Joy in the Journey - April 30, 1997

Transcription:

Wed. Apr. 30, '97

Dear Lord,
At the moment, it is really Thurs. morning - Thank-you that you answer prayer. Last night we honored the Annual National Day of Prayer a few hours early, with some of our church family here in our (my) living-room and others in Wayne + Christina's home. Here there were Gordon + Teri Babbitt, Gene, Joanne, Terry + Mary, Marian, Mavis, Kenny, Donald + myself.

Thank-you for Frank, who is a "Handyman" and works some at Ace Hardware. He put in a new garbage disposal and repaired the kitchen faucet (I had never met him before).

Thank-You, Lord. Irv says he would fly with Mark this summer for a visit here. Please let us work this out for the best of all involved.

Thank-you that all refreshments were here in my freezers already! Thank-You, dear Lord, for your guidance! Amen

Interpretation:
It is no surprise that Dorothy took part in the National Day of Prayer. She has long been a devout Christian and from her journal entries it is clear that she believes in and loves God. Most interesting to some of us is the fact that she placed trust in this unknown man, Frank from Ace Hardware, to come work in her home. Being a recent widow, we know there is not a lot of household repairs she would (or could) have done on her own. But in today's world, that level of trust is hard to come by.

An interesting side note is that mark, Dorothy's grandson, was scheduled to fly out for a visit. Irv, who was going to fly with Mark, is Dorothy's son and Mark's uncle.

References:
- Hollingsworth, D. B. (1997). Joy in the Journey. Private Collection.
- National Day of Prayer. Retrieved on May 4, 2011 from the National Day of Prayer site http://nationaldayofprayer.org/
- Numerous facts were gathered from the private Richard Family Estate collection. These facts span numerous sources of information and contain genealogical data, photos, and newspaper articles.

Joy in the Journey - April 29, 1997

Transcription:

Tues. Apr. 29, 1997

Dear God + Father of us all,
You are so awesome.. to think you sent your Son..to die for our sins. That is truly amazing. Thank-You. Thank-you for Casey, my dog. Thank-You for your love + guidance, for Bible Study Fellowship, for Aquicaise Classes, for Gene + Joanne take me to our local high-school last night to hear the band (that was one of the few in the nation chosen to play for the Inaugural parade in Wash. D.C. in January.), and the choir and the Watsonville English Brass Band! How uplifting music can be. Ted would have loved it all, including the spaghetti dinner! And the French horns (tears and "Send in the Clowns" Diana would have loved (more tears going down my cheeks [she drew a frowny face with tears]. Now, I pray for Gary, Laurie & their attorneys, Willie, Alfred, Sylvester, Travis, Ivan + Mark, for Ray + Yvonne, Jim Canaday, Marian + for my Sue. You know their needs. Please let them accept your guidance and direction. Thank-You, Lord. Amen

Interpretation:
Based on our research, the high school marching band that performed in the Inaugural Parade in 1997 was from the North Monterey County High School. This would have been President Clinton's second inauguration. The "Casey" mentioned is her pet poodle. The Watsonville English Brass Band appears to have changed their name to the Pacific Brass Band.

The "Ted" mentioned is her second husband, Ted Hollingsworth, who had passed away before she began keeping this journal. He played the French horn in his earlier days. The mention of "Send in the Clowns" and Diana is a reference to her daughter Diana Brown who died just hours apart from her husband Ted. The song "Send in the Clowns" was apparently one of her favorites and was played at her funeral. Surely hearing this song and hearing the French horns was quite moving for Dorothy. We can only imagine what she was thinking at the time.

References:
- Hollingsworth, D. B. (1997). Joy in the Journey. Private Collection.
- Johnson, D. L. (2004). How to Shake the Money Tree. Retrieved on February 8, 2011 from the Music Exchange Consultants site: http://www.musicexchangeconsultants.com/Site/Grant-Writing.html
- Pacific Brass Band. Retrieved on February 8, 2011 from the Pacific Brass Band site: http://www.pacificbrassband.org/
- "Send in the Clowns" (1997). Performed by Indiana University of Pennsylvania Marching Band. Retrieved on February 8, 2011 from YouTube site: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3bdAcckB00
- Numerous facts were gathered from the private Richard Family Estate collection. These facts span numerous sources of information and contain genealogical data, photos, and newspaper articles.

Joy in the Journey - April 28, 1997

Transcription:

Mon. April 28, 1997

Dear Father, Thank-you, I praise You & thank you for so many, many blessings. I am grateful that the motorhome [sic] was sold last week, that I can go to Aquacise 3 mornings/week, that I could talk on the phone yesterday with [redacted] & [redacted], to [redacted] & to Grace-Mom, and that [redacted] called me.

Please guide me today in preparing for Wednesday evening when people come here to pray for our nation's leaders & state and local leaders, too. Help me to prepare my heart, my home and whatever food would be best for snacks to serve with coffee &/or? Please help me to know without confusion, something pleasing, simple and quick?!

Thank-you for this home - a little bit of heaven - which Ted & I always wished to share. May it be used for Your glory, so long as I may stay here. I ask your blessings on Janice (prayer pal), [redacted] & all, Travis, Alfred, for Roy & Yvonne, and for Jim Canaday. Willie, Ivan, Mark, Marian, Danny & Emma, Sylvester, [redacted] that she find good doctors for surgery. I pray for [redacted]'s attorney and [redacted]. Thank-you for all the special blessings for so many people.

And "P.S." the lumps on my forehead, & my glasses, I pray for your healing or guidance for them.

Interpretation:
We have done a little reading ahead and we think this particular entry will represent many future entries, specifically because there is not a lot of exciting action. Granted, we did not expect a lot of action, but there is always the hope that something interesting will stand out.

For this entry, the first thing we noticed was the sale of the motor home. We are not sure which motor home this specifically references, although it is obvious that it is the last one owned by Dorothy and her recently deceased husband, Ted. They both traveled back and forth across the country in their motor home over the years and owned several different models. So which specific make or model this one was is still unclear. What is clear is that this is the end of an era for Dorothy. After years and years of living a life on the road, she is now confined to her house and her car and traveling will be limited to airplanes, buses, and trains.

Another interesting note is her comment on Aquacise. While we are not surprised that she did her best to stay active and healthy, we found it neat that she chose this particular class. This is a perfect example of a single tidbit of knowledge that would have been lost forever without this journal. We are sure family members that knew about the class would have likely thought it unworthy of mention when describing her life.

Another quaint tidbit was her worry over the food and drink for her prayer meeting. We can clearly imagine her fretting over entertaining her guests with the right choices. She was always a prim and proper woman.

Finally, there is the mention of the lump on her forehead. We are still researching this particular malady and will keep you posted.

References:
- Hollingsworth, D. B. (1997). Joy in the Journey. Private Collection.
- Numerous facts were gathered from the private Richard Family Estate collection. These facts span numerous sources of information and contain genealogical data, photos, and newspaper articles.

What Do You Have Saved From Your Childhood?

Question:
What Do You Have Saved From Your Childhood?

Answer:
A bunch of junk. And then some.

I remember a lot of my toys from late childhood are still in my father's attic but there are a few that stick out specifically. There was a red table with matching red chairs. A yellow hairbrush. White leather baby shoes. And a Snoopy doll.

That Snoopy doll is what I remember the most. I don't remember carrying it around like I've heard I used to do as a young child, but I do remember it in my collection of stuff as I got older. It was white and black (just like Snoopy!), his nose was missing, and he was filled with something that made it feel like a bean bag.

Photos:


Note: This is not an actual photo, but merely a representation of what the Snoopy looked like.

References:
- Numerous facts were gathered from the private Richard Family Estate collection. These facts span numerous sources of information and contain genealogical data, photos, and newspaper articles.

Joy in the Journey - April 27, 1997

Transcription:

Dear Lord, these people are particularly in my heart as I pray that You will be close to them, letting them know that You love them & call for them now!!!

[there are two columns of names]

[left column]
(Church Family)
Janice, "my prayer pal"
Marian
Danny & Emma
Ivan [labeled as "teens"]
Sylvester [labeled as "teens"]
Travis [labeled as "teens"]
Mark their leader
Pastor Bill & Millie
Millie's Mom
Larry K. - as he does today's sermon
Betty Bell
Willie & Alfred

[right column]
Grace-Mom [this would be Theodore Hollingsworth's biological mother - Dorothy called her "Grace-Mom"]
[redacted] & family
[redacted] [redacted] following surgery
[redacted] (future surgery?)
[redacted]
[redacted] [redacted]
[redacted] - to know You, Lord
[redacted] [redacted]
[redacted]
[redacted], [redacted], [redacted]
[redacted]
[redacted]

Today, I am thankful for: 1. Your guidance 2. my parents 3. My husbands 4. my children 5. my life

As I write to [redacted] & [redacted], please give me the words that will honor Your name, Lord, and lead them to know Thee better! Amen

Interpretation:
We redacted a lot of names here in the second column because they are family members that may want to remain anonymous and many are still alive. We left in Grace (Brown) Steinbaugh's name because we felt the tidbit of history was interesting and, unfortunately, Grace has been dead for over ten years.

References:
- Hollingsworth, D. B. (1997). Joy in the Journey. Private Collection.
- Numerous facts were gathered from the private Richard Family Estate collection. These facts span numerous sources of information and contain genealogical data, photos, and newspaper articles.

Joy in the Journey - Preface

Transcription:

"Joy is a deep settled conviction that a loving Heavenly Father is in control of the details of my life."

John 14:27 .... "Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."

2 Timothy 1:7 "For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline."

Today is April 27, 1997 - I shall try to write a prayer, a quote, what I am thankful for, a prayer request or list of those for whom I am praying each day during the remainder of this year.

D.B.H.L.H.

Interpretation:
This is the first page of the journal and it seems pretty clear what Dorothy Hollingsworth intends to write about. One side note on her signature. She was born "Dorothy Beth Hollingsworth," married Andrew Lester, then married again (after Andrew died) to Theodore Hollingsworth. So her initials started as D.B.H. then D.B.L. then D.B.H. Somewhere along the line she adopted the full D.B.H.L.H. (for Dorothy Beth Hollingsworth Lester Hollingsworth). We have not determined if this was out of humor or a way of honoring her past. Whatever the reason, the signature was always the source of a few chuckles in the family.

Some of you may be wondering about her marriage to Theodore (Ted or Teddy) Hollingsworth. Dorothy married and had several children with Andrew Lester. He died in 1960, leaving Dorothy to care for several young children by herself. She remarried in 1971 to Ted Hollingsworth. Ted was the adopted cousin of Dorothy. Ted's biological parents were Homer Dean and Grace Brown. He was adopted by William Hollingsworth and Mary Lane. William Hollingsworth was the brother to Glenn Hollingsworth. Glenn was Dorothy's father.

References:
- Hollingsworth, D. B. (1997). Joy in the Journey. Private Collection.
- Numerous facts were gathered from the private Richard Family Estate collection. These facts span numerous sources of information and contain genealogical data, photos, and newspaper articles.

Joy in the Journey

We will be departing a bit from the pattern of our last few posts to cover a different aspect of our unique family history. Specifically, we will be covering Dorothy Hollingsworth (aka Dorothy Beth Hollingsworth Lester Hollingsworth) and a journal she kept from 1997 to 2002. In keeping with our previous risk analysis, we will be redacting some personal information for various reasons. If you happen to be a family member and you want something redacted, let us know and we will research the issue before taking action. However, please do not expect us to leave everything unpublished. We want to publish this journal while staying as tasteful as possible.

So without further ado, here we go.

First, a little about the author. Dorothy Hollingsworth was born in 1919 in California. She was the daughter of Glenn Hollingsworth and Mary Ashton, both big names and big families in our country's history. She died in 2006 in Illinois after a long and productive life. She always struck me as a patient and wonderful woman who did her best to help those in need.

Her journal is a very personal thing to both her and our UFO Team. We rarely get a look inside the inner workings of a person, let alone one that has had such large impact on so many people. It is because of these strong emotions that we will attempt to limit ourselves to just one journal entry at a time. We struggled with tears last night as we read the first entry and, while it may not have had a lot of substance, the emotional weight was palpable.

The journal itself is just a simple composition notebook. Like many that you would in a local office supply store, it has that marbled black and white cover. The cover has been customized a bit with a label that has a nicely scripted title of Joy in the Journey. The pages are worn around the edges and one page has been torn out. We assume this acted as a bookmark as well as a prayer list. Upon closer inspection, the cover reveals a set of tiny footprints going across the cover.

The entries are all handwritten in ink and cover most of 1997. There are a few entries for 1998, 1999, and 2000. After September 11, 2001, the entries become almost daily until early 2002. This is were things end. The entries cover April 27, 1997 to January 10, 2002.

A few key events within that general time frame include:

- December 1996 - Dorothy's second husband dies.
- December 1996 - Dorothy's daughter dies.
- November 1997 - Dorothy's son gets remarried.
- July 1999 - Dorothy's son-in-law dies.
- April 2000 - Dorothy's mother-in-law dies.
- Several great-grandchildren were born.

So you can see that a lot happened during this time frame as well as a lot of things immediately before-hand. From here, we will be transcribing and discussing the entries.

References:
- Hollingsworth, D. B. (1997). Joy in the Journey. Private Collection.
- Numerous facts were gathered from the private Richard Family Estate collection. These facts span numerous sources of information and contain genealogical data, photos, and newspaper articles.