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Thank you from Maryland
To my dear family:
Thank you all so much for your kind words, thoughts and
prayers over this past year. We are all home safe and
sound and happily adjusting to our new family life.
Baby Marshall is doing very well and we are enjoying him to
pieces. We are so very blessed and thrilled to add another
member to our great big family!
Much love to you all!!!
Jenny
- Wednesday, June 19, 2002 at 14:54:44 (PDT)
Author: barleysgirl@aol.comBETH
I hear you callin'!!!
That reminds me of a song I heard somewhere...
Oh well. There is a GLARING oversight on this here circle
letter. No one wished Cuz (daughter, sister)Beth a HAPPY
BIRTHDAY on JUNE SEVENTEENTH!!!! :) :) :)
Hey Beth, I hope you had a wunnerful day and the card is on
it's way in the mail...
Oops, I almost forgot! It wouldn't be a family circle
letter-entry from Lisa Stevenson Kight without:
"Above all, love each other deeply,because love covers over
a multitude of sins." - I Peter 4:8
that one's for you, Beth.
Love,
Lisa Kight
- Wednesday, June 19, 2002 at 13:48:55 (PDT)
Author: Cowgrl23@netzero.netHappy birthday to Paul today!!
Hey there Paul... Happy 16th Birthday!!! Hope your day is
blessed and remember to go smooth with your new Driver'd
License!!! Love you, Aunt Mary, Uncle John and Sarah Jane
- Tuesday, June 18, 2002 at 15:30:36 (PDT)
Author: jamg1971@aol.comHappy Birthday Bob and Bill
June 22 Happy Birthday Brother Bob
June 25 Happy Birthday Brother Bill
And to all the other beautiful Stevenson family members I
have missed this month.....HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU ALL!!!!!
All my Love, Gerry
- Tuesday, June 18, 2002 at 12:40:42 (PDT)
Author: gerryandkelly2@aol.comAnd the circle continues!!!
Congrats to Jenny, Chris and Little baby Marshall!!! Can't
wait to add HIS name to the next FAMILY REUNIONT-shirts!!!
We hear tell Aunt Sal is already on it for getting it
organized... and won't you Marylanders be having a ball
with the newest Christmas baby come December!!!! Can't wait
to see that little guy in person!!!! We love you and God
Bless you all! Love, Aunt Mary, Uncle John and Sarah Jane
- Sunday, June 16, 2002 at 11:12:58 (PDT)
Author: jamg1971@aol.comBrother James
Your pretty frast yourself! And comepletely cool at the
same time....with tremendous love!!!
Broyher John
- Saturday, June 15, 2002 at 06:01:08 (PDT)
Author: jjandk@corrcomm.netGERRY ARE YOU FAST(OR WHAT)
Gerry,
We get the latest family news from you fraster
than anybody! Man you are on it!
Loveyaaa...brother James [:-)>
- Friday, June 14, 2002 at 21:46:44 (PDT)
Author: jis@sonic.netHAPPY BIRTHDAY MARSHALL
Happy Birthday Marshall and welcome to our family circle.
Congratulation Jenny and Chris on the birth of your first child.
I spoke with your dad Jenny and got the good news about the
birth of "Mr M.T.P
Loveyaaa...Uncle James [:-)
- Friday, June 14, 2002 at 21:38:52 (PDT)
Author: jis@sonic.netProud New Aunts and Uncles
Mary, Doug, Tommy, Jeanne, Mike, Debbie, Kathy, Mike,
Danny, Jill and cousins Melissa, Mike, Mitch, Sophie,
Carly, Dillon, Emilie, Julia, Jessica, Mike, Katie,Molly
and Jack are very proud to announce the birth of our newest
Nephew and cousin - Marshall Thomas Palmer.
Born June 14th 2002 at 7:41 pm.
His is 7 lbs 8 oz and 21 inches tall.
Jenny, Chris and Marshall (as well as assistant birthing
coach Kathy)are thrilled beyond any imaginable words!
They are all doing great. Proud Grandparents said he is
just BEAUTIFUL and very alert.
Fun fact for this Child born on the 14th -
he is my Mom and Dad's 14 grandchild and he is the 14th
member of the Palmer family.
Thank you all for you support and prayers over the year for
Jenny and Chris - they have been answered beyond words.
Thank you Lord for yet another beautiful gift of life for
our family.
May God Bless the "new" Palmer family.
Congratulations Jenny and Chris - we love you so much
- Friday, June 14, 2002 at 19:58:45 (PDT)
Author: tomstevenson@peoplepc.comWelcome Marshall Thomas Palmer
Happy Flag Day Family and We want to be the first to
welcome Marshall Thomas Palmer (Son of Jenny and Chris
Palmer). May Saint Grandma Eunice watch over your new angel
and keep him safe, healthy and happy. We Love You all and
pray everything is okay with Jenny and baby. Allo our Love,
Uncle gerry and Aunt Kelly
- Friday, June 14, 2002 at 18:38:16 (PDT)
Author: gerryandkelly2@aol.comHAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR SALLY
HAVE A GREAT CELEBRATION YOU GREAT GAL!
WISH WE WERE THERE TO SPANK YOU.
LOVE FROM THE WEST COAST STEVENSONS AND ROACHES
- Friday, June 07, 2002 at 15:28:03 (PDT)
Author: SUNSHINE@SONIC.NETHappy Birthday Sally Lucca
Happy Birthday Sally!! We hope it is great!
Love, the Stevenson's of Plymouth
- Friday, June 07, 2002 at 13:07:10 (PDT)
Author: tomstevenson@peoplepc.com4th of July Party
Hi everyone,
This letter is for all of us in Michigan, anyone visiting
Michigan and anyone who wishes they were in Michigan. Tony
and I are having our 7th annual 4th of July party Saturday
July 6th at 6:00. The fireworks are at dusk. Bring the
usual stuff you'll need for fun, like your kids, suits,
towels, blanket, a sweatshirt if needed (sometimes it gets
colder here on the lake once the sun goes down) a dessert
or appitezer, your voice, your charm, your beverage of
choice, your flag (o.k. so I'm going a bit crazy here)
anyway, keep this date open if you don't already have a
millon other summer things to do (we all lead such boring
lives)!! Call if you need any info. I love you all and
wish you a safe and happy summer. Oh yea, I'm getting the
ball rolling for a 2004 reunion (Same Place????) Take care.
Love Sal xoxoxo
P.S. Hey Jen, how ya doing girl?
- Tuesday, June 04, 2002 at 05:08:38 (PDT)
Author: sallyjlucca@aol.com
WAY TO GO, RED WINGS
CONGRATULATIONS GO TO THE FABULOUS DETROIT RED WINGS WHO
JUST BEAT THE COLORADO AVALANCHE 7-0. WHAT A GAME!
NOW, IT'S ON TO THE STANLEY CUP FINALS BETWEEN THE RED
WINGS AND CAROLINA.
FIRST GAME HERE AT HOME ON TUESDAY NIGHT.
LOVE TO EVERYONE,
NANCY
- Friday, May 31, 2002 at 18:56:09 (PDT)
Author: BRINANR1@AOL.COMHAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAMES
Happy 63rd birthday my dear sweetheart. I am so grateful
your brain surgeries were successful and we can celebrate. I
never thought I would be with a 63 year old. Thirty-five long
and short years together. I love you Mr. Handsome.
- Wednesday, May 22, 2002 at 10:04:11 (PDT)
Author: sunshine@sonic.netHAPPY BIRHTDAY JAMES!!!!!!!
HAPPY BIRHTDAY TO YOU!!!!!!
HAPPY BIRHTDAY TO YOU!!!!!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR JAMES.....
HAPPY BIRHTDAY TO YOU!!!
MAY THE DEAR LORD BLESS YOU!!!!
MAY THE DEAR LORD BLESS YOU!!!!
MAY THE DEAR LORD BLESS JAMES....
MAY THE DEAR LORD BLESS.....YOU!!!!
(forgive me for getting the order mixed up :( hope this
is YOUR greatest birthday yet!!!)With Love,from your
MIchigander connection
- Wednesday, May 22, 2002 at 05:10:45 (PDT)
Author: JAMG1971@AOL.COMOOPS!!! We must be gettin' old
Got my dates confused!!!
READ ON....
- Wednesday, May 22, 2002 at 05:05:21 (PDT)
Author: Jamg1971@aol.comHappy Birthday Tommy!!!!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR TOMMY!!!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU....
MAY THE DEAR LORD BLESS YOU!!!
MAY THE DEAR LORD BLESS YOU!!!
MAY THE DEAR LORD BLESS TOMMY!!!!
MAY THE DEAR LORD BLESS...YOU!!!!
We love you so much and hope this is your greatest birthday
of ALL time!!! Have a wonderful day! With Love from all of
us Michiganders
- Wednesday, May 22, 2002 at 05:03:09 (PDT)
Author: jamg1971@aol.comHonestly For Everyone!
How proud was I when my cousin's song came over the sound
system at Petco (a national pet supply store)! I found
myself singing alone to this cool song at Petco and
realized it was Tony's song "Honestly For You". The check-
out girl said it was part of a MP3 (digital) music
collection that it being play at all the Petco stores
accross America and abroad! Thank-you to all of you who are
helping Jennifer raise donations for the fight against
leukemia and lymphoma. Her training is going fantastic, she
recently ran another 22 miles in the hills around Lake
Tahoe! She is busy in school cutting on animals and we now
have a dog that she recently performed surgery on...
(sucker) The dog is a mutt, and is a cross between a Husky
and a greyhound or whippet. Anyway, we have got abandon
kittens to bottle feed, poop and pee so I must log off for
now.
Love Star and Jennifer
- Tuesday, May 21, 2002 at 21:00:25 (PDT)
Author: starstevenson@hotmail.comNEXT FAMILY REUNION!!!!
Hi Everyone!!! My son Andrew asked me when the next BIG
family reunion was....I guess it's never too early to start
planning...What do you think? How about summer of 2004???
Love, John
- Monday, May 20, 2002 at 09:28:48 (PDT)
Author: jjandk@corrcomm.netAmen to that!
Great letter Tom... How blessed we were, indeed! She was
too marvelous for words!!! Love you all, Mary P.S. hope
your Mother's Day was wonderful!!!
- Sunday, May 12, 2002 at 19:23:50 (PDT)
Author: jamg1971@a0l.comMother's Day
My Dear Family:
Today is a very special day in the Stevenson Family. It
seems like only yesterday that Mom was here for all of us
to celebrate and spend time with on this special day.
For those of us who remember . . . weren't we the lucky
ones to have had her for so long!!!
Now for the Grand and Great grandchildren, listen to what
your Mom and Dad have to say about Grandma. She was
everything they say she was and much much more. She loved
her God, and loved her family . . . that was her life. If
any of you every need someone special to talk to, close
your eyes and talk to her to your heart content. Grandma
is a great listener. And by the way . . . I believe she
has some good connections where she is.
Happy Mother's Day to all the Mothers in the Stevenson
family and all the Mothers to be.
Love,
Brother Tom
- Sunday, May 12, 2002 at 15:45:15 (PDT)
Author: tomnesther@aol.comPRAISE THE LORD
SO HAPPY THAT YOU RECEIVED A GOOD REPORT FROM YOUR DOCTORS,
JAMES. ALSO YOU ARE TO BE COMMENDED FOR VOLUNTEERING TO BE
A PIONEER IN THIS TYPE OF SURGERY. YOU ALWAYS WERE
ADVENTURESOME. I'M SURE YOU'RE VERY RELIEVED TO HEAR THIS
NEWS. I KNOW I AM. YOU HAVE A GREAT BRAIN AND IT NEEDS TO
STAY THAT WAY SO YOU CAN CHALLENGE BRIAN IN A GAME OF
TRIVIAL PURSUIT.
IT'S HARD TO BELIEVE THAT YOU WERE ONLY 23 YEARS OLD WHEN
JAMES CHRISTOPHER WAS BORN. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JAMES
CHRISTOPHER....NOW YOUR LIFE CAN BEGIN.
LOVE TO EVERYONE.
NANCY
- Monday, May 06, 2002 at 09:47:12 (PDT)
Author: BRINANR1@AOL.COMCyberknife surgery seem successful
Hello Everybody,
I've received good news today. The Cyberknife surgery
seem to have been successful. The brain tumor (Its benign)
has remained stable over the last six months and six months
before that had shrunk a little from the last surgery.
The doctors are quite happy with the results.
James Christopher will be 40 years old on Tuesday (May
7th).
Well, I have been up all night reinstalling my OS 9.2
operating system on my iMac/SE and am exhausted. So I will
close for now. Its great reading all your letters.
Love you Guys
James [:-)>
- Saturday, May 04, 2002 at 05:24:16 (PDT)
Author: jis@sonic.netOUR NEW GRANDCHILD!!!!
Just wanted to drop a note to let everyone know that Steven
and Pamela had their baby this morning. Lillian Renee Hull
entered this world at 4:26 A.M. weighing in at 6 lbs 7 oz
and was 19 inches long. Mom and Dad are exhausted but happy.
Our new baby girl had black hair and looks so much like her
Daddy, it's incredible!! Becoming a dad for the first time
at age 35 is so overwelming for Steven, but it was plain to
see that she planted herself in his heart immediately.
One more wonderful miracle into this great family!!!
Love you all!!! Janie and Jim
- Sunday, April 28, 2002 at 06:42:15 (PDT)
Author: jnjnichols32@aol.comGrandma Eunice
"Her children arise and call her blessed;” – Proverbs 31:28
I wanted to chime in with Suzanne’s wonderful
comments on Grandma “Eun”. This is for those of you who are
new to the Stevenson clan and may not have heard this one.
This particular story spoke volumes to my husband Alan as
to how Grandma felt about children. It is one of my very
favorites also. This is taken from the article “More Great
Moms” from the May 5th, 1988 Detroit Free Press:
Jane Hull of Highland writes about her mom, “I
remember when my son was born, she stood at the nursery
with tears in her eyes, clapping her hands. The nurses
asked me later if he was her first grandchild, to which I
replied, “No, he’s her 28th, and she acts the same way with
every one of them.”
Alan was stationed on board a sub with a young man
who was married with two small children. (He had a 3 year
old and a 1 year old) His shipmate found he was gonna be a
daddy once again. Alan was quite agitated that they were
going to have another mouth to feed on this man's meager
income. I asked him “So, how does (shipmate) feel about
another one on the way?” Alan replied “Oh, he feels about
kids the way your Grandma Eunice does. He’s thrilled about
it.”
Love,
Lisa Kight
- Tuesday, April 23, 2002 at 13:08:00 (PDT)
Author: Cowgrl23@netzero.netTHANK YOU SO MUCH ANNA
Dear Anna,
Thank you so much for sharing this writing about your
Grandma. When we are little sometimes we can exspress what is
so hard to find words for when we are adults. Grandma set
such a high example for all of us of beauty, selflessness,
and most of all love of everything and everyone. She had so
much love for each and everyone of us. I remember how each
new baby that came in the family was to her like the first
and so beautiful and special. We are all so blessed to have
known her.
Love, Suzanne
- Monday, April 22, 2002 at 17:15:47 (PDT)
Author: sunshine@sonic.netstory about grandma stevenson
When I was a little I didn’t understand death. I
grew up close to you grandma growing wise with you. I
remember trying to think where would you go, what would I
do?
I grew closer to you grandma, and those last few
nights I knew death like it was my best friend. Somehow I
knew you were at ease because I could see you talking to
god.
It was painful for me, just looking at you.
Cherishing your face before natures death occurred. That
night death came to your window. I know we both felt it,
because of the rooms silent shock.
It broke my heart when you slipped away, and now it wont be
re-fixed until I can feel your warmth through my soul. The
day you left my life I knew you didn’t want me to worry
about you.
When I got to see you one last time. I didn’t know
what to say, because I have never dealt with this hurt. So
when I saw you one last time I wished that you could still
be mine. And that I could still be four.
Since you cant be here anymore ill just have you in memory
and through God…
I was going through my notes in a box that I’ve had
since grandma Stevenson had past away. As I was reading
them I picked up 4 pieces of paper folded together. It was
a story I wrote in 4th gr. about how I felt about grandma
but it was like I was writing to her.
But anyways I was reading Uncle Gerry’s letter
about grandma and grandpa. So I decided to put my story on
the web site. I hope this touches you as it did and still
does to me. I love you all so much!!
Love always,
Anna Stevenson
- Monday, April 22, 2002 at 12:49:07 (PDT)
Author: dont knowAndy's Last Patrol in PNG
It was probably my most memorable patrol.
We were to go and visit two of PHF's more remote sawmill
projects.
The two projects had been having problems with management
and productivity. The more remote project, Mu village, was
one of our more successful projects. They had a sawmill, a
tractor, radiophone, and had managed to buy back an old
plantation on their land and start rehabilitating it.
Unfortunately, they had been having on-going disputes about
their management and consequently the sawmill had not
worked for almost a year. They had come to us for help in
settling their dispute. PHF told them to wait until one of
the new lawyers started working and that the lawyer would
go out to the village and help settle the dispute in the
villages rather than at the PHF office, which is
inaccessible to most of the villagers.
Marunga, the other village project site we were to visit,
had not been heard from in a long time. We knew that
something was up, because they were not responding to our
requests to come to the office and talk to us, and they
were not delivering any timber to us nor making any
payments on their loan. Due to the difficulty in
communication and remoteness of the village we were just
going to show up and hope for the best.
There were three of us that went, Martin, Patricia, and
myself. Martin is the PNG forester that I worked closely
with at PHF, and Patricia is one of the new lawyers working
at PHF. All three of us were going to help settle dispute
matters and get the projects back on track. Martin and I
were also going to give forestry training to the project
managers and sawmill workers. This included talking about
conservation principles and the importance of mapping
cutting areas and documenting trees marked in order to
establish a rotation system. Patricia was also going to
give talks to the villagers about women's issues and family
law in PNG.
The two villages are located in the Wide Bay area along the
south east coast of New Britain Island. The projects are
only accessible by boat. We hired one of the project
managers and his boat to transport us to the two villages.
Starting in Kokopo the main town near our offices, it took
us nearly six hours by banana boat to get to the village.
Because of the time of year the calmness of the waters
along the coast wasn't great, but not terrible. Normally
the boat would just go full throttle and it would just be a
rough four-hour boat ride. We couldn't go full throttle
because Patricia brought her four-month-old baby along. So
the boat had to slow down a bit. It took us nearly six
hour to get to the village, which is fine, however it
resulted in a bit of water torture for Martin and I.
Patricia, baby and babysitter sat at the back of the boat
where the ride is smother, cargo in the middle, and the
guys were at the front where it was a bit more bouncy. At
full throttle the spray caused by the boat is pushed off to
the side and the passengers stay dry for the most part. At
the reduced speeds the boat didn't quite go fast enough to
push all the spray off to the side and much of it came into
the front of the boat... right on top of Martin and me.
So (splash) for about five (splash) tortuous hours we were
(splash) subjugated to what was (splash) tantamount to
Chinese (splash) water torture. And since we (splash) were
in an open boat, (splash) the wind was constantly (splash)
drying the salt water on us. (Splash!) At the end of the
ride we were a bit crusty. We could have filled up a couple
of saltshakers with all the salt that was dried on our
skin, hair, and clothes. Yuck!
Now we had to work on solving the problem of the Mu village
sawmill project. It is unbelievable how complicated things
were in this village. I will attempt to give you a brief
rundown of the dispute. Mu is a small village about 200
people and seven clans. These clans own about 20,000
acres, with two clans owning the majority of the land.
Most of the land is pristine rainforest. These people may
not have a lot of money, but they certainly are rich. As
it turns out the two clans used to live up in the mountains
and the other five clans have always been on the coast and
own the land along the coast. Twenty-five years ago the
village started a shareholding company to help bring
development to the village. Members of all seven clans
bought shares of this company. Ten years ago PHF loaned
the company a sawmill to cut timber and sell it back to the
plantation where PHF is located. After some initial
success and some financial assistance, the company was able
to buy back an old plantation for the village and to
acquire a tractor. When PHF helped the company to do all of
these things, we told them that it would benefit the whole
village. Unfortunately, some of them got it in their heads
that benefits meant money in their hands without too much
work. Well, some of them stopped the sawmill from working
and came to PHF with this 'dispute'. Basically, we had to
go in there and explain how a share holding company works.
How a loan works. And to explain where all the money is
going. To pay off the loan for the sawmill and tractor and
also to explain that royalties from the timber go only to
the landowners and not to the community as a whole. That
other benefits include work opportunities for all members
of the community on the plantation and with the sawmill.
Basically it was three solid days of us explaining business
and economics, but it was quite a bit more complicated than
that. What was so frustrating was that the leaders of the
dispute owned stock in the company. Having stopped the
sawmill, they were hurting themselves too. A large part of
it boiled down to lack of education on the part of the
villagers and lack of awareness carried out by PHF when
this project was first set up. It was an interesting
learning experience for me. It shows that the learning
curve and road to development is a long and difficult one
for these people.
One thing that saddened me was that of the two clans that
own the land in the mountains, only two or three of the
younger men knew their way around the mountains and knew
where the traditional land boundaries are and where to find
animals and different plants for traditional medicines.
Many of the younger men grow cash crops along the shore and
don't venture very far out of the village except when they
go to town to sell their crops. If they are not careful
there is a wealth of knowledge that could be lost.
I had one day free at Mu village so I hired one of the men
to take me out bird watching. I saw plenty of hornbills,
several large white cockatoos, a pair of fantails, large
colorful fruit doves, several different kinds of parrots,
and two kinds of kingfishers. It was a good day.
After one week at Mu we went across the bay to the other
village, Marunga. We showed up unannounced. This might
seem rude in western society, but it is quite the norm in
areas where there are no phones. Our timing was both good
and bad. We showed up in the middle of their annual fire
dance which was great for me because I had never seen a
fire dance and had really wanted to. Bad because it meant
that everyone was too busy to work with us and we would
have to wait until the festivities were over before
starting work, which meant we would have much less time to
get what we needed done.
The fire dance was awesome. It is the initiation ceremony
for boys into manhood. It also coincided with the bishop’s
visit and the confirmation of boys and girls into the
Catholic Church. The fire dance is also performed to
ensure a good taro harvest. It is the biggest event of the
year for this village. Taro is a root crop and is a staple
of the villagers’ diet.
The men and boys would start making all of their costumes
and props for the dance three months in advance. During the
three months, the men are not allowed to have sex. One week
before the dance they have to go off into the forest for
their secret rituals and all the while they cannot eat.
Then after one week, the villagers set up the dancing area
and gather firewood for an all night bonfire. The
villagers have to sing special songs and beat on bamboo
drums to entice the spirits of the forest to come out and
bless the taro. This starts during the day before a fire is
set. The spirits that come out dance a slower pace and are
much more ritualized. These sprits have huge masks on that
stand up as high as 15 feet. The women would come up to
these sprits and pass taro around various appendages of the
spirits to bless the taro.
After hours of singing and after the sun has gone down the
equally exotic night sprits come out and dance around the
fire. This goes on all night. Many of these spirits take
on animal forms and have very large round eyes which is the
first thing you see when they are coming out of the depths
of the jungle. There must have been more than fifty
different sprits that came out of darkness of the night.
Some were of shapes and sizes that were so bizarre and
fantastic that I felt that I was in some kind of surreal
dream. Trippy is a good adjective. It was very powerful
when the villagers started singing in their haunting
melodic voices along with the rhythmic pounding on the
bamboo drums and the sprits, many of them with big freaky
eyes, come out of the jungle and start dancing around the
fire. The music increasing in pace and the rhythm becoming
more and more incessant, sprits twirling faster and faster
and jumping in and out of the fire, all of this building up
into a wonderful amazing high pitch of music, singing,
dancing, then slowly winding down with the spirits
disappearing one by one off into the jungle. The singing
slows down but never stops and continues until the sprits
come back. Sometimes different ones would come out,
sometimes the same ones come out and they dance again.
This went on for the whole night.
As you can surmise this is all a pretty grand production.
It lasts a whole week. So I guess if a village teen can go
three months without sex, then one week
without food, and then let the sprits possess his body and
dance all night, he then becomes a man.
After the big fire dance, the village took two days to
recuperate before we could sit down with them and discuss
the sawmill. As it turned out, the reason their sawmill
had not been working was because they did not have their
chainsaw. Where is your chainsaw we asked? 'Eight months
ago we brought it in to the PHF mechanic to get it fixed,
we had hoped you'd had brought it with you.' Ohh,
jeez.... our own mechanics had the chainsaw and had not
even told any of us. We were pissed. I was going to a
chew out a couple of mechanics when I got back from the
patrol.
Unfortunately, this is when I got sick for the one and only
time on any of my patrols. The house where we were staying
had a water catchment system and so I assumed that the
water I was drinking was from the tank, which is something
I normally don't have a problem with. Unbeknownst to me
they were giving me water from the river. My plumbing
system wasn't too happy about that. Fortunately I was only
mildly and not violently ill. After one day of lying
around, not eating, and being very strict about treating my
water, I was up and about teaching forestry to the locals.
The patrol was very tiring and stressful. We represented
PHF and all the baggage and history that went along with
the organization. Day after day it seemed that the
villagers had some problem or dispute and expected us to
magically make it all better and to have all the answers.
Sometimes people did not cooperate very much with us
because this was the first time we had come to these
villages. Sometimes people wouldn't talk to me because I
was white, particularly with regards to cultural matters;
cultural matters that are important for me to know about
when dealing with these people. So I would have to rely on
my coworkers to explain things to me. Sometimes they
didn't fully trust an explanation about business or
economic matters when explained by my coworkers, so it
wasn't until I explained it that they would
finally/suddenly 'understand' the issue. It was
fascinating how my coworkers and myself interacted with the
villagers and how the villagers discriminated in their
interactions with us. One thing that I was particularly
pleased about was that it seemed that many of the village
elders were respectful and listened to Patricia, a young
woman my age. If I hadn't found all this social and
cultural interactions fascinating, I would have gone crazy
with it all. Martin and I made a joke and started calling
ourselves the DSA, Dispute Settlement Authority.
After two rather long weeks we were ready to head home.
Only to find out that someone had stolen some of our
boatman's fuel from a storage shed. We found out it was
the priest that stole it! Apparently earlier in the week
someone had stolen some of the priest’s fuel containers
from the shed. In frustration, the priest had taken our
boatman's fuel containers and took off with out bothering
to tell anyone. Luckily we had enough money to buy some
more fuel so that we could get home. On the way home, the
water gods were good to us for the water was fairly smooth
and we could go a decent speed and forgo the Chinese water
torture. So, instead, about half way back to town the
motor breaks down. I look at the boatman and he gives me a
weak smile and shrugs. He explains that he probably should
have replaced the failed water pump seal the last time he
was in town. We are about five hundred yards off the
shore. There is only one paddle in the boat. No problem.
There are several bamboo poles in the boat that are used
for rolling the boat up out of the water. We split several
of those in half and use them as makeshift paddles and
paddle ashore. We manage to find a gap in the rocky
underwater coral that the waves are crashing on and get up
to the short rocky beach where the trees are growing right
out and over the water. There wasn't any good place to get
the boat ashore and above the tide line. So after
unloading the boat, we wrestle the boat up into the tree
braches hanging above the beach (about three feet high).
Amazingly the area where we beached was right near an empty
and unlocked house that belongs to a man from Mu village.
So we stayed at the house. Also just down from this house
is the house of the priest that stole our fuel. And the
priest is the only person within twenty miles that has a
vehicle! So after spending a night at the house the priest
gave all of us and our stuff and the boat motor a ride into
town.
PNG truly is the land of the unexpected, but never fear, in
the end it all works out. It is just a matter of adopting
the right attitude, which is basically: Go with the flow;
recognizing that whatever will be, will be; and accepting
the fact that as a whitey I will never fully know what is
going on (a variation on the ignorance is bliss theme,
because trying to find out is more trouble than it is
worth).
So with this attitude I was able to achieve most of the
things that I set out to do. As for the motor breaking
down, 'hey cool, another adventure.'
- Saturday, April 20, 2002 at 19:53:42 (PDT)
Author: mattstevenson.geo@yahoo.com"Hello Everyone"
Hi...everyone It's Gary Hull just bought a computer, so now
I can be connected. Trying to catch up with all these
letters, so so many....so my e-mail address is
Garstu02@aol.com.
Talk to you all soon...Love you all!!!!
Lots of love
Gary Hull...:}
- Monday, April 15, 2002 at 12:36:55 (PDT)
Author: Garstu02@aol.comNO RESULTS YET
Hello Everybody
I've had no results back on my MRI, but I'll let you know a soon a I get them.
I think the circle letter is amazing. It has never been so alive. To read every precious
letter. To know your deepest thought spelled out here. Its great. Please let your souls shine
for each of us. The light feels good.
I Love you all, but I especially...
love YOU !
James [:-)>
- Saturday, April 13, 2002 at 21:57:19 (PDT)
Author: jis@sonic.netThoughts of Mom and Dad
Hi Everyone!
As of this writing I find it so hard to believe that Mom
has been gone over 4 years and Dad over 15 years. I think
about them almost daily and I see so much of them in all of
us. I can only imagine what they sacrificed in life to
teach us and give us the best that they could. I have been
asked by a friend of mine at work to start writing memoirs
down in the hope of writing a book someday on the legacy of
Jim and Eunice Stevenson. We have gone in so many
different directions with our lives but I truly know and
believe that Mom and Dad are looking down on us and
continuing to help us share God's Love to as many as
possible. I too am Catholic and I know that I am born again
because I do believe that when Mom and Dad had each of us
baptized we were born again in Christ as we were then
dedicated to God and we were raised to Love and obey God. I
do believe that God has his children in every possible
nation and religion and I pray that we do remember that it
was HE that created us and even if you don't attend a
church, please seek HIS guidance and you will find peace. I
often find myself struggling as to why God would put Kelly
through so much despite her Love for Him but then I look at
what HE did for us. I remember that Mom and Dad struggled
with the idea of others in the family leaving the church or
leaving the Catholic church for some other church but they
too came to realize that yes it was possible to serve and
Love the Lord just as much as Catholics do. I believe we
have an anointing upon our family. Yes,we all have gone in
so many different directions but I know Mom and Dad would
want us all on the same road to join them one day when we
pass from this life. I so look forward to having our 12
sibling reunion on the cruise ship in September. I claim
this as a gift from Mom and Dad that this can happen. I
truly Love you all and pray that you will all live life in
harmony and ask God to have you be the best person you can
be. With all my Love, Gerry
- Friday, April 12, 2002 at 15:01:07 (PDT)
Author: gerryandkelly2@aol.comHEY JAMES!
Just wondering.
How did your MRI test come out?
- Friday, April 12, 2002 at 14:50:43 (PDT)
Author: gorecop@aol.comThe Rookie
Go see the movie, The Rookie, or Rookie.
This movie had my eyes watering the whole time.
Awesome!!
I do love you all!!
Love Jim Boudreau
- Friday, April 12, 2002 at 13:45:34 (PDT)
Author: Boudreau@aol.com--
Cool Story John... it wasn't a crammed feeling or judgemental!
A cool story
A long time ago there was this fellow named Doug Anderson
(some of you may know him) All Doug wanted to do was talk
about the Lord, and the story of salvation, and being born
again. I thought that Doug was a pain in the neck...If I
found out that he was going to be at a family function, I
would try to either not go, or at least stay as far away
from him as I could, so I wouldn't have to hear him
preach..I was completely unhappy where I was spiritually,
but I sure didn't need him to tell me about
salvation...About that same time, I worked at Pine Lumber a
women named Bev was the cashier (she reminded me of Maude)
she also wanted to tell me that I could be saved and know
for sure that I was going to heaven...I would tell there
was no way to know that until you died, and only then if
you were good enough you might have a chance....In my early
20's my unhappines grew stronger, then I met Joy...BIG
improvement in my happiness, but there was still an
emptiness inside I couldn't shake...I went to a seminar one
time where they asked us to write our own tombstone and I
put "Here lies John Stevenson a man who never got what he
wanted" I had a lot of stuff at that time, house, car,
boat,
great woman and yet something was still missing...After Joy
and I moved to Alabama, I was still troubled by my
emptiness and we went to different churches...untill one
night we were in a Bible class at a local church...I had
asked God to come into my heart before but had never
experienced any change.....anyways this night we were
reading about how no one was without sin and no one was
worthy of heaven, even with their best efforts...but that
trusting in Jesus to be your Savior you would be completely
worthy because of what Jesus did.....Joy was sitting next
to me so I picked up a pencil and wrote to her in my book,
I'm beginning to understand...I know that from that moment
on I was different..the emptiness was gone, the void
filled, and I knew I would never be the same again....SO
I've said all that to say this...If I am your Doug Anderson
I'm sorry...If I have offended any of you I'm sorry....But
I am most greatful to Doug Anderson and Bev for helping me
along the way...I'm also greatful to Mom and Dad for their
support, for without them I might not yet know about
salvation...I believe that explaining the only way of
salvation (that the Bible teaches) is exactly what Jesus
asked, no, commanded us to do, and that's my only
motive...I know that I cannot convert anybody, that's not
my job...My job is only to tell the story and I pray that
I've done it in a way that will at least make everyone
think about it....
No matter what some of you may think,
I love you all!!!
John
- Thursday, April 11, 2002 at 08:24:32 (PDT)
Author: jjandk@corrcomm.netYeah! Right on Mike!
Way to go!
- Thursday, April 11, 2002 at 06:41:54 (PDT)
Author: mgstevenson@comcast.netRight on Mike!!!
RIGHT ON LISA!!!!
I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!!!
hey its anna stevenson (terry stevenson's daughter.)I just
wanted to say hi to everyone because I LOVE YOU!!even if i
dont know you ...(and thats very possible but thats all ok.)
Also happy early birthday to john william stevenson ( my
brother)hes gonna b 20 and matilyn margret sakalian ( my
aunt sally lucca's grandchild.)she'll b 1 and both of thier
birthdays are april 24th. any ways i just wanted to say i
love you all. and sorry about my grammer love ya bye
- Wednesday, April 10, 2002 at 18:14:23 (PDT)
Author: tstevenson@home.comJAMES IS HAVING MRI TODAY
James is having his MRI today to find the results of the
last three brain tumors operations. We hope all evidence of
it will be gone.
Star's wife Jenifer's grandfather on her father's side
died last week of heart attack. He and his wife were at the
wedding.
We are so looking forward to the cruise.
Love, Suzanne
- Tuesday, April 09, 2002 at 14:31:50 (PDT)
Author: sunshine@sonic.netRIGHT ON MARY
THE BEST NEWS!!!!!!
JIM RETIRES IN 21 DAYS :)
And now for something completely different…
Hi All,
As some of you know, I have been researching
Stevenson genealogy on and off for about the past ten
years. After Aunt Mary sent me some information about the
family a few years ago I was able to track down the census
information for Ira and Ada Stevenson from 1900 (Ira was
the first Stevenson born in the United States, but more
about him later).
As some of you may *not* know, Saturday was National Tartan
Day in the U.S., which got me thinking about the European
origins of our family. I have had a hunch for the past few
years—ever since visiting Scotland—that our family came to
the States from Scotland via Ireland (my reasoning for this
assertion is detailed on my homepage), but I had not been
able to find any evidence. Until yesterday!
One of the documents Aunt Mary sent me is a short
autobiographical sketch written by Ira Stevenson in which
he lists the names of all his brothers and sisters. One of
his brothers had a very unusual first name, "Girvin." I did
several searches on the LDS Family Search website over the
weekend and discovered that someone had submitted an entry
on a Girvin Stevenson from Michigan, born in 1860—one year
before Ira. What clinched it was the name of Girvin’s
father (and therefore Ira’s father), listed as James Henry.
Ira says that his youngest brother’s name was James Henry!
Clearly, this Girvin Stevenson was Ira’s brother. The
contact info listed a woman named Diane Knuckey from
Minnesota as the submitter. I contacted her and we have
exchanged several emails.
To cut to the chase, here’s how our patrilineal history
shakes out, based upon Diane’s research. I’m going to start
with Ira and work backwards, so just to bring everyone up
to speed: Ira was the father of James Ira (born 1890) who
was the father of James Willis (born 1915) who was the
father of the lovin’ dozen.
Ira was the first Stevenson of our line born in the United
States. He was born in Michigan in 1861. He was a shipping
clerk and a baker. His parents were James Henry Stevenson
and Minnie Larkins.
James Henry was born in Ireland, probably in Tyrone County
(not sure when) and died in Michigan in 1878 (very
interesting story behind his premature death in Ira’s
autobio). He was a tavern keeper and a contractor. His
parents were Isaiah Stevenson and Mary Jane Gervan/Girvin.
Isaiah Stevenson was born in Ireland in 1801, and he died
in Michigan in 1871. He was a weaver. His parents were Earl
Stevenson and Jane (Jennie) English.
Earl Stevenson was born in SCOTLAND, in 1773/75. He was a
soldier, and died (or was killed) in the East Indies in
1806.
Tyrone County Ireland is in Ulster, commonly referred to as
Northern Ireland. This means our family is Scotch-Irish,
and our ancestors are comprised of Scots who were either
forcibly or voluntarily relocated to Ireland. They were
almost certainly originally Protestant. (I’m really NOT
trying to get that conversation started again, honest!!!)
Interesting eh?
Diane was very, very excited to discover living relatives
from/in Michigan. Here is a direct quote from one of her
messages: "When I was a child our grandfather would talk
about relatives in Michigan. We always took it with a grain
of salt because our grandfather was full of IT. A man with
a great sense of humor who liked to spin tales. He had the
coloring of an Irish man but the build of a Swede. We never
knew if we should believe him or not."
Hmm...does the description of her grandfather sound
familiar to anyone? :)
She is related to us in the following way: James Henry and
her great-grandfather John were brothers. (What does that
make her, like a 9th cousin or something?) She is really
interested in adding information about the descendents of
James Henry to her research, and I have wanted to flesh out
our family’s genealogy anyway, but there is a lot I just
don’t know. If anyone has information about Ira and/or
James Ira, please send it my way, including dates, places,
names, and especially photographs.
All this will eventually go up on my site, but I’ll keep
you posted as I get more info.
Cheers,
Matt
P.S.--New letters on the way from Andy, too!
- Monday, April 08, 2002 at 20:08:06 (PDT)
Author: mattstevenson.geo@yahoo.comPeace on Earth
Peace On Earth
Dear Family,
I do hope that this current discussion ends very soon as
it
is beginning to look, to me, like a holy war in the
family.
Brother Dan I would have LOVED to step up to the plate
much
sooner, and would have, except that my computer has been
giving us serious problems. First the computer was sick,
so
we called out Mr. Computer Man...and then we found that we
had serious AOL problems. I hope that I will be able to
finish this letter before another problem starts !
I have composed wonderful letters in my head since all
this
started, but now so much has been said that I probably
won't be able to express myself as eloquently as I would
have liked.
Hence, a few random thoughts.....
...it has been said that NO ONE is judging any one
else...but on looking back over the previous letters, I
have found that....
.....some of us are going to Hell.
.....some of us are ignorant
.....some of us are fools
.....some of us don't have peace in our hearts, etc. etc.
I find it hard to understand how some of those statements
are not judgmental.
Please let's be careful in our usage of words; they can be
hurtful to some people; and they can, and I fear they are,
causing divisions within
our own family.
... also... it has been said in the circle “I think I can
speak for everyone on this.”
I ask you, please do not speak for me. I would not presume
to think that I know how
“everyone” feels on a given subject and I wouldn’t want
smeone else speaking for me. If
you want to know how I feel about anything please feel free
to ask me.
I am a Catholic, always have been; always will be. That
doesn't make me any more right or wrong than anyone else.
It just works for me.
We have many different religions in our family, that's
fine
with me. Let's just all live our lives and raise our
families the very best way we can. Let's be kind to the
people who live in our own houses; be kind to the rest of
our families and be kind to everyone we meet. Who could
ask
for more than that? If we all do that, then people around
us would be so impressed that they would want to be just
like us ! Wouldn't that be swell !!!
What would someone outside of our family think if they saw
some of these letters???? I think that the "I LOVE YOU'S"
at the end of them may not mean a lot when just above
that,
someone has been told they are wrong in their thinking.
A very wise man once told me :
"ANY ROAD THAT LEADS TO GOD IS GOOD
AND IT'S GOOD TO BE GOING THERE TOGETHER”
I said once before in a circle letter, that a family is
like a patchwork quilt; many pieces, sizes, colors, etc.
that make it up.
I love all of those pieces of this family. My God, I love
it so much that I am going on a CRUISE....in a BIG
BOAT . . . in the MIDDLE OF
AN OCEAN!!!!!...which absolutely terrifies me.....but I am
going . . .
because I don't want to miss out on anything with the
family.
Let's please be kind to one another; and love and cherish
all of the pieces of our
family quilt, and not be worried about whose patch is
better, or prettier, or in a different place than someone
else’s.
Last Christmas one of my favorite cross stitch designers
came up with a pattern after September 11th. She donated
all of the profits from the sale of her pattern to the
families of the victims of that horrible day. I stitched
the chart for all of my kids for Christmas. It said......
LET THERE BE PEACE ON EARTH
AND LET IT BEGIN WITH ME!
AMEN!
Love,
Esther
- Monday, April 08, 2002 at 16:25:09 (PDT)
Author: tomnesther@aol.comRight on Mary !!
Right On Mary !!!
If I had a MILLION dollars!
Jenny... you are right when you said you can't tell
people's tones of voice through typed letters...but I
certainly would think that we ALL know what a loving family
this is and I believe if you check out how EACH of those
letters ended they all said "I love you all.etc.." NO ONE
was judging ANYONE!!!
TO put things in a SECULAR light: If I came across a
WEBSITE that said go to www.money.com and follow the
prompts to receive a MILLION dollars and I did it and lo
and behold I received a MILLION dollar check in my mail a
few days later...I would FLIP out and man I would be on the
phone so fast calling ALL my family and friends to tell
them about this AMAZING website because I wouldn't want to
keep that website a secret for myself... I would want them
ALL to enjoy the benefits of the site and get a MILLION
dollars too!!! BECAUSE I LOVE THEM!!! that is why...
And that is THE ONLY REASON ANY OF OUR FAMILY MEMBERS WANT
TO SHARE THE GOOD NEWS OF THE GOSPEL AND WHAT IT SAYS...
BECAUSE WE BELEIVE IT IS TRUE...WE'VE EXPERIENCED ITS JOY
IN OUR LIFE... AND WE WANT OUR FAMILY TO FEEL THAT SAME
JOY!! I wouldn't consider it cramming down a throat...but
more like Nancy said, sharing some great news and if you
don't want to go to the website or buy that new dress on
sale...NO ONE would stop loving you or judge you for doing
it or not doing, only wanting to share the news...THAT'S
ALL!!! All you previous letter writes would you agree????
There's too much earthly love for this family to be angry
at each other and we have so much fun together... it is
just when the subject of eternity comes up...who wouldn't
want us all to be there together? It seems serious because
it IS serious but THAT is why GOd gave us a FREE WILL...to
coose or not to choose...but HE DID give us the info. we
just have to find the "WEBSITE" to get it! We who claim to
be Christians believe that website is the Bible. Again, I
love you more than you'll EVER know...all of you! Mary
- Sunday, April 07, 2002 at 16:12:10 (PDT)
Author: jamg1971@aol.comWOW WOW WOW !!!
Man I love this!! It does sound like some of you want to
tell others off and some of you don't want to hurt
anyones' "feelings". This is good. No one loved God more
than mom (grandma), NO ONE !! No one taught us more about
love, and the love of God then this wonderful woman
either. That's why our family has been soooo blessed in
everway; With talent, beauty, love, laughter, common
sence, joy, closeness and yes our love for Jesus, our
father. It took me along time to understand the "STORY"
but as long as we're here on earth it'