Eatonvlle, Quilting & Memory

So, this past weekend kicked off the Shop-Hop Quilting weekendd in Western Washington.
And I got sucker into it again!
But this year I could not drivedue to my now failing heart.
:(
So, Saturday, I loaned my car to the local quilting group for the day.
And they put about 300 miles on it touring quilting shops from Seattle to the Canadian border!

They were all amazed at what I had done to Toyota RAV4,
Just a bit technology!
Toyota offers many types of automation,
But they are sold as packages, not singlely.
And often in groups with stuff no one cares about, except teenagers!

So, the ladies liked my improvements!

Sunday, after church GG wanted to go hunt some more quilting shops.
Eh, what the heck!
I am grounded from driving, so lots of free time!
We did two shops in South Tacoma and then headed for Puyallup.
Then GG recalled a shop in Eatonville - most of the way to Mt. Rainer.

So we diverted our course,
And the weather  put the rain into Rainer!
I called the Eatonville shop to get directions.
An elderly lady tried to talk me to the shop but she may no have been outside in 20 years!
Nothing was as she described!
Andreally!
"Look for the big yellow housse"
Actually describes 30% of the town!
AARRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

As GG shopped a memory, more like a vision, played before my eyes!
I pulled into a small Swedish town, early afternoon of a rainy day.
My future wife not to be, sat beside me and directed me to her grandmother's home.
I switched off the engine and got out of the car.
Back then I towered at 6'4.5", her father had half an inch on me!
(and about 100 pounds!)

So, I spent the afternoon visiting with 'Nana' Svenson.
Sad part was I learned that none of the kids knew their grandmother's real name,
She was just Nana, aka Grandmother!

It took a while to figure out that my future wife's mother had been a 'gold-digger' in her youth and a social climber.
She used her natural beauty to gain what she thought she wanted.
And a mother whom cooked meals for lumberjacks was not socially fitting.
Christine left home as fast as possible and never looked back!
Later I thought how odd that Oona had taken me there at all.
She had almost no relationship with her relatives.
They were not of the same social standing after all!

When all Hell was to break out in my life,
I thought on that rainy day in the wilds of Sweden.
In the quiet of the night,
When you really do need to find answers.

I was raised  as a member of a poor German military family.
By contrast,
I was continued pressured to learn the skills of the elite.
In time to learn I was actually royalty.
Cash poor royalty that is.
And there plenty of 'proofs' to support the claim.
By age ten, I had undergone a weird ceremony, of royalty, bestowing royalty upon me.
And I got to go to royal weddings, parties and the like.
(And more importantly, dance with, hold and sniff princesses!)

And my mother,father and sister were insufferable!
I knew who they really were,
But airs were even maintained within the family!
And I flat refused to play the game!
I did not care if I was titled!
I was just Kris.
That is all I ever wanted to be .....

At age ten, I longed for two things:
A pair of western jeans
To be as far from my family as possible

And once oln my own,
I slammed head first into Oona and her family.
Living the false life,
Completely oblivious to that fact.
They worshipped the gods of plenty and comfort.
And yet they believed they were Christian!

I loved Nana Swenson,
She was a real person.
She lived to serve others and see to their comfort.
How far away she was from her 'successful' daughter!

I had figured it out,
And I was confused.
Oona came from a similar background as I,
But she had never had to see all she knew as being a great lie!
I could only trust God would prevail in the war I saw coming ....

Of course her parents were able to turn her against me.
It did not help that my father's position in the government could be terinated if I ever told the trusth as to my real name, origin or history!
(yes, Kris Plattner is my real name!)
And only God could help me if I said anything as to my suspicions concerning father!
He may have been a monster but he was still my dad.

I am standing on a yellow porch in the light mist.
Last time I had hugged a wonderful old lady,
Whose heart was broken by the actions and life of her daughter.
Oona slipped her arm in mine and whispered,
"I told you she was crazy ..."
I knew then it would only be weeks before the death spasms would begin.
She had not learned, as I had, the hypocrisy of her upbringing.
We would shortly become oil and vinegar.
Conversation has never come easily to me.
And she was upset because her grandmother had liked me!
I pointed the nose of the car south,
And raced towards my own doom.

I am standing on a yellow porch in the light mist.
I can only walk a few feet without winding myself.
The old ticker is fighting for me,
But three arteries need replaced.
GG slips an arm in mine and guides me gently back to the car.
We laugh at the adventure this has been,
The crazy people,
The odd situations.
And head for Orting and our oldest daughter.

I looked at GG driving and thought to myself,
"I could never have found someone like her, apart from God"
Even though our relationship is not normal,
God used that for each of our adopted family.
Because life is lived for them,
Not ourselves!

Last week, one of my friends asked,
"How would life have been different for you,
If Oona had not gone crazy on you?"

Actually, I have never considered this,
I live in the reality of today,
Not the what-ifs of yesterday.

Certainly, she would have been spared a debilitating disease!
Would have had that modeling career and fashion lines.
Everything her mother sought but never quite grasped.
And I may have stayed in the ministry and never gone into computers!
She would have needed to learn a few foreign languages ...

I would have to learn to swallow lutefisk!