Betty Lorraine Tuckey D'Arcy Caudell

On this day 89 years ago, a baby girl was welcomed into the world.  A few years later this young girl walked across the fields to school and a few more years later she went farther away to business college.  Just about that time a new college was being born and they needed her and her skills to serve as the secretary for the new president of the new college. And so that young woman went even farther away from home to became the first student at Bethel College and to serve as President Goodman’s secretary.

And then she married a man with two little boys. 

And then I was born.  

And then my little brother was born.

So many times through the years, there were people who needed her.  She worked in numerous roles of service. She cooked meals for hired men and boys and huge groups of teenagers. 

She drove a school bus transporting kids to and from the old one-room school. 

She served as receptionist and assistant for a local doctor. 

She organized and served dinners for countless families in their grief of losing a loved one.  She welcomed and loved people every Sunday through the years. 

Yes, she loves people.  

People of all ages.

She is a GREAT grandma. 

And she is Grandma Great.

She baked thousands of loaves of bread and millions of cookies to feed the kids and grandkids of the world.  

She made chocolate-covered cherries and other sweet confections  to give as gifts and treats and eventually to sell at our Christmas tree farm.  Grandma Betty’s hand-dipped chocolates were famous across the country.

Through the years, in times of scarcity or plenty, she was adept at making something special from what was available.  When the money was scarce, she was an expert at somehow putting together enough to feed a group of hungry teenagers.  

Speaking of expertise, she was indeed the bread-baking expert of her world.  People of all ages asked her to teach them the art of making bread like she did.  

And even in the years when she no longer had access to

her “professional” kitchen equipment because she had given them all away, she was still able to bake rolls and other yummy treats for the residents where she lived.

What an amazing life!

What an amazing woman!

What a privilege to be your daughter!

Happy birthday, Mom.

Home ownership: one month in

Hard to believe that it has been a month already since we got the keys for the house. 

The much-anticipated keys signify so much - most notably home ownership as well as entry into a new community.

Home ownership. 

Again.

When we decided to sell the tree farm we assumed that we might one day again own property somewhere, but we also learned to appreciate the freedom from being tied down so we were unsure when that day might come.  

I guess it kinda’ snuck up on us.  There we were pretty content in the middle of a one-year lease on a little apartment and all of a sudden we were looking at old houses.  

We had both commented that we might be happy to stay in the apartment indefinitely, but once we began the house-hunting process, we both realized how ready we were to move on!

Hubby had enjoyed the reprieve from the responsibilities of being a land owner. He kinda’ loved not having to shovel snow or cut firewood.  He had especially reveled in not being a landlord and being the one that got the call in the middle of the night for some needed repair.  But now after a few years of that freedom, he was beginning to feel ready for a new project so he found himself looking for a fixer-upper.

I was content with many aspects of apartment life. I had taken advantage of so many things that I discovered about life in a small town and I had done everything I could think of to try to fit in there.  But I had to admit that I had not found a sense of connection or community there for all my efforts.  It was only after we began to meet people in Flint that I began to find my niche - and once we bought this house the connection has increased almost exponentially.

In fact, that has been one of the biggest and happiest surprises for me - the sense of community and connection.  And it began to happen so quickly.  The first week we were here we noticed that we had already connected with more people here than in the entire past year at the apartment complex. Our hearts are warmed by all the gestures of welcome that come our way.

All things new

A new day
A new week

A new month

A new place

A new house

A new city

A new street
A new neighborhood

A new community

New neighbors

New connections

New friends

New flowers

New walking options

New changes

New challenges

New wonderings

New projects

New opportunities

A new world 

A new life

A whole new adventure