Thursday, December 2, 2010

In Which I Give the Answer ~ Part One

Progress on the house we were building for Grandpa's was slow but steady. We were having an uncommonly warm and early spring which made building a lot more pleasant. Uncle Ezra was still doing most of the work but Daddy decided to have several frolics in hopes to speed things up a little.

Mom and I spent time writing notes to every family in our district inviting them to come help at the frolic on Saturday. We folded them and wrote the names of the family on them and gave them to Mahlon to take to school and distribute them to make that every family would get their note.

Saturday arrived, and so did a lot of people. Mom and I were busy cooking food. Aunt Emma came to help with all the preparations as did several other women. Mom had asked John to come in around eleven to tell us how many people were there so we could make sure we had plenty of food for everyone. I went to the door when I saw him come. He gave me a head count and then added that LV wanted to talk to me privately after lunch.

I told Mom how many people were there, and kept wondering what LV wanted while I helped with the cooking. Once we had everything ready I went to find Daddy to tell him we were ready to eat. They were busy putting rafters on the house and I wasn't thrilled to see LV near the peak. I wished that Daddy would have given him something a little more safe to do especially since he was so important to me.

Daddy announced loudly that it was time to eat. I headed back to the house but had to pause and watch as LV climbed down and couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief once his feet were safely on the ground.

I helped dish out and serve the food feeling fully aware that LV was watching every move I made. Right after everyone was done eating and the men had left the table to go back to work I picked up a few pie as an excuse to go down to the basement to where LV was waiting to talk to me.

I set the pie on a shelf and then turned to see what LV wanted to talk about. Holding his hat in his hands he twisted it around as he said. " I have really been enjoying our Sunday evening visits and all your letters." Pausing a little he continued, " I would like to ask you a question tomorrow night." Smiling a crooked little smile he replaced his hat and went to join the rest of the men as they worked on getting a roof on the new house.

I went back upstairs. How I wished he would have gone on and asked what ever he wanted to right away. The suspense in knowing there was a question coming was almost too much as I tried to pretend there was nothing on my mind as I helped clear the dishes away and visit with the women that had come to help.

10 comments:

  1. WHAT!? Quick, do your next post... LOL I wish we had frolics ~ I'd love to send out notes to all my friends to come clean my house or something. Scott could've used a retaining wall frolic in our backyard ~ I knew we should've joined the Amish. :D

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  2. How fun, another cliff hanger. Can't wait to read the next post.

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  3. And all these years later you are sharing the suspense with us!

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  4. I already know the question and yet can't help feeling the suspense! Why in the world didn't he just ask you right there? Guess he wanted it to be more special than just a fleeting moment in the basement.

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  5. Oh. So. Sweet. But then, all of your stories are sweet! Can't wait for the "question"!
    XOXO
    Joni

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  6. I know how you felt about LV being way up on the peak and breathing a sigh of relief when his feet hit firm ground. My husband used to do tree work and was the "danger tree" man for the area. That meant he got the biggest, nastiest, most dangerous trees to cut down or trim away. To top it off, he worked around live electrical lines, the BIG ones where you only have to get within 3 feet of them and you're dead. I would breathe a sigh of relief every time he pulled into our driveway at the end of such a dangerous day.

    He switched careers recently.

    Looking forward to the rest of your story!

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  7. Oh, the suspense!!! You must have been awake all night wondering what the question was.

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  8. I look forward to your stories...and I will really be looking forward to your next one!!

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  9. SUSPENSE!!! I love your stories about growing up Amish. I just love the idea of the Frolics the Amish have "many hands make the work easier". Did he pop the big question??

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  10. I can't say the suspense is killing me, 'cause I've already figured it out ... but ... I can't WAIT to see how you are going to write about it! You always have me coming back so I can SEE what is happening and not just KNOW what is happening :-)

    I'll be patient ...

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Thank you so much for taking time to comment. I love hearing your thoughts.