Friday, January 07, 2005
THE FIRST PART OF APRIL....1985
The first of April we were making plans to visit John and Barbara in Rock Island. I worked my days and on Friday the 5th we dropped Jakie off at mom’s (he loved going to grandma’s house) and headed north, northeast. The excitement of our visit made the trip seem short and we arrived at their apartment by 4:30 pm. We had driven in dark rainy conditions all day but I didn’t mind as I was putting the last stitching on the teddy bear quilt while we traveled along.
We reached their apartment with no problem. John has always been great in his directing us to wherever he lived, supplied us with maps etc; Barbara arrived just minutes after we did and John and Warren (incidentally, Warren’s nick-name was Bear) were getting the luggage out of the car trunk.
At any rate, we took steaks with us and John grilled them that night for supper. We were surprised at their toughness…..the kids didn’t mind, steak was steak. They were having pretty lean times living on the salary paid for their missionary efforts. The area had gone into deep financial depression due to the fact the John-Deere Plant which was the paycheck provider for most of the citizens in the quad-city area had laid off hundreds of workers that winter. Rock Island, Moline, East Moline, all in Illinois; and Davenport, across the river in Iowa, were feeling the pinch. All four cities were dependent on the salaries that had dried up. With money so tight, people were too preoccupied with their finances to be interested in a young Southern Baptist couple trying to start up a renegade church in a predominately Catholic area.
This, of course, didn’t stop John and Barb from giving it all the energy they had. The “mother” church who called them into the missionary endeavor was to provide money and help. With a harsh winter and the big John-Deere lay-off they had to put their efforts into keeping the flock they had. Instead of helping John and Barb with people and finances, it ended up that they were helping the first church keep it’s doors open. They worked against odds that made their existence far from what had been offered initially.
John, ever being the harbinger of things to come, bought a computer (with a credit card) to help in their efforts, realizing the benefit it could be to a new program. He knew the sponsor church could not afford them one but was convinced it was a great tool for growth. He bought a book on computer operation, assembled and set it up in their apartment. He read and labored until he knew it’s every working by trial and error.
In his enthusiasm he tried talking Bear and me into getting one but we both thought it was something we didn’t need. I didn’t want to get involved with learning a whole new concept of typing and storing information. In my days of working at the Office of the Inspector General back in Kansas City, I had been sent to IBM for a course on the MTST……I had loved that but it was a real challenge to remember all of the memory steps to be used in the beginning. I now know it was the forerunner of home computers. The ‘real’ computer in the bowels of our building was a huge mass of metal with bells and whistles. The men operating it looked like geeks from a different planet. I couldn’t imagine a modern computer being a ‘simple’ operation, coming from that mindset. I secretly decided I would never, never….go there.
Instead, we bought John’s old typewriter, which was actually a word processor. Bear liked it so much he had to have it. Typing I loved…computers were a threat….we bought the typewriter. (OK, John, quit smirking. I know, never say never.) That next night we went to a German restaurant for dinner and it was excellent. Bear had been stationed in Germany several years in the military and also came from German heritage. Being half-Danish I loved the food as much as he did. Leave it to John to hunt up places of interest to see when you visit. He should have been a tour guide…..he enjoys the ‘difference’ in any place he lands….then enjoys exposing it all for your pleasure. If you ever vacation in the New Orleans area……call John.
John preached the next morning to his small congregation in a rented building. He gave a sermon worthy of a cathedral filled to the brim and as his mother I had hoped for a larger crowd….but he was not discouraged. “It’s a starting place,” he said. We dined in a Chinese Restaurant as a treat from Bear and later that evening John told us about a place called Whitey’s where they made milk shakes with all kinds of stuff thrown in. Candy, fruit….whatever. Guess what? It was the first Blizzard I ever ate. I kinda think Whitey’s had an original idea that someone stole from him….maybe not…anyway it was love at first bite. Wonderful stuff.
Monday morning Barbara was first off to work. Bear and I finished packing and loading the car…saying goodbye is always the worst part of a trip for me. When we made our next visit to Rock Island we would have a new family member to get acquainted with. Barbara was ready to make that happen….she was in the last days of her pregnancy…and about to have a Yankee baby. Kinda strange for a true Southern Belle………
Until tomorrow,
Essentially Esther
We reached their apartment with no problem. John has always been great in his directing us to wherever he lived, supplied us with maps etc; Barbara arrived just minutes after we did and John and Warren (incidentally, Warren’s nick-name was Bear) were getting the luggage out of the car trunk.
At any rate, we took steaks with us and John grilled them that night for supper. We were surprised at their toughness…..the kids didn’t mind, steak was steak. They were having pretty lean times living on the salary paid for their missionary efforts. The area had gone into deep financial depression due to the fact the John-Deere Plant which was the paycheck provider for most of the citizens in the quad-city area had laid off hundreds of workers that winter. Rock Island, Moline, East Moline, all in Illinois; and Davenport, across the river in Iowa, were feeling the pinch. All four cities were dependent on the salaries that had dried up. With money so tight, people were too preoccupied with their finances to be interested in a young Southern Baptist couple trying to start up a renegade church in a predominately Catholic area.
This, of course, didn’t stop John and Barb from giving it all the energy they had. The “mother” church who called them into the missionary endeavor was to provide money and help. With a harsh winter and the big John-Deere lay-off they had to put their efforts into keeping the flock they had. Instead of helping John and Barb with people and finances, it ended up that they were helping the first church keep it’s doors open. They worked against odds that made their existence far from what had been offered initially.
John, ever being the harbinger of things to come, bought a computer (with a credit card) to help in their efforts, realizing the benefit it could be to a new program. He knew the sponsor church could not afford them one but was convinced it was a great tool for growth. He bought a book on computer operation, assembled and set it up in their apartment. He read and labored until he knew it’s every working by trial and error.
In his enthusiasm he tried talking Bear and me into getting one but we both thought it was something we didn’t need. I didn’t want to get involved with learning a whole new concept of typing and storing information. In my days of working at the Office of the Inspector General back in Kansas City, I had been sent to IBM for a course on the MTST……I had loved that but it was a real challenge to remember all of the memory steps to be used in the beginning. I now know it was the forerunner of home computers. The ‘real’ computer in the bowels of our building was a huge mass of metal with bells and whistles. The men operating it looked like geeks from a different planet. I couldn’t imagine a modern computer being a ‘simple’ operation, coming from that mindset. I secretly decided I would never, never….go there.
Instead, we bought John’s old typewriter, which was actually a word processor. Bear liked it so much he had to have it. Typing I loved…computers were a threat….we bought the typewriter. (OK, John, quit smirking. I know, never say never.) That next night we went to a German restaurant for dinner and it was excellent. Bear had been stationed in Germany several years in the military and also came from German heritage. Being half-Danish I loved the food as much as he did. Leave it to John to hunt up places of interest to see when you visit. He should have been a tour guide…..he enjoys the ‘difference’ in any place he lands….then enjoys exposing it all for your pleasure. If you ever vacation in the New Orleans area……call John.
John preached the next morning to his small congregation in a rented building. He gave a sermon worthy of a cathedral filled to the brim and as his mother I had hoped for a larger crowd….but he was not discouraged. “It’s a starting place,” he said. We dined in a Chinese Restaurant as a treat from Bear and later that evening John told us about a place called Whitey’s where they made milk shakes with all kinds of stuff thrown in. Candy, fruit….whatever. Guess what? It was the first Blizzard I ever ate. I kinda think Whitey’s had an original idea that someone stole from him….maybe not…anyway it was love at first bite. Wonderful stuff.
Monday morning Barbara was first off to work. Bear and I finished packing and loading the car…saying goodbye is always the worst part of a trip for me. When we made our next visit to Rock Island we would have a new family member to get acquainted with. Barbara was ready to make that happen….she was in the last days of her pregnancy…and about to have a Yankee baby. Kinda strange for a true Southern Belle………
Until tomorrow,
Essentially Esther
