Unknown

When I visited Normandy, France in 1999, we spent a day going to several beaches where the Allied Forces landed on D-Day, June 6, 1944. That day in 1999 we visited Omaha Beach, Pointe du Hoc and Arromanches. Omaha Beach was featured in Saving Private Ryan (which we would watch a few days later). Pointe du Hoc is at the top of cliffs (pictures at the bottom of this post), and Allied Forces were able to scale the cliffs under the cover of fog and defeat the Germans waiting at the top. There are iconic pictures of the artificial port at Arromanches used for getting heavy equipment off the boats, which is still there.

The American Cemetery at Omaha Beach had row upon row of crosses and Stars of David. It was very solemn, beautiful and moving. For me, the most moving crosses read:

HERE RESTS IN HONORED GLORY

A COMRADE IN ARMS

KNOWN BUT TO GOD

I wrote this poem January 18, 2006 after attending a David Harsh concert where he sang a song on the same subject. It made me think back to my visit to Omaha Beach where I saw these crosses.

Photo by Mika167
CC BY-SA 3.0 license

A white cross stands in a cemetery
In a land far away
A lasting monument to an unknown soldier
Known but to God

What happened to this unknown soldier?
God alone saw him pierced by countless bullets
Tossed by bombs and grenades
Shattered by shrapnel exploding all around

A family waited and worried at home
Counting the days until their daddy
Would step off the airplane
And run into their welcoming embrace

Did they get a knock on the door
And learn that he was MIA?
Did they wait happily on the tarmac
For their daddy, who would never step off the plane?

Did they know a cross would mark
The place where his shattered remains lay?
A beloved husband and daddy
Ever in a land far away

A young wife wondered and prayed
What became of the love of her life?
The children worried and cried
Would they ever see their daddy's beaming face?

A wife never again got to kiss her husband's lips
A son never got to wrestle with his dad
And a daughter never got to dance in her daddy's loving gaze
He wasn't there to see his son graduate
Couldn't give his daughter away

His grandchildren never got to sit on the lap
Of the grandpa they never knew
Hearing stories of long ago
When he was their age

A young man kneels before a white marble cross
Moved to tears by the inscription to the unknown soldier.
Who lies beneath this cross in honored glory?
Could it be the bones of the grandfather he never knew?

The answer is known but to God.

Omaha Beach

Omaha Beach

The cliffs of Pointe du Hoc

Craters at Pointe du Hoc created
by massive cannonballs

Pointe du Hoc

Memories of Dad

My dad was an amazing person. It's been more than a year now since we lost him, but it still just isn't the same without him. I often wish I could ask him things or tell him things. I want to share my blog with him, particularly since I've been blogging more regularly lately, but I can't. I can only imagine all the comments he would have posted, as he was great at commenting on blog posts that he read. I'm more thankful than ever for the incredible father I had.

Following are some memories from several people, family and friends, that I read at his memorial service. His brother Norm Sauke passed away from dementia and other health issues October 31, 2021, and my dad passed away December 2 of that year, following a stroke. Losing two brothers (or in my case, my uncle and my dad) so close to each other was a huge blow for our family.

I made this graphic to use at my dad's memorial.

Erv Sauke (his brother, my uncle)

Ron was a gift to everyone. He was a great brother and son to his family. He was a great big brother. As a child, he was always busy doing something and into a lot of things. All my brothers were special to me. Losing Norm and Ron within one year's time was a shock to me and still is. I was glad to know they both gave their hearts and lives to my Jesus and I will be able to see them again in heaven. I will miss Ron a lot. So pray for his family and me when you can. Sorry for not being here, my wife and I are under the weather. Ron, I will always love you.

Erv

Linda Sauke (his wife, my mom)

Ron had a great sense of humor. He was so good with children and was an outstanding teacher! He loved his students, and they loved him! They also thought it was great fun to play tricks on him! One year when he was teaching middle school in the Philippines, the kids started putting salt in his coffee when he wasn't looking. After several days of enduring this, Ron arranged a plan with the school nurse to get even with them!

When all was ready, one day during class a student messenger came to the door with a "note from the nurse," listing several students she needed to see immediately. In response to their confused expressions, he reassured them that it was probably just a simple tracheotomy. (The students on the list, of course, were the main offenders.) They nervously headed to the nurse's office on the other side of campus.

The students were even more alarmed when they arrived and saw that the nurse had prepared a humongous syringe, along with a scalpel and several other pieces of scary medical equipment to use on them! The nurse explained to them the procedures that would take place ... and watched as their horror grew!

When she could see it was enough, she calmly added, "Of course, the other option is that you could stop putting salt in Mr. Sauke's coffee!"

The students ran back to the middle school building, and Ron's class could hear them yelling all across the campus!

But they never put salt in Ron's coffee again!

Steven Sauke (his son, me)

My dad studied Spanish in school and thereafter had a tendency to apply the rules of Spanish to any foreign language that he read. One time he preached an entire sermon on "Prisceeya and Aqueeya."

One of their first priorities upon moving to Hong Kong was to study the language. The first time he gave his testimony in Cantonese, it was at a large gathering of youth. When he told about meeting his wife, everybody burst out laughing! He was very confused. After sitting down, the pastor leaned over to him and said, "That was great, right down the part where you ate your wife!" It turns out that the word for "to meet" is 識 (sic, high tone) but "to eat" is 食 (sic, low tone). He pronounced it correctly, but ended up saying something completely different because he used the wrong tone!

One of my earliest memories is being at church and walking through a sea of legs because I was so small. I found my dad and gave him a big hug around the leg. I looked up fondly and discovered it was not my dad.

As we got older, he made an effort to spend time with us, wrestle and play with us, and encourage our interests, even if we were not the softball team he once dreamed of raising. We watched videos of musicals and other movies as a family. We also attended various theatrical productions of plays, musicals, ballets and more. He put up with us listening (and singing along) to cast recordings of musicals all the time and even got to know some of them because he knew that we liked them. For Tim's 30th birthday he took us to see The Phantom of the Opera. For my 40th birthday he took us to see Come from Away. Some of the best father-son times were watching adventure movies with him, such as Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Master and Commander, Pirates of the Caribbean, and others. Once he joined the church choir, we taught him some basic skills of reading music. He studied it so intensely that it got so he could identify a note on the staff much quicker than I could. There is still a sticky note on his desk that has two staves with treble and bass clefs and the notes labeled for each clef.

My favorite April Fool's joke we played on him involved Lord of the Rings. My mom doesn't like the violence, so she hasn't watched it with us. But she does enjoy old time comedies. One time while my dad was at a meeting, my mom and I were watching I Love Lucy. As soon as we heard the garage door, we jumped up and changed the DVD to Return of the King, and I hastily fast forwarded as far as I could get in the movie. We were in the middle of the climactic battle when he entered the house. My mom was watching intently as if she was enjoying it. My dad was so excited and proud of me and he came and gave me a hug and then he went in the other room to put his stuff away. He was hoping to watch the rest of it with us, but when he got back in the room a couple minutes later, we were watching I Love Lucy again.

One way he encouraged me was to tell me regularly that I missed my calling in life. It was a different calling every time he said it. When we were younger he taught us the basics of massaging as he gave amazing massages. When I would give him a massage he thought I should be a chiropractor. When I would correct his grammar, spelling or punctuation, he thought I should be an English teacher. He was great at giving compliments and making people feel special.

Dave and Oksana Elsinger (missionaries to Ukraine who worked with my dad)

Oksana and I will remember Ron as a friend and co-laborer in the ministry to kids with disabilities in Ukraine. We remember how Ron and Linda were a great help when they served on a ministry trip with us to Lutsk and Kyiv, Ukraine several years ago. Ron was a big help and he and Linda never complained about the less-than-ideal traveling conditions we experienced. We are thankful for Ron's example of a joyful and humble servant of the Lord!

Sharon Limb (missionary to Mongolia who worked with my parents - this was a comment on my tribute to my dad shortly after losing him)

To the Sauke Family, I am saddened to hear of Ron's passing but happy for him to be well and in heaven. He was such a gracious man with a warm and welcoming smile. I was just gazing at your parent's picture on my refrigerator photo wall and thinking that I need to be in contact with Linda. Thank you for the family history and tribute. I will be praying for your family.

If you would like to watch his memorial, we streamed it so people around the world could attend virtually:

A Nightmare and a Legacy

I wrote this poem April 21, 2007 after the cowardly attack on Virginia Tech that senselessly took 32 innocent lives and that of the shooter. Sadly, not much has improved since then. I have been aghast with all the violence in the past few years all over the US. In the name of the victims at Virginia Tech, Columbine, Sandy Hook, Parkland, Las Vegas, Orlando, Uvalde, Michigan State, and so many more, we need to set aside our differences and put an end to this!

As many of the victims at Virginia Tech were in French and German classes, I translated it into French (with valuable proofreading help from the folks at the A la Française Forum, which is no longer online), and I appreciate the excellent translation work into German by Jessica Eberhardt and Beate Peter.

Photos: Virginia Tech

ENGLISH
A Nightmare and a Legacy

A senseless act
A heinous deed
And when the nightmare was over, 32 innocent lives had been snuffed out
32 lives with so much promise
Suddenly cut short in their prime

They studied to make the world a better place
They taught their students the skills they would need to succeed
But in one catastrophic morning
Their studies and lessons came to a horrifying end
And 33 families were left wondering why
While shockwaves reverberated across the campus,
Across the country,
Across the world

They came from all over the world:
From Israel, Indonesia, Peru, Lebanon, Canada, Vietnam, India, Egypt, Puerto Rico, and across the USA
Each had a dream
And each pursued it
So why did so much work, so much living,
Have to come crashing down in such a sudden heartbreaking manner?
What purpose did God have for allowing this to happen?
Could it be that others will pick up the torches?

Whatever the case,
May God be praised
For so many lives well lived
For sparing so many more lives –
Both by a professor's last selfless heroic act
And because so many other victims survived

God can work through even the worst tragedies
May He be glorified for what He will do
May their legacy live on
And may He comfort the families and friends
And heal the wounded
As only He can.

FRENCH

Un cauchemar et un legs

Un acte insensé
Un oeuvre épouvantable
Et lorsque le cauchemar fut terminé, 32 vies innocentes s'en étaient allées
32 vies avec tant de promesse
Fauchées dans la fleur de l'âge

Ils étudièrent pour rendre le monde meilleur
Ils enseignèrent à leurs étudiants les compétences dont ils auraient besoin pour réussir
Mais en une seule matinée catastrophique,
Leurs études et leurs leçons se terminèrent de façon horrifiante
Et 33 familles se demandèrent pourquoi
Tandis que l’onde de choc retentit à travers le campus,
À travers le pays,
À travers le monde

Ils vinrent du monde entier
D'Israël, de l'Indonésie, du Pérou, du Liban, du Canada, du Viêt Nam, d’Inde, d’Égypte, du Puerto Rico, et d'à travers les États-Unis
Chacun eut un rêve
Et chacun le poursuit
Pourquoi donc tant de travail, tant de joie de vivre,
Devaient-ils s'effondrer dans un déchirement si soudain?
Pourquoi Dieu a-t-Il permis que ceci se produise?
Se pourrait-il que des autres se passeront les flambeaux?

En tout cas,
Que Dieu soit loué
Pour tant de vies si bien vécues
Pour avoir épargné tant d'autres vies –
Et à cause du dernier acte désintéressé et héroïque d'un professeur,
Et parce que tant de monde survécut

Dieu peut oeuvrer même à travers les pires des tragédies
Qu'Il soit glorifié pour ce qu'Il fera
Que leur legs survive
Et qu'Il soulage les familles et les amis des morts
Qu'Il guérisse les blessés
Comme Il peut, Lui seul, le faire.

GERMAN
Ein Albtraum und ein Vermächtnis

Eine sinnlose Tat
Eine schandhafte Arbeit
Und als der Albtraum yu Ende war,
waren 32 unschuldige Leben ausgelöscht
32 Leben mit so viel Hoffnung
In ihrer höchsten Vollkommenheit auf einmal abgeschnitten

Sie studierten, um die Welt in einen besseren Ort zu verwandeln
Sie brachten ihren Schülern Wissen bei, um es in der Welt zu schaffen
Aber an einem katastrophalen Morgen
Fanden ihre erlernten Fähigkeiten plötzlich ein schreckliches Ende
Und 33 Familien standen mit der Frage nach dem Warum da
Während die Schockwellen über dem Campus zusammenschlugen
Über dem Land
Um die Welt

Sie kamen aus der gangen Welt
Aus Israel, Indonesien, Peru, dem Libanon, Indien, Ägypten, Puerto Rico und überall aus den Staaten
Jede/r hatte einen Traum
Und jede/r lebte ihn aus
Warum musste so viel Arbeit, so viel Leben in einem Herz zerbrechenden Zusammenstoβ auf uns niederfallen?
Welchen Grund hatte Gott für dieses Geschehen?
Könnte es sein, dass andere die Fackeln aufheben

Was der Grund auch sein mag
Mein Gott soll angebetet werden
Für so viele gut gelebte Leben
Und für die Leben, die nicht zu Ende gingen

Gott kann uns sogar in den schlimmsten Zeiten helfen
Er sei gepriesen für das, was er tun wird
Ihr Vermächtnis lebe
Er tröste die Familien und Freunde
Und er heile die Verwundeten
Nur er kann es tun

Simple Kindness is a Superpower

When US airspace was closed following the horrifying attacks on New York, Washington DC and Pittsburgh, 38 planes were diverted to the small town of Gander, Newfoundland. The people of Gander welcomed over 7000 strangers with open arms, and a few days later, they said farewell to over 7000 family members. They gave them food. They transformed their local skating rink into a massive refrigerator. They took them on hunting trips. They took them into their homes. They cared for their pets (and two rare Bonobo monkeys) that were traveling with them. They drove over 500 miles to help a rabbi get home in time for Rosh Hashanah. They screeched in honorary Newfoundlanders. They cried with new friends who lost family members in the attacks. They filled peoples' prescriptions that were packed away on the planes. They creatively broke through language barriers using Bible verses. The list goes on and on. Their heroic and generous actions toward strangers inspired David Hein and Irene Sankoff to write the musical Come from Away. They also inspired Kevin Tuerff, a passenger traveling from Paris to Dallas, to found Pay It Forward 9/11, a movement that encourages people around the world to do random acts of kindness for strangers. Those acts can be simple or complex. They can be expensive to the giver, or even free of charge. But it's amazing how transformative a simple act of kindness to a stranger can be. These ordinary people became extraordinary when they opened their hearts and homes and did wonderful things. Without even meaning to be, they are real-life superheroes.

Photo by Sergey Peterman
Adobe Stock

Today is Random Acts of Kindness Day. In that spirit, and partly inspired by the good people of Gander and Kevin Tuerff, I have been blogging over the past couple months about times people have shown kindness to myself and family members (and others). I hope this will help inspire people as they consider ways to make this world a better place and show kindness in a world that is becoming increasingly polarized. You may not be able to fly or teleport (though I'm still holding out for the invention of a teleporter), but you can do things that can make all the difference. A simple act can save someone's life.

A few ideas, with links to the post in question:

• The people of Gander, Newfoundland welcomed thousands of stranded travelers and treated them like family. 
• Kevin Tuerff invited me to a private viewing of You Are Here: A Come from Away Story with the people featured in the documentary, who also inspired the musical Come from Away. At that event, Beulah Cooper gave me a big hug. She didn't know me from Adam, but I happened to be standing next to her. 
• A few weeks later, Diane Davis of Gander recognized me at a performance of Come from Away and gave me a big hug.
• My friend Michael Kape generously let me use his frequent flyer miles to travel to New York, and he hosted me in his apartment and showed me the ropes of the New York subway, among other things.
• My amazing friend Barzin Akhavan blew me away with a massive hug. He also has one of the most gentle and loving ways of challenging me to consider ways that I could be kinder to others. That is one of his superpowers.
• My amazing former manager and team helped and supported me through some difficult times, and I was able to support them as well. We were like family. I miss working with them.
• Though we didn't know it at the time, people around the world prayed for my eyesight, and God healed an incurable disease. I can see today because of that miracle!
• The elderly Queen of 44th brightened many people's day with a simple smile and wave, and a friendly greeting.
• The Purple Lady marched to the beat of her own drum and was memorable in her kindness and purpleness. 
• Captain Beverley Bass, the first female Captain in American Airlines' history, gave me a hug, bought me coffee, and took time to talk to me.
• A gentleman who came out to the streets of Anaheim to support his church's women's ministry taught my friend Dan and me a valuable lesson in helping the poor by buying food for a homeless man.
• Another gentleman paid the remainder of my bill when I couldn't afford everything I had been planning to buy at a bookstore.
• My amazing friend Mio used his artistic talent to speak volumes to our family as we dealt with one of the hardest losses we had faced. He also went out of his way to make sure I got to keep a Christmas gift he could tell I wanted. Though he is about half my age now, I admire him more than I can say.
• A generous professor reimbursed my medical expenses when I had issues requiring a doctor in France. In fact, despite their stereotype, most French people I met were very kind and helpful. People say that the French are rude (and I don't doubt there are some), but that was not my experience in France.
• My friend Belinda volunteered to order groceries for me, including tea to help me sleep when I was having trouble falling asleep one night. She has also been inspirational in her advocacy for marginalized communities.
• A classmate at BCTI (Business Computer Training Institute) encouraged me daily by reminding me that "It's a beautiful day!" He reminded me that the beauty of a day has nothing to do with the weather and everything to do with our attitude.
• A Thai cab driver took it upon himself to give us the grand tour of Chiang Mai, and he took us to places that were fascinating, educational, and not necessarily frequented by tourists.
• My friends Kim and Jason Kotecki, along with their amazing team, sent me a shining reminder to remember my dad. They, and their gift, are truly a light in the darkness.
• Their older daughter Lucy made some incredible winter hats at a reasonable price, and she has done more than most people her age to advocate for animals who need help.
• A stranger pulled off the road to change the tire on my mom's car, when she was desperately trying to figure out what to do about a flat tire in the middle of nowhere.
• Our neighbors in the Philippines took me in with a smile to wait out the flood waters. Many of our friends pitched in to save as much as possible, and to help clean up after the flood.
• A pastor in Boise, Idaho performed the marriage ceremony for a couple he had only just met. A new neighbor crossed the street to be a witness at my grandparents' wedding. Prior to their wedding day, my grandparents had never met any of the attendees.
• My inspirational friend Cara Tracy regularly paints rocks, and leaves them for strangers to find and be encouraged. She inspired me to do the same in New York. She also regularly posts pictures of things that happen each day to bring out the joy in her life.

These are just a few of the many ways that friends, family and I have seen people reach out to us. Some of them were very simple: just a smile and showing interest. Others were more challenging, and some of them cost money. Most of them were done by complete strangers, and some by dear friends. They are from different races, heritages and communities. They are black, white, Jewish, Canadian, Iranian, Thai, Filipino, and from other countries and backgrounds around the world. They are from multiple states. They represent multiple religions. At least two of them are gay. They are all superheroes to me. There is beauty everywhere. We need to find the good in people, find what we have in common (which I can guarantee is more than we realize), and celebrate our differences.

My friend Kevin Tuerff recommends doing three kind things for strangers in September in memory of the kindness he was shown in Newfoundland following 9/11. I fully endorse that, and would add that we can make it a regular practice all year. It doesn't even have to be difficult or complicated. I think sometimes we overthink things and then don't actually go through with the acts of kindness because it's too challenging and time consuming. It can be, but doesn't need to be! Just use your talents and superpowers for good, and be yourself.

Today is Random Acts of Kindness Day. Let's go out and be kind to people! You never know how your simple action might be your superpower that brightens someone's day, or even saves their life!

Children of the Almighty God

I wrote this poem May 27, 2010 for a friend with low self-esteem. It's something we all struggle with from time to time, myself included, and it's good to remind ourselves of how valuable and needed we are.

Image by tomertu, Adobe Stock

My brother, you're a prince
My sister, you're a princess
And not just any prince or princess
But children of the highest King above all kings.

You're squires in His service
You're warriors of His mighty Kingdom
Ambassadors to a fallen world
To represent our great Father and to bring in more.
The glorious, almighty God thinks so much of you
That He gave up His glory and His life
To make you His beloved child.

So where did you get this idea
That you are worth so little?
You rank higher than the child of any human monarch!

Once we were worth nothing
Until the King of Kings adopted us
And made us His treasured children.

Compared to the Almighty God,
We are nothing
But in the eyes of the Almighty God,
We are everything.

Finding Joy and Rocks

Kamas, Utah, 2022. I had just arrived at the conference center and happened to look down at the ground to discover this guy smiling up at me:

I picked it up and looked at the back:

That could only mean one thing. My friends Paul and Cara Tracy had arrived at the legendary Escape Adulthood Summit, put on by my friends Kim and Jason Kotecki and their amazing family and team. Over the past couple years, Cara has perfected the art of rock painting, and leaving them in their part of Arizona for people to find and adopt. Now she had brought some of her joyful shenanigans to Utah. Further examination of the grounds revealed more faces smiling up at me, such as this guy:

How can you not smile when the rocks are smiling at you like that? I ask you!

I kept the orange one and let others claim the rest. Kim and Jason's younger daughter Ro had also left rocks of her own around, so I got one of those too. They now hold places of honor at my desk. I brought googly eyes that I left everywhere for people to find. Shenanigans shenanigated.

I found Paul and Cara, and after hugs all around, we talked excitedly. Their child-like joy is contagious. Cara (rhymes with Sarah) is a yoga instructor and speaker liaison in Arizona. Paul is Director of Operations at JusticeTrax, a software company specializing in forensics and law enforcement. He is also an accomplished Lego architect.

Left to right:
Kim Kotecki, Cara and Paul Tracy

As Cara has perfected her art and left rocks for Arizonans to find, she has posted pictures of many of them. These are just a few of the many:

Rocks and photos by Cara Tracy
Used with permission

Inspired by Cara's art, in addition to my friend Kevin Tuerff and the amazing people of Gander, Newfoundland, I painted rocks of my own last summer (some of them obtained in Montana in May) in preparation for a subsequent trip to New York. I was in Utah at the beginning of August, and the following month I was in New York. 2022 was an eventful year! I went with a Broadway theme. I trust they found good homes!

Rocks and photos by Steven Sauke
Left at the WTC, Battery Park, Lincoln Center,
Central Park, Times Square, and elsewhere in Manhattan
(I also left one, not pictured, on Staten Island)

In addition to her amazing rocks, Cara also posts daily pictures of things that make her happy. It could be her rocks, an amazing cactus, a picture of Paul, a heart she found in nature, her yoga practice, and a multitude of other things. You can follow her on Instagram at @azjoyfinder. Her joy is contagious, and she continues to inspire me.

Valentine Vows

March 1941. Ken was a young man in love. He had to been getting to know Marian for some time, and he knew she was the one. He asked and she said yes! He was able to buy a ring shortly thereafter in a fire sale at a local jewelry store. Plans for the happy event began. Unfortunately, as someone once said (and even sang), "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans." 

April 1941. Plans for the wedding went on hold, as the draft caused upheaval and found him suddenly sent by train to Louisiana for boot camp. It was a lonely time, as the people he met were nothing like the people he had known back home in North Dakota. He clung to his faith and exchanged letters with Marian and family back home. In July of that year, he got word that his brother Melvin and Marian's sister Pearl were planning a wedding. Loneliness intensified. (Melvin would also go on to fight in the war.)

December 7, 1941 was, as President Franklin D. Roosevelt put it, "a date which will live in infamy." Japanese forces bombed Pearl Harbor, killing thousands, sinking ships, and throwing the US into the War. Ken's upcoming furlough was put on hold as they were taken by train through Texas to San Francisco, on to Pendleton, Oregon, and then to Boise, Idaho. It was during this time that he got a phone call from his beloved Marian. She had the chance to take the train to Boise! He was able to arrange with his superior officers to get leave to find her in town and help her find a hotel when she arrived in early February 1942. The happy couple spent time together when he was permitted to do so by his very accommodating superiors. Ken and Marian bought a wedding ring on Thursday, and got their marriage license at the courthouse on Friday. They had passed a Baptist church advertising a Wednesday prayer meeting, and the pastor's name and phone number were on the sign board out front. Ken and Marian crowded into a telephone booth and called the pastor. When they asked him if he could perform the ceremony, the pastor asked...

"When?"
"Now."
"Do you have a marriage license?"
"Yes, we do."
"Do you have witnesses?"

They hadn't thought about that. The pastor invited them to his house to discuss. They would need at least two witnesses. The pastor's wife would be able to be one, and as they were brainstorming who could be the second witness, the pastor's wife commented that new neighbors had just moved in across the street, and she could go meet them and find out if they would be willing to do them a favor. The only people at the ceremony who knew each other were the pastor and his wife, and Ken and Marian. The neighbor who came over met everyone there for the first time. 

It was Saturday, February 14, 1942. Valentine's Day.

That act of kindness to strangers began a long and happy marriage, though it would be a while before they would be able to spend much time together. They stayed together as long as they could until Ken's unit was sent back to California to catch the ship across the Pacific. Marian took the train back home, and Ken would go on to serve in New Caledonia, a small island off the eastern Australian coast. He would later be transferred to Europe, where he was part of the victory parade through Paris on V-E Day.

Sometime after his return to North Dakota, they had their first child. Four more children followed. Between 1973 and 1993, they welcomed seven grandchildren (the fourth being me). 1999 started a new era, as he dedicated his first great-grandson. Seven more great-grandchildren have followed in the years since.

Find someone who looks at you the way my
grandparents looked at each other in 1985.

They were happily married for 47 years.

The morning of November 7, 1989, Philippine time, my parents came in my room. Usually it was just my mom who came to wake me up, but I knew something was up when my dad was with her. They told me they had gotten a call the previous evening that Grandma and Grandpa had been together praying. When Grandpa was done, he waited for Grandma to take her turn, and she was silent. He looked up to discover she was too busy rejoicing at the feet of Jesus.

The afternoon of May 9, 2015, our family was gathered around his bed. He was moaning in pain. We each said our good byes. I asked him to give Grandma a big hug for me. My cousin Annika told him that she loved him, and he replied, "I love you." It was the last intelligible thing he said. My mom's cousin Nola arrived and he opened his eyes and acknowledged her. My mom was holding his hand and it went limp. Annika, a nurse, felt for a pulse and found none. My mom said, "He's singing with the angels." He was four months short of 100 years old.

I don't know how my grandparents' reunion went, but I imagine them running into each other's arms on the golden streets and dancing for joy, along with their son Robert, who was killed in a traffic accident in 1979. They weren't much for dancing in this life, but I picture them dancing arm in arm in heaven.

Perhaps they were joined in the reunion by a man whose name I don't even know, but whose kindness in performing a wedding ceremony at his house in Boise, Idaho for two strangers changed the course of their lives and paved the way for a long and happy relationship. A pastor who heeded the sage advice by the author of Hebrews (13:2), "Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it!"

Kindness in the Flood

Cainta, Philippines (near Manila). That evening, we were gathered around the piano singing from a songbook while my mom played piano. We sang a bunch of songs we knew (folksongs, if I remember right), and then we found a very short song called "Scotland's Burning" that we didn't know until then:

Scotland's burning! Scotland's burning!
Look out! Look out!
Fire, fire, fire, fire!
Pour on water, pour on water!

The song was so absurd that we sang it several times, and I could still sing it today.

It had been stormy and rainy the past few days, but we were safe in our house, content in the fact that our driveway had an incline, so it was about 3 feet above street level, should the torrential rain cause flooding. In the past, floods had covered the streets, but never serious enough to reach the level of our driveway.

So I was a bit confused when I woke up the following morning, June 28, 1985, to find living room furniture in our room on the second level of our split-level house (there were about 2 steps between levels). When I went out to investigate, I was shocked to discover water streaming under our sliding glass door into the lower level of the house! My parents and our helper who lived with us had moved furniture and as much other stuff as they could to the second level as the water was approaching. If I remember right, they put the refrigerator on blocks. (I don't remember if it was ours or a friend's, but somebody's refrigerator actually started to float.)

Friends came to help

As the water was about 5 feet deep in the street, it was too deep for me to go out by myself, but with the rate the water was coming in, I also couldn't stay in the house! (At its peak, it was about 2 feet deep in the house.)

Thankfully, our neighbors came to the rescue. They had a much higher second floor where I would be safe. My dad carried me over to the neighbors' house, where they let me stay and wait out the flood waters, while the adults frantically worked to save everything they could from the rising water.

Our neighbors were very friendly. They had a sari-sari store on their ground floor; that is, a small family store with a counter and window. Customers come up to the counter and order food or anything else they want to buy, and then the owners go back and get it, and bring it out. Sari-sari stores were an amazing source of steaming hot rolls (called pandesal) and other fresh food, peanuts, snacks, and other items. As the neighbors' ground floor was also flooded, they had brought their wares up to the second floor, where it was safer. They also had kids, some of whom were younger than me. I remember the neighbors showing me how their dogs could swim. We went out on their porch, and they threw the dogs into the flooded street, and they swam back to us. (The porch had a stairway down to the ground, so that served as the main door in the front of their house, directly above the store.) People in the neighborhood used doors as rafts. Tall friends came over to help my parents with anything they needed. I was amused how some of them used umbrellas, with flood waters up to their shoulders at times, because we wouldn't want to get wet!

[Continued below the pictures]

At our front gate
(The place they were standing was above the street;
thus why the water doesn't come as high on them.
The picture at the top of this post shows
them standing in the street in front of our house.)

Once the water was shallow enough for me to wade in it, my parents got me and I went back to help out. As we bailed water out of the upper level of the house, we were singing, "Pour on water, pour on water!"

That's me on the right, helping to clean the gate.
My t-shirt said "You drive me Bumby's."
No idea what that means, but it still makes me smile.

That was also when we learned our street was on more of an incline than we realized. It didn't look like a hill, as it was gradual, but it was 5 feet deep on our end of the street, and only a couple inches on the other end.

So many people stepped up to help. As with most floods, some people were affected more than others. Some friends had houses on higher ground. Our neighbors took me in to wait it out, safe on their second floor. They did it with a smile, and kept everything as positive and fun as they could. Other friends came to our house while it was flooded to help out. Once the flood water receded, we had a bit of a work party to clean the mud that caked our floors and walls, as well as the car, and move everything back. We put mattresses out on the railings in our backyard to dry out. As difficult as the flood was, everyone's positive attitude was a big help. 

We were able to find humor. I thought it was hilarious that people were wading through shoulder-deep water (in some cases) and holding umbrellas so as not to get wet. The neighbors throwing their dogs into the street made me laugh. (It was safe, as the water was deep enough and the dogs were good swimmers.) The song we had sung the previous evening (about a disaster, no less) kept the tone light as we worked to bail water out.

We were working hard, and nobody wants their house flooded and property damaged. Even so, thanks to everyone's positive attitude and kind, generous spirit, it is actually a happy memory for me on the whole. I wouldn't want to repeat it, but it was a generally happy memory! It's funny how that works.

People sitting on the roof of a pickup,
which was mostly submerged

Mister Rogers' New Neighborhood

Fred Rogers was one of those rare people who was able to maintain a child-like spirit in a world full of grown-ups who had lost all sense of the wonder of childhood. He could always find the positive things in life, no matter what was going on. In scary situations, he advised us to "look for the helpers" (quoting his mother). He was widely admired across the globe. Our world needs more people like him, who show kindness to everyone, no matter their background, skin color, beliefs or anything else, and encourage others to do the same.

I wrote this poem February 27, 2003 after he passed away from stomach cancer. It is based partly on the theme song for Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, and mentions some of his puppets.

Mister Rogers with King Friday
Fotos International/Getty

He’s in a new neighborhood
And it’s a beautiful day up there
The streets are made of gold
And the lake is clear as crystal
He’s meeting new friends
And reuniting with old friends
And all the neighbors are bowing
At the feet of the One who made them neighbors
The One who taught them
How to be a neighbor

It’s a beautiful day in the new neighborhood
It will always be day in the new neighborhood
It will never end
No more need to pretend

He introduced us to King Friday
Now he bows before the King of Kings
He talked about Prince Tuesday
Now he kneels before the Prince of Peace
We learned about a tiger, a cat and an owl
He has now met the Lion of Judah and the Lamb of God

He’s always wanted to have a Neighbor just like that.

Good Samaritan in the Big Sky State

Montana, early 1970s. A young elementary teacher taught at one school in the morning and another in the afternoon. That day, she was driving through the countryside on the icy roads, from one school to the other. She was on a schedule and had to get to class on time. So it was a bit alarming when the tire blew! She was young and had never changed a tire before. This was in the days before cell phones, so her options were limited out there in the middle of nowhere, in the cold.

Having pulled off the road, she set about trying to figure out what to do. She had to get to class, so needed to figure something out quickly!

Then it happened.

Another car approached, and pulled off the road. The driver, a stranger, got out and approached the stranded woman. She doesn't remember if they even talked, but he volunteered to change her tire. Once he was done, he drove off, and she never saw him again.

Photo by Vlad
Adobe Stock

That young teacher made it to class, grateful for the kindness of a complete stranger who happened to be at the right place at the right time. She wondered if he was an angel.

This teacher is still young today, but somewhat less young than she was approximately 50 years ago. I know her very well; in fact, she has taught me a lot of what I know. She and her husband would go on to have two sons later in that decade. They named their second son Steven.