The Girl in the Torch: Book Review

          I really enjoyed Robert Sharenow’s “The Girl in the Torch”.  The story is about a girl named Sarah who has traveled to North America i(the United States) n early 1900’s.  

          The crime activity is high in the country where they are from.  A relative sends a postcard with the statue of liberty and Sarah's father starts setting money aside hoping that one day they will make the voyage to the promised land.

          When Sarah’s father is killed, she and her mom get on a boat by themselves and leave their country behind – hopefully never to return. 

          The Statue of Liberty is a sign of hope, and they are happy to see it. 

 

When they arrive in New York, Sarah is forced to part company with her mother who had gotten sick on the boat.  After her mother passes, the authorities tell Sarah that she has to be sent back to her native land where an uncle lives.  Sarah tells she the authorities that she has a relative in Brooklyn, but when the authorities are unable to contact the relative, they put Sarah on a boat to take her back.

As the boat pulls away and Sarah looks again upon the Statue of Liberty, she decides to jump off the boat and swim toward the statue.

The story shares Sarah’s life on Ellis Island and then in New York – where after a time a judgement is brought against her to send her back to her native country.

I really enjoyed following Sarah through her journey and the friendships that were made and the compassion that is shown in this story.  I thought it might be historical fiction, but the author makes note that not all of the facts brought up were true to the situation.

          At the conclusion of the book are his commentaries and then a time line about Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty.  There were some things that I had remembered reading about already, but even more that I hadn’t known.  I enjoyed reading about that as well.

It is written in third person and I think geared to 4^th to 8^th grade reading levels.  Though I’m obviously outside of that range, and I enjoyed it.

I highly recommend this book.

I Spilled the Beans Literally – and They Were Hot!

            We got up early yesterday morning to drive out to Riddle and assist our ward members in clearing weeds and cleaning head stones.  It was a really good turn out – I thought, but didn’t seem well organized as there were several of us kind of doing our own thing without specific direction.  It’s a huge job.  Two hours was not enough.

            The young women and achievement day girls will be returning on Wednesday with cameras and writing pads to record information to put on grave websites and hopefully make somebody’s family history a little more exhilarating as he or she discovers relatives who may be buried in Riddle, Oregon.

            We returned home for a while.  Roland frosted and decorated the cake that he had made on Friday night.  I made two scrapbook pages on the computer and had become quite frustrated with the slowness of the computer.  It makes AOL dial-up seem speedy.

            I put some ingredients together and put my beans in the oven to bake them.  I took them out just before we left the house to get in the car.  The beans were quite hot, and I actually burned myself when I went to set them aside while trying to get my seat belt on.  Yowsa!  I can still feel the heat.  I am certain to have a scar.

            We joined our ward family members at the pool – where first there was a barbeque dinner.  As usual, there were more desserts than anything.  I think everybody who attended may have brought more than one dish. I know we did. We enjoyed the company of a few of the adult members as the children started filing into the pool.  

            My leg ached where the beans had burned.  The heat from the sun was not helping.  After a while I went into the pool just to cool off my leg.  

            So a service project, a barbeque and pool party – first ward activity that we attended since living in Oregon.

I Found Priddy Meeks Autobiography Through Google

        My first week at the Myrtle Creek Ward was on Father’s Day.  Several members introduced themselves to me and Roland.  During Relief Society I was sitting with a sister who thrives on family history. 

        A sign up list had been passed around for an activity that would take place in a three weeks time.  The sister asked if I had pioneer ancestry and would I be willing to share something from my history.  Sure, I guess.  I do have pioneer ancestors. 

        When a received a reminder call, I realized that I didn’t have any stories.  As mentioned on previous posts, family history is not my forte – and I don’t do all that well at Church history either.  There is definitely need for improvement.

        I do remember my mom telling us about an ancestor named Priddy Meaks – though I didn’t really have any details.  I have since added his name to my ancestral files and do have more information on him than probably mom did – but still not a story. I didn’t see any stories come up on ancestry and so decided to put his name into Google to see if anything would come up that way.  I didn’t expect an excerpt from a volume (or volumes) found here. 

Sarah Meaks was his wife at the time they crossed the plains

 

So this is certainly interesting.    But it presented a new problem. I was given three to five minutes in which to tell my story.  So what story should I tell.  I’d have to read it all first.  As I have also mentioned: No matter how interesting the material,   I am a rather slow reader.  I tried skimming through words and pages until I realized it just wasn’t connecting for me. 

Priddy had written this all down when he was 85 years old.  I wonder how long he was writing.  I decided I would have to pray about finding the appropriate selection that would help benefit the results of said activity. I was blessed to be called upon first and shared a brief piece of his history.  My night blindness caused me to leave before the last sisters were through sharing their stories (I think I was actually the only one who didn’t go over) – perhaps the one behind me as well.

I would have liked to stay and offer my assistance with clean up.  I guess next time I’ll just have Roland drive me so that I can take that opportunity.

It was a really nice activity, and very well attended.  I'm grateful to the pioneers and to those who took the time to translate Priddy's words into print that it could be shared on the Internet - otherwise I wouldn't have had it to share.  I'm so happy to be here in Myrtle Creek and for the ward that I currently attend.

Instead of Complaining About What is Wrong, Be Grateful for What is Right!

Recently my brother Corey experienced a problem with his car.  Instead of complaining about it, he wrote a list of  things that he was grateful for about his situation.  He posted his list to facebook.  I tried sharing his post with my friends – though I think the only ones who might actually have an opportunity to view it are those that Corey is friends with already.  I just really like the attitude he has incorporated into his life.

He was grateful that his car had died in the parking lot and not on the crowded streets of Las Vegas.

He was grateful that the break down didn’t happen on the way to taking Joh or himself to work.
        

He was grateful to get roadside assistance through his insurance.

He was grateful that the weather was not typical of this time of year, but much cooler to wait in than the normal July heat.

Neither he nor Joh were on a schedule in which they had to be somewhere at a certain time.

Roadside assistance arrived within an hour, and because no one was parked next to him, made it easier for the technician to get to his car.

The car started!

The problem is no more serious than a bad battery cell.

Corey and Joh were able to finish whatever errands they had started as Joh’s car was working.

Coery was able to get his car into his auto dealership and drive it home the very next day.
        

Coery leaned that his warranty was only 300 miles away from expiring and did not have to pay for his battery’s replacement.

The dealership washed his car for free.

Moral: Even when bad, inconvenient, annoying things happen, there is still so much to be grateful for.

I try to apply this attitude to my own life because complaining does not solve a problem.  Hearing others complain has dampened my spirit – and yet I know I have been the complainer.  I have tried to do better and look at the bright side of whatever situation may come my way that I may make a list of things to be grateful for in a similar situation.

We All Have Obstacles to Overcome

The Monument:

God,
Before He sent his children to earth
Gave each of them
A very carefully selected package
Of problems,
These,
He promised, smiling,
Are yours alone, No one
Else may have the blessings
These problems will bring you.
And only you
Have the special talents and abilities
That will be needed
To make these problems
Your servants.
Now go down to your birth
And to your forgetfulness, Know that
I love you beyond measure.
These problems that I give you
Are a symbol of that love.
These monuments you make of your life
With the help of your problems
Will be a symbol of your
Love for me.
Your Father

                               intro thought to Charlie's Monument by Blaine Yorgensen

How many of us know 11-year-olds who willingly place themselves in front of the learning channel?  and enjoy it?  Jenna has always enjoyed learning.  Always.  From the time she was three and could pick out her own books from the library, we did check out picture books and easy reading like the “Frog and Toad” series.  

But we would also check out a lot of non-fiction to answer her questions about bees and honey, or why certain dances are performed in different countries and why the sun doesn’t fall from the sky.  She has always loved non-fiction books.  She would play games of “Let’s pretend” to understand how it would be to be without sight or limbs.  She never questioned why there were differences in humans.  She just accepted them and has always tried to learn from them. Today she loves the learning channel.  

Each morning after she gets up (which is actually quite early for a youth – I have never known Jenna to sleep past 7:30) she will turn to the learning channel to watch “Cake Boss” 

 it is because of advertisements of other programs that has held her interest in watching other shows – like “Born Without Limbs” featuring NickVujicic.

It’s fascinating to learn of others who have overcome what many of us consider physical challenges or obstacles and have often embraced their uniqueness and use it to help others. We all have choices after all.  We can be bitter, or we can be thankful.

I, myself, have always enjoyed watching even a portion to the lives of “The Little Couple” – saddened that their lives may not be as private as perhaps each of us would hope, but happy that they have been willing to share so much of their lives with an audience – that we might learn.

Everyone has their challenges.  I just think having a physical challenge seems to be more obvious in appearance than say an alcoholic or a mentally disturbed individual.  On average, I don’t think we, as a whole, consider a floor plan and living quarters that works for us may not work or even be practical to someone who is an obvious different height or is blind or walks with a limp.

I have known overly tall people.  My brother, Patrick (who really isn’t overly tall – just tall) could unscrew and screw in ceiling light bulbs without having to stand on something in order to reach – whereas my daughter-in-law seems to need a foot stool just to reach into the back of the freezer that may be placed above the fridge.  I'm not overly short, but there was one side of the kitchen in which the cabinets were not within my reach unless I used a footstool to stand on or long handled spoon to push cans out.

I’ve known small people who have struggled at reaching to the “average height” world around them – perhaps not knowing better.  It’s how they were born. It’s how they did things all of their lives.  Nick Vujicici didn’t have limbs to begin with.  I think it’s easier for a person to learn without than to adjust with what’s missing.  I don’t know – I’m just thinking that.

I have known a wide variety of people from all walks of life.  Some have physical challenges. Some are misguided and struggle to fit in.  Some have struggled with balance. I don't think I've met anyone who hasn't had at least one challenge to either overcome or embrace.

We programmed our cable to record “I am Jazz” and “My Giant Life” as Jenna is genuinely interested in those – but they don’t start until after she’s gone to bed.  I am grateful that she is learning and understanding and seeing differences and doesn’t judge but accepts and tries to embrace as well.  I wish we would all have her understanding and eagerness to learn. 

(I’m not saying she enjoys learning all things.  She struggles with the clarinet.  But Roland has purchased another (second hand, of course) and is planning to learn along side of her.  That makes it easier for her.  And I admire him for doing that.  Learning the clarinet: their special bonding time together)