HELLO & GOODBYE

August 20, 2010 Friday

Two sweet women have passed through our lives today. First is Julia Eastland. She’s the woman who came to Broome to help her daughter who had tried to commit suicide. Julia arrived 10 months ago and couldn’t find the church up here. When we came, a friend of hers in the Jandakot Ward had given us her phone # so we contacted her and got her coming to church. What a delightful woman she is and has been such a great addition to the branch here. She’s 79 and has been divorced for 30 years. She loves church history and can tell you all kinds of things about the early church brethren that she read ages ago and can still remember. She’s got a great sense of humor and makes us laugh with her funny way of expressing great wisdom. Today she called to say she’s flying back to Perth tomorrow to help out her granddaughter whose boyfriend has left her with a tiny baby. We will miss her so much.
And then today we visited Joan Newman. She’s the woman who came to the Family History exhibit and said she felt her father was telling her to do her family history. Joan is about 80. Her husband died 15 years or so ago. She has 4 children whom she refers to as “The Executive Committee” because they seem to be in charge now that she’s a widow. What a fun lady to talk to! First off, she hadn’t had time to get on the family history because she’s finishing up her art certificate at the local community college here. Her husband worked in the mining industry with the Aborigines in figuring out what land could be used for mining and what was sacred land and had to be left alone. She’s lived all over Australia mostly in small towns. She loves Broome because it’s small and easy to get to things. She lived here years ago when they had their first child and there were no air conditioners or fans! I can’t imagine surviving that, but she is very upbeat and happy with her life. She has great faith in God and says the only way to get through life is to turn it over to “Him.” She attends the Anglican Church, raised her kids in the church but none of them go anymore. It’s so common here to run into people who are so faithful yet none of their children even consider God to be a part of their lives. She said we could visit her again. We are going to get her the free download of the Legacy Family History program and put it on her laptop for her. She’s heading south when it gets really hot here and will work on the family history down there which is where her father’s family came from.