I LOVE OLD PEOPLE! 9/8/13

EVEN BEFORE I would consider myself old, I loved old people. A lovely ‘old’ friend of mine passed away in January of 2009. I was saddened about her passing! We attended the same church for a lot of years, but became real good friends, after we had moved away. Through some quirk of fate, we both discovered e-mail. Betty would read Morning Glory and sometimes send me her thoughts. In October of 2008 she sent me the following.


“I JUST finished reading about your ugly brown shoes with the crepe soles. I was thinking about my shoes in depression times. Yes, I always got a new pair of shoes when school began. But, as the year wore on, the soles would wear out. So Daddy would glue on rubber soles to strengthen the shoes again. Ok, that wasn’t so bad! However, my feet continued to grow, and the shoes really began to pinch my feet. I have very bent and crooked toes now. So Daddy would then cut the toes out of my shoes, creating more space for my growing feet. That really embarrassed me.

I WAS one of the ‘smart’ kids in grade school. I started when I was only 4 years old, and then they skipped me from third to fifth grade. That meant that I was only 11 years old when I graduated the from grade school and entered High School. I was still a little kid in a lot of ways. I was shy, but wanted to make friends with my new classmates. They couldn’t be bothered with a skinny 11 year old. I was too young for makeup, in spite of the fact that ALL the other girls seemed to wear it. I was too young to date! My folks said I had to be 16 before I could. Finally the boys just stopped asking!

HOW I remember going to my senior prom in my first long dress - ALONE, and on the street car. Girls just didn’t look right or feel right alone on a street car. I went to the banquet room and sat at a table with everyone else and their dates. And then there was music and dancing; not one boy at the table offered to dance with me! So I left very early, on the streetcar, totally depressed! Funny how things like that remain in your memory. I felt so unwanted at that impressionable stage of my life. I was just so sure no boy would EVER want me. Happily, I outgrew that feeling by the time I went to work. I guess I finally grew up when I joined the Navy. Yes, I fought off, the Sailor’s in San Diego!  That was a decision I made for myself, without consulting my parents ahead of time. To me, it meant I had finally stepped forward and became me.

WELL, not one Bible reference in that long “sorry for myself” note. But I just thought I needed to share those feelings. Oh yes, I had been Christened as a baby, since my mother was a Lutheran. And I had Catechism, and then my first Communion, wearing a donated old dress from the Church closet. I was embarrassed again! But, praise the Lord, I found a church in my neighborhood! I had attended almost all of the different denominations, just because they were close to home. But this church was My kind of place, and I enjoyed Sunday School, Church and even sang in the choir; although I was usually off key. I finally surrendered to our Lord totally at that church, and was baptized. I have never looked back! I always knew about Jesus, always loved Him, but it was that little church that finally made me feel Jesus was MY Savior.” By Betty Roberts

BETTY was one of those ladies that seemed to love me because of me. It was not what I could do for her, nor was it because of what she could do for me. But for some reason God placed us in each others life during a time we needed each other. I needed her wisdom and she need my love! Both of them were freely given!

“NOW TO HIM who by the power at work within us is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, for ever and ever. Amen” Ephesians 3:20-21   The Church was established by Christ to give us a home. A place where we, as a body, could grow together and to become strong in faith. Betty found a home in a church home that loved her! Love always begins at home! By Jane Ann Crenshaw 9/4/13