Very quaint, don't you think?
Magdalena stands in front of what has become her favorite seat -- the radiator. Eliza, who loves to dance, found the wooden floor a perfect platform. (Both photos by Steven David Johnson).
Moving to Virginia was an ecumenical journey involving Pentecostals from Iowa, Virginia Mennonites, and NY and VA Wesleyans and Presbyterians.
On Easter weekend, my Wesleyan friends Camelia Sheesley, Steve Bragg and Nelson helped me load a U-Haul trailer with my belongings. Then Steve, Nelson and I headed for Virginia, where we left my things stored in my daughter's shed. We hunted, to no avail, for an apartment and returned to New York.
After finishing classes on the 10th, I received several monetary gifts and gift cards from Pentecostal and Wesleyan New Yorkers and Iowans --all necessary to help me meet the financial costs of paying a down payment and renting an apartment. Steve Gardner, facility manager at Crosswinds Wesleyan Church in Canandaigua, organized a wonderful open house -- providing me an opportunity to say thanks to many people who had encouraged me as I finished up my bachelor's degree in paralegal studies.
From there I drove over the Dansville (NY) hill through the snow at about 45 mph, praying I wouldn't slide off the highway and into oblivion. Though the bad weather ended near the PA border, Nelson told me later that Canandaigua received about six inches of pure slush that weekend.
After stopping for a spot of tea at my daughter and her family's in Broadway, I drove to Fishersville, Va.. There I met Barbara Ray, who attends the Parkway Wesleyan Church in Staunton. Though she had never met me, she put me up for a couple days until I found an apartment. Virginia Mennonites, Presbyterians and Wesleyans all helped with the search. Though Barbara was an awesome hostess and became a good friend, I was anxious for "home".
So on Wednesday evening, the same day I signed the lease on my apartment, I camped out in my new apartment existing on what was crammed into my Toyota, some donated goods from Barbara Ray, and some household items from my friend Camelia. I slept on a donated air mattress, donated by my Presbyterian landlord. By morning the only thing between me and the hardwood floor was my sheet and two layers of the vinyl mattress. All the air had escaped during the night. No problem...I was home!
On Saturday, a Mennonite family in Harrisonburg donated their van so I could haul my belongings from my daughter's home to Staunton. Once there Anna Maria set up my kitchen. Steven hung a few pieces of artwork, making my apartment seem a bit more like home. Eliza Grace and Magdalena helped put my bathroom shelves together, and then Eliza organized those things. Magdalena then went to work setting up a nightstand -- picking just the right scarf for a decorative touch and then organizing my Bible, devotional book and planner very carefully so that the edges of the books were lined up parallel to the sides of the table. What fun it was to watch as each one left a bit of their personalities in my new home.
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