Remembering Precious People

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For years I’ve been taking notes for a book I want to write someday. It’s too bad I didn’t have access to a notepad in the dental chair on Tuesday. I don’t know what it was about lying flat in that chair that made childhood memories start flooding in, but that’s what happened. I am thinking of calling that book Chene, if I ever do set pen to paper—or fingers to keyboard—to write it. Chene was my family’s nickname for me when I was a preschooler. I was Chene and my brother, Steve, was Judge. Chene is short for Charlene. “Bunch” Jean gave Steve the nickname Judge. Bunch was the butcher at my Daddy Leland’s grocery store when we were very young. He said Steve looked like a judge. What do you think?

One thing’s for certain, Steve’s big sister, Chene, isn’t going to let him play with her new baking set! She has both of his hands in hers.

I hope to tell the story of my childhood in a way that is similar to what Laura Ingalls Wilder did and also similar to what our daughter Mary Evelyn Notgrass McCurdy did in her books Katy and Katy’s Box. Laura wrote about the late 1800s. Mary Evelyn wrote about the 1980s and 1990s. I want to write about the 1950s and 1960s.

Speaking of Laura, yesterday I invited you to the 155th birthday celebration we have planned in her honor on Monday. For the next several days, we plan to re-release videos we have made about various segments of her life and also to release a new one about the Ingalls family’s time near Independence, Kansas. Laura’s book Little House on the Prairie is set there.

When I was in elementary school, a new family moved into town, bringing me a new friend. The Collier family with parents, Maxie and Frances, and children, Art, Dee, Kathy, Keith, and David, became part of our church, too.  A new family in town was a rare occurrence in my childhood. Most families had been there for generations or so it seemed to me. Kathy was a thin, blue-eyed blonde and a real joy.

I knew Kathy and Keith the best and I loved them both. I had great respect for Maxie and Frances Collier. He was one of our elders and such a fine man. I remember his bright smile and her wonderful laugh. Frances was a seamstress like my mother. She also made fancy hats. Miss Frances always wore a hat on Sunday morning. I remember Mother taking a hat-making class from her, and Mother made several hats herself.

I tried to find a photograph to give you an idea of the kinds of hats Miss Frances made. This photo doesn’t show a lot of detail, but the hats in front of the mirror in this fancy hat shop will give you an idea.

Kathy and I loved being at each other’s houses and enjoyed going home with each other after church. I liked being in the bustle of their kitchen at Sunday lunch and getting to see their gold silverware, something I had never seen anywhere else. It was also fun to play H-O-R-S-E at their basketball goal.

Kathy definitely deserves a place in Chene. Kathy and I were friends until she passed away much too young a few years ago. I often wish I could give her a call. I am so grateful still to be able to keep up with Keith. I texted him last night to ask for a picture of his mama. He texted back right away, saying that I must have been reading his mind. He had just been thinking about texting me. To my delight, he sent me a photo of both of his parents. Here they are.

Keith and Kathy and their brothers and sister called their mother “Darlin.” They called their Daddy’s mother “Pessus,” which had been the older brother’s mispronunciation of Precious when he was little. Don’t you love those names? Every mama deserves to be everybody’s “Darlin” and every grandmother deserves to be everybody’s “Pessus.”

Let your father and your mother be glad, 
And let her rejoice who gave birth to you.
Proverbs 23:25

One thing I know for certain. You are darling and precious to your Father in heaven. In giving specific instructions to women, the apostle Peter told us women that our adornment should be:

. . . the hidden person of the heart,
with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit,
which is precious in the sight of God.
I Peter 3:4

Join us for Laura’s Birthday Party on Monday, February 7 at 1:30 p.m. Central Time.

Register to get access to the live event or watch the replay at your convenience.

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