Amish Family

How is your Uncle Eli doing now? Is he adjusting? I think of him and wonder about how he is doing quite often.

My Uncle Eli is adjusting as well as can be expected. His church community has stepped in and makes that someone spends time with him every day since his wife, Sadie passed away.

The last time I stopped in to see him, he was still his very talkative self. He is having a hard time getting around without the aid of a cane, but otherwise he seems much the same as he always has.


Do you have much contact with your Amish family?

My oldest brother and I try to make that we call each other at least once a month, but other than that we don't have much contact with the rest of the family.

It's my fault, I suppose. I could always try reaching out to them, but there seems to be such a huge void between us. We no longer have things in common. They don't like talking about things going on in their life, because since we're no longer Amish it's none of our business. And almost anything happening in our life I can't talk about, because it reminds them we're not Amish any longer which in turn brings out their need to tell us how deceived and wrong we are.

I find it's easier to focus on enjoying our own little family instead of trying to cling to something that is no longer there

Psalms 27:10

Amish Weddings

Across all the many different Amish communities, weddings have some basics that are the same. But at the same time there are so many different communities that you can't simply attend one Amish wedding and say, this is how Amish weddings look like because different communities do have different traditions.

For example ..... celery ...... Amish fiction authors seem to have latched onto the idea that serving celery is an important part of an Amish wedding, when in fact it is a tradition for Lancaster and its daughter settlements. Most Amish communities do not serve celery at their weddings. Along the same vein ...... Lancaster has weddings in the fall, while other Amish communities have weddings at anytime during the year.

Some communities the wedding celebration lasts all day, and into the night, while in others it is over by late afternoon.

In some communities the bride always wears a blue dress, while in others she has the option of any color she would like to wear.

In some the spread of food is vast, and there seems to be a never ending assortment of desserts, while others have a very simple meal.

In some the story of Tobias is shared in the wedding sermon, while in others they won't mention it.

In some they serve wine, in others they wouldn't even dream of it.

In some they send boys around to all the guests while shaking a long handled tin pan for them to throw in money. Most of them don't do this, but for some communities it's an important part of the wedding.

In some they always serve hotdogs as one of the meat options and big bowls of green and red Jell-O for dessert while others wouldn't even consider it.

Some communities have dancing at their weddings, while most others would consider it to be sinful.

In some, at the evening meal when boys choose a girl to escort to the table they will each have a spoon, but share the same plate. Most communities don't, but some do.

In some the groom will hand out cigars to all the youth boys, but others would be horrified at the very thought of doing something like that.

There are many more differences, so you get the picture. Just because one community always does weddings the same, doesn't mean that all Amish will do it that way.

Across the many different Amish communities that I have family living there are some things that are the same.

The services are always similar to a church service. Slow church type singing, two sermons, scripture reading.  The bride and groom also always join the ministers for a meeting while the rest of the church is singing, but that's about as far as it goes when it comes to things that are the same about weddings in every community.

You can read what our wedding was like here. I shared it in six parts, so click on newer posts at the end of it to read about the entire day.

This was in answer to the question by Sandi ..... What is an Amish wedding like?

Wednesday Hodgepodge

1. What's something fun you're looking forward to on your May calendar?

The girls and I have some fun craft related things planned to do in May, as well as trying out some new recipes.
 

2. What are some images that come to mind when you hear the word mother?

My Mom, of-course. Followed immediately by things we did together, sewing gardening, cooking, cleaning, always talking or singing while we worked.

She was patient, kind, and loving. I don't think she ever raised her voice at us. She was our safe space. No matter what else was going on in life, things were always better with her at my side.

She was my best friend, sister, and mother all wrapped up in one. (And now I'm crying, because I really miss that.)

3. What's something beautiful you own or have seen that's made of glass? 

Some dishes in my china cupboard. I still love pretty dishes.
 

4. Was today typical? If not what made it unusual? 

Today is only just beginning, but so far it has been typical of what my days usually look like by this point in my morning. (Other than the crying part.)
 

5. What is a quality you wish you could have more of?

I'm not sure I can narrow it down to a single thing, seems there are many areas in my life where I wish and strive to get better.

6. What's the next major purchase you need to make? Will it happen in the month of May? 

We really need a freezer. We've been making do with only the freezer compartment of the refrigerator. It's doable, but it would be really nice being able to have more space.

I don't see us getting a freezer in May.
 

7. What responsibility/job/work did you dislike while growing up but has proved helpful to you as an adult?

I used to dislike sanding furniture between coats of lacquer. With my parents' woodworking shop, that happened regularly.

I have some furniture projects here waiting for me to get to them. All of them I wish I had done last month already.  I still don't particularly enjoy it even though I'm glad I know how.
 

8. Insert your own random thought here.

There's still time to hop over and enter my giveaway, if you haven't done so already. You can do that here.

 

Q & A ~ Installment One

For the letter "Q" during the A-Z challenge I had done a post where you could ask questions and I would answer them later in blog posts.

Today will be the first of many posts where I do that.

What do you do to get your Christmas cactus to bloom like that?

I don't really have any secrets for getting my Christmas cactus to bloom well. I'm actually quite horrible when it comes to caring for houseplants. I have the best of intentions, but somehow I keep forgetting that they need care.

The Christmas cactus bloomed the nicest the year where I basically forgot I had it, until it started blooming. (I wouldn't recommend that method to anyone else though.)

Can we look forward to more books from you?

I originally bought the Lily series for my daughter, but the entire family has fallen in love with this sweet spunky little girl. We would love to follow her story as she grows up.

I am hoping to share more books with you over the next few years.

Though I would love to continue the Lily series, it sadly seems to be on hold right now. Until I get a green light for it, I'm focusing my writing efforts on another series that I think you'll enjoy.

Celebration Giveaway

While doing the A-Z challenge this year, my 7th blogging anniversary came and went quietly.

It doesn't seem that long ago when I sat down one afternoon and started writing some of my childhood memories in hopes that our children will somehow be able to keep a slice of our heritage, and have a better understanding of where we came from. Even though our life was different now because we had chosen to leave the Amish, it wasn't something I wanted to lose entirely.

Today I'm celebrating the anniversary, and the fact that I successfully completed another A-Z challenge by having a giveaway.

I'll be giving a copy of the first cookbook I ever used, and a doll dressed in authentic Somerset County Amish clothes to one lucky winner

If you would like a chance to win this, leave a comment telling me about something that happened in your month of April.

For an additional entry, post a link to this giveaway on your blog or Facebook, come back and leave another comment telling me you did.

On Monday, May 9th, I will be choosing a winner using the random generator.

Giveaway is now closed and a winner has been chosen.