Day 7

Day 7 – Sunday

It’s been a quiet time and/or a busy time since I arrived in Moses Lake. I thought I brought just a light load of work with me, but I’ve hardly made a dent in it.

Arriving in Moses Lake in the early evening on Sunday I picked up a car from my daughter, Sara, saying hi to my son-in-law and grandson. My daughter was watching over her nieces and nephews at my first daughter’s home and when I got there I found the rest of the family. My sister, Mari, and brother-in-law had picked me up from the airport and had graciously taken my luggage to my parents home where I am going to stay for the 16 days my sisters are out of town (18 days total travel time).

Monday and Tuesday the sun was shining and I enjoyed eating my breakfast outside. It’s cold here in Moses Lake. Today it was 29°F. Talking to David one day, it was 32°F here while it was 72°F at home. Today started out sunny then clouded over.

Back to Monday. After having devotions then eating my breakfast, because I needed to fix the brake light on my daughter’s Prius and Dad had a doctor’s appointment we agreed to go our separate ways and meet at Safeway for groceries. I went to AutoZone and the gal there said they couldn’t even order the brake light. I had to go to Toyota. So I went there and showed the young man behind the counter the part I needed (took him out to the car) and he sold me a two-dollar bulb that possibly doesn’t even belong to a Prius (maybe an interior light). He did tell me that he didn’t usually work the counter but worked in the back, stocking shelves. Turns out the part he was supposed to sell me costs $250.00 and they have to install it, an LED array.

About 11:00 we went to the store to get the groceries. This took us longer than we planned so I went straight to Mari and Tim’s home where we were all gathering for lunch before both sisters left town. Dad took the groceries home and put them away before coming over. Dad and Mari-Tim live only one mile apart.

After lunch I got some work done, I am in need of reading all the handouts from the seminar I attended just before leaving (I still haven’t made it half-way through). Not many hours later, I then sat down to eat dinner and watch TV with Dad for the evening.

On Tuesday after devotions and breakfast I had payroll to do for one of my clients. I had just finished the payroll when Eve invited me out for coffee. Later, Dad had told me that the whirlpool bathtub didn’t work, but I decided to find out for myself. After I spent about an hour fussing around it found I needed to borrow two screwdrivers, which he finally gave me today. I need to see if there is a leak or if the hot water is turned off or if there may be another problem, because, so far, the only problem I have found is no hot water. After that I tried to study (work) but the words were just putting me to sleep so I decided to start my painting instead. Have I mentioned that I’m going to try my hand at two small paintings this year? I don’t know how far it will go, just something to help with the imagination.

Wednesday. Dad likes lunch about 1:00pm and asked me to join him for a TV movie. He likes “Signed, Sealed, Delivered” (Hallmark channel) and introduced me to it. I like it too. Shortly after lunch Sara came by for an hour (or more). Then back to work.

Thursday was more working in the morning. We (being Dad & I) had lunch with Eve, Orrin, and Gus at the Rock Top Burgers & Brew followed by attending assembly at the Stein children’s school to watch granddaughter Amelia receive an award. Sara brought granddaughter Madi by after school for a visit.

Friday. Eve, Orrin, Gus and I went on an adventure. Eve wanted to teach Orrin (homeschooler) how to use a camera. He was interested until it was time to take the photos. We ended up at the park in Soap Lake. We started to head out to Sun Lakes but shortly turned around and came back home for Gus’ sake. Still, we had fun. We were back in time to go out to eat with Dad and JoAnna (niece). It turned out the Christina and David (sister & brother-in-law) would join us also.  They don't live in Moses Lake. This lunch had been planned with Christina and then David had an emergency, he had cut off the top portion of three fingers on his left hand. But he was released from the hospital and bandaged up with instructions to keep his fingers pointed up, so they both came. Lunch was at Michael’s Bistro.

In the afternoon I headed for Cascade Valley (Moses Lake) to visit my friends Ron and Becca Sawyer. Their family was the first one to greet our family when we first moved to Moses Lake 28 years ago. Their first daughter, Lisa, was also there. She is soon to have her second baby. During my visit, I had left my purse and cell phone in the car and missed the calls from my daughter, Sara. She came by in the evening while waiting to pick Madi up from school.

Saturday was a slow day … then a family dinner (tacos) at Eve’s house: Dad, my daughters, my sons-in-law, and seven grandkids. I am lovingly and richly blessed.

Today, Sunday, church, then lunch with Ron and Becca. I needed to pick up a few things at Walmart so I went there before returning to Dad’s. Got back to Dad’s right about 3:00pm and spent a quiet afternoon and evening with him.

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Day 8 – it’s snowing! With a strong, bitter-cold wind blowing.

Finished addressing & taping up a large box of Mom’s purses, shipping them off to Barbara. She and two other ladies will go through them and decide to which project each will go. We are having a purse auction to raise money for our Glendale Corps of The Salvation Army’s building remodeling (major repairs to the Admin-Classroom building) and also another service project involving purses.

Took the purses to UPS, then a quick stop to see if Sara was free to say hi, and what was supposed to be a quick stop at Mari-Tim’s house to drop stuff off, but took longer because the cats were hungry and then the door wouldn’t lock.

Work: Admin stuff, then lunch and this blog. It is now 3:10 and we will leave in about a half hour to go to Eve to see the movie I want to watch with Dad, “I Can Only Imagine”. He hasn’t seen it yet. Even if his church had shown it he wouldn’t have been able to leave Mom to go watch.

I thought about changing the title of this blog since I added one more day and then decided to leave it alone.

Eulogy for Mom

Eulogy for Mom – Marian Evelyn Waley Isaacson June 9, 1936 to January 10, 2019

My mother was blessed.

She had a husband who loved her and she loved him too. Mom and Dad were High School sweethearts at Lincoln High School in N. Seattle. Three months after they married Dad, who was in the Air National Guard 143^rd Aircraft Control & Warning Squadron, was stationed in Fairbanks, Alaska. They were separated for eight months before Mom joined him in Alaska. That is where they met Dean & Marlene Albee; and my brother Dean and I became their namesakes, Marlene being my middle name.  Then eight months later they were back in Seattle where I was born at the Fort Laughton Military Hospital in Seattle. Mom loved visiting Alaska and she was able to do so many times because of our brother who is still living in the Fairbanks area for most of his adult life. She loved the feeling of the open, rugged, cold outdoors.

Our parents were prolific: eight children. They showed us how to love in good as well as bad times and more importantly, to love the Lord. She spent a lot of hours in prayer for her children. She prayed us all into His kingdom. I am so glad for her prayers and her faith. They built a strong prayer and spiritual life in me, something that has strengthened me when times were hard in my own life, as it has in my siblings. We, the eight children, loved Mom dearly with our loyalty and camaraderie. This love for her spread out to one another. It wasn’t always sugar and spice growing up, but as we grew we all bonded in a way that made us a strong, loving family.

It didn’t seem like bonding at the time, but most every summer we would take a trip together as our "tribe” visited the Northwest outdoors: the Oregon coast and lower British Columbia I remember as particularly beautiful. I especially remember the huge horse fly that bit me. We were also regular attenders at Lake Retreat Family Camp, another outdoor activity our family enjoyed.

Mom loved God and spent a lot of time in His Word, in prayer and in teaching others about God’s love. I thank God for such a mother, devoted to God. Her love for God was a powerful witness not only to her children, but also friends, neighbors, and the people at church.

She had many lifetime friends, from high school, from their time in Alaska, from church & other places, especially Dean & Marlene Albee, Dwight & Marie Sharp, Rosemary Klontz, Al & Betty Verbarendse, and Earl Fey, just to name a few.

There was a special place in her heart for missions. This was so great: she always invited missionaries who visited our church to spend their nights at our home. Our door was always open to them. How exciting to hear their stories of their great faith! They inspired not only our family, but many others as well. She and dad invited one musician, Mario Honoré, to stay with us. As it turned out, he stayed for a month.

In the late 1970s Mom and Dad formed Reaching Ministries to invite friends to visit with missionaries in their home to explain their ministry, and tell us of their needs, such as computers, cars, and other items. These were things their mission didn’t supply or provide funds for. Then the invited listeners would try to fulfill that need. Of course the missionaries shared their inspiring stories of faith as well. Reaching Ministries later evolved to support native pastors and orphans in India and Myanmar, plus a couple of other ministries. As it turned out, my mother blessed as many missionaries as blessed us. I am so proud of her.

Mom’s hobbies: she collected fabrics. Her intention was to sew something so she usually bought a pattern as well, but then the item rarely was made and the pile of fabrics grew. She also collected dolls and books. She especially loved cookbooks.

I can’t remember a time when Mom didn’t have a pet. I think there was always at least one dog or cat in our home. One of her favorite dogs was a rescue dog, Tuner. He was a Shetland sheepdog. A very nervous dog, but he was (mostly) fun to have around.

Mom and Dad eventually moved to a lovely house with a great view of Puget Sound. As nice as this home was and its spectacular views, Dad asked her to move to Moses Lake. At first mom was skeptical of this decision. She was so happy in that home on the Sound, Yes, Dad was asking her to move to the desert, but he promised they would live on the lake. As it turned out she quickly fell in love with Moses Lake.

Many times in her life, but especially in these last several years as it does for all who grow old, sickness prevented her from being as active in church as she liked. But now, healed again, I know she is so happy to be with Jesus, serving Him in his Heavenly Kingdom. She has been promoted to Glory!

Psalm 139: 13-14 “For You formed my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother’s womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous are Your works, and I know this very well.…”

God knew just what kind of person He wanted me to be and He gave me the right set of parents to make me that person. I also have been blessed - because of Mom’s love and care for me.