Transitions

By Barbara Wehman

We are born, we live, we die—all in their own good time.

And then we hope when life is over to heaven’s gate we climb.

All of us hope to get there the easiest we can, But unfortunately life happens-and the fur hits the fan.

I was not any different—had hope to get me through–But this and that got in the way—probably the same as you.

I had the usual problems—that is the way life goes.

For now I won’t write in verses; for now I will write in prose.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Jun 26, 2022
• ISBN: 9781665562713

Barbara Wehman

I first taught on the Feasts of Israel when I taught classes in adult Sunday school, and later at Northern California Bible College. That was in San Jose, California. I enjoyed it immensely, and learned a lot through teaching. That is usually the way it is. It was especially rewarding to see what I was teaching “strike a chord” with someone! Through my teaching and taking classes at Bible College for several years, I was able to earn my Bachelor’s Degree. I had earned my Associate’s Degree while at the University of California in Berkeley years earlier. My husband Norman and I were both ordained while in San Jose. I wrote my first book, “Reflections,” as a memorial and tribute to my husband, Norman, who left me for heaven in January of 2018. We lived in San Jose, California, for the first forty years of our marriage. In 1997 we moved to Mariposa, California, where I presently live. My daughter Sara is my caregiver.

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© 2022 Barbara Wehman. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or

transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 06/24/2022

ISBN: 978-1-6655-6266-9 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6655-6271-3 (e)

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Christian Standard Bible (CSB)

The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers.

Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible®, and CSB® are federally

registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers, all rights reserved.

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and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Contents

Transitions

1     The Beginning

2     Birth Order

3     Temperament

4     Helping Mama Watching Over Little Sister

5     The Acrobat

6     Young Friends

7     My Baby Brother

8     World War II—1941 To 1945

9     The Korean War 6/25/50—7/27/53

10   Transitioning

11   Learning To Ride A Bike

12   Junior High

13   Junior High Friends

14   High School

15   Blind Date

16   High School Friends

17   College

18   The Vietman War 1961-1971 The Second Cataclysmic Event Of My Lifetime

19   The Supreme Court Ruling

20   Meeting The Love Of My Life: An Elevator Personality

21   Our Children

22   Church Transitions

23   Enjoying Family

24   Family Pets

25   Saying Good Bye

26   Norm’s Parents

27   Earthquakes

28   My Amazing Aunt

29   Y2K

30   My First Mountain Job

31   Hearing God’s Voice

32   Women Friends

33   WIGS

34   Carpooling

35   Good Neighbors

36   My First Job

37   Shirley

38   Snow Adventures

39   The Rathskeller

40   The Burgie Sign

41   My High School Graduation

42   Peggy And Patti

43   Betty

44   Work Friends

45   My Awesome Grandchildren

46   Vivian

47   Joleen

48   Verta

49   My Grandparents

50   Back To Work

51   Home Meetings

52   Kids Say The Darnedest Things!

53   Our Beautiful Nieces

54   Volunteering

55   Evacuate!

56   Kindness

57   The Fence

58   Fleeces

59   Fun In The San Jose Office

60   The Greatest Transition

61   Final Words

My Doxology

Dedication

About The Author

Transitions

We are born, we live, we die—all in their own good time.

And then we hope when life is over to heaven’s gate we climb.

All of us hope to get there the easiest we can, But unfortunately life happens-and the fur hits the fan.

I was not any different—had hope to get me through–But this and that got in the way—probably the same as you.

I had the usual problems—that is the way life goes.

For now I won’t write in verses; for now I will write in prose.

1

The Beginning

I was born long ago, in 1934, before the start of World War II.

I had a happy life—two parents who stayed together, which seems to be a rarity in this day and age. There were times when I thought they might not. At one of those times, when I was in grade school, I got under my bed and cried.

I have heard it said that the greatest gift parents can give their children is to love each other. I believe it!

Even though they had many quarrels, my father never struck my mother. In fact, deep down, I knew they really did love each other.

And I remember that we three kids were the most important things in their lives.

My dad only got one day off a month in those early days. But he spent that one day off with us kids. He was very proud of his little family.

I was the oldest of three. After me came my sister, then my brother. I guess every man wants a son—to carry on the family name. My father was no different. So when he finally got his boy he was overjoyed! My mother said that he kissed her, then the nurse, and then the doctor!

2

Birth Order

This brings me to the subject of Birth Order.

In one of my college classes, the professor taught on the significance of Birth Order in the family.

In my case, I was the firstborn, and enjoyed the exclusive attention and affection of both parents for four years. I was also the only grandchild for each set of grandparents. I must have enjoyed the attention, but I didn’t know any other situation.

When my sister was born, they both loved her as much as me, but I kind of resented her. She took most of my mother’s attention, as any new baby would. However, when she got a little older, I adored her and helped our mother watch over her.

So here we have a birth order situation: Two girls –the older enjoyed exclusive attention from both parents and four grandparents.

Second child—same sex as the first, and new variables. Even though my sister was cute as a button—my mother was not sure she was as highly favored as I.

New variable: Older girl senses Mom’s displeasure when with grandparents.

Little sister also vies for Mom’s attention, often acts out, teasing older sister to the point of making her angry.

I remember when I was five and my sister was two—and I began to have severe and very painful stomach cramps. Our local doctor suspected appendicitis. He told my mother to take me right away to the hospital in San Bernardino, California. That happened to be the closest hospital. I remember that train ride vividly because of my pain. I screamed all the way there. It turned out not to be appendicitis, but just a digestive disorder, which was easily treated.

The point is, my sister didn’t like all the attention I was getting, so she tried to tease me any way she could.

And I got quite upset with her. Looking back, I know it must have been a very stressful time for my mother.

New birth order variable:

Youngest child, a boy, different sex.

Mom and Dad both happy they had gotten their boy.

First child, a girl (me) very happy also. I was very proud of my baby brother. He was also very cute. I didn’t really care if he took both my parents’ attention. But my sister did. She was used to being the baby for three years; now her brother