Hope for Tomorrow

Page 28

Sunday the townsfolk were slow but happy. Pastor Joseph was greeting everyone outside of church and welcoming them in. It was the last day of summer for the children as the next day school was starting.

Some of them were a little itchy to get back outside during the service and Pastor noticed. So, he called all the children to the front of the church. He had them sit around him as he talked about the reading he just read from the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 14, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." As he looked around at them he told them, "At one point during Jesus' earthly ministry, some children were brought to Him so that He could lay hands on them and pray for them but, the disciples tried to turn the children away, do you know why?

"Maybe they just didn't like children," Opal shrugged. Several children laughed.

Pastor Joseph reassured them, "Of course they liked children, they loved children, but in Jesus's time they felt bringing children to Jesus was socially improper or because they thought the children would bother Jesus. They weren't being unkind, but acted out of wanting to respect Jesus' position as a teacher. But Jesus wanted the children to come to Him. He said, "Let the children come," because He wanted to bless them."

"So, then it's all right if we come to church, right Pastor?" Benjamin asked.

"Yes, Jesus wants you to come, hear the Scripture, and love one another. Coming up here to listen to me is like when Jesus asked the children in His time to come to Him," he smiled. "So, let's all stand and sing, shall we?"

Dee went to the front and asked the children to sing "Jesus Loves the Little Children," with her. The chorus of young voices were loud and strong.

After the service, the people got a tour of the addition to the church/school. Some of the families hadn't seen the inside and were quite impressed.

"I hope this accommodates all the extra children who will be joining us," Elizabeth said.

"How many new students will there be?" Anna asked.

"At the start, there won't be a lot, until the row houses are finished and the men from the tent city can bring their families here. So, you probably won't meet most of them until later this year," Elizabeth explained.

Lee spoke up then and reported that there were several rows houses on the second street already for families to move in. That caused some excitement among the folks.

"It won't be long now before Mountie Nathan and his family move into their new home. The Mercantile and Minnie's Cafe are just about finished too. So as you can tell, we've been very busy!" Lee crowed proudly.

"That's what we are very happy to hear, Lee," Nathan told him, "the sooner we move in, the sooner I can get dad to move in with us. He needs his surgery, but we don't want him to be alone afterwards."

"You should be able to move in by the end of the coming week," Lee grinned, "then we have to get busy planning Bill's bachelor party."

"Any luck getting some dancing girls?" Mike Hickam asked with a huge smile on his face.

"Do you have any connections Mike?" Henry teased.

"Hey, don't look at me, I'm just asking, that's all. A guy can wish, can't he?" Mike answered defensively.

"Well as your Sargent, we must keep this legal, you know this, right fellas?" Nathan added.

"Aww, that's no fun!" Ned joined in, laughing.

Flo walked up to the circle of men, "What's no fun?" she asked.

"Well honey, we're talking about the bachelor party for Bill and I guess it'll just be poker and darts. So, I was just saying, that's no fun," Ned explained.

"Oh, that reminds me, we ladies have to get busy with making arrangements for Molly's shower, so I better meet up with the women now, please excuse me," and off she left as quick as she came.

Marie Landoch was looking for Elizabeth and saw her in the corner talking to Superintendent Malone. "Excuse me Elizabeth, may I talk to you for a moment please? It's about Benjamin."

Elizabeth nodded, "Of course," and led Marie by her arm over to a quiet corner under a tree. "What is your concern?"

"I just need to let you know that Benjamin has a bit of a problem. Lillian told us when we adopted him that Benjamin was neglected as a baby and young child. His nutrition was not good at all and his cognitive skills suffered from lack of not only proper nutrition but lack of stimulation. So, now that he's been socializing with others he can communicate all right, but his comprehension has been compromised. He's what she described as 'slow'." Marie said sadly.

"Oh, I'm sorry Marie. How far is he in school?"

"Well, he hasn't been able to learn to read and he has a hard time with arithmetic."

"I see, well, I'd like to test him and find out what he does know, then I'll be able to suggest what extra things we can do to help him," Elizabeth suggested. "Why don't you bring him over to my house so we can meet in private. I wouldn't want any of the children to make him feel uncomfortable."

"Wonderful!" Marie was so relieved she hugged Elizabeth.

"Bring him over later this afternoon, and we'll access him now before school starts tomorrow. Will 2:00 work for you?"

"Yes, of course, we'll be there." Marie was elated as she left seeking her husband, Bob.

Hope for Tomorrow

Page 29

The Landochs knocked on Elizabeth's door right at 2:00. Karen came along just in case Jack was awake as she offered to play with him. Jack had fallen asleep looking at his books on his bed after church, but had just woke up to eat some lunch a little while before, so Karen took Jack outside to play.

Elizabeth asked Benjamin to come over to the kitchen table while his parents sat on the sofa. She held up pictures of common things, animals, people, etc. to see what words he used to identify them. Then, she held up words, like cow, school, fish, and banker of the pictures she just showed him. Just as she expected, he couldn't read the words. Elizabeth then asked him to tell her what individual letters were, but still no answers. Benjamin was getting frustrated and embarrassed.

"Do you know how letters sound"? Elizabeth asked. Benjamin just shook his head and looked down.

"Let's try numbers," Elizabeth suggested. As she held up numbers he knew a few, but not enough to count to ten.

"One more thing Benjamin, do you know the names of colors?" Elizabeth pointed to his clothes and objects in the kitchen. That he was successful with.

"Great Benjamin! Can you tell me what schooling you've had already?"

Benjamin looked at his Mom and Dad and looked back at Elizabeth trying to think what to say. Marie softly told him, "Benjamin you don't have to worry about this, there's no right or wrong, Mrs. Thornton just needs to know what you've done at school so far, that's all."

Elizabeth nodded and smiled warmly, waiting for Benjamin to share with her.

Finally, he barely spoke, more like a whisper, "I didn't go to no school," he said sadly. "I was too stupid," he began to tear up. The Landochs were surprised, but immediately felt sorry for him.

Elizabeth reached over and grabbed Benjamin's hand. "That's all right, Benjamin. We can start together. After school Mrs. Grant or I will work with you one on one. If you work hard, we'll make up for the time you didn't go to school. It'll be fun, you'll see."

"I'm also going to talk to Mrs. Grant. There's a connection that's been proven to work by combining music and learning. Certain tunes or jingles stimulate the learning process for easier memorization."

Bob looked at Marie, put his arm around her, and then asked a difficult question of Elizabeth, "Is he by any chance retar...?

Elizabeth stopped him from completing the question. "No, I can reassure you that Benjamin is intelligent. Slow processing speed has nothing to do with how smart people are—just how quickly they take in and use information."

Both Marie and Bob let out a sigh of relief. "I'm so glad you are his teacher Mrs. Thornton and that you understand what he needs. We will do anything you want us to do to provide for Benjamin with the best opportunity to learn. You can count on us."

"Does that mean I can go to school with Karen?" Benjamin asked happily.

"It sure does Benjamin. I look forward to having you tomorrow morning," Elizabeth reassured him.

"Just to let you know, Angela is also learning braille from me, so Benjamin won't be the only child I have to give extra time to. I'll also ask Mr. Malone if he has any suggestions that I am not aware of to help him. If there are any questions as we go along, be sure to ask me. We're in this together," Elizabeth said optimistically.

"Thank you very much!" Marie hugged Elizabeth and Bob shook her hand.

Karen brought little Jack inside. The Landochs were satisfied and happy that they all met and left feeling much more confident about Benjamin's new experience in school the next day.

When Karen asked to stop by Allie's as they walked home, Allie told her to get her bicycle to ride out with her to the Peterson farm to check on Penny.

In a little while, the two of them arrived and Penny was happy to see her Allie. Karen helped to brush her down and when Lana came out, she showed her where to bring Penny over for a bath. That was one thing Allie still needed to learn. It was fun and Penny didn't mind. Once they were done with the bath Allie got Penny fed. Being a warm day, he didn't take long for Penny to dry off.

Lana asked, "Are you ready to go for a ride out in the country Allie?"

"Yes, I would love that, but what about Karen?"

"She can ride with me, if she wants to," Lana invited, "It's not hard for Shiloh with two lightweights like us, but we will walk easy and not far."

"You don't have to ask me twice," laughed Karen.

The girls got Penny saddled up and Allie mounted her. Lana helped Karen up to ride with her. They took a leisurely Sunday walk out in the country. Allie was getting more and more confident with her riding skills.

"Lana, we are expecting to move in to our new house at the end of next week, so I'll be able to bring Penny to her new stable soon!" Allie shared.

"Oh, I'll be sad to see Penny go and not have any more visits with you," Lana remarked wistfully.

"Don't worry Lana, I'll ride over."

"I should tell you, Allie, I'll be going off to school. When I helped out in the War, I was working as a nurse assistant and really enjoyed helping the sick and wounded. So, I'll be going off to school to get a degree as an official nurse," Lana informed her.

"That will be great, I mean, I'll miss you, but it won't be long with your experience I bet," Allie smiled.

"Maybe, just one year, I hope," Lana answered, "but I'll miss you too."

"Just write or call me please," Allie suggested.

"Of course, I will," Lana grinned as they continued to ride.

Hope for Tomorrow

Page 30

Molly and Bill were meeting with Fr. Ricardo after mass. It worked out so nicely that Fr. was able to stay at the cabin for the time being while St. James was being built. This way he was available on a regular basis and his parishioners liked that. As they sat on the sofa, Fr. Ricardo offered them a cup of tea.

"Well, you're wedding is coming up in a few weeks and since it's getting close, I thought we'd go over the wedding mass and any questions we still need to address," Fr. Ricardo started. "I spoke with Pastor Joseph and that Saturday will be just fine with him as he has no plans for use of the church that day. Do you want to pick out the readings for the mass, or do you want me to?"

Molly spoke up first, "I love the Irish poem, Traditional Irish Blessing,

"May the road rise to meet you, may the wind be always at your back.
may the sun shine warm upon your face, the rains fall soft upon your fields. and until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of his hand... so I want that included somewhere." Fr. Ricardo nodded his head in the affirmative, "That would be a wonderful choice for your final blessing as husband and wife. I'd be happy to use that in it's entirety." Bill wanted everything to be the way Molly hoped. He knew this was the last marriage for both of them and he wanted his bride to be the happiest woman by his side. "Father, I have no special requests. I admit that I was not much of a church-going man, but Molly has inspired me to practice her faith. It's my desire to become a Catholic to fully join her in our marriage." Molly looked at Bill with deep love and affection knowing what he just said, was not easy for a man of his cynical character. "Bill, I don't expect that, truly, it's totally up to you." "Molly, I need to come to grips that I don't know much about God, but I believe He's been knocking at my door all my life, and I just need to let him in. So, I reckon, now's a good time as any," he smiled a half-grin and winked at her. Fr. Ricardo happily explained to Bill that they would still get married as planned, but when they got back from their honeymoon he would start instruction so there would be no rush. This way they could take their time and Bill could ask all the questions he wanted. He told them both that Easter was the time Bill would be given all the sacraments he needed. This was going to work out perfectly and the two of them were very happy. "Now, I might suggest Genesis 2:18-24 as a reading and a Gospel reading from St. Matthew 19:4-6. He read them out loud and they liked them both. I will of course, give a homily, followed by the exchanging of vows and rings. Will you have a flower girl and ring bearer?" Fr. Ricardo asked. "Yes, we will have a ring bearer," Bill answered, "my Godchild, Jack Thornton. I know he's young, but he and Elizabeth are like family to me." "Perfect," Fr. Ricardo smiled. "I don't have a flower girl though," Molly whispered. "That's fine, it's your wedding, and you don't have to have one," Fr. Ricardo reassured her. "Now, what about music?" Molly lit up this time, "This is my department! If Angela could play Canon in D for the processional, and "Ode to Joy" for our recessional, I would really appreciate that. I would love for Dee to sing "Ave Maria," somewhere, what do you think, Bill?" "Perfect," Bill smiled and held Molly's hand. "All right Molly, that sounds good, Dee could see Ave Maria during the Communion. Have you asked Angela or Dee if they know the songs?" Fr. Ricardo asked. "I did mention it to Dee and she does know Ave Maria, so all I have to do is check with Angela, and if she doesn't know, I'll find out what songs she can play or I can also check with Carson. He plays the piano and guitar," Molly said. "Now last, but not least, do you two have vows written?" Bill gulped, and Molly caught that. "Bill, you didn't write your vows yet?" "Honey, I've been busy with all the land sales and building permits that I haven't had time," Bill winced. "Bill, this is more important! You know we are getting close to the wedding. When do you plan on writing them?" Molly demanded. "Tonight. First thing." Bill promised. "So, our Italian dinner out tonight at Romanos in Brookfield, will be cut short?" Molly looked unhappy. "No, no, of course not, Red, I can do both, it won't take long," he smiled warmly. "Bill Avery, you'll be too tired to write something from your heart!" Molly stood up, "let's go, I have to talk to Angela anyways, and you can go write your vows, before dinner!" Molly said emphatically. "Bill grabbed his hat, "I guess, we gotta' run. Thank you, Fr. Ricardo," Bill said. Molly thanked Fr. Ricardo too and was the first out the door. Fr. Ricardo laughed, and said, "Thank you God that I am single!"