Quote for the Day 11/1/2008
Me (to the beautiful lady who ate beside me at the wedding today) : Hello. I'm Miriam Iwashige. I don't think I know you. (At this point her mouth drops open and she forgets to tell me her name. I suppress a smile at this astonishing response.)
PA lady: Do you write in the Keepers at Home?
Me: I used to.
PA lady (turning toward her husband) : Do you know who this is?
Husband: No.
PA lady (to me) : How do you say your last name? I never knew how to pronounce it. I think I said Ishwage, or something like that.
Me: Iwashige. Once you see the "wash" in the name, it begins to look a little more pronounceable. Put a short "i" on either side of that, and a "geh" at the end, and there you have it. (Teacher persona emerging here.)
PA lady (to her husband again) : She used to write those articles in Keepers at Home. (I suspect her husband was relieved that he didn't have to expose his lack of recognition further, even with this additional information. It would be interesting to know what further prompting she gave him later. . . Those opinionated homeschooling articles?)
PA lady: Are you single?
Me: No. My husband had to work today and couldn't come. (Pause) We have three boys. Two of them are here. One of them was the bass in the quartet.
PA lady: Oh. Is he adopted? (She must have noticed the "Asian" bass.)
Me: No. All our boys were born to us. (Then, realizing that she obviously didn't remember what all I had said about Hiromi in those Keepers at Home articles. . . .) My husband is Japanese. That's why our last name is not familiar.
PA lady: That's a great way to have nice (?) children--Asian and American.
Me: I'm prejudiced of course, but I think so too.
PA lady: I'll have to go back and read those articles again, now that I've met you. (Oh dear, she'll probably be shocked all over again.)
We went on to have a very nice visit. I learned that she and her husband have nine children. I also learned about an autoimmune disorder called OMS, a rare and frightening condition in which the body systematically destroys its brain cells. When she told me about the doctor who had diagnosed their daughter with this condition, I recognized him as the person I read about several years ago in the Reader's Digest who has devoted his considerable skills to untangling the mysteries of genetic diseases that have surfaced in Lancaster County, PA. She spoke very highly of Dr. Morgan. He referred them to a doctor in Illinois who has treated their daughter and given them hope.
Another person at the table asked me about my father, after I had referred to him in passing when he had asked about the ministers in our church. "He amazes me," he said. "His mind seems so sharp when I hear him speak or read his writing. Tell him I asked about him." Later today I did so, and he was happy to hear that I had met his preacher friend Lee.
Two weddings in two weeks--this one, Steve and Sherilyn's. Sherilyn was one of my high school students. For this one, all I had to do was show up and enjoy the day.
My daughter-in-law, Dorcas, and I talked afterward about how much more observant a person becomes after several weddings in which you've been involved in a lot of the behind-the-scenes preparation. As Dorcas said, "You really understand how much work someone has put into this."
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In the gift card I gave the couple, I wrote "Sherilyn, if you do as well at being a wife and homemaker as you did at being a student, you will make Steve a happy man." From what I hear about Steve (who I met only once, at Shane's wedding) he's well equipped too to make her a happy woman. God bless them.
PA lady: Do you write in the Keepers at Home?
Me: I used to.
PA lady (turning toward her husband) : Do you know who this is?
Husband: No.
PA lady (to me) : How do you say your last name? I never knew how to pronounce it. I think I said Ishwage, or something like that.
Me: Iwashige. Once you see the "wash" in the name, it begins to look a little more pronounceable. Put a short "i" on either side of that, and a "geh" at the end, and there you have it. (Teacher persona emerging here.)
PA lady (to her husband again) : She used to write those articles in Keepers at Home. (I suspect her husband was relieved that he didn't have to expose his lack of recognition further, even with this additional information. It would be interesting to know what further prompting she gave him later. . . Those opinionated homeschooling articles?)
PA lady: Are you single?
Me: No. My husband had to work today and couldn't come. (Pause) We have three boys. Two of them are here. One of them was the bass in the quartet.
PA lady: Oh. Is he adopted? (She must have noticed the "Asian" bass.)
Me: No. All our boys were born to us. (Then, realizing that she obviously didn't remember what all I had said about Hiromi in those Keepers at Home articles. . . .) My husband is Japanese. That's why our last name is not familiar.
PA lady: That's a great way to have nice (?) children--Asian and American.
Me: I'm prejudiced of course, but I think so too.
PA lady: I'll have to go back and read those articles again, now that I've met you. (Oh dear, she'll probably be shocked all over again.)
We went on to have a very nice visit. I learned that she and her husband have nine children. I also learned about an autoimmune disorder called OMS, a rare and frightening condition in which the body systematically destroys its brain cells. When she told me about the doctor who had diagnosed their daughter with this condition, I recognized him as the person I read about several years ago in the Reader's Digest who has devoted his considerable skills to untangling the mysteries of genetic diseases that have surfaced in Lancaster County, PA. She spoke very highly of Dr. Morgan. He referred them to a doctor in Illinois who has treated their daughter and given them hope.
Another person at the table asked me about my father, after I had referred to him in passing when he had asked about the ministers in our church. "He amazes me," he said. "His mind seems so sharp when I hear him speak or read his writing. Tell him I asked about him." Later today I did so, and he was happy to hear that I had met his preacher friend Lee.
Two weddings in two weeks--this one, Steve and Sherilyn's. Sherilyn was one of my high school students. For this one, all I had to do was show up and enjoy the day.
My daughter-in-law, Dorcas, and I talked afterward about how much more observant a person becomes after several weddings in which you've been involved in a lot of the behind-the-scenes preparation. As Dorcas said, "You really understand how much work someone has put into this."
**************************
In the gift card I gave the couple, I wrote "Sherilyn, if you do as well at being a wife and homemaker as you did at being a student, you will make Steve a happy man." From what I hear about Steve (who I met only once, at Shane's wedding) he's well equipped too to make her a happy woman. God bless them.
posted by Mrs. I at
3:15 PM
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