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| Marge Hamlin Larsen, me, and Craig Hamlin |
Marge
had two teenage boys. Jim was my
brother’s best friend. (John is
five years older than I am, which is a significant difference when you’re
little). Craig was older than Jim
so I didn’t know him as well. Jim
and John hung out, building tree forts and listening to record albums. The Hamlins had a golden retriever,
Lance, who liked to stick his nose in a hole in our fence. We figured he was spying on us. Marge’s house had an elegant foyer,
with a glass chandelier and red velvet walls. My sister and I were so impressed with that elegance that we
reproduced it for our Barbie dolls with a red glass candlestick and a red lined
jewelry box.
Marge
loved crafts, flowers, baking, and other feminine arts. Her boys weren’t interested in these
things, so she took me under her wing.
She taught me to decorate cakes and make sugar panoramic Easter
Eggs. I remember her showing me
how to attach the different decorating tips inside the parchment paper for
icing, and what the tips could do.
She held my hand as I held a rose nail, and taught me to spin it as I
squeezed the icing bag to make a perfect rose.
Every
May Day I would gather flowers from our yard (and probably our neighbors’
yards) and bring her a basket of flowers.
The basket was probably woven from construction paper, or perhaps it was
a green strawberry basket. Marge
told me yesterday that whenever she had a craft project to do she’d invite me
over, and that I would just soak it up.
My mom didn’t have the patience or will for crafts so I was a surrogate
daughter to Marge.
Marge
couldn’t protect me, or her friend my Mom, from the evil things that were
happening in our house. She knew
that my father was bad, and she prayed for me. In 1972 my family moved to Illinois, and I soon accepted
Jesus as my savior. I have been
thankful for Marge’s prayers. She
told me today she considered me a daughter and that she always prayed for me. She helped save me.
Marge
and I started corresponding by mail in 1974. She was so happy to hear that I had accepted Jesus as my
savior. She told me how Lance
(their dog), Jim and Craig were doing. I wrote to her in 1979 to tell her about my engagement, and
she discouraged me from trying to make my own wedding cake (good advice)! We continued to correspond, with at
least a newsy Christmas card every year.
I was sad for her when her husband passed away, and rejoiced for her
when she found a new love and remarried.
Her stepdaughters live near her in Idaho, and she has grandchildren
through them. She has been widowed
twice now and lost one of her sons tragically, but she rejoices in the love of
her children and grandchildren.
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| Our visit to Marge and Ed Hamlin in Idaho in 1982 (with Rhiannon) |
It
is wonderful to see the heritage that Marge has built up. Not only did she instill a love of
crafts and planted seeds of faith in me, but in other friends and family. I met her niece yesterday who talked
about the cake decorating and other skills that she still enjoys. Marge has been a member of many arts
and crafts guilds, and is a proud member of the Red Hat Society.
More
importantly is the heritage of her sons and grandsons. I was looking forward to getting
reacquainted with Jim, my brother’s friend, because I knew he lived in this
area. I searched for him on the
Internet, and was shocked to find that Jim had been killed in a car versus
bicycle accident in 2012. Jim was
an avid cyclist and loved the outdoors.
That was a heartbreaker for Marge and for his brother, Craig.
Craig
is a counselor and pastor of a ministry in Santa Maria through The Coast Valley Worship Center. He has helped countless men leave the
lifestyle of addictions, and many of those men have turned to faith in
Christ. His son, Matt, works with
this ministry. His younger son,
Dan, is a surfer/writer/follower of Christ in Pismo Beach. He attends the same church many of my
friends go to (Shouts of Grace).
How
amazing, that this family has had such an impact on eternity! It reminds me of the cake that Marge
directed me in making for a junior high cake decorating contest. It was a book-shaped cake, and on it
(in my wobbling writing) I wrote “Teachers effect eternity, one can never tell
where their influence stops.”
Marge
was one of my teachers. I think of
her every time I decorate a cake for a friend or family member. I have been thinking of her as I start
this Florist business, The Language of Flowers. I praise God for her prayers for me. She showed me such kindness and had a gentle,
sweet spirit when she welcomed me into her home. I was not a very lovable child – shy and unhappy. She took me in. I grew up to love children, and I
eventually became a children’s outreach director, teaching other people that
the best way to draw children to Christ is by loving them. I told people, “Invite your friends’
kids, your kids’ friends into your home, and make them feel safe and happy. They will see Christ in you.”
Now
I realize where I first saw that model.
Thank you, Marge. She opens her mouth in wisdom, and the
teaching of kindness is on her tongue. Proverbs 31:26
