North Dakota

St. John's is a Roman Catholic Basilica

It is easily the most prominent building in Northern North Dakota

It is where our lives would be centered for over five and a half years.

It is the place where we enjoyed being competent, respected and needed.

While driving west toward Fargo from Minnesota on our very first trip to North Dakota

We really wondered where we were going as

It was in the middle of what seemed utter isolation

Then we reached Fargo, spent the night and headed toward Grafton our destination

The further north we went the more we wondered

Where we were headed and how would we be received

Just north of Grand Forks we picked up highway 81 and

Drove through Ardoch, and Minto into Grafton

 We purchased and paid off the most wonderful home we ever have owned.

We made many repairs to this home which had a new boiler provided by a wonderful family.

Furniture and painting and general repairs were given to us by our pastor

We worked with a lady there that was as close to being a real nun as any we have ever met

Sister Donna Jean not only looked the part, she was exactly what she seemed, a holy woman

A lady filled with much pain but never allowed it to interfere with who she really was.

We worked with a short man whom we loved and respected

but in the end was what he seemed to be, a priest.

Dale was a man devoted to supporting us in every way

for the first part of our time together and did so until his needs changed

Terri was a bright young beautiful Youth Director

that grew much and got married

While she was in Grafton

We were to live in Grafton for over five years.

And yet another wonderful family.

I was the Parish Administrator and Linda the Director of Religious Education and

we relished the positions

Linda sat on the hospital ethics committee for over four years and

a local Mormon Doctor with eleven children became our fast friend

I was an active member of the Diocesan Finance Committee and the Bishop and

I showed a lot of love and respect for each other

I had Parish Farmers put a profitable wheat field in unused adjoining Parish property and

I even drove a combine

We were extremely active within the community and served in many ways

including Summer Migrant Education and Fiesta's

There were so many good people there, Bev a wonderful Parish Secretary

who almost did not have a job and we could not have done without

The family that insisted on giving Linda and me everything

we needed in order for us to stay there and be reasonably successful

They came to our aid every time without fail and we loved and respected them and

yet held many different views

We worked for five and a half years for St. John's and

for about two and a half of those years we really were needed and appreciated

This was easily the best and most successful team we were ever to serve with

Our presence added just the right human touch

To allow for people to come together and a building to be built

We were an important part of putting together and hosting a National Gathering

For the Disabled and their care givers

There were of course those who hated us then and probably now

Still we made a significant contribution to the community,

The place where we were employed and in our lives there

The Red River is a potatoes, sugar beet, and wheat area and

Dominated by hard working friendly people

These are people who scratch, claw and pull from the earth a living and they are as

they should be a proud people

The country side is flat almost everywhere in North Dakota and when it floods;

well the river spreads out forever

There is no part of this state we have not driven or

experienced including attending the small fun State Fair in Minot

Air Force Bases dominate Minot and Grand Forks and

the Canadian Border Traffic also is a factor

The winter is very long, extremely cold and always the wind blows and

the sky is beyond understanding beautiful

Linda and I have sat on the side of the road and watch the Northern Lights for hours and

there are moose, deer and other animals

In the far western corner is Medora the most unique of western towns with an outdoor show that delights from start to finish

The Badlands are the only really hilly part of the State and

they are filled with deer and antelope, wild horses and buffalo

Almost all of the industry is located on I-29 near Fargo,

and Grand Forks although the capital is Bismarck in the center of the State

This is a place where when our daughter was stranded on the side of the road

in freezing snowy weather,

Well, she had 12 cars pulled over within five minutes to insure her safety and

she was indeed safe

This is a place where I once placed my hands on a truck

that would not start in the middle of a bitterly cold snow storm

I prayed for God to let the truck start and of course, the truck that would not start,

did immediately start

What is more interesting is that this seemed like and was accepted as a normal thing,

something I had never done before

We have driven to Park City when you could not see beyond your nose and

blizzards raged around you

Now understand you don't get twenty inches of snow at one time, although you can

There just isn't a day that passes by that you don't get at least a half an inch or two and

it piles up and stays and stays

Summer is short and can be surprisingly hot and

we have pictures we have taken of small tornados

Flooding in the spring can be and has been and probably will be a disaster again but

we hope not

These are serious people who are funny, sweet, mean and direct and so hard working

and somewhat fearful

They don't trust easy but once they do trust then they will do anything for you and

most did for us

Leaving this state was one of the hardest and yet easiest things I have ever done

I miss our position there but as with most things in life, it was temporary

I believe we touched lives, maybe even changed lives while we were there

I know we did good things and even if we did some things that did not turn out as we hoped,

we always gave all we had of ourselves to this community and state

I-29, I-94, and Highway 2 are really the only means to cross North Dakota although

there are ribbons of roads all across the State

We travelled so many back roads with curves to break up the monotony of the drive and

keep the driver awake

Highway 81 is still a viable road and used to be the main north-south corridor

You can see for miles in almost any direction of flat farming land filled with off white wooden farms and fields of grass, grain, potatoes and beets

Up near the Canadian border is a wooded hilly area around Walhalla

where there is a summer theatre and we have seen moose there

Cavalier, Langdon, Rugby, Cando, and Williston and other names dot the landscape,

none of which have enough people combined to form a large city

The Missouri river is another major player

and an important part of the southwestern landscape of North Dakota

To sum up, we love North Dakota and have a hard time writing anything

that doesn't reflect this love It was on the whole one of the most important times of our life and one of the best, this land of hard working people

I wrote the following and it was published in the Grand Forks Daily Paper and it still accurately reflects a great deal of my feeling about Grafton, North Dakota

Grafton

Grafton is a city of wonderful winter people

Winter people are special people

Open sprawling fields of potatoes, beets and growing things,

A sky that touches heaven to earth and a sun that glows forever,

Bright jewels fill the sky endlessly

Shining rays of light through the fields,

Level fields covered with dusty lanes of gravel

Winding gravel roads pushing aside fields of labor

People bent over plucking life from the earth.

Huge machines driven by weatherworn men listening to walkmans,

Trucks barrelling through the town spilling and going on,

Hot, humid, windy days immediately becoming cold and grey,

Cold, grey days quickly change into cold white hours,

Temperatures fall below freezing and wind blows always,

Wait until winter arrives and you wonder,

Then it happens, in a flash, winter does come,

Blinding wind, snow white and bright, twenty degrees below zero and more

It is cold yet something special begins to be

People smile and say, yes, winter is here, kinda nice you know,

It's long and hard and very cold and last forever

All the time smiling as they are talking to you

Winter people are a sturdy sort of hardy independent souls,

Surviving such elements requires some interdependence though,

Extending helping hands even to unique newcomers

People who like to talk, to listen and to do,

Everyone has a different opinion and shares it openly.

Grafton is a city full of wonderful winter people,

Generous, hardworking, glad you are here people,

Always checking to see if you like it here in Grafton,

Making sure to tell you it isn't perfect here you know,

But if you need help, we're here for you,

You think what a gift of God this place is,

People, who love God, each other, their land and the city of Grafton.