Week's End

We just got word that church is canceled for tomorrow.  I'm relieved.  I love being in church, but tomorrow I would have dreaded getting there.  Tonight the roads are icy and the wind is high and the temperature is low, and it's snowing.  I think this is at least the third Sunday service that has been canceled at our church this winter.  That's unusual.

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We're grieving another young person's death, and praying again for a devastated family.

Allyson Yutzy (20), daughter of Ivan and Andrea, was killed in a weather-related accident today.  She grew up in Partridge, partly in the house my sister Linda lives in.  Her family now lives across the road from this house, and from Marvin Mast's Partridge house.  Allyson's grandfather, Andy Yoder, is my dad's first cousin.  Her other grandfather, Bill Yutzy, finished his grade school years living in the house where Willard and Sharon Mast live now.

Andrea is the family member I know best, and I know her to be a person of deep faith, who taught her children well.  All of that certainly matters now, and is cause for reassurance, and yet the pain must be excruciating. I'm praying for them.

Apologies for all those details if none of them mean anything to you.  I presume they'll mean something to former residents of this community who now live elsewhere--and perhaps to a few local folks.    

News reports state that Allyson lost control on the ice and her vehicle was hit by an oncoming vehicle.

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My niece, Andrea Welch, gave birth to her and Brandon's first child yesterday, a son named Micah David.  The family lives in the Kansas City area with Andrea's parents close by.  My sister Carol is the grandmother.

I can't tell much from the one well-bundled picture I saw, but this baby would have good reasons to have elevated melanin levels in his skin--not because he's got Asian ancestry, as our grandchildren have, but because of some other novel bloodlines.  

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I'm especially glad that Hiromi got home from work safely.  One time earlier this winter he spent the night at Wal-Mart rather than risk driving home.

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Friday of the past week was a teacher's work day to wrap up the quarter.  The senior girls had planned a tea, and several of them treated the teachers to some of the goodies they had prepared for their event.

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At the fried mush and liverwurst meal at Yoder on Friday night, I had the good fortune to eat with some of Joel's friends from Newton.  Along with LeRoy, these people were in a discussion group together.  They met periodically, and everyone shared something of interest they had learned.  Cookie, one of the group, died within the past year or two, and Joel, of course, lives far away now, so this group has undergone a big change.  Jerry and Sarah and the MFC chaplains were also at "my" table.

The food was delicious.  I really liked the tomato gravy and the liverwurst, and, of course, the fried mush.  I heard rumors that the liverwurst actually  had no liver.  I think that's why I thought it was really good.

I made sure to walk by the fry shack, and saw the impressive row of fryers.  Any communities without a fundraiser like this should bring in Joe Yoder to help them get started.  He made all the fryers.  This is truly an industrial scale operation, and a lot of people work together to make it happen.

The coffee server at our table was Logan K.  He is probably about seven years old, and he did a wonderful job as waiter, as did the many other young people who were helping serve.  Many of them were students from our school.

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I planted lots of garden seeds today--indoors, of course.  I hope the seedhouse Hiromi is making will be ready by the time they come up.