Until next time, happy reading!
Blessings,
Mary
Dedicated to my awesome sister Kathleen Shogren.
Aller Anfang ist schwer. “All beginnings are hard.”
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Kathleen Yoder stood in front of the motel room mirror, fussing with her hair. She had to look just right. She needed to be viewed as a proper Amish woman if her community was going to welcome her home. She pulled the pins from her hair and started over. What did the English say? Third time’s a charm.
Even though all through her medical training she had continued to dress Amish and put her hair up, she hadn’t had another Amish woman to measure her ability against. It wasn’t gut to compare oneself to others, but she could gauge if she had been getting her clothes and hair put right. Iron sharpens iron. Had the fourteen years in the English world whittled away at her Amish standards? Probably. However, she would quickly fall back into Amish life.
She snugged her kapp on her head and smoothed her hands down her blue Plain dress. At this point, no more amount of labor would make her appearance any more appropriate. She would need to trust Gott to pave her way.
She zipped her suitcase closed, lowered it to the floor and extended the roller handle, holding it tight. With her other hand, she slung one strap of her backpack of medical supplies over her shoulder and draped her coat over her arm.
Rolling her suitcase behind her, she opened the door and stepped out into the sunlight. The only things that stood between her and home now were the bus ride to Goshen and the walk to the farm. If she could convince the bus driver to let her off outside of town, she would have only eight miles to trek.
She traipsed to the bus station three blocks away, purchased her ticket and sat in the seat behind the driver. “Could you let me off outside of Goshen?” She gave him the country road names of the intersection.
“Sorry. I’m not authorized to make a stop there.” He tipped his head up and glanced at her in his rearview mirror. “Is someone meeting you at the station?”
“No.” She hadn’t had the courage to contact anyone to come get her. It would be harder to turn her away if she were at the door.
“How you getting from town out to the country?”
“I’ll walk.”
“That’s a long ways. Well over ten miles.”
Thirteen point two from the city limits and another two or three from the bus station. “I’ll be fine.” She needed to get used to traversing these stretches. No time like the present.
“I’m sure one of your people would gladly come into town to get you. Or you could take a taxi.”
If someone knew she was returning today. But she hadn’t told anyone. “The walk will do me gut.” It would help transition her back into the slower pace of life. As well as giving her something to occupy herself with instead of dealing with idle chatter. Giving her a chance to prepare herself for the meeting of her people. She hoped they still were her people.
She stared out the window at her home state’s terrain sweeping by. As the Indiana countryside grew increasingly more familiar, snippets of her past surged through her. Places she’d been. People she’d seen. Homes she’d visited. Her life among the English fell away with each passing mile.
The bus slowed, and the driver pulled onto the shoulder of the highway and stopped under an overpass. The one she’d hoped he could have taken to shorten her walk. The driver stood and faced the passengers. “I need to check something on the bus outside. Won’t be but a minute.” The driver gazed directly at Kathleen. “Could you accompany me?”
Kathleen stood. “All right.” She didn’t know what help she could be.
With a broad smile, he motioned for her to precede him down the steps.
Once