My Special Place

Montrose, Pennsylvania.

This town has so many happy memories that I could fill a whole blogsite with them. I am sitting in the basement of our cabin in Montrose as I write this. What better time to tell you about it? I am in the States for three weeks, visiting lots of family and friends. A week has already flown by, but I don't want to think about that. The only thing that makes this trip less than perfect is the absence of Adam. :( He is busy working with the youth in London (and watching the World Cup). Holding down the fort--I think. :) I was reading my Aunt Jan's blog just now and saw her perfectly-written historical account of how Montrose came to be our Special Place. Since she is sitting upstairs, I popped up to ask if I could "borrow" her blog entry on Montrose. She very graciously granted her permission. If you have time, check out her site www.motherofbridebyjan.blogspot.com. I'm almost afraid to send you to her site as well as her daughter Torrey's because they so put me to shame with their wit! :) Anyway, back to the purpose of this entry. Here's a little about Montrose, thanks to Aunt Jan.

"It is a small Pennsylvanian town in the "foothills of the Endless Mountains" as my mother was fond of describing it. "2000 population and 2000 elevation..." (I'm not sure of either, but it sounds good and is easy to remember). One thing we do know is that it was a summer enclave for rich Philadelphians who wanted to get away from the heat of the city. Drive down Lake St and the white Georgian homes of yesteryear will conjure up the clip clop of horses and buggies, ladies in lawn shirtwaists with large hats going to take tea with a neighbor, butlers and maidservants bustling around, and, of course, Mary Roberts Rinehart mysteries.

Our family (Mother, Daddy, Rosie, Rick, Lyn & I) went there for the first time in 1960. We stayed in the upstairs apartment of a huge house on High St. Daddy was visiting missions in South America, and he wanted to get us out of the heat of Detroit. Lao Lao (old old -- or the mother's mother in Chinese) and Granddaddy were going to be there as they had come home permanently from Korea. They would be living in Torrey Lodge so we would get an entire summer with our grandparents.

The upshot of the whole thing was that Mother and Daddy purchased an old (very old) log cabin (REAL log cabin) that Mother had lived in the summer of her 13th birthday. For years we came back to that falling down log cabin the day after school ended, and didn't go back to Michigan until the day before school started.

Mother and Daddy eventually bought land and built a home there where they lived until Daddy went home to be with Jesus, and mother married Amos, then moving to Bethany Village in Mechanicsburg, PA. Mother had the old cabin razed, building a new, modern, winterized one on the very spot.

Our families went back, summer after summer. Rosie and I and all the children would meet up there for two to three weeks, never missing the Blueberry Festival. It is Lyn and Tim's home when they are in the U.S. on home assignment from Berlin.

The fall of 2001 we rented the cabin -- and lost it to a fire.

We had it rebuilt by the same builder that did the second cabin.

Rosie has been the prime mover and shaker for getting it built, with Lyn putting many of the finishing touches on it this year when she was home."

I hope that gave you a picture of our place here in Montrose. I'll definitely have to add a picture of the cabin when I get the chance. I have been here every year of my life since I was 3 months old--except for one, last year. Some trips have been very short, others lasting for half the summer. Adam had a whirlwind trip here during our engagement. We came for my cousin Maren's wedding. I do hope he can come before too much time passes and have a "proper" visit. One of my favorite things is just sitting on the porch swing reading a novel. I love looking out over the luscious, green trees rather than the busy street or brick wall that faces my windows in London. The quiet and sweetness of the air is just what you need as you take a break from the daily fullness of life. Being here with family is what makes it the most special. Growing up, we only got to see our extended family once a year, and that was on our long trek to and from Montrose and during our stay here. I have a wonderful, loving family so this was the most exciting time of the year! (well, probably next to Christmas) What a blessing it is to be here this year. I thank the Lord for this special gift.