Our Version of "American Gothic"

You have probably heard me say before that Gramp and I are the most obnoxious grandparents in the world! Why? Because we brag about "you kids" all the time. And maybe the rest of the world gets tired of hearing how beautiful, creative, intelligent, and precious our grandchildren are to us. Here's an example (and we didn't even need an audience): Grampie and I were sitting at the table at breakfast recently and all of a sudden Grampie started to chuckle and he said, "that baby is SO SWEET!" And I said, "aren't they ALL?" To which he replied, "no, just OURS!" We enjoyed laughing about that one for quite a few days. And we continue to enjoy thoughts of all of you. Well, in our defense, that's part of what grandparents are for: to love and appreciate the blessing of our grandchildren. And we DO!

Well, this picture of Timothy and Erika was rather spontaneous, but don't you love it? In retrospect, it is our family's version of American Gothic. That's why it's been enhanced to look like a piece of art instead of a digital photo. Our version isn't sober, older people standing with a pitchfork in hand. Instead, it is sweet, smiling kids stopping a minute for a snapshot -- interrupting the BLAST they were having at one of Uncle Jon's and Aunt Michele's "Pig Roasts".

Well, a Pig Roast is not just about roast pork -- it's about family and friends getting together for a huge pot luck picnic. It's about kids having quality time together and about adults chatting, laughing, and doing more bonding with each other and the next generations. It's about dogs barking in the kennel and hoping to be treated with a morsel of all that is smelling so good.

At the pig roast, the whole yard is set up with tables and if necessary they are sheltered with what seems like a 1/2 acre of tarps. A whole pig is in a cooker made from a 55 gallon drum fitted with propane burners.  Whole chickens sizzle in the fryer and mounds of fresh potatoes are cut up for french fries. Hot dogs and hamburgers are cooking on the conventional grills flanked with rolls and condiments. On the long buffet table are baked beans, potato salad, mac and cheese, trays of fresh vegetables and fruits, rolls, lemonade -- and so much more. The menu consists of whatever everyone decides to contribute.  

Children run and play, hop on and off the swing, and travel around the driveway on whatever riding toys are available. Older kids explore the back yard and wood lot, telling jokes and laughing about what "we used to" do and say. 

We are SO BLESSED with such a wonderful family. Thank  you, Lord!  

Mom Pursued Art

After Grampie Jim died, Grammie Ruth decided to go to some art workshops and what a wonderful decision that was! Here for your enjoyment is an art gallery of sorts featuring a sampling of my mother's art. It will be worth your time to take a look:

The next one is a drawing of the covered bridge in Littleton, Maine and is near the place where Grammie Ruth was born.  I think this was a pencil drawing, but may have been pen and ink. I can't remember and cannot tell from this photo. The work here is meticulous and detailed -- very characteristic of Mom's projects (art or not):

I absolutely LOVE this painting of a lone chickadee perching on twigs in the winter. This one was done in 2002 and I believe it was done with water color pencil. 

This next painting is, I believe, a watercolor that Mom did for her niece -- Annette Nason Fore -- to hang in her Florida home. Annette wanted something in green, so Mom put that color to advantage when she did this garden scene in honor of Annette's love of flowers and gardening:

This next one is a drawing with colored pencil, I think. It was done in 2002 and I think it was done as a project for one of her art workshops that she attended in Houlton. She loved working with her instructor, Esther Faulkner. Don't you love the purple finch?

Maybe somebody can help me with the next two, which I believe are colored pencil drawings. I believe the racoons were done for a woman at Mom's Church. I think the dogs and duck was done as a Christmas gift for one of the grandchildren. If you remember, please help me out and leave a comment. If not, just enjoy the art!

In time, you will be seeing more of Gram's art work. Hopefully you enjoyed this sample of the kind of work she has done.

I have to love and admire her for not giving up after losing a second husband, but for stretching herself and finding something that she could enjoy for her own pleasure and as a blessing to others. Mom has an eye for all that is beautiful!

Christmas Fun With Grammie Ruth

The day after Thanksgiving in 2010, Aunt Carla set up Grammie Ruth's Christmas tree and I decorated it for her. I love this picture of it against the snowy back drop outside her home on the lake.

We exchanged Christmas gifts with Mom because she likes to do that when we are together. We gave Mom a snuggly electric throw to keep her warm when she is in her recliner.

And she had some gifts for us. In case you don't know it, Grammie Ruth is FAMOUS for saving boxes for gift-giving. And you never know what to expect inside your package that holds a graham cracker box or a cheerios box, for example. So you can imagine the excitement when Wayne opened his box of "chocolates".  I asked him to WAIT so I could get a picture of the box and also get a picture of Wayne's face when he opened it to reveal something inside (like a tie or some handkerchiefs or a pair of PJs.)

As you can see from the look on his face,he was VERY surprised -- and so was I.  I had no idea what to expect when the cover was removed. We were all practically holding our breath and Mom leaned forward to get a close look at this whole episode. She was waiting for the secret to be revealed and for the laughter that would follow.

This time Mom really got the best of us, after all. Despite her reputation spanning my entire lifetime, Grammie Ruth had wrapped up a box of actual chocolates for Wayne! That's what we get for making fun of her gift boxes, don't you think?

Wartime Marriage: The Joys and Trials

My Dad said to my Mom one day, "Ruth, how would you like to mend my socks for the rest of your life?"  And she affirmed that she would. He gave her a ring with a pretty blue zircon in it -- the best he could afford on $1 a day, and with that he fulfilled his teenage vow to wait until she grew up and then marry her!

Your great grandparents, Ruth G. Watson & Paul Clifford Cain, were married on June 3, 1942 at the Baptist Church in Littleton.Rev. Trites officiated at the ceremony. A friend of Mom's -- Phyllis Shaw Foren played piano.  Aunt Iola attended my Mom and Uncle Lawrence was my Dad's best man. I remember seeing pictures of them after the wedding -- she was wearing a white gown and veil with fresh lillies of the valley pinned to them and was carrying fresh lilacs.  Someday I hope to find a copy of that picture in one of my mother's albums and publish it here for all of you to see. Mom said that her wedding was the first one held in the Littleton Baptist Church for many years. My cousin Mark (Nason) was sitting in the front seat. Just as the ceremony was about to end, Mark jumped up on the pew and yelled, "Can I call her AUNT, now?"

The reception was held at the Grange Hall in Littleton. Grammie, Mrs. Tompkins (a friend who lived across the street from Grammie Muriel), ladies of the Church made the refreshments; John Boyd (who became Aunt Barbara's husband) bought a washtub full of peanuts for the reception.

Grampie Paul's employer provided a house on "Flea Ridge" in Monticello to them for $0 rent. Grammie Muriel and Marion Tompkins helped clean and wallpaper that house before the wedding. My parents were SO proud of the house -- people bought linoleum flooring for 3 rooms for wedding gifts: the kitchen, the living room, and their bedroom. There was a little den downstairs with a $3 desk and couch. There was no electricity in the house and it could only be occupied in the summer because the road was not plowed in the winter. They stayed at that house for three summers: 1942-1944.

In April of 1945 (around the time my cousin Andrea was born), my Dad joined the Navy. He went through basic training and the further training he needed to ship out. He was a member of the Navy choir. Mom said the first time she ever heard "Where You There When They Crucified My Lord" was when my father sang it with the naval choir. She said it was beautiful. While he was stationed in Gulfport, Mississippi Mom left me with Grammie Muriel and Grampie Ellery and went to visit him for a few weeks. She had a room near the base and they saw each other as often as they could. She said they used to walk together to where the Salvation Army was having street services. Just as he was about to be shipped out in the fall of 1945, he was discharged from the Navy to go back home to the farm.

[Just a note about Mrs. Tompkins: She lived in a house across the street from my grandparents in Littleton. The house sat between Alton Wotton's barn and US Route 1. When I was three, my Mom and Dad bought that house and moved it to the little 50 acre farm where I spent the rest of my growing up years.]

My parents allowed themselves a luxury every Thursday for quite some time after they were married. Each week Thursday marked another "anniversary" for them and they celebrated with a 5-cent bottle of Strawberry Pop (soda) and a pint of vanilla ice cream (25 cents or so). They worked very hard and allowed themselves little more than the necessities of life, but the weekly floats were a luxury to them and they really looked forward to celebration of that day when they became man and wife!

When they first went to the house on the night of the wedding, they opened the door into the hallway and found a man lying on the stairs. This really scared Mom. But it was a trick by some of my Dad's "guy" friends, who had made a mannekin and put it there as a "welcome home" surprise. The mannekin was made of straw and wore my Dad's bib overalls, one of his hats and shirts and had on his hip waders. As if that wasn't enough, when my parents went to their bedroom, they found that the spring and mattress were missing from their bed. So Grampie Paul went to search for that. Eventually he found the mattress up in the hay mow of the barn. They found out later that the same friends had hidden behind the barn to make sure he found the mattress before they left. [Let me say it was common to play all sorts of tricks on the newly weds back then. Those guys were just doing their duty.]

My parents had no vehicle in their early days, but Uncle Lawrence loaned them a car.  Mom was going to have to drive herself in it to Houlton to work but she didn't know how to drive. So Uncle Lawerence put her in the driver's seat and taught her the art of driving on a trip from  Littleton to Caribou. Once there, the examining officer asked Grammie Ruth if she had studied the law book and she said, "no". He gave her TEN minutes to study the book and then gave her the exam and she scored 90%. After the road test he told her he was going to issue the license for ONE reason: he never wanted to ride with her in a car again!

At some point my parents thought they ought to buy tires for Uncle Lawrence's car, but both tires and gas were rationed because of  WWII. In time they found a man who had an old car and they asked how much the tires would be. He said he would sell them for $5 apiece if they bought all four. If, however, they would like to have the car also, the price would be $25. So they bought it. This wasn't "cheap" since Grammie Ruth was earning $18 a week and Grampie Paul was earning $15 each week.

Their ration cards would not allow enough gasoline for both of them to travel to and from work. So Grammie Ruth continued to drive Uncle Lawrence's car to the court house in Houlton, where she worked.  Grampie Paul drove the $25 car to the McCluskey farm on the back roads so he wouldn't be caught burning kerosene in it. Mom said the amazing thing is that car engine lasted like nothing she ever saw. It served the $25 car well and eventually became the engine for one of Grampie Ellery's well drilling rigs!

I remember seeing the ration cards. I also remember that sugar was rationed and the only time we had icing on a cake was for a birthday. I still remember the confusion when Grammie Kitt (My Dad's mother) served a frosted cake one Sunday. It was NOBODY'S birthday! I could not figure that out.



Mom Found So Many Ways

 After Grammie Ruth was widowed at the age of thirty-four, one of the most difficult challenges she had was "how can I take care of these four children"? And while the thought of doing it all alone was devastating, the fact of being responsible for us helped her to keep going. She had to survive her grief and overcome the obstacles for the sake of her children.  She always wanted to give us as many advantages as she could with her limited income and some health problems that she had battled ever since I was born. She was prone to flare ups of phlebitis in her leg veins.

One of the things she did with and for us was to take her children to our denomination's summer camp and volunteer her time there. She was well versed in the Bible and a very good teacher of children so it was a natural thing for her to teach classes and direct some of the weeks of Christian camp for children and teenagers.

The first time I was ever on this campground was years before we had a camp. I remember walking through the tall grass on this plot situated along the banks of the St John River near Hartland, New Brunswick and within sight of the "longest covered bridge in the world" which spanned the river for a mile from bank to bank. I was there with my Dad and some other people who were discussing this property and wanting to have it for a conference grounds.

The white tabernacle pictured above was built, I think, around 1950. People from the various Primitive Baptist Churches would gather there for services on Sunday afternoons throughout the summer and for quarterly meetings sometimes. We loved it there and loved the people that we met.

The little red cottage at the right of this picture was moved to the river bank from its traditional spot at the edge of the woods away from the river. It was built for Dr. W. T. Watson and his wife, who traveled to the grounds for a week of Bible Conference for a number of summers from Trinity College in Clearwater, Florida. We loved Dr. Watson, his preaching, and his demure, little wife.

During summer camps, "Dr. Watson's Cottage" doubled as the Camp Director's Cottage and was sometimes used for other special guests at the grounds. Mom spent some weeks for quite a few years in this pleasant little cottage with a tiny front porch. I can say without reservation that summer camp was the highlight of my life, especially through my teen years. This was where my spirit was renewed and where I found some of the courage I needed for life as the oldest child in our single parent home. 

Because of her years of service at the camp, Mom is beloved by generations of people who have frequented the conference meetings and the camps.

In August of 2010 Mom joined a group of women for a weekend retreat at the campgrounds. Aunt Carla helped plan and direct the retreat. I was the speaker for two sessions and Aunt Barbara did a marvelous presentation of her Biblical art on silk. We had a time of blessing with old friends and new, but one of the highlights was when Mom gave the devotional on Friday evening.

At 88, Mom is still articulate and inspiring. Her teaching is clear and relevant and appreciated by everyone who hears her. People seek her advice -- family, friends, and even pastors. She has experienced so much in life and God has given her a great deal of discernment and wisdom.

She can no longer take brisk walks throughout the grounds because she moves slowly and with a great deal of effort. She generally uses a walker. But we took her from place to place in a wheel chair on the campgrounds and she loved every minute of it. It was very obvious that she was in her element. . . back where she belongs!

Besides our wonderful times at the Bible Camp, we also had our little cottage on Cary Lake -- not far from home, but far enough away to just relax and enjoy being a family. We also took music lessons, had opportunities to fish, participated in youth activities, and did our part working at harvest time.

One of the nicest things that happened to her children came when she married Grampie Jim. He was a tremendous husband and companion for Mom, loved and cherished her children, and was a beloved grandfather to your parents. 

Through her faithfulness to the Lord and her commitment to do the best she could for us, Mom has always given us gifts that are beyond price.  God is great, He is good, He loves us unconditionally, and He blesses us beyond what we could ever "ask or think". I am so GLAD God gave ME a Christian home. 

He Knew How to Be a Good Dad

This is a picture of Grandpa Buza and his three sons: Uncle Joel, Uncle Carlin, and Grampie Wayne. It looks like these guys were all dressed up and ready to go to Church.

Grampie thinks this was taken at some point before they went to Guatemala (around 1947) as missionaries. Perhaps this picture was taken in 1945, but Grampie doesn't know where -- perhaps Butler Hill, Pennsylvania or Austinburg, New York. Grandpa was pastor of Baptist Churches in both towns at the same time.

We found sermon notes for Father's Day and just decided to pair it up with this picture. We are not sure where or when it was preached. I hope you enjoy your Great Grandfather's teaching and that you profit from his wisdom. I remember how I loved to hear him preach and how we loved to ask him questions. He loved to answer our questions and we value everything that he taught us.

This sermon is based on text in I John.

The Bible has always been the final authority for all subjects and so when we find this statement twice in this same chapter that the writer has written to the fathers "because they have known Him which was from the beginning," it behooves us to consider why. Therefore the Lord has led us to the five things about the Father in heaven that the fathers of the Apostle John’s time knew about our Heavenly Father, which every father today should know about Him. Turn with me to the first chapter where we find the first thing fathers should know about God our Father that they might teach their children.

I. First is I John chapter one verse 2, where we find they knew and had seen -- for it was manifested to them -- the Eternal Life that is in Jesus Christ, God’s Son.
A. Father, you must first know about and experience this life to lead your children to Heaven.
B. Know that Eternal Values are with and in Christ to pass them on.
C. Know Christ yourself to be able to present Him to others.

II. Verse three gives us the second fact that they knew about the Heavenly Father as fathers.
A. Fellowship was possible with God.
B. Fellowship with men of Apostolic character was possible.
C. This was made possible by walking in the Light.

III. Chapter two and verse one gives us our third fact about their knowledge of the Heavenly Father [He gave us an advocate].
A. Saints could sin -- 1:8
B. Saints had sinned -- 1:10
C. That Jesus Christ was our advocate before the Father to plead:
1. Our case before Him.
2. His Blood as the price paid for our cleansing.
3. Our confession as the ground for His Advocacy.

IV. The fourth fact about their knowledge of our Heavenly Father was "The manner of LOVE the Father had bestowed upon us".
A. Unfeigned love.
B. Everlasting love.
C. Enduring love.

V. The last fact that the fathers knew about our Heavenly Father was "the Father’s record in heaven."
A. It was backed by the Word of God.
B. It was substantiated by the Holy Spirit.
C. The record was they had the Son, therefore they had life. 

CONCLUSION: Fathers, if you never know any more about God the Father than this and are faithful in teaching your children these facts about God, you will have given a clear cut testimony for Him to your loved ones and God will honor you with your children’s souls. 　

Terrible Two's or Terrible Teens?

I know you have heard of the Terrible Two's. Maybe it's time to talk to my Mom about that two-year-old phase, but I imagine if I was ever a terrible two my Mom doesn't remember it that way. Mom's are like that, you know!

It isn't my intent to tell very many sad stories because I want this blog to be fun and uplifting. But sometimes sad experiences and the memories of them are very valuable in our lives. Those are the times when we learn the greatest lessons. And those are the times that can help us grow and mature if we pay attention.

In many ways, my teenage life (I was 17 in this picture) was very difficult. That was partly because of the things that happened to impact my life and it was partly the way that I chose to deal with the circumstances and events that marked that time of my life. But it wasn't all bad, either. God loved and cared for me all of my life -- even when I was being a terrible teen.

On July 2, 1956 I became a teenager. That was pretty exciting to me. One nice thing that happened to me was that my Grammie Muriel had her little ruby put in a pretty ring setting and gave it to me. I couldn't imagine that she would do such a wonderful thing for me and I was very proud of that ring. (It burned in a house fire on another birthday in 1963).

On November 8 of that same year, our Dad was killed in a trucking accident. He and Grammie Ruth had been married just under 14 1/2 years. My Mom was a widow at 34. She had me (13), Aunt Carla (7), Uncle Brian (6), and Uncle Clifford (4). This was a tremendous shock to everyone, but especially to my Mom.

A few weeks before my father was killed in that accident he told me that he really believed he was not going to be around much longer. His own Dad had died at 42 and he thought he wouldn't live past that age. He asked me to promise him something and I did. I promised your great grandfather -- my father -- that I would never do anything to hurt my Mom. "She will be hurt enough," my Dad said. And I took that to heart.

And so when he died, I placed myself in charge of doing everything I could to help Mom. Part of taking care of Mom is that I decided not to cry in front of her. All of a sudden at thirteen I was no longer a child. In my own mind, I felt it was my duty to grow up and live like an adult because if I didn't, it would kill my Mom and she had been "hurt enough".

Part of the outflow of that is what it did to my relationship with my siblings. To this day I don't understand why they love me. Why? Because I became a real tyrant in the home at any time that Mom wasn't there -- like at the grocery store, to a PTA meeting at our school across the road, things like that. I know they resented me because I thought I was bigger and more important than they and that I had to keep them in line to help my Mom. I was not a fun sister much of the time.

I am not proud of the fact that I took things belonging to my brothers and threw them out the window or down the cellar stairs if they had any conflicts over them. I couldn't take it if they argued or screamed or cried and I wasn't very pleasant about handling their little normal disputes. I was a terrible teen to my siblings and they sometimes made me pay for my abuse of authority. I don't blame them.

Sometimes I get comments about how I used put a textbook on the arm of a chair, watch television, and put my hair in rollers all at once. Amazingly, I got good grades but it doesn't seem logical that I should have.

One night when Mom wasn't home, my brother Brian figured he ought to torment me, I guess. He kept running back and forth throughout the house and every pass he made by my chair, he flipped the pages of the book I was studying. After yelling at him a few times, I finally gave him an ultimatum that if he did it again he was going to "get it".

Of course Brian HAD to do it again and I jumped up from the chair to give "it" to him. He ran away from me and ran around and around the kitchen table with me in hot pursuit. As I closed in on him and began to grab for his shirt, he began to knock over chairs in my path.  I leaped over each one and kept up the chase. As he started getting too far ahead for me to reach him, I stopped, picked up one of those chairs and threw it at him. It was a very heavy chair. Thankfully it didn't hit my brother, but when it landed on the floor it split neatly into two pieces -- one half falling to the left and the other to the right.

NOW what was I going to tell Mamma? Up until then, I was her wonderful daughter who did everything possible to help her. And here I stood before a neatly divided chair with no way to fix it. I came face to face with the errors of my way and the sin in my heart. I had heard from the Bible, "be sure your sins will find you out". And mine HAD!

You know how we always want to blame somebody else when we get into trouble? I wanted to blame Brian -- but I knew whose fault all of this really was. It was MINE. And I had come very close to hurting or even killing my brother -- and how would Mom replace that chair?  I cannot even tell you how sorry I was. Mom graciously forgave me and I knew I didn't deserve it!

There were other very painful events in my teen years and I spent a lot of time crying.
-- I changed high schools at the end of my freshman year because of boys who          threatened and terrorized me. I didn't tell Mom the whole story at the time.
-- I was dating a very sweet and wonderful boy (Grampie Jim's nephew). One day he came to our house to pick me up for choir practice and collapsed in our kitchen. He died that night of a brain hemorrhage.
-- I decided I would never "fall in love" again because I thought if I did, the guy would just die. I had a LOT of pain that I just couldn't (and didn't) talk about.

But there was another side. It wasn't ALL sadness by any means. Through all of the grief, there was always hope and light because I was a Christian. I believed in Jesus, His salvation, His love, His grace, and Heaven.  I knew I needed to mend my ways. So I developed a PLAN. In spite of the grief of my teens to that point, I would become a nurse and go to India as a missionary. Maybe I could help the women and girls there just like Amy Carmichael did. What a noble thought! I had a PLAN.

And that was the trouble with my plan. It was MINE and not God's. That was the problem all along. It seemed that I was failing to keep my eyes on Jesus and pay attention to His plan for me. He tells us in His word that "I know the plans I have for you. . ." People who have seriously trusted in the Lord will give their lives to Him and "let Jesus take the wheel". We understand that His plans are far greater than ours. Gradually, God guided my life and He has never stopped caring. I have learned that whatever happens -- whether I understand it or not at the time -- all fits into God's ultimate plan for me. And that plan is to make me more and more like Jesus. I know I get in the way of progress a LOT, but I'm glad He is "still working on me".

Part of His plan for me was to have YOU in my life! I'm amazed at such goodness, for I don't deserve any of it. Neither do you. None of us do. That is what GRACE is -- it is God giving us what we don't deserve and doing it because He loves us! So knowing that, let me encourage you to "let Jesus take the wheel" and take you on the right road through this life!

Labor Was a Way of Life for All

When Andrea and I were little and up through our teen years, we were just like sisters. I don't know where this picture was taken, but that is us! We must have been about four and two here.

Of course in those days, ladies always wore skirts or dresses and that included the little ladies. The only time we wore jeans was when we were doing some kind of farm work. And as we grew, we did plenty of that -- and we spent quite a bit of our time at that age just being in the way, I suspect. But how can you teach a work ethic to children if they do not participate in the work that needs to be done? Just about every child, for instance, can shell peas and carry the pods to throw over the fence into a pig trough, right? We were always involved in what was being done.  Labor was necessarily a way of life for all. And it was a GOOD thing!

I can remember the old wash days at Grammie Muriel's house. It was pretty much a day-long process. She always had a boiler of water on the stove and a big wooden fork-like device to stir the whites in the boiling, chlorinated water. Oh, when those sheets came off the line they were bright as the summer sun.

On wash day (Monday), the old Maytag would be pulled out onto the kitchen floor and filled with warm water from the "tank" on the side of the woodstove and mixed with hand pumped cold water to make the wash water a workable temperature. At the back of the washing machine, two chairs sat facing each other to hold the galvanized metal rinse tub that doubled as a unit to rinse clothing and as a bath tub for the Saturday night bath regimen (that is another story). The wash/rinse tub was always filled with cold water.

Clothing was sorted into heaps on the kitchen floor and it was a place to tumble and play in the laundry that waited there. Sometimes we would be told to get out of the piles of clothes and linens. I suppose when the piles started to meld together!

First steps were to put the "whites" into the washing machine,  add laundry soap (I remember one brand was Oxydol), and start the agitator. As the machine hummed and the water swished, we were carefully kept away from the machine. But the most dangerous element in the washing process, aside from the boiling hot water on the stove, was the wringer itself! Once the agitator was turned off, pieces of clothing were taken out and sent one by one through the wringer. Early on, the wringers were operated manually by turning a crank and the clothes would go through two rollers to squeeze out the excess wash water and send them into the rinse tub.

We loved the rinse tub because we could work and play all at once. It was our job to swish the clean clothing through the rinse water to get out the detergent residue. Once we had spilled sufficient water onto the floor, Grammie would take over and we would have to step back while she put the rinsed items back through the wringer. She would hand each "wrung out" item to us and we could deposit it into the laundry basket (which we called "clothes basket").

Then it was to the clothes lines that were strung between the shed at Grammie's back door and the corner of Grampie's barn. Oh, did those things smell wonderful when we held them, freshly dried, to our faces.  And even then the work wasn't done, since almost every item had to be run through the "mangle" (flat items) or ironed traditionally.

I DO remember flat irons being heated on the wood stove and used, as well as the modern electric iron which wasn't really iron and wasn't as heavy. And, again ... we were to stay AWAY from the iron!. We could hand the "sprinkled" clothes, one item at a time to whoever was doing the ironing. But it was a long time before we learned that chore -- and even then we melted the edges of plastic buttons and left some burn marks on our hands and arms.

The thing that I remember MOST vividly about laundry day was seeing the great beads of sweat on my grandmother's forehead and the streams of perspiration running down her face and dripping off her nose.

You folks of the 21st century, please remember to thank the Lord for a washer/dryer! I am afraid, even as I say it to you that you might not be as well off as we were, though. It seems that many people have lost the meaning and satisfaction of work well done. Let that not be YOU! The Bible says that whatever we do, we are to do it with all of our might. And we are to do it for the glory of God, who has done SO MUCH for us.

We Had Some Great Adventures

When our children were young, we didn't have much  money and Grampie had a lot of responsibility at the hospital.  Grampie was frequently on call for the hospital lab. There where so many times we wanted to go to the beach or do something else and it just wasn't possible because of the cost or no time. It was hard to be so tied down, but we think we made up for it whenever we could.

One way to afford a vacation with a family of eight was to make good use of our tent. When we traveled to Illinois to see Grandma and Grandpa, we spent most of our nights in the tent. I usually cooked a turkey ahead of time and froze packets of it for the trip. We packed our food in our ice chest and did whatever we could to keep costs down.

Along the way, we would find at least one "fun thing" to do. It was memorable to take our children one time to Niagra Falls and to take the Maid of the Mist boat to where we could hear the thunder of the falls and feel its spray on our faces. And the kids thought it was cool to wear the yellow slickers. Wayne and the children went to the wax museum near the falls and I decided to stay out in the car in order to save money.

Once we took the long way home and went to Washington DC for a brief visit. Another time we took a ferry across Lake Champlain from Vermont to New York. We drove to the top of Mount Washington in New Hampshire and experienced the wind and cold on a day when it was pretty hot at the base of the mountain. We traveled through Canada sometimes, too.

We took the children to Abraham Lincoln's home in Springfield, Illinois and we also toured New Salem, Illinois and learned more about Lincoln. We took a visit to the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, enjoyed a visit to the Brookfield Zoo.  We even had a happy 3rd birthday party for Jonathan with a grocery store cake and balloons somewhere in New York along the throughway.

Tenting along the way often found us putting kids into their jammies and sleeping bags and then I would take their clothing to the laundry facility on the campground to wash and dry their "duds" and have them ready for the next morning so we wouldn't have to disturb too much in the suitcases until we got to our destination.

At least two meals every day were from our ice chest and a grocery store along the way, but sometimes we stopped for an inexpensive meal at Wendy's or McDonalds. One trip we had oatmeal and brown sugar all premeasured in plastic bags so that I could cook breakfast while Grampie and the kids (your parents) took down the tent and packed the car up for the next leg of our journey. We didn't have instant oatmeal back then, I think. Or maybe we just thought we couldn't afford it!

We had a lot of fun traveling and looking for license plates from the various states or looking for things along the road beginning with each letter of the alphabet. The biggest problem we had is that people couldn't schedule bathroom breaks all at once. You can imagine with 8 of us that we stopped fairly frequently. Oh, well! We survived it and had fun doing so. A few extra bathroom breaks have little significance today when compared to the big picture.

Pictures:  (Left to right, Top to bottom): : Bethany in Luray Cavern; Kevin, Bethany, & Marcia at Perdido Key near the Florida / Alabama border; All six in Washington; Marcia & Beth in Shenandoah Valley; Jonathan at Aunt Beulah’s barn in Illinois; Stephen, Marcia, Valerie, & Kevin in New Salem, Illinois; Kevin by Steve’s LeBaron on a trip to Florida; Grandma Buza, Grandpa Buza, Grampie, & kids in Chicago; Beth, Jon, and Kevin play Uno; Stephen and Kevin on Allagash Lake; Steve & Grampie with Moose (near Chamberlain Lake in the Allagash); Kevin, Stephen, Grammie Brenda, & Valerie in the Colorado Rockies; Grammie Brenda and Valerie on Pensacola beach in Florida; Marcia & Bethany at antique car museum in Virginia. 
We had things to do at home, around the community and in our Churches as well:

In the upper left our kids were playing with an electric train; upper right just posing with "Honey" -- she was quite the dog (just ask Jonathan); Middle left shows a great piano recital (notice the music book is upside down); Middle right shows some winners of AWANA ribbons. The AWANA at Machias Valley Baptist Church was an awesome group. Back in those days, it was the largest AWANA club to the East of the Mississippi River. Bottom left shows a view of AWANA kids marching in a parade in Machias -- just as they are passing the fire department. And bottom right is little miss Valerie with that "in charge" look as she poses with her brother! 

Ready For a Good Time

We think this picture was taken the last time we ever took Grampie Wayne's Mom out to dinner. As we remember, this was Mother’s Day and we were down from Maine to Wilmington, Illinois for a visit. Grampie Wayne wanted to go to Church with his Mom in Custer Park one more time. Grandpa Buza's mother went to that Church and after Grandpa and Grandma were married, he became pastor there. Grandma was delighted to be back there for a service and people were so happy to see her. We are so glad we went. We had fun that day, but she was more than ready to go back to the nursing home at the end of the afternoon.

Looking at this picture reminds me of the many, many times we went out to eat with Grandpa and Grandma Buza. He was liberal with the invitations and always insisted that he would foot the bill. The guys used to say, "order whatever you want. Dad’s paying!" Of course, they were just kidding around, but I took it seriously and thought they were terrible to say such a thing.

Grandpa had his favorites at the restaurants. Except for the times we went for fast food or the pancake house (which he truly enjoyed), you could almost guarantee that he would order a ham steak. But dessert was even more predictable. We still chuckle about the fact that Grandpa would ask the waitress, "What kind of pie do you have?" And after he heard the whole list, he would order pumpkin pie and coffee. We wondered why he just didn't ask, "do you have pumpkin pie?" But we have decided he must have wanted to listen to the whole list just in case they had something better than pumpkin pie. I think he ordered custard pie a few times, but that was a rare exception.

Dad was a picky eater. I thought his specialty was pretty strange at first, but eventually I learned to really enjoy his fried egg sandwiches. That love has been passed down to Timothy, who loves a fried egg and melted cheddar on flat bread. YUM. But I like mayonnaise on them. Grandpa Buza and my Grandfather Watson both detested mayo (and so does Timothy). Grandpa Buza always ate his eggs like I do: yolk broken and cooked "extra well". (Grampie Ellery used to say, "I want mine stepped on".) Grampie Wayne likes his "over easy".

Grandma Buza was a superior cook, and had a knack for pleasing Grandpa's taste buds, but she was also very creative and knew how to make a festive meal on a budget. When Grandma and Grandpa lived in Littleton Maine for awhile, he was pastor of the Lake Road Church and she helped cook at Ricker College in Houlton.

Grandpa and Grandma Buza dearly loved to play games -- especially word games. There was always a lot of laughter when we played Scrabble because sometimes he would "invent" a word that nobody had ever heard before. But when we turned to the dictionary, he was usually right.

Build Upon the Foundation

Family: Pictured here are Grandpa and Grandma Buza's three sons: (left to right) Grampie Wayne, Uncle Joel, and Uncle Carlin.

Fatherly & Pastoral Advice  We loved to ask Grandpa Robert Buza (Dad) questions. That is because he was well acquainted with truth and the things that really matter. I cannot tell you how many times Grampie Wayne has said, "I just wish I could sit down and talk with my Dad one more time." And while none of us can do that, we can still profit from the advice that he gave as pastor to the Church folks back in the 1960s. He wrote: 

 Does my life please God? Do I read my Bible daily? Do I pray daily? Do I put aything before my duty to God? Do I do as Christ would in my place? Have I neglected any known responsibility? Am I doing anything I condemn in others? Is there anything in my life I CANNOT give up for God’s program with my time, treasure, and talents?

If you can measure up to these questions then you can expect God’s richest blessings upon your life and look forward to a Heavenly reward that cannot be burned. Therefore let us build with silver, gold, and precious stones upon the foundation which has been laid which is CHRIST JESUS . . Disobedience to what the Lord has told us always brings about the chastening of the Lord. (See Hebrews 12:6-7)

Pastors are chastened when they refuse to pray and to study the Word, but how much more severe is the chastening when they refuse to preach it and teach it. Congregations are punished when they, too, let their spiritual life slip into a complacency, or into indifference concerning what the Lord says to them. Perhaps, Beloved Friends, you have lost the joy of Salvation because you have lost your interest in the things of God; in reading and obeying His Word, or have disobeyed His exhortation, "Neglect not the assembling of yourselves together." Hebrews 10:25.

This family has a wonderful Christian heritage! Part of that heritage is in the fact that all of our lives have been touched by Grandpa Buza. And that is true of each one of us, even those of us who never met him. Why? In part it is because he faithfully PRAYED for his children, their spouses, and their families. You were important to him -- and if you haven't met him yet, we pray that by God's grace you will be meeting him in Heaven some day.  

Did You Ever Hear of Ellery Green?

Grampie Ellery H. Watson was a noble and good man who worked hard and faithfully all of his life. He is pictured here taking a break from the job with Hazen Kneeland (Uncle Leonard's brother) just behind him and with Grampie Jim Williams in profile.

My grandfather took a lot of pride in what he did. I can remember riding along the road with him and having him point out a house here or there saying, "I drilled that well back in 19__. We went ___ feet deep on that one and got ___ gallons per minute. That was a great well, but it took ____ days to drill it." How he kept all those statistics in his mind along with the name of the man of the house absolutely amazed me.

Besides the well drilling, he did farming with work horses, kept a few cattle, chickens, pigs, and was quite self sufficient. He and our grandmother bought flour by the barrel and molasses by the keg. Speaking of molasses, it was always fascinating to watch him frequently finish his meal with bread and molasses. I can remember the thick piece of homemade bread on his plate dotted with hand churned butter that wasn't quite soft enough to spread. Then, he would reach for his molasses jar -- glass with a metal top-- that had a thumb tab on it to tip the cover open and allow the molasses to be poured out the spout. The first of the stream of molasses would be in the center of the bread and he would move the jar in a circular motion so that the molasses made a spiral pattern on the bread. He ended at the very edge of the bread without dripping the molasses over the sides. I can still see him making that awesome meal-topper and would like to see him do it again! Oh, the things that spark a child's interest.

He was just as meticulous about caring for his equipment and tools or darning his socks as he was at pouring his molasses. And that brings me to the topic of Ellery Green. As a way of protecting his tools from anyone who would like to make off with one, he put a dot of green somewhere on each tool. This is the same green of his barn, his trucks, his "chuck wagon" and most anything else he would want to paint (though I think Gram must have insisted on a white house). So over time we began to call that shade Ellery Green!

 In July of 2010, Cliff and some others organized a family reunion for the Cains, Nasons, Watsons. What fun we had. One of the high points was that Grampie Ellery and Grammie Muriel were represented at the reunion by my Mom and my cousin Jamey Watson. Jamey (James, Jim) has always reminded us more of Grampie than any of the others. So he showed up in Grampie Ellery garb: an authentic felt "drill hat" (that still had some of Gramp's white hairs around the inner band the last time I looked), the denim bib "work overalls", a green button down work shirt, work boots, and a red bandana handkerchief such as Grampie always carried on the job (sometimes he carried a blue one or a green one). So we took pictures and here they are in their roles as Muriel and Ellery. Wow, we miss them!

Grampie always wanted to "die with my boots on". He almost did! He worked until just a few weeks before he died. He was getting tired and weak and went to the hospital to be checked out. As I remember, he only lived about three weeks after the diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. Heaven is his home, though, and we look forward to a BETTER reunion some day.

Faith, Hope, and Charity marked her life

Life when I was a child was so different. Most of our family members were never far away. Some lived in other states, but most of our relatives lived in Maine.

This is a picture of my grandmother and her three children, probably taken in the 1970s. I don't have a date. Uncle Lawrence and Grammie are in the front row. Standing behind Uncle Lawrence is Aunt Iola, and behind my grandmother is my mother (your Grammie Ruth).

Grammie Muriel was wealthy. Not materially, but in the things that really matter in this life. First of all, she had an abiding faith. She trusted in Christ as her Savior and brought His name into every conversation. She was a woman who studied the Bible and who prayed daily for as many people as she could remember. I heard many of those prayers.

She had a heart filled with love. She was very sociable, smiling and complimenting people. She was devoted to her family and to her Church, but that love overflowed to everyone she ever met. My grandmother was very generous and always doing something for somebody.  If there was a need, she tried to find a way to help meet that need. If someone needed a meal, there was always something in the refrigerator or "down cellar". If the need was for a place to stay, her doors were always open. Time after time, she would call someone aside and say, "the Lord wants me to give this to you"  and she would place money into their hands -- maybe $20, even $100. And it was always at a time of need -- and sometimes needs that she didn't know about.

My grandmother radiated hope. She looked forward to Heaven and often talked to us about what it must be like. She was sure in her own heart and mind that a better life waits for those who believe in Christ and trust in His sacrifice for our redemption.

It was always FUN to go to her house. She had a toy drawer in her cupboard and every child knew where it was. Whenever little ones came through her door, they would make a bee-line to the drawer. It was no problem to her, either, if they decided to pull out her cooking pans or canned goods. They rarely bothered her.

Teenagers had a blast at her house. There was always popcorn or other food. We played games and laughed into the wee hours. I remember visiting there and having her take a chicken out of the freezer, defrost it, cook it and serve it at 1 a.m.

I've never known anyone else to be so fun-filled and so patient as she.

Grampie Jim Was Loyal and True

How thankful our family was that God brought Grampie Jim into our lives. He and Grammie Ruth were married on June 16, 1961. That was the day after I graduated from high school and it was almost 4 1/2 years after our father died. What a wonderful, happy, kind, and generous man he was. He loved our mother dearly and he treated us children like we were his very own. Yet, he was always very careful to tell us that he was NOT trying to take our father's place in our hearts. And he didn't! He made his own place in our hearts and we loved him as dearly as anyone loves their dad. He became a genuine grandfather to our children. What a fun-loving grandfather he was, always joking with the kids, always doing something kind for them.

Sometimes it makes me sad that my children didn't know my Dad -- yet, I truly believe that Grampie Jim was in their lives for God's own purposes. They could not have asked for better grandparents. And I am so thankful for that.

You might be interested to know that Paul Cain (my Dad) and James Williams (my step-dad) were both ancestors of our grandson, Robert!  Here is the story: Robert's Mom's  grandmother and Grampie Jim were brother and sister. That makes Grammie Ruth Robert's Great grandmother by birth and his great great aunt by marriage.

Always Sunny and Sweet . . . .

My ONE sister; my ONE brother-in-law; Their ONE son; His ONE wife; their ONE oldest child! That makes them rare jewels in my heart and I do treasure them.

Aunt Carla is your great aunt. She was born in Houlton, Maine on January 13th, 1949.  One thing that irritated me when she was a newborn was when people came to visit and they oooo'd and aaaaa'd over her and then turned to me and asked, "Brenda, what do you think of your baby sister?" I was 5 1/2 and this was my FIRST sibling! And I would think they were pretty dumb for asking me something like that with an obvious answer. OF COURSE I adored her. I was very, very proud of her.

Once she was old enough to interact, she was always sunny and sweet. Whenever she turned her little smiles on, it was almost like the whole room was illuminated with her glow. She is still like that. I love her smile! She is a fine and gracious woman and beloved by everyone who knows her, as far as I can tell. What a Grammie she is -- those children are her pride and joy! 

Uncle Phid is a lot of fun, has a sense of humor that doesn't quit, and is a fantastic grandfather.  He has so many skills -- he does carpentry, cement work, landscaping, has done welding, and has worked in farming. He has a wonderful gift for visualizing what a project will look like and just doing it.

I made this collage from photographs in one of Mom's albums and I just told Mom that I'll need to borrow a couple of her albums again in order to represent all the families on this blog.  

In the upper left hand corner are pictures from their wedding; the three little kids in the square photo are our Jonathan and Carla's son, Kent. Kent is holding Bethany here. I don't know if the little picture to the right is Kent's kindergarten or first grade picture. I love the family picture of Carla, Phid (Philip), and Kent. Great looking family, right? To the right of that is a picture taken at their 25th wedding anniversary celebration. Next down (I think) is at Kent's wedding (they will have to tell me for sure). And the picture at the bottom right was taken the night Dustin was born (Thanksgiving, as I recall).

Uncle Philip and Aunt Carla have been very involved in music ministry, teaching, and in Christian camping over the years.

Kent and Laurie live in Caribou at the time of this writing and have two more wonderful children: Kyleigh and Kaden. Kent has dual citizenship and he served the US with the Army in Iraq. He is multi-talented with skills in social work as well as carpentry. Laurie is in social work and currently works in the school system. They are great and loving parents. I am very impressed as they are training them in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Great kids! We'll have more pictures to share at some point.

 

Bethany, Chris, & Family

Left to right, top to bottom: Christopher and Matthew, Timothy, Kyle,

Chris, Matthew, and Bethany; Christopher and Bethany having a fun moment over the purchase of their home in Millinocket; Bethany with Rachel.

In July, we had a wonderful family reunion -- pretty much planned and executed by Uncle Clifford and his family. To me, the most meaningful thing we did was to attend family revival and renewal services with speakers from our family: Cousin Chris, Uncle Cliff, and Grampie Wayne. The singing there was amazing and people also shared some family stories. Grampie was so moved by the family stories that he said somebody ought to be writing these down for the benefit of future generations. That was one of the sparks that lit the fire in my heart to start a blog for all of you. Now I would like to encourage you to leave comments if you want to add details to any of these pages. And maybe you have a story of your own. If you do, please email it to me or send it as a private message on facebook. I would LOVE to have more points of view on these pages than my own.

Bethany is our youngest. And people keep telling her that I look like her. Of course, I joke: "no, she looks like ME. I had these genes first!" She, Chris, and the family live in Millinocket. Christopher works for the information services department at the Millinocket hospital. And I have the feeling he is beloved of the staff because he is a very caring compassionate person. Bethany is a wonderful cook. She cooked at Joyce's Restaurant, The White House Restaurant, and Helen's Restaurant all in the Machias area. She went to work at a restaurant in the Bangor area, but they didn't like her because she had to use two hands to crack an egg. That must have made her too slow. But all things work together for good! After she left that job, she worked in for a computer company in the Bangor area and met Chris! She also had a job that was easier than working over a hot stove in the summer weather. At this point in time, she is nurturing the family at home and finding that very satisfying.

Timothy is a junior at Sterns High School and I think his favorite subject is biology; Kyle is in the 8th grade and I was interested to find out that he has been involved with kayaking at the school; Rachel is in the third grade and is becoming a very cordial and conscientious helper at home. They all like their youth groups. This is just another sweet family, as you can probably tell by looking at them. 

There are things in life that are difficult to endure and hard to understand. As with all of us, Bethany and her children have endured some of those hardships such as when Bethany was left as a single mother and had to work through some very difficult issues. But GOD is always faithful. The one who said He will restore what the locusts have eaten has ministered amazing grace to Bethany and her family. One of those blessings was to send a Christian husband and dad into their lives to love them and enjoy life with them. 

God never promised us that life would be easy. We have been reminded of that many times over the last few years as we have seen serious illnesses, losses of employment, death, a premature birth (Matthew), financial hardships, and many other trials. We have come to learn that GOD has the last word! It is through those difficult times that we learn to trust in Him for all things. It is through those times that we develop character. And it is in those times that we have opportunities to bring glory to the GOD who comforts us and lifts our spirits. So we are thankful for the trials, just as we are for the joys and the easy times.

Be brave, families. Be firm as Joshua, who said, "as for ME and MY HOUSE, we will serve the Lord." Taking a stand like that might not be very popular in our culture but the rewards compare with nothing else the world has to offer and the results last forever. Living for Jesus and loving one another are two of the greatest gifts that you can give to your children. 

Grampie has said many times, "the best gift a man can give to his children is to love their mother." And let me add to that: the best gift a woman can give to her children is to love their father. We both will tell you that it is the Lord who enables us to give that kind of love to each other. Is it moonlight and roses all of the time? Do we fail to show the love we have sometimes? (No and Yes) But this life is one that we would not trade after 47 years of marriage and more than 50 years of knowing Jesus.