Raymond’s condition, she’d leave them all a message on their voicemail, so they should be sure to check their messages later in the day.
The children nodded soberly. They wended their way quietly out of the schoolyard. Concerned parents wiped tears, hugged their own little ones and were thankful. To be able to hold their warm, healthy little bodies was something, now, wasn’t it?
Edna Beiler went to the phone—hers was in the shop on her husband’s metal desk—and called her sister Esther, who often heard her phone. Esther had a bell rigged up to it, which was louder than the high insistent whine of an ordinary telephone.
Esther always got her way, that Amos being the kindhearted soul he was. Edna knew her Paul would never rig up a bell to her phone. He said women didn’t need to sit there yakking and gossiping all day, so she set her phone in an aluminum cake pan, which increased the sound quite a bit, deciding if Paul didn’t like it he could just get her a bell like Esther had.
Thankfully, Esther answered after about six rings, and they had a breathless conversation about Teacher Catherine not watching those children.
Edna said maybe Catherine had been there, and Raymond didn’t listen. You know how first-graders are. Barely off their mothers’ laps.
Edna said it was a good thing it happened to Jesse Kauffmans, they could afford a hospital bill better than some, and Esther snorted and said nobody could afford a hospital nowadays, no wonder there were so many benefit auctions and suppers.
Edna promptly told her that Paul said maybe they should stop, too much going on all the time, when we’re told to live a quiet and restful life. What’s quiet or restful, going, going, going the way everyone did?
That really irked Esther, so she hung up before Edna finished, leaving Edna staring at the black receiver in disbelief. Not knowing what else to do, she took the tip of her apron and cleaned the dust off the black telephone.
Then she dialed Esther’s number again.
That was just wrong. She wasn’t one bit mad. She had only voiced an opinion. Not even her own, but her husband’s. Oh well, they were both upset, felt helpless in the face of this tragedy. What if poor little Raymond died?
When Esther didn’t answer the phone, Edna decided she was just as dick keppich (thick headed) as she had always been, left the shop in a huff, then cried in her dishwater.
Voicemails were filled with the news much later that evening.
Raymond was home. His collarbone was broken, and he had a bad brushburn on one thigh where the car had thrown him on the rough macadam, but Eli Esh sei Barbara was already at Jesse Kauffmans with burdock leaves and B & W ointment. The collarbone would heal on its own, although he came home wearing a stiff, white neck brace. The doctors at Lancaster General allowed the B & W ointment to be used, although Jesses had to promise to report any infection.
The children returned to school a subdued lot, the accident still embedded in their memory, a thorn of pain along with Raymond’s.
Esther and Edna forgave each other on the phone the following morning and got together a Sunshine Box, sending messages to dozens of voicemails. Each family was given a letter of the alphabet, and they were to buy a gift starting with that letter. Then the gifts were placed in the Sunshine Box, so that each day Raymond would open one, starting with the letter A.
Poor Sarah ended up with three poems to recite since Raymond couldn’t say his, which greatly upset her. She went home and told her mother she felt like she had too much to do at the Christmas program. So her mother sent a note along to Catherine asking her to reduce Sarah’s load. Teacher Catherine asked everyone if they felt they had too much to say. Isaac volunteered to say another poem, so he was allowed to say the one everyone considered too difficult.
The plays were going much better. The pupils only needed to glance briefly at their
The children nodded soberly. They wended their way quietly out of the schoolyard. Concerned parents wiped tears, hugged their own little ones and were thankful. To be able to hold their warm, healthy little bodies was something, now, wasn’t it?
Edna Beiler went to the phone—hers was in the shop on her husband’s metal desk—and called her sister Esther, who often heard her phone. Esther had a bell rigged up to it, which was louder than the high insistent whine of an ordinary telephone.
Esther always got her way, that Amos being the kindhearted soul he was. Edna knew her Paul would never rig up a bell to her phone. He said women didn’t need to sit there yakking and gossiping all day, so she set her phone in an aluminum cake pan, which increased the sound quite a bit, deciding if Paul didn’t like it he could just get her a bell like Esther had.
Thankfully, Esther answered after about six rings, and they had a breathless conversation about Teacher Catherine not watching those children.
Edna said maybe Catherine had been there, and Raymond didn’t listen. You know how first-graders are. Barely off their mothers’ laps.
Edna said it was a good thing it happened to Jesse Kauffmans, they could afford a hospital bill better than some, and Esther snorted and said nobody could afford a hospital nowadays, no wonder there were so many benefit auctions and suppers.
Edna promptly told her that Paul said maybe they should stop, too much going on all the time, when we’re told to live a quiet and restful life. What’s quiet or restful, going, going, going the way everyone did?
That really irked Esther, so she hung up before Edna finished, leaving Edna staring at the black receiver in disbelief. Not knowing what else to do, she took the tip of her apron and cleaned the dust off the black telephone.
Then she dialed Esther’s number again.
That was just wrong. She wasn’t one bit mad. She had only voiced an opinion. Not even her own, but her husband’s. Oh well, they were both upset, felt helpless in the face of this tragedy. What if poor little Raymond died?
When Esther didn’t answer the phone, Edna decided she was just as dick keppich (thick headed) as she had always been, left the shop in a huff, then cried in her dishwater.
Voicemails were filled with the news much later that evening.
Raymond was home. His collarbone was broken, and he had a bad brushburn on one thigh where the car had thrown him on the rough macadam, but Eli Esh sei Barbara was already at Jesse Kauffmans with burdock leaves and B & W ointment. The collarbone would heal on its own, although he came home wearing a stiff, white neck brace. The doctors at Lancaster General allowed the B & W ointment to be used, although Jesses had to promise to report any infection.
The children returned to school a subdued lot, the accident still embedded in their memory, a thorn of pain along with Raymond’s.
Esther and Edna forgave each other on the phone the following morning and got together a Sunshine Box, sending messages to dozens of voicemails. Each family was given a letter of the alphabet, and they were to buy a gift starting with that letter. Then the gifts were placed in the Sunshine Box, so that each day Raymond would open one, starting with the letter A.
Poor Sarah ended up with three poems to recite since Raymond couldn’t say his, which greatly upset her. She went home and told her mother she felt like she had too much to do at the Christmas program. So her mother sent a note along to Catherine asking her to reduce Sarah’s load. Teacher Catherine asked everyone if they felt they had too much to say. Isaac volunteered to say another poem, so he was allowed to say the one everyone considered too difficult.
The plays were going much better. The pupils only needed to glance briefly at their
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