JEAN - FUNERAL AND EDWARD'S COOKING CAREER

The above quilt is the one that I bought for David for Father's Day at the Haiti Auction last summer and then locked the keys in Marilyn's car when I put the quilt in the trunk to hide it from David.  He saw the quilt and really liked it, so I got the boys to take him to another auction while I bid on the quilt.  When I won it, I had them box it so he wouldn't know what was in it.  We gave it to him the next morning, Father's Day, from the children and myself.  He was thrilled and couldn't figure how we got that buy him.

We got a call that David's grandfather's brother passed away, so we left for the funeral on Saturday.  David's grandfather had passed away several years ago, and grandfather's brother was the last in that generation of the family.

David's Father, Mother and us, got a driver and all went in one van.  We worried where we would stay when we got there.  With a family of seven, it is hard to find a house that could take us all.  But one of David's parents cousins had a home to take us.  David's Mother and Father stayed at another cousins.  It was very kind of them to take us in.  Of course, it is our way to take in any Old Order Mennonites that need a place to stay.   The cousins we stayed with had a big house and all their children were grown, married and moved to their own homes so we had lots of room.  Many were meeting Michael, Edward and Katie for the first time.  At first Edward was a little self conscious because he is black and he thought he was the only one there.  When we went to the viewing, funeral and dinner, he found that some Old Order Mennonite have black skin, like him.  He felt better.  We believe that all men and women are created equal - the color of their skin does not matter.

While we were there, we went to visit some of David's kin folk that we had not seen in a long time.  They were as happy to see us as we were to see them.  We all agreed that David Jr, Susan and Katie, got the most attention - especially Katie.  She can be a little out spoken sometimes.  All of the relatives we visited wanted to catch up on our lives and we theirs.

The viewing was on Sunday and the funeral on Monday.  After the funeral there was a dinner at one of David's cousins home.  We had to eat in shifts because there were so many people there.  The men set up the tables, and chairs - then took them down when we were done.  Us ladies were in the kitchen helping prepare the food and serving.  Some of the girls were taking care of all the little children so we could work.  When we left, the dinner was over, the kitchen spotless, the tables taken away and everything in the house back where it should be.

Before we left, we had been raking up the leaves in our yard, but didn't get a chance to finish before we left.  When we got home, all the leaves were raked up and the bags with the leaves gone.  Grandma Olive and Grandfather Albert, said that Bishop Joseph got a group together to rake them all up for us, which we thought was nice.  He also arranged to have someone take care of our cows, horses and other animals while we were gone.  We greatly appreciated it.

Grandmother Olive believes that Edward should be allowed to have cooking as his career both in Old Order Mennonite and should he decide to go into the outside world.  I think some of Grandmother Olive's being out spoken sometimes has rubbed off on Katie.

Bishop Joseph tried to explain, that cooking in our way is for women, not a career for men. Grandmother Olive came up with other Old Order Mennonite areas where men had cooking as a career. Bishop Joseph tried to explain that these men were handicapped in some way and were unable to do farm work or other jobs.  Men do help, in cooking, at auctions, big dinners, etc. but not as a career.  Grandmother Olive told him, he is letting a good chef go to waste.  She knows a few Old Order Mennonite women who can't cook worth a penny.

Bishop Joseph tried to explain that should he go into the outside world, restaurants open and many close in a short time. Also, many restaurants serve liquor, which is against our ways.  It is hard time in the outside world. Grandmother Olive tries to explain that Edward, studying for baptism, doesn't look like he is leaving for the outside world.  Edward does know how to do farming, he did that for years before he came to our home.   Poor Edward, feels like he is causing trouble, which he isn't.

We also ran into some problems with Michael's taking the automobile course.  You have to be age 16 and have a drivers license, which makes sense.  Michael felt real bad, but Kevin said he could start him out working on farm equipment.  Kevin also use to drive a car that his brother has now, so he can show Michael how to do some car work.  We also are having a hard time deciding if Michael should get a drivers license when he turns 16 or not.  It is against our religion, but Michael is from the outside world and wants it real bad.  Bishop Joseph said he would normally say no, but one of his son's is driving a car.  Neither Bishop Joseph or Martha signed for their son to get a license.  Martha's outsider parents signed for Kevin to get his license and signed for Erin.  Kevin turned his license in when he proposed to Bridget.

Be With God,
Jean

OH, JEAN WANTS TO KNOW IF ANYONE IS LOOKING FOR ANY RECIPE FOR CHRISTMAS. ALSO, DO YOU HAVE ANY RECIPES YOU WOULD LIKE TO SHARE?  SHE IS WORKING ON THE CHRISTMAS RECIPES FOR THE RECIPE A DAY.