My husband and I built our porch many years ago, I can’t remember when. I do remember it was used at my daughter’s rehearsal night and the dinner after her wedding. We needed it so that everyone would have a place to eat. And that was over 40 years ago! It has been used many times for family dinners, birthday parties and for dinners held after Mom’s and my husband’s funerals. So, you know that my porch has meant much to me.

A few weeks ago, one long wall of the porch fell down and crumbled onto the ground beneath it. I felt bad. I thought it was a good thing I still have my memories! But now  how can we fix it? I am 94 and my son has a bad back so we knew we couldn’t do it. One day I called Pastor Ted. I asked him if he knew of anyone who could look at the mess and tell us what we needed to do. He did, and one day he and two other men came to look at it.A few days later Pastor Ted called to say a some people would come and fix our porch on Friday, August 14th.

On that Friday some cars appeared. One was my daughter and her husband. The others, though I looked, I couldn’t name any of them because they all wore masks but I think there were nine of them, and some were teenagers. I couldn’t tell because I had been told to stay indoors. But I knew all of them came from my church. Pastor Ted was one of them. I couldn’t tell because of the masks and my looking only through a window.

I am so thankful for all of them. They did much more than fix my porch. I cant even explain it but there now is an open space covered by the roof. It leads directly to my pond. I can sit comfortably and look out at my pond, listening to the birds sweetly singing as they find their nests. Then the night comes softly over the many fir trees which seem to whisper quietly,”good night”. Oh, how wonderful it is! Thank you. Good Shepherd Lutheran Church!

My husband, Frank, died twelve years ago and I dreamed about him last night. So I thought I would write about him today.  He’s gone, but he was one person that was hard to forget. He was a rugged fisherman and hunter, but a very gentle man too. He had big hands, yet somehow he could manage the most intricate things. He could thread a needle for me just as easy as he could climb the highest fir tree! When he held a baby in his arms you could see in his eyes how gentle he felt.

His life took him through many storms. He was in the army for three years in World War II, fighting mainly in Italy and France without a break. And he stayed in the Natural Guard after he was discharged. This,he was sorry about because they sent him to fight again in Korea.

His wife was very ill for several years and died a few years before his only child, Kathy, was killed in an auto accident. He worked at the mill climbing the high electrical poles  for over 30 years some of them were while we were married.

One day his fishing buddy told him he really should go to church, which he did. I was Parish Worker at that church and he took a liking to me. He liked my children too. He told his buddy that he really didn’t want to marry a widow with three kids but he did and he was a wonderful husband and father.He turned his life over to God and never stopped telling others the story of his wonderful Savior.

His death left a big hole in the lives of me and our four children.They keep saying, “Dad always said this, or Dad did things like this.” I believe we will never forget this very humble and gentle man.