My Letter Home - April 3

My Little Princess - See Her Crown

Spring seems to be coming to West Liberty. Saturday, we had a beautiful day with opportunities to work in the yard and take a long walk to explore the parks and trails around the town.

We took the dogs with us up Adriel Hill and got a bird’s-eye-view of the entire town and the surrounding farms. It was lovely. At the top of the hill is the main entrance for the Adriel school, as well as a cemetery dating back to the mid 1800s. I am going to go up there more often since it is so peaceful there and cemetery exploring is interesting to me.

I Love Memorial Art 

Easter was very nice with the morning spent at church for a youth service, breakfast, Easter egg hunt and the regular service. Our neighbors, Jim and Jill, who also are members of the church, invited us to have Easter dinner with their family and it was delicious. We even got to enjoy Marie’s chocolates for the great day.

This morning, I took a tour of Adriel, a refuge and school for abused and neglected children who have some emotional and behavioral problems. Our house is pretty much surrounded by the school with the girls’ dorm on one side and the boy’s dorm as well as classrooms behind us. I wanted to learn more about the kids, the history and what I could do to volunteer and help these children. It’s hard enough growing up with a loving family, but these kids don’t have such a basic need met, and Adriel is trying to help them feel loved, valued and make them an important part of society.

Oh yeah, and baseball started this week. Go Reds! Go Rays!

What I Miss Most About My Old Home: Being around friends and family for the holiday.

What I Like Most About My New Home: The opportunity to truly make a difference and be of service to those in need.

Happy Easter

"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another." - John 13:34

I Decided To Start My Own Traditions

“We decided to” is the theme for today, but I wanted to make it more personal and change it to “I decided to.” I decided to celebrate Easter my own way. Not much of a family person, I have created many of my own holiday traditions. As a child, Easter meant chasing my anticipation for eggs around the back yard, dew covering my feet and nightgown. My father did his best to make it a special day when I was growing up, but sometimes it was just him and I with a canned ham.

My teenage years were failed attempts at Lent restrictions and my step siblings and their families. In college, I actually did better with Lent giving up chocolate and drinking for those 40 days and nights all the while feeling superior in spirit and body on Easter Sunday – a sort of rebirth. (I did find out recently though that technically Lent ends on Maundy Thursday, the day of the Last Supper and not on Easter – thanks Renee who did great with giving up chocolate until that day.) Being as lapsed a Catholic as one can be, I no longer practice Lent, though it could be of value even on a secular level.

My favorite Easter was when Guy and I decided to go to Sunrise Service in Safety Harbor. We arose at o-dark-thirty (even before Jesus) and dressed in our Sunday best. After the service, we were wide awake and thought we would surprise Patrick, his roommate at the time with a wake-up call. No such luck. Patrick was awake, as was Diane, and they had already made a pitcher of bloody marys. We sipped the spiced concoction, ate chocolate Easter candy and watched Jerry Springer. Ever since that has been my favorite Easter tradition.

For this year I decided to lay low and do the food thing tomorrow since I am not fully risen myself.