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.