A funeral and a wedding

She was born in a small Ukranian village in 1910, one of nine children. Her parents were devout Lutherans and the family attended services regularly and practiced their faith diligently until by orders of the Secret Police all churches were destroyed and the pastors were either exiled or killed.

Her parents were landowners and the whole family helped out in managing the farm. Then the communist government took over the ownership of their land by creating collective farms. While working on a collective farm she met Johann whom she married in 1927. They had three sons, one born in 1928, one in 1930 and the last one in 1934.

Stalin began his reign of terror and in 1937 the Secret Police took first her father, then her 4 older brothers and on Feb 21, 1938 they took her husband. They were taken in the night, with no trial or warning, vanishing without a trace, never to be heard of again.

She was 27 years old and left to fend for her young family alone. Three years later, the second world war came to her world. As the Russian Army retreated from their area, her mother uttered a few words in german and the soldiers aimed their machine guns at her leg, shattering her bones. While her mother was dying from gangrene, she was forced to leave the village with her three young sons. Her mom died 4 -1/2 months later.

In 1942, she left Russia and moved to Dresden. They were in Dresden on that infamous night of February 12, 1945 when the city was bombed and totally destroyed. By God's grace they were spared and with His help they were able to escape that inferno.

Thanks to a generous sponsor, she was able to immigrate to Canada with her three sons in 1951. They landed in Yarrow but ended up in the Fraser Street area of Vancouver where she did day work, cleaning homes.

Her faith, church, children and grandchildren were her life.
On July 9th she quietly and peacefully went to be with her Lord and Saviour whom she loved dearly.
Her funeral was yesterday.
Her great-grandson's wedding is tomorrow.

A whole generation is leaving us. They are taking their tenacity for life, love for family, and will to live with them. They overcame unbelievable odds to come to this country to live in peace. They risked everything so that their children would have a chance at a better life. They were strong. They had to be.


Thank you Oma (Val and Lori's grandma) and Omi (my grandma, who passed away 8 years ago after having lived a life eerily similar to Oma's) for your example of how to be single moms:
1. Trust in God.
2. Pray daily. (on your knees beside your bed with long hair released from it's usual bun, naming each family member personally - in German.)
3. Work hard. Cleaning houses. Or whatever.
4. Spend as much time with your kids and grandkids as possible.

Nothing else matters.


Three things I'm thankful for:
1. I live in this time and this place.
2. That I had two grandmothers who clawed their way to Canada.
3. That I don't live in fear of my life.

Shalom,