This week I have been thinking of some of you from Topeka Mennonite. When I went to a benefit haystack supper for Gospel Echoes, I happened to sit close to a couple I recognized. He was the pastor of the church that bought our church building. His wife mentioned they held Viola Miller's funeral recently. I hadn't realized.
Then yesterday I ran into Donna Miller at Krogers and she told me that another old friend, Rose Troyer, had passed away without me knowing. She says she and Bob had gone to Maple Grove, where they had also seen Sandy, but now they go to Bur Oak. I asked for other news and she said Barb Shrock is no longer driving, which must be very hard, especially if she's still in her house.
In case you haven't already heard my philosophy, I figure one reason for these losses throughout our lives is to get us more and more excited about Heaven so that we are less and less bound to Earth.
I would be thankful to hear any other updates on our old (figuratively and literally!) Topeka Mennonite family. As for me, I am still teaching at Westview, my 32nd year. Next year I will not have my ARR class (like home ec) so I suppose I will be teaching all 8th grade science. We got new books this year and that made it a busy year, updating all our materials and lessons. I love the students and my coworkers more each year, but they keep adding more annoying administrative and digital requirements for us teachers every year, so I'll be happy to retire whenever I feel I can afford to live comfortably without a steady paycheck. I turned 55 this year, the magic "85" of age + experience teachers need to retire early.
My mom had reverse shoulder replacement this winter so I spent a lot of extra time with her. I was staying overnight at her Greencroft apartment and driving to work each day. It worked out surprisingly well. She is now in her last month of therapy. She has regained a whole lot of use of the shoulder--she'd been in so much pain before surgery she had almost zero use of it.
I continue attending Waterford Mennonite Church, a 25-minute drive. I love and know a lot of people there now, but am not nearly as involved as I was at TMC. I have a new appreciation for our members that drove to come to our church activities because the drive keeps me home from some of the things I used to do at TMC.
So find love and joy in your time here and now, but there is much more in our future. Love, your friend Tami