Lord, oh my body and every thing that is on it."
And my I add, that though I'm now living here at Maranatha, I still have many of those garments in my closet and I wear them.
This chapter is very long and I must say adios until my next blog.
