Blessed Stepmothers

I was awakened at 3:50 a.m. by a little girl standing by my bed with a cough that sounded more like the barking of a dog. I made a cup of boiling water and sat her at the kitchen table with a blanket tent over her to breathe in the steam from the hot water. She went right back to sleep after that, but of course, I did not. I decided to take a nice, long bath with a cup of coffee on the side. I felt so elegant and relaxed, I almost fell asleep in the tub!!

I made plans today to have my Stauffer sisters-in-law here for breakfast on Saturday morning. There are five of us. Four of us live here in the Manheim, Lititz area, but the 5th one lives in Minnesota. She is spending some time with her mother at Landis Homes for a couple of weeks. We Stauffer women always have such a good time together. Our step mother-in-law will be coming too. Dick's mother died in 1981, a year before mine did. Most of us were right there with her when she breathed her last breath. It was a precious experience, never to be forgotten. She was only 53! And now I'm almost 54! Unbelievable. A little over a year later, Arlene married Dick's dad and she has been the only Grandma Stauffer most of the grandchildren can remember. We all love her so much.

Dick and I realize more all the time that, while the deaths of our mothers in the early '80s was one of the most trying times for us, our families have been SO BLESSED to have stepmothers that we truly love and get along with. Thank you, thank you, Lord!