The following was written by my late wife Elaine. She wrote a long book, a diary really, from which this is one passage:
The best surprise for me about our move to Union was that although we knew about the beautiful scenery, we did not know about the wonderful people here in Union. They are the nicest and friendliest we’ve met anywhere, and we have enjoyed two separate circles of friends.
The Funny Bunch has dwindled away as many have died or are not well, and the other circle, including Jean Cowder (sadly, Wayne died in March 2001) and others is still active although we’re all slowing down and don’t entertain very often. I enjoy lady friends in the Retired School Employees group, and Eastern Star, and the Home Demonstration Club (now renamed, with a government title, which most of us don’t like: Community Educational Outreach Service, shortened to CEOS).
Union is a friendlier place to live than Warrenton was, and I’m very happy we came here. People in Warrenton seemed to sort themselves into age, education, career, income, location of house, and other “boxes.” Fortunately, all our children and their families like to come for visits.
During our first summer in the valley, knowing we would meet people if we attended a church, we went to one of the closest, the Presbyterian Church in Union, where Charlie and Madeline Kidd were members. We made immediate friends there; people were lined up to greet us – this was Charlie’s doing, we’re sure.
It wasn’t easy getting presentable for church while living in the valley in the small trailer/cabin, which was like camping, but we made a good effort to look civilized.
The minister of the Presbyterian Church was Reagan Gibbs, and the introduction to his sermon that first time we visited was, “Did God die at Auschwitz?” This was interesting to me, because Carolyn and I had talked at length about The Holocaust that summer. His theme was about “the sub-human face of God.” I never heard that approach, before or since. I still don’t quite “get it.”
We had him for a couple years more before he “rotated” to another location, and I thought he was always very interesting. I joined the church on October 23, 1977.
Before long I was playing the organ at the church every Sunday morning and enjoyed that for six years, and also attended and accompanied the Wednesday night choir practices.
To be continued…
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About the Author: RD Blakeslee is a nonagenarian in West Virginia who built his net worth by only investing in that which can be enjoyed during acquisition and throughout life, as opposed to papers in a drawer, like stocks and bonds. You can read more about him here.
Photos: Courtesy of the Blakeslee Family
Love the audio and the pictures, Dave. Makes me wish we had taken the time to record our parents and grandparents.
Thank you for sharing Mr. Dave. Ms. Elaine’s writings bring back a lot of memories.
You’re welcome, Bill