RETIREMENTbegan in 1988

Now we are "retired" Bob is still repairing trailers and I am into my crafts. Selling what I make MOSTLY AT THE FLEA MKT with a friend who began as a customer. Since I did all the phone work I really got to know the people that Bob worked for. Some I'd rather forget. A certain lady, Beverly became a very special friend. She and Dale her husband, were really snowbirds from Illinois. This past year 2009 they sold out and moved back to their home state because of poor health. That happens a lot now for all of us. Thank goodness we were smart enough to make this our permanent home. As time passed I began to do more alterations and before I knew it I had a full blown business again. I joined an artists group also and through that club I branched out and left the flea mkt selling. In the mean time I had joined a Methodist church here in the foothills and became very active there. First joining the choir and then serving on the board of Trusties, and serving on the building committee for the present church. This began as a church of retired people
Slowly younger people began to attend and then join. When we moved to the new church a Day Care center and Pre-school was added. A nursery was offered for young familes.
Then it was time to have a Sunday School. We began slowly with only a few children. I became involved with the children's program and left the choir. Several other persons including 3 young mothers took turns teaching the class. At first we all met in one room and the lesson plans from Coksbury Christian Publishing. about 3 years after first beginning the "Children's Church" a young family joined the church. The Mother Wendy is a school teacher. She and I are born and raised in Ohio so immediately had a bond. At one time she served on the Peace Corps in Kenya. The father, an officer in the Arizona National Guard as well as working for Game and Fish of Arizona. They have two Children The little boy was only 2 and his sister almost 5. Wendy and Dan lived 90 miles east of Yuma and each Sunday Morning drove into church. As time went by Wendy and I organized and made the Sunday Church work and happen.Now 9 years down the road it is a well organized unit with a nursery program, one for the toddlers, one for 4-10 and a group of tweens and teens. Numerous people help and quite frankly I am proud of the Children's Church. It reminds me of the wonderful Sunday School I attended as a child. "A little Child shall lead them". Without this program Gila Mountain Methodist Church would fade away just like so many other churches. We have a hard working group of young people and with their children keep the church alive.

We still had our home in Seattle and after three years of going back and forth we sold our home of 34 years in Seattle. It was a bitter sweet feeling but made sense. The taxes were going up and the cost of the trip back and forth became more costly each year. So Yuma became our home. My first home was Ohio, then Nebraska, Washington State, down to California for two years, back to Washington and to Arizona. My husband calls this house our 2nd in Yuma, Gods waiting room. He designed both of our homes here in Yuma on his little Mac SE. computer.

I mentioned our meeting with Margery and Julius Fredenthal from Johannesburg SA. Margery passed away from heart problems in 1986. Strange things happen for a reason. We had decided to call Julie and Marge for their wedding Ann. on September 7. When the phone rang in their home their grand daughter answered. Julie was off on a lawn bowling touranment but would be home in the following AM. He would call us. He did but only to tell us that Marge had passed just hours after he returned home. How fortunate we called when we did. I always promised Marge that I would see her country and that we did together, Julie, Bob and I. But I know that Marge knew I kept my promise.