Being Open To Beauty

I was born on the plains of Nebraska on Oct. 16, 1910, and I had lived there all my life. But in 1942 I was diagnosed with cancer. The doctor gave me three months to live.

I told my husband that before I passed away I would love to see the mountains and those evergreen trees I had seen only in pictures.

I was 32 years old and we had two daughters, just starting in their teens. I felt they should grow up close to all those beautiful evergreen trees and mountains.

My husband and the kids were my life. My dad had died and there wasn’t much to hold us in Nebraska.

So my husband, who worked for the railroad, got a pass for us. We collected what few things we could and came from Omaha to Huntington, Ore., on a troop train.

One of the servicemen pointed out the window to a bighorn sheep up on the mountain. I looked and I said, “Oh God, that’s beautiful.” The closer we came, and I saw the sunsets, I felt I was close to Heaven here on Earth.

I began to feel better, gain some weight.

When we got to Huntington there was no place for us to stay, but we went over to Weiser, Idaho, just a few miles away, and got a little apartment and stayed there for about six months.

At Weiser I saw the river and watched people doing some fishing. It was a thrill. And when I saw the pines swaying I just closed my eyes. It was like the waltzing pines.

Then my husband got a job at the aluminum plant in Spokane so he piled us all in the car again and we came here.

Oh, the parks, the wide-open spaces, the lakes, rivers and mountain streams. Yes, it was and is the land of my dreams.

In Spokane, we found, you do not have to travel far to enjoy fishing, swimming, playing, walking, camping, wildlife. I fell in love with the first deer I saw. Then the moose, elk and so many birds, and the most beautiful wildflowers.

I could go on and on about the many wonders of Spokane. It is my most wanted prayer that we the people will help to keep it clean and help better it in any way we can - by picking up our trash, by planting trees and stopping the destruction of the evergreens we already have. Look at all the years it took for them to grow so big.

And to think I saw my 85th birthday. Now, you tell me this is not God’s country.

MEMO: Your Turn is a feature of the Wednesday and Saturday Opinion pages. To submit a Your Turn column for consideration, contact Rebecca Nappi at 459-5496 or Doug Floyd at 459-5466 or write Your Turn, The Spokesman-Review, P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210-1615.