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Colliding with Tragedy, Part Two

by Ilonaupdated on December 15, 2022December 15, 20221 Comment on Colliding with Tragedy, Part Two

(Click here to read Part One) The scene is surreal and I’m doing my best to keep my composure. The moment I hear that my daughter was taken by a stranger is when full-blown panic seems the most appropriate response. Indeed it surges momentarily within me, then a calm assurance envelopes me, with a confidence …

True Story Writing

Colliding With Tragedy, Part One

by Ilonaupdated on December 15, 2022December 1, 20223 Comments on Colliding With Tragedy, Part One

It is the Monday after Thanksgiving, 2005. On this day, the climax of our desert story is about to be composed. If only it were fiction instead of fact. Our family of six is living in a 900 square foot, one bedroom, one bath house on a desert plateau in the state of Chihuahua (Mexico), …

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  • Playing around with watercolors and making birthday gifts.
  • "What did I get myself into?" Those words were mine, thirty-five years and one day ago today, September 25. . I had just hung up the phone with the handsome youth pastor from another AG church 20 minutes east of me. It was Wednesday night, late. We had each just arrived at our respective homes after an evening of ministry in our churches, him to his youth group, me to my Rainbows (pre-school) group. . I hadn't expected the call, which was an invitation to go see a live performance of Singing in the Rain at the Ohio Theatre in downtown Cleveland the following evening, oh, and dinner beforehand at the Greek restaurant across the street from the theatre. . I honestly wanted to say, "no, thank you," as I wasn't interested in beginning a relationship at that time with anyone. (I had told God that I was serious about following Him and didn't want to play the dating game like most of my friends. Bleh.) My love for musicals won that argument; after all, this was a chance to see one of my favorites...for free! . I said, "Yes." He told me what time he would pick me up, we said goodbye and hung up. . After I untangled the long phone cord (anyone remember those?) I paused with a sigh and said, "What did I get myself into?" . My answer to that question would include words that you expect like romance, love, commitment, companionship, and family, but in truth, the complete and complex answer is still being formed and will be until I draw my last breath. Even so, I can already doubtlessly add, "a lot more than I ever expected or thought possible!" . Today we are traveling to renew our visas to live and minister in Costa Rica. Quite apropos, don't you think? . I'm glad he called. I'm glad I (selfishly) said, "yes." Although Mike is no longer on Facebook, I publically declare Happy 35th First Date Anniversary to us today, September 25. #thankyouJesus #lovetruelove #adventuretheysaid #stillwritingthestoryofourlives
  • She was barely a teenager when she escaped from communist Hungary with her mother and three sisters, sneaking across a field into Austria during the dead of night. The last she had seen of her father was the night he fled their home from the clutches of the KGB years earlier. In Austria, the four of them lived two years in a refugee camp near Salzburg before receiving word a charity in the United States accepted their names and would sponsor their immigration. What would her future bring in that strange new land that spoke a language she did not know? . . . He was a young Hungarian man who had traveled from his village that bordered Romania to the capital, Budapest, looking for work. It was shortly thereafter that his fellow countrymen revolted against the lies of social communism: instead of the better life they had been promised, they found themselves living under macabre oppression and in increased poverty. He remembers the day the Russian tanks rolled into Budapest to quell the uprising. Many died; others fled. He was of the latter, surviving the eventful trek to and then across the border of Austria. He too lived in a refugee camp until a relative in Cleveland, Ohio sponsored his immigration. With his family still back in the little village, he traveled alone to begin a new life in a new country. What would it hold? . . . The two of them would eventually meet in Cleveland, Ohio and marry within a short time. Today, February 4, 2021, they celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary. Happy Anniversary, Dad and Mom. You had quite a journey toward each other, and have lived quite a journey together with each other. Bárcsak 1500 mérföld nem választott el minket attól, hogy veled személyesen ünnepeljünk. Sok szeretettel, kedvenc lányod. . . . #history #Hungary #memoirwriting
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  • Playing around with watercolors and making birthday gifts.
  • "What did I get myself into?" Those words were mine, thirty-five years and one day ago today, September 25. . I had just hung up the phone with the handsome youth pastor from another AG church 20 minutes east of me. It was Wednesday night, late. We had each just arrived at our respective homes after an evening of ministry in our churches, him to his youth group, me to my Rainbows (pre-school) group. . I hadn't expected the call, which was an invitation to go see a live performance of Singing in the Rain at the Ohio Theatre in downtown Cleveland the following evening, oh, and dinner beforehand at the Greek restaurant across the street from the theatre. . I honestly wanted to say, "no, thank you," as I wasn't interested in beginning a relationship at that time with anyone. (I had told God that I was serious about following Him and didn't want to play the dating game like most of my friends. Bleh.) My love for musicals won that argument; after all, this was a chance to see one of my favorites...for free! . I said, "Yes." He told me what time he would pick me up, we said goodbye and hung up. . After I untangled the long phone cord (anyone remember those?) I paused with a sigh and said, "What did I get myself into?" . My answer to that question would include words that you expect like romance, love, commitment, companionship, and family, but in truth, the complete and complex answer is still being formed and will be until I draw my last breath. Even so, I can already doubtlessly add, "a lot more than I ever expected or thought possible!" . Today we are traveling to renew our visas to live and minister in Costa Rica. Quite apropos, don't you think? . I'm glad he called. I'm glad I (selfishly) said, "yes." Although Mike is no longer on Facebook, I publically declare Happy 35th First Date Anniversary to us today, September 25. #thankyouJesus #lovetruelove #adventuretheysaid #stillwritingthestoryofourlives
  • She was barely a teenager when she escaped from communist Hungary with her mother and three sisters, sneaking across a field into Austria during the dead of night. The last she had seen of her father was the night he fled their home from the clutches of the KGB years earlier. In Austria, the four of them lived two years in a refugee camp near Salzburg before receiving word a charity in the United States accepted their names and would sponsor their immigration. What would her future bring in that strange new land that spoke a language she did not know? . . . He was a young Hungarian man who had traveled from his village that bordered Romania to the capital, Budapest, looking for work. It was shortly thereafter that his fellow countrymen revolted against the lies of social communism: instead of the better life they had been promised, they found themselves living under macabre oppression and in increased poverty. He remembers the day the Russian tanks rolled into Budapest to quell the uprising. Many died; others fled. He was of the latter, surviving the eventful trek to and then across the border of Austria. He too lived in a refugee camp until a relative in Cleveland, Ohio sponsored his immigration. With his family still back in the little village, he traveled alone to begin a new life in a new country. What would it hold? . . . The two of them would eventually meet in Cleveland, Ohio and marry within a short time. Today, February 4, 2021, they celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary. Happy Anniversary, Dad and Mom. You had quite a journey toward each other, and have lived quite a journey together with each other. Bárcsak 1500 mérföld nem választott el minket attól, hogy veled személyesen ünnepeljünk. Sok szeretettel, kedvenc lányod. . . . #history #Hungary #memoirwriting
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