and named it
"Anclado Final"
And paved out a new beginning ..... a new story.
They cleared the ten acres with shovels and muscles .... they were old, but not yet old-old .... still plenty strong.
He attached a chain to their motorhome and then to bitterbrush and small juniper trees and told her to "put it in gear and stomp on it!" And she did!
They dug out and shoveled a clearing at the top of the hill where their house would be ..... noticing four giant juniper trees surrounding the clearing they had made.
"That's where we'll put our house," they agreed. "We'll name the trees after our four children."
And so they did.
Over time
...... stories have a beginning .................
middle...............
and end.
After a seven years she found herself alone -
A Little Old Widder Woman -
in the little red house at the top of the hill
on ten acres in Oregon......
She remembered he had asked his children,
"..... take care of her after I'm gone. "
And they did.
When they visited ..... sons or daughters,
daughters and sons- in -law, grandchildren
wore his jacket or one of his hats that was left on the hook in the mudroom.
But now in the garden shed
there was only one pair of work gloves
and much work
to still be done.....
the gardens
and pond
and fences
and lawn ....... a HUGE lawn that would need to be mowed.
"I should learn how to operate the lawnmower
and weed wacker
and cultivator," she said.
But she never did.
"Shovels and rakes,
straw hat and a wheelbarrel,
straw for mulch and digging tools .....don't forget the gloves!
I don't think I've forgotten anything,"
the little old widder woman said.
And she didn't forget a thing
Except that she was old .....
not old-old
just old.
"I think I need more help," she said to her family.
"We'll help you," they said.
And they always did.
coming and going from their homes .....
fixing, building, repairing and consoling
the Little Old Widder Woman.....
and she consoled them.
"We'll always miss him," they assured her.
And they did.
They dug holes
and carried heavy loads......
Sometimes the girls
came to her house with their husbands.
Sometimes they came alone.
They cooked delicious
goodies,
took her out for lunch,
took long walks along the country road
and took her clothes shopping.
They promised to return soon.
And they did.
and eyes that were sad ...
but the girls of the family
promised to help her smile
..... laugh and pray again.
And they did ......
and she did.
Young Grandpas visited her with Grandsons and
let them drive the tractor,
spread gravel and lift railroad ties and heavy stuff.
Everyone in the family
said they would help
their Little Old Widder Woman
Mother/Grandmother.
And they did.
...............................................................................
2010 - 2011
Days .... hours .... weeks .... months
and years
went by since she became alone ...... February 3, 2009.
The Little Old Widder Woman discovered she could do many
things she had never done before..... with help from
others.
"Would you come and help me clean out the pond and
get rid of some goldfish," she asked the
Septic Tank
Cleaner-Outer-Man.
There were 75 goldfish crowding the small pond.
"We started with 18 .... but they had babies!"
she explained to him.
"Please come as soon as you can!" she begged.
And he did.
"This bitterbrush is growing
right in the middle of
the flowerbed,"
she noticed.
"But the chain saw
is so heavy ...
I might hurt myself
trying to cut this down. ...."
Hmmm, she thought and thought.
"I'll ask someone to help me cut
it down."
And she did.
"FIRE ..... FIRE
up the road
near the lake!"
the neighbors
spread the warning.
They were good neighbors.
And they promised her husband
they'd help her.
And they did.
The smoke was scarey
and came close,
but not too close.
.................................
What do neighborhood horses
and visiting Missionary Kids
have in common?
continued .......................
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