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change is in the air

March 6, 2010

So last night, our youngest came back home to live with us for awhile. He wants to apply to jobs in his field without having the stress of constantly working at a dead-end job and paying bills.

He will really be in culture shock for awhile, coming to this rural setting from NEW ORLEANS, of all places! There are no trolleys here. There are no jobs to get to without a car. We are enclosed in a family-centered neighborhood of new, modern houses with a lot of children and dogs, a shared swimming pool, a neighborhood association, and a large pond. But outside of that, we are surrounded by country roads and woods. “Town” is 3-4 miles away. The one MALL with every store you can imagine is about 14 miles distance from us. “City” is 25 miles. This will be interesting.

Not to mention, we still do not have a dining room table, or a BED and other furniture in his new room! We ain’t got zip at this time! We’ve been traveling too much to buy things we need. Going home to see kids, grandkids and parents in Indiana every 2 mos., going to New Orleans twice, it’s been hectic. Every break we are going somewhere. My college has not yet paid me for our trip to New Orleans where I attended a conference, so we are low on cash.

He’s been living in a place where walking to a nearby city and riding a trolley everywhere he goes is everyday, and eating fast food, if not gumbo and fresh seafood daily. This change will be a shock for him.

Today’s high will be upper 60s. Bright sunshine. Things are starting to bud and burst into bloom. My campus will soon be BRIGHT with red and white azaleas, absolutely the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. Change is in the air.

— A side note, the one thing I can’t stand about this neighborhood, are stupid, barking dogs.

Posted in Family, South Carolina | Leave a Comment »

I am (my ancestors)

February 28, 2010

I am (my ancestors),

They are carried deep within,

Embedded in my memory

are all the places they have been.

I am – my grandfather

reciting the Lord’s prayer,

in his low and formal voice,

with his head bowed low,

I am – his courage,

hiding behind those German lines,

on a secret frightful mission

trying to make it back home,

I am – poor Dutch farmers,

moving south from Chicago,

selling vegetables in the summer time,

and trying to get by,

I am immigrant, I am Hollander,

sailing here with hopes and dreams,

I am 17-year-old great-grandmother,

on a ship from the old country,

I am also Scotch-Irish,

or English as the case may be,

migrating westward from Ohio

to the southern hills of Indiana,

I work for the Monon railroad,

working hard for my family,

move them a little farther north,

follow the tracks to industry,

I am poor boy in the north end,

studying hard for my degree,

first one ever to go that far,

first one to earn a PhD,

I am farmer, railroad worker,

car mechanic, security guard,

domestic worker, church janitor,

painter and professor,

I am — all of these and more,

they are a part of me,

Stories of struggle embedded in my bones,

DNA memories mapped onto my own.

Posted in Family, poetry | Leave a Comment »

ancient one

February 24, 2010

here are a few lines that will be a poem, someday:

Sometimes I feel like a very old person.

Someone different from all the rest,

some wise old ancient one,

older than the hills,

who sits and watches the younger ones,

I feel like someone who has outlived

the rest of my family,

someone whose experiences

no one can relate to,

they are so far and beyond

what most people see,

and there is no way to explain them

to those around me.

Is it a curse,

or a blessing?

Only God knows,

To me,

it is only a blanket of sadness

from which there is no escape.

Posted in Family, poetry | 2 Comments »

dreamed of playing golf

February 2, 2010

Last night I dreamed of playing golf. Actually, I wasn’t playing. I was in the group. The group was all men except for me. In the group, was my dad, and Levin, and approximately 6-8 other men, I’m not sure who they were. It feels significant that it was Levin and my dad who stood out to me, and I have no idea what the connection is.

It is significant to me because I always wanted to go with my dad to play golf. He promised to take me when I was 17. He died when I turned 16. (Really, playing golf does not appeal to me, it was just a special thing to do with my dad because it took so much time and was a “grown-up” thing to do.)

This dream puzzles me.

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forbidden to utter slander

December 31, 2009

According to the direct and sacred command of God we are forbidden to utter slander, are commanded to show forth peace and amity, are exhorted to rectitude of conduct, straightforwardness and harmony with all the kindreds and peoples of the world.

(Abdu’l-Baha, The Will and Testament, p. 7)

What is slander?

1 : the utterance of false charges or misrepresentations which defame and damage another’s reputation
2 : a false and defamatory oral statement about a person — compare libel

Posted in Family, virtues | Leave a Comment »

up north in snow country

December 30, 2009

Enjoying the warmth of friends and family, and the coldness of snow, where seeing it every day is “the norm”, up north.

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leaving the sunny south

December 23, 2009

We are preparing to leave tomorrow at 5am, leaving our home in the south where highs are in the mid-50s all this week, for northwest Indiana, where snow is predicted, wind, and highs in the 30s. I would not make the trip except for Al’s parents being older, and of course being w/Raven, Caspian & Jasmine. If not for Al’s parents, I would talk them into traveling south.

Yesterday we signed papers to become owners of our house. We are officially listed as “owners” but do not yet have bank financing. We have a 3-yr window to get the financing. Meanwhile, we pay a mortgage payment rather than rent, to the “former owner”, pay taxes which drop from 2400. to 800., & take care of all repair and upkeep. It’s nice to be owners of our house. I will feel better when we get the financing, & I’m just going on faith with that. I feel we have to pay on our school loans for a year, keep our small credit card in good shape, & just pay our bills for a year, then seek financing.

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Thanksgiving

November 25, 2009

Memories of Thanksgiving

My hair in curls I thought were cute,

Large dining room table and formality,

China we never use any other time of year,

Both my grandmas and my mom in the kitchen,

More food than anyone could ever eat,

my Grandpa saying the Lord’s prayer,

My dad carving the turkey,

mountains of mashed potatoes,

3 kinds of pie,

everyone taking a nap,

football games on tv.

Posted in childhood, Family, poetry | Leave a Comment »

Veteran’s Day Nov.11th

November 11, 2009

geo pl in france

George Plantenga was my grandfather, my mother’s father. He was the oldest of 11. His family never celebrated his birthday, I think because he was conceived nearly 4 mos. before his father married his mother. He had nothing to do with that, but his father was a mean, old Dutchman. That’s the truth. My grandpa hated his father. Once my grandpa was grown and left home, he would come back and visit his mother but not his father. He once came home and found his mother, my great-grandmother, crying in the kitchen. School was ready to begin, and she didn’t have enough money to buy the children shoes. So my grandpa went out and bought all his younger siblings a pair of shoes to start school in.

I have many stories about my grandpa which I will not tell tonight, but he joined the Army when he & his buddies thought they would get a better deal than waiting to be drafted, was sent to France and then sent behind German lines on a mission, partly because he could understand Dutch, which was close enough to German. He & 2 buddies went behind German lines. George, my grandpa, was the only one who made it back out alive. For this, he earned the nickname, “Lucky”. I have his hand written story he wrote many years later, “Twenty-one Days Behind German Lines.” Just 1 story in it is about stealing an ambulance, wrapping his head in bandages to act like he couldn’t speak, and going into a German food bar where they gave him some whiskey and bread for free.

He came back to the States, as it happened, on his brother’s wedding day and couldn’t find any of his family members at home. Someone finally told him they were all at the church for his brother’s wedding! My grandma, Cena, who was waiting for his return to marry him, heard someone say, “Here comes George!” and she didn’t believe them. It was her fiance. She said more people surrounded him at the reception than they did the wedding couple.

Posted in Family, family tree research | Leave a Comment »

“I’m the Mummy!” Halloween memories

October 30, 2009

This year, I will see none of my grandkids on Halloween. They live in 3 different states, counting Joseph, my step-grandson. And I am in a 4th.

I am thinking this night of Halloweens past. Let me be a bit self-indulgent.

My husband doesn’t believe in holidays. Nothing in any way not a holiday based on a true meaning. Anything connected to a pagan past, where the church tried to take some ancient ritual and make it into a religious holiday–forget it. Then it’s based on hypocracy.

I agree, but I’m sorry, some holidays are just for fun. I don’t care what it’s history is, really. My kids deserve to dress up and walk a few streets and get some candy too. It’s just fun. So every Halloween, every single year, I walked our kids around the neighborhood. I don’t think they ever went out alone. I always went with them. Alone. And we had fun.

We were always poor in those days when our kids were little. I never had money to go out and buy new costumes. We were always trying to make do with nothing, which meant, buying some silly hat and make-up and trying to make the rest out of old clothes or Dad’s baggy shirts. I feel somewhat bad about that. I suck at making costumes or being imaginative and creative like that. Absolutely horrible. So the kids probably made more of their makeshift outfits than I did. But they went out.

On Perrin Ave., there were a few who really did it up right. One year, a guy sat on his front porch dressed as a mummy. When kids would come up on his porch, just as they were about to ring the doorbell, he would reach out his arm and say, “You want some candy?” Then his kid came out on the porch with a phone and said, “Dad, it’s for you!” The dad tried to ignore him, but the kids said it again. He finally, disgustedly said, “I TOLD you not to bother me!! I’m the mummy!” It was hilarious.

I have never gotten a birthday gift my entire life, from my husband, except a couple times when I think the kids pressured him. When I turned 50, I got roses. That’s because you’re “supposed” to buy gifts on birthdays, and it’s just the greed and materialism of our capitalistic culture that tells us we have to buy someone a gift. No gifts. No Valentine’s Day presents, that’s too expected, no Mother’s Day gifts — that’s Hallmark-made. After awhile I stopped buying him a birthday gift. So we just go out for dinner.

I know his reasoning and it all makes perfect logical sense. But it’s just no fun.

So happy halloween all you little creatures. Be safe. Dress up and pretend, and have fun. Light the pumpkin with a real tea-light candle. Boo!

Posted in Family, grandchildren | 1 Comment »

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