Ohio

We spent two years working at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Defiance, Ohio

This came after we had been homeless and spent a very difficult year in Florida

The man we worked for had incredible mood swings

One moment he would compare you to Christ and the next

He would threaten to fire you for some very minor issue

Often the most important part of our job was going behind this man

And trying to put out his fires

We worked with a burned out nun who had enjoyed a brief romantic interlude

With a Priest while spending a short time in Italy

Linda and I rescued, and helped

the wife of a local highly regarded coach

not to commit suicide when the pastor wasn't available

We worked with a young music director who was having intimate relations

with a hurting member of the Parish that we should have been taking care of

Jamie and Linda transported a "Sanctuary" member to a safe house on his way to Canada

Linda took the Youth to Washington DC for a National Right to Life March

This was indeed a difficult two years but as with everything

we survived it also, but with scars

I was close to a wonderful 70 plus very active woman who had been the

Parish Secretary for many years and did a wonderful job

She was abused by the same Pastor that abused us and I was her main point of support and

there was love and support shared with each other

I had a street ministry in the downtown area and

walked for two years with defiant young people

I hope I made a difference, no, I know I made a difference and they did also in my life

The very best thing about Defiance was the fireworks on the 4th of July

They were glorious and filled the night with all colors of light and we stood and

watched in the park near the river with many others

The Principal of the school was like all the rest of us,

abused by this angry Pastor and was our friend

She raised shelties and we bought "Frisky"

A wonderful friend who lived over fifteen years with us

I sat in the "dunk tank" during the Parish Festival and was dunked often

Defiance was also close to Detroit and that meant I sometimes could escape to a Tiger Game

and that was a huge part of surviving

The Pastor at the adjoining Parish offered us as much support as he could

We took young people to the Opera in Toledo and went to conferences there also

Linda went to Notre Dame for summer classes while in Defiance

I began and completed a two year journey at St. Thomas in Minneapolis

where I earned my Fellow in Church Business Administration

The most incredibly wonderful thing that happened to us in Defiance

was after a short visit by our oldest daughter

Our daughter called and I answered, she said in a panic stricken voice, "Dad I am pregnant."

God put the perfect words in my mouth as I answered, "That's wonderful!"

Our first grandson has always been a most joyful gift in our life

along with all our other grandchildren

We also went to Utica, New York and reconciled without middle daughter and her husband

We drove highway 24 often through and to Napoleon and had a spiritual director there

and also bought great sweet corn there

Interstate 75 dominates that part of Ohio and

we have driven it often all the way in both directions

We visited a dying Mary Knoll Priest near Cincinnati that had been my pastor

While in college in Georgia

We went to Dayton for the weekend once and it was a great relief

We used to love to go to Van Wert and make our own hamburgers at a local "dive"

We have driven I-80 across to Buffalo, New York and even further

We have taken I-70 completely across the state through Columbus many times

We have traversed the Amish Country and I got certified in Asbestos Removal in Mansfield

There were at least two huge ice storms in Defiance while we were there

Later in our life we would always go to the great flea markets near and

between Dayton and Cincinnati

Trader's Village, Caesar's Creek and their outdoor vendors that cook delicious things,

Turtle Creek all are places we like

We enjoyed going to the County Fair in Napoleon and of course the Harness Racing

The country side is mostly farming and rural

yet the cities we remember as being dirty and crowded

The drive from Defiance to Fort Wayne is pretty and mostly peaceful

The drive up and around the lake past Cleveland is wooded and one of the nicest drives

The State is much more rolling over toward Wheeling and Steubenville

From Toledo east anywhere is more woods and more hilly as it is also down below Dayton

I went to a Cleveland Brown's football game there once as a gift from another Lay Minister

We also remember going to the Harness Racing track just north of

Toledo, Raceway Park I think

We saw the most beautiful wildflowers and sunflowers near Hocking Hills

And that was a very nice day

We drove past Cedar Point near Sandusky but could not afford to stop and enjoy

We were again homeless when we left St. Mary's but this time we got another job and went to an even worse hell hole of a Parish

There are indeed many more memories but I think these will more than suffice

The mean personality of the Pastor, the huge destructive ice storms and the people we tried so

hard to love and take care of, the wonderful street ministry I had for the time I was there,

earning my Fellow in Church Business Administration, the horrible sexual liaison of the

music minister and a married parishioner,

the wonderful fireworks of the city on the 4^th of July,

well, it was not an easy two years.