Real bits

Susan Schaeffer Macaulay speaks about being real on one of her homeschooling audio tapes. She believes it is important not to hide the difficult bits, the hard bits.

So today I will share a hard bit of my real life.
It is the anniversary of our parents death.
Our parents died in a horrible car accident just after midnight on Sept 30, 1973.

They left behind seven children, their parents, their siblings and many friends.

There isn't a good parts version to this story.

It is forever a sad story.

All we have left are memories, one another...and hope.

My hope is that we will be united in heaven some day.

That is how I was able to make it through such a trying circumstance at such a young age. Belief that they were in heaven with God and that I would one day see them again.

Simple as that.

The hard parts came later; the missing, the lack of direction, the loss of their love, the struggles with the 'why's'.

I am so thankful that they were wise enough to take us to church. That even as a child I really believed.

I am thankful to the pastor who sat with us in the living room and told us that our parents would not want us to give up...that they would want us to *live* and enjoy life. (Just as they had)

I am thankful we had one another.

I am thankful our oldest sister Nancy was willing to sacrifice, leave college, and take on her parent's home and younger sisters. As we see our own children reaching twenty years old we marvel that Nancy was so willing to raise her sisters.
(Nancy's story could get very long. I will save it for another day. She is very modest about what she did now...she really doesn't want us to make a big fuss over her...but we all love and respect her (and her husband) and if this were a book she would be the heroine.)

One of our favorite things to do is to reminisce. Janice and Janet were so young that they have few memories of our parents. So it has been our duty and joy to tell them what we remember.

You know, it is our living oral history.

We also treasure any picture we find! For my birthday, Nancy sent me a picture I do not ever remember seeing.
In the picture our mother is holding chubby me, chubby Sue is by her side and Nancy (wearing a pretty Dick, Jane and Sally dress) is next to Sue. Our mom is under 25 years old in this picture! She is very thin and her hair is a mop of curls.
It is a single, precious moment in time.
Priceless to me.

A few things I miss about our parents


1. Watching them dance together
2. Hearing our mother's laugh
3. The sound of tap shoes
4. Sandwiches with mayo, mustard, lettuce, tomato, and a pickle
on white bread :o)
5. Dark brown eyes and brown curly hair
6. Herb Albert, Frank Sinatra, Montivonni and Johnny Mathias
7. Smelling dinner cooking and coffee in the morning
8. Our Christmas Eve party
9. Dinnertime
10.Summertime



September 30th is usually the day when I remember my parents death quietly, all alone.
Today I remember with all of you.

It is the difficult bit. But a bit that has shaped my outlook on life, my character, and most importantly my faith.

Today I remember and hope,
Donna