Americans, in general, are curious to know more about Muslims, but generally they are guarded and wary about what long-term impact they may have on our culture and society. From a distance, they feel unsettled that a day might come where American life might reflect some folkways that may seem harsh and restrictive. Its often hard to separate how Islamic life across the Middle East, Africa and Asia is portrayed in media and film and Muslims true ways and lifestyle in the U.S.? Some see Muslims and think Taliban women hopelessly subjugated by a male society. Or they see growing Muslim populations in western European countries like France and Holland where progressive societies pride themselves in human rights and free self-expression. Yet, they are conflicted between permitting religious freedom or striving for secularism in schools by banning cultural dress, such as headscarves, and dress that seem a throwback to other centuries. Probably part of the issue is they see Islam as dominating in countries with sheiks, ayatollahs, warlords, dictators, tribal chieftains and militant mulas. So, the thinking goes, why wouldnt Muslim immigrants embrace that and want more of the same in the U.S.? What is and will be the impact of Muslims on American life in the years to come?Does the American culture overwhelm Muslims and so enchant them that they blend in and inculcate as those of other ethic minorities have over the decades and centuries? In late October, the Council on American-Islamic Relations released a study titled American Muslim Voters: A Demographic Profile and Survey of Attitudes. CAIR commissioned Genesis Research Associates of Descanso, Calif., called an independent polling company, to do telephone interviews. They polled 687 men and 313 women in 42 states (margin of error was plus or minus 3 percent). Called the first scientific survey of American Muslim voters and conducted before the November election, it produced a host of conclusions. Thirty-one percent said they attend a mosque weekly, while 16 percent attend once or twice a month, and 27 percent said they seldom or never attend. The largest number (40 percent) called themselves just a Muslim, while 36 percent identified themselves as Sunni, 12 percent as Shia, and 8 percent refused to specify. The poll found 42 percent said they were Democrat, 17 percent Republican, 28 percent with no party membership, 6 percent other party and 6 percent refused to give a choice. However, when they were asked about which party was the most responsive to the needs of Muslims, numbers plummeted to 5 percent for Republicans and 4 percent for Democrats. It was concluded that Muslims are more committed to issues as they arose and not blind allegiance to party. Some 89 percent said they vote regularly, 86 percent said they celebrate the Fourth of July, 64 percent said they fly the American flag and 42 percent said they do community service work. In other questions, 84 percent agreed that Muslims should strongly emphasize shared values with Christians and Jews; 77 percent said Muslims worship the same God that Christians and Jews do; 82 percent said terrorist attacks harm American Muslims; and 55 percent said they were afraid that the War on Terror has become a de facto war on Islam. Sixty-six percent called for a normalization of relations with Iran. There were some fascinating demographics drawn. For example, American Muslims tend to be young with an above average education, economically prosperous and with large families. Seventy-eight percent are married. About 50 percent are professionals. Sixty-two percent have obtained a bachelors degree or higher, according to the Genesis survey. Forty-three percent of household incomes are $50,000 percent or higher. Forty-seven percent of the survey sample was in the 35 to 54 age group, with 20 percent in the 25 to 34-year group. The 17-page summary noted, Despite their hope to continue to advance and live freely, most are afraid that the current leadership of their country is heading in the wrong direction in regard to relations with the broader Muslim world to which they belong, The summary also said that most Muslims have chosen to respond to this reality through active engagement rather than passive isolation. It said that although many American Muslims are non-partisan, a plurality is willing to align with the Democratic Party in the hope of substantive political change. That may well have been the case in Novembers voting. While hard-line conservatives frequently disparage CAIR as an accurate voice of Muslims, these findings and more in the study portray them as a sophisticated, educated and well-off and with every reason to work for American prosperity. And, of course, the passage of generations dulls ties and loyalties to homeland cultures and ways of life. If the survey truly reflects American Muslims, they are blending in rapidly and taking full advantage of the unparalleled good life of the U.S.A.

Its been 7 /12 years since Bill and Patsy Freeman and many of their Local Church followers left Scottsdale where they had established Scottsdale Church and moved to Oregon. Later, they resettled in an enclave of homes near the Whitworth College campus in Spokane, Wash., making many worried and wary because of their reputation of drawing innocent young people into their fold for manipulation, mind control and match-matching.The Local Church, a controversial evangelical Christian movement, was developed in the 1970s by a Chinese-born leader, Witness Lee, who, in turn, was a disciple of Watchman Nee. The Freemans had been involved in that movement, though they formally split from them in the mid-1980s. In 1999, another reporter and I did a news investigation of the Freemans and the impact they had made on people who had joined their church. Meddling in the lives of couples and causing divorces were key complaints reported in the story, later posted on several cult-watch web sites, including www.rickross.com/reference/freeman_group/freeman_group5.html.On Tuesday, some 60 evangelical Christian scholars and ministry leaders in seven countries signed a letter asking all leaders of local churches and Living Stream Ministry to withdraw unorthodox statements by their founder, Witness Lee (1905-1997). Their letter asked Local Church leaders to renounce their decades-long practice of using lawsuits and threatened litigation to respond to criticism and settle disputes with Christian organizations and individuals.The letter (www.open-letter.org) contains numerous theological statements from Witness Lees writings. It referred to one regarding the legitimacy of evangelical churches and denominations, stating, We decry, as inconsistent and unjustifiable, the attempts by Living Stream and the Local Churches to gain membership in associations of evangelical churches and ministries while continuing to promote Witness Lee’s denigrating characterizations of such churches and ministries as follows: The Lord is not building his church in Christendom, which is composed of the apostate Roman Catholic Church and the Protestant denominations. This prophecy is being fulfilled through the Lord’s recovery, in which the building of the genuine church is being accomplished."The letters signers noted a $136 million suit brought by Living Stream and the Local Churches against Harvest House Publishers in objection to the publishers description of them in their edition of The Encyclopedia of Cults and New Religions by John Ankerberg and John Weldon. A Texas court dismissed the suit and that was upheld on appeal. Evangelicals declare that the Local Churches have described them as apostate and utilized by Satan to set up his satanic system. They decry that the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association granted membership to Living Stream Ministry.Witness Lees 1991 The New Testament Recovery Version asserted: "The apostate church has deviated from the Lord’s word and become heretical. The reformed church, though recovered to the Lord’s word to some extent, has denied the Lord’s name by denominating herself, taking many other names, such as Lutherans, Wesleyan, Anglican, Presbyterian, Baptist, etc. … To deviate from the Lord’s word is apostasy, and to denominate the church by taking any name other than the Lord’s is spiritual fornication." Further, it cites a 1989 Lee book, The Seven Spirits for the Local Churches, in which he stated, "We do not care for Christianity, we do not care for Christendom, we do not care for the Roman Catholic Church, and we do not care for all the denominations, because in the Bible it says that the great Babylon is fallen. This is a declaration. Christianity is fallen, Christendom is fallen, Catholicism is fallen, and all the denominations are fallen. Hallelujah!"Witness Lee (/www.witnesslee.org) would be called a bond slave of Christ. He brought Watchman Nees teachings from Taiwan to the U.S. in 1962 and established the Local Church philosophy arguing that Christianity should only be one church, thus names like Scottsdale Church.One of the most bizarre aspects of the ongoing battles was the death in 2003 of Jim Moran, who had done an exhaustive scholarly research into the Local Church movement. His works were widely posted on websites and he operated Light of Truth Ministries. On his death, the Church of Fullerton, Calif., a Local Church, was able to obtain Morans considerable research, writings, web sites and copyrights and sought to remove them from the public domain over the objections of Local Church watchdogs and critics.

At one time, this phrase was taped to my computer, Beware of the purists. Long have I bemoaned absolutists, those completely convinced that Gods universe is determined, truth is unchanging and only fools dont or wont grasp it. Religion is full of smug dogmatists ready to show that truth can be secured and guananteed with a scriptural quote.The Sword of the Lord independent Christian newspaper regularly comes to my desk. Typically its front page is filled with the texts of timeworn sermons or writings of evangelical Christianitys flag-bearers going back decades. The Dec. 29 issue featured a commentary written 50 years ago, complete with a this is still true today editors comment. It was titled, Why Tolerance is Treason: Why Fundamental Christians Should Not Yoke up with Liberals, Etc., Even to Get Sinners Saved. It was penned by Howard B. Carey Jr. His ideas permeate much of current thinking by much of evangelical Christianity where cooperation with certain other Christians and non-Christians is regarded as perilous contamination, the dreaded compromising of truth, or syncretism.Back in the mid-1950s, Carey led off, How far can I go in the direction of tolerance, patience, compromise, cooperation, tact and grace with those who disobey God, before it backfires? There is a time when tolerance becomes treason.He spoke of the immutable laws of Gods Word. It is always and only right to obey Gods Word, Gods counsel, not mans ideas, asserted Carey, whose title or connections to a denomination are not included and could not be found by a cursory Internet search. He told a story from II Samuel 6:1-11 where the Philistines defeated enemies and brought the ark of God back to the city of David, irreverently, on a cart, rather than on the shoulders of the Kohathites,. (Number 4:15) who were never to touch the ark lest they die. Do you see what the cart was? Cary asked. The cart was modernism, unbelief. Gods way was too old-fashioned, too slow. Tragically, David cooked up a better way, a modern, up-to-date way to transport the ark.All the other people seemed to go along with the idea of hauling it on a cart, didnt they? he said. They resisted questioning David who must be led of God because he has been so blessed in the past. While David was right in wanting to take the ark to the city of David where it belonged, just as some men are right in wanting to see souls saved and the Gospel preached, Carey said Davids method was wrong. He criticized evangelist Billy Graham, whose Crusades were becoming huge in America at the time. It was right for Billy Graham to preach the Gospel and get souls saved, but it was wrong to carry the Gospel on the modernists cart (in this case their support and sponsorship), endangering the spiritual lives of every one of Gods children who joined in the tragic conspiracy. Carey condemned such an unholy alliance of evangelism with secular groups. It could mean treason and the danger of being smitten by the hand of Gods judgment. Carey asserted that every believer is duty-bound in the Lord Jesus Christ to obey Gods command, Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers. II Corinthians 6:14.Editor Sheldon Smith noted that Carey wrote that at a time when ecumenical evangelism of today was first becoming popular. Smith condemned efforts on behalf of evangelism that mean yoking with liberal men and institutions. He called it truly nave and unwise. He added, Over the years, the folks Ive known who get all in a dither to join hands with anybody and everybody in these event-oriented evangelistic efforts have not been soul-winners, Smith said. They may want to see souls saved, but they typically daily do little about it. So, for example, spurn saying yes when the United Methodist pastor invites your congregation to join in the ecumenical Thanksgiving service where those embracing wrong teachings will speak. How we recall the days after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks when many faiths came together for healing, and evangelical Christians condemned their brethren who stood on public stages with the likes of Humanists, Buddhists, Sikhs and Mormons. Such a position partly explains the feeble efforts here and elsewhere for ecumenical dialogue and establishing healthy, viable clergy associations that spans divergent Christian faiths. Evangelical and mainline Christians cast wary eyes on each other as they survey the worlds needs. Better, the purists say, to carry out duplicate projects to tackle the same problem than team up, with shared strengths, to do it with united forces, lest God became angry.

The Jewish community has no equal for producing news about its activities. I often tell people from other faiths to replicate what the temples and Jewish organizations do to get news coverage. Somehow, theyve got it figured out. Jews work harder at it. They regard seeking publicity or coverage something that happens by intentionally setting out to get it. Then they produce quality summaries of what theyd like us to use.It must have been a decade ago that Flo Eckstein, publisher the Jewish News of Greater Phoenix, a weekly newspaper, asked me and a couple other journalists from Valley media to speak at a workshop for people from various temples. Our task was to explain what was worthy for inclusion in our pages, how publicity and press releases should be prepared, what our deadlines were and how to pitch a story. I remember telling them that they were just about the last faith group that really needed help. Of course, the Valley Jewish community has surged in growth over the past couple decades many new congregations and accompanying organizations. The Valley has become one of the nations largest Jewish communities, with wide distribution, especially through north Phoenix, Scottsdale and the East Valley. Thats been reflected in the increased size and the character of The Jewish News itself.Each year, Eckstein and her staff also produce a glossy 90-page community directory that completely provides all the information needed to find anything Jewish. Its exhaustive: a full list of temples and rabbis; the spectrum of dozens of Jewish-related groups and charitable organizations; educational programs and centers for adults and children, including preschools and day schools; and Jewish winter camps. There are the considerable groups of cultural programs, organizations reaching seniors, singles and veterans. There are lists of mortuaries and cemeteries, fitness centers and hospices, Israel travel and Judaica shops and countless commercial outlets that cater to Jews. There are pages that carefully explain the distinctions of the Jewish denominations and traditions, what each holiday means and what constitutes keeping a Jewish life. Its a gem in how it is organized, indexed and user-friendly.Not to mention the directory is chockfull of paid advertising. The directorys cover features 18 faces peering through the words Chai, meaning living in Hebrew. The first two letters are stacked on top of the second with the C twisted as a reminder of the huge LOVE sculpture in Scottsdale Civic Center Mall, with its sideways O. The 18 faces symbolize it being the 18th year of producing the handy directory that sells for $6 on newsstands. In her publishers page, Eckstein states, Jewish living in our community has grown exponentially in the past 18 years. She noted that since the 1989-90 issue, total listings went from 344 to 466; congregations from 19 to 36; and agencies and organizations from 51 to 73. The number of Reform congregations went from eight to 12; Orthodox from four to 10; the seven Conservative congregations down to six; and there is a batch of others that have started.. Religious schools have increased from 11 to 17. Our good fortune springs from the blessings of two rich streams: the eternally committed foundational families and the wonderfully generous new residents, from around the nation and throughout the world, who have invested time and financial resources to shape this vanguard American Jewish community of the 21st century, Eckstein notes. And how about the colored photo on the back page? It features a boy putting change into a metal bank, as his father looks on. A world of good are the bold letters. Live generously it does a world of good. Jewish Federation of Greater Phoenix.

An international teen Christian outreach group called Dare2Share blames churches for failing to capture the hearts, minds and imaginations of this generation of students, and as a result, many Christian students have no visible and viable lifestyle difference when compared to their unsaved counterparts.The Arvada, Colo., organization (www.dare2share.org) says its purpose is to energize and equip teenagers to know, live, share and own their faith in Jesus. This week, the group released a list of five adolescent trends to watch in 2007. Those came out of work at conferences with more than 250,000 teens across the U.S.First, there will be an increase of teen volunteers or new programs for community involvement managed entirely on line. It points out that todays teens have odd contradictions like being able to be involved in the community while isolated in their bedrooms. Dare2Share says teens can display great self-righteousness at one moment, then flip a switch and be a paragon of tolerance. Today they seem more comfortable with conflicting worldviews. They can be very materialistic by investing in ipods and electronic games, then devote time to charitable outreach.Second, major media will begin to include spiritual elements to their work, just as Christian companies have, in order to capture the teen market. This is a generation that responds to faith-based marketing, Dare2Share asserts. Look for more movies, TV shows and video games targeted to a teen audience.Third, teens will increasingly individualize their beliefs. Its called the Starbucks spirituality. Teenagers are comfortable and used to customizing every aspect of their life, so why wouldnt this spill over in the area of spiritual beliefs? they ask. They are at ease borrowing aspects of divergent groups. Fourth, student-led campaigns will be created to raise awareness of social justice issues. It suggests that teens today are tribal and feel a strong need to make a difference in the world. They really do exhibit a think globally act locally attitude.Finally, students will no longer see value in formal education as much as street education, Dare2Share suggests. Its a group that has no inherent respect for titles and/or positions, but, unlike those of the 1960s, they dont show an active anti-establishment attitude. They are impressed by personnel authenticity and passion about life regardless of background, education or societal rank.The web site draws information for prominent Christian researcher George Barna who contends two out of every three Christian teens will be part of the graduation evacuation from the body of Christ when they finish high school. Dare2Share recommends an aggressive initiative to transform youth ministry from the reactive and entertainment to one that is based in scripture and fulfilling the Great Commission. It said churches need to take lessons from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Mormons generally do not see a lot of fallout among their youth after graduation, it said, attributing it especially to the fact that Mormon teens entire adolescence is focused on preparing for a two-year mission after high school. Add to that the Mormon seminary classes offered five days a week of the school year on church property near schools.The mission gives them something to do, and the seminary gives them something to believe, notes Dare2Share, calling it a powerful strategy that could turn the tide of widespread youth ministry in America. It said it could capture the hearts of a large percentage of the millennial generation if Christian churches adopted such a strategy.

It has seemed like a year since the November elections, and the endless build-up to the Republican-to-Democrat shift in Congress has been relentless. And, of course, for weeks theres been the hoopla over what was appropriate for Keith Ellison, the Muslim from Minnesota, to do when he took his ceremonial swearing in as a new congressman.The American-born Muslim convert is the first follower of Islam to be elected to Congress, and he announced in November that he would use his faiths holy book, the Quran, for that swearing in. Initially, all lawmakers first raise their hands, as a group, and swear allegiance to the United States and the Constitution. But typically (for a photo op) they, one by one, do a separate swearing-in ceremony with the House speaker with their hands on a Bible. Jewish congressman historically use the Hebrew Bible, which does not, of course, include Christianitys bedrock New Testament. Reportedly, other kinds of testaments or writings have been used by others, without a big deal being made. It would be a non-issue, save for conservative talk-show radio host Dennis Prager, a Jew, who opined in November that Ellison would be demonstrating loyalty elsewhere (other than America) by taking the oath with the Quran. Prager called it a rebuke to "the unifying value system that has formed this country." He set off a national discussion about whether a lawmaker was required to meet some religious test had to profess any kind of spiritual belief to qualify for national leadership. Prager took a well-deserved beating for his comments. But then Rep. Virgil Goode, R-Va., surged into the discussion. In a letter to constituents, he noted that he did "not subscribe to using the Koran (Quran) in any way." He further said, "The Muslim representative from Minnesota was elected by the voters of that district and if American citizens don’t wake up and adopt the Virgil Goode position on immigration, there will likely be many more Muslims elected to office and demanding the use of the Koran."Holy smokes! Keith Ellison is no immigrant. He can trace his ancestry in the U.S. back to 1741, but it is unconscionable that Goode could mix so much together here: a proper testament for an unofficial, swearing-in; Islam; and American immigration policy. Ellison has been staying cool in the whole controversy, hardly responding to the Prager-Goode tripe.Then, in an act of genius, Ellison requested, from the Library of Congress, an 18th century copy of the Quran that had been owned by founding father and third U.S. president Thomas Jefferson. It would be used for todays swearing-in ceremony. Oddly enough, Jeffersons Monticello home in Charlottesville, Va., stands in Goodes congressional district. So Ellison was sending a stark and brilliant message to Goode and other detractors that Jefferson himself was able to handle the Quran and to own one. It has been further noted that Jefferson was eclectic, with a wide-range of books in his 6,000-volume library, a stash of books said to have been the largest in North America at that time. It would become seed collection for the Library of Congress itself. When the British burned the U.S. Capitol and its existing library during the War of 1812, Jefferson, then an ex-president, donated his collection.Little by little, the Pragers and Goodes and their supporters in this issue will need to recognize that patriotism and national loyalty are a different element from spiritual identity. Americans identify with thousands of religious doctrines and ideologies that dont compromise their love of this country. Its highly problematic when some decide which of the faiths professed to in America are acceptable. But Goode is right. More Muslims WILL be elected to office. But the scariest thing is that more than a few Bible-sworn lawmakers down through history have done some pretty nasty and horrifying things during their tenures of governance. Christian lawmakers have held no monopoly on virtue or preserving the highest ideals for which America strives.

Generosity has always been there, but I am sensing a wider appreciation in the major media to celebrate the good things that ordinary people do. NBC Nightly News, on Fridays, has a Making A Difference segment that has been nothing short of amazing at showcasing hope-restoring projects and outreaches.Theres one about Larry Stewart, who made a fortune in the cable TV business. For 26 years, he anonymously gave away $100 bills wherever he saw need. He knew what poverty was like for him in 1971 when he spent eight days living in his car. A man in a diner gave him $20 when he hadnt eaten in a day and a half. Then his fortunes turned around, and he literally had money to give away. Altogether, Stewart disbursed about $1 million, often going to laundromats and thrift stores to find people he figured really needed cash. Now 58 and gravely ill with cancer, he made himself public before Christmas, saying he thought that would spur other people to open their hearts and wallets for the poor. Since Katie Couric took over the CBS Evening News slot last fall, that network has intentionally gone after features of benevolence and good will. Theyve got this thing called Assignment America, in which correspondent Steve Hartman pitches each Friday three potential stories that he would do for the following Friday, then gives the public the chance to vote by noon Eastern Time Zone Sunday as to which of the three features they would like to watch. This Friday, for example, Hartman is scheduled to meet the Dad of the Century, a man who had taken in more than 100 foster children in the past 40 years. They have grown up, become successful and attribute their good fortunes to their foster dad.Week after week, these programs cull the nation for real do-gooders, many of whom took a good idea and found it resonated with others. Some readers may recall that for 4 years, I was the Tribunes Town Crier daily columnist. My role was capturing heart-warming stories and chronicling the good works of others. The column ran daily on the left side of the local news section that Tribune used to have. Readers offered stories of abundant giving, random acts of kindness, cries for help and reports of lost and found pets and property. Sometimes it was a pedestrian and tedious with requests to find lost briefcases or day planners.If I were still doing it, I would be publishing parts of a letter I got recently from Pamela S. of Mesa, who reported that she had proof that faith and hope can produce miracles. They restored my Christmas spirit and my smile. Pamela said she had started 2006 homeless, jobless and hungry. But by December, she had a job and an awesome roommate. In November, however, she was depressed that her two front teeth were broken. She began writing to dentists asking for someone willing to accept payments. I copied the letter 40 times, mailed it to 40 random dentists out of the phone book and waited, she said in a fax to me.On the fourth day after the mailing, I received a call from a dentist, or should I say, angel? His name is Scott T. LeSueur, DDS. The dentist asked her to come in the next day for an exam. By 7 pm. the very next day, I was walking to the bus stop with a beautiful, restored smile, compliments of Dr. LeSeuer, DDS.Pamela sang his praises some more, This man, this human being, for no monetary gain, no glory, for no reason other than kindness, says to me, Consider this an early Christmas present. So Pamela wants the whole world to know about this gift.I thank God for one dentist, my dentist Scott LeSueur DDS with a special mention for his assistant Emma, who volunteered to stay late that night and help, she said. May my story touch anyone who is struggling in life, and may it remind you that faith and hope do make a difference — and to visit your dentist regularly.

Who doesnt appreciate a new year? As a child, I found it a bit of a hard concept to grasp — how in a second it is one year and the next it is another year. Nothing more dramatized that than what we had seven years ago with the rollover from 1999 to 2000, although technically the new millennium started with the coming of 2001. All throughout that day Dec. 31, 1999, we followed the arrival of the new millennium in time zone after time zone across the globe and wondered when the Y2K computer technology fiascos would occur and whether there might be something diabolical in the great shift.At the time, it seemed like a unique matter of fate that we were born at a time in history to be around for such a major 1,000-year change. Back on the farm, we kids stayed up until midnight to make modest noises when the New Year arrived in the Central Time Zone. Out parents would go to bed early, and we always told them, See ya next year!!This New Years Day marks precisely 10 years since the night my mother died at the age of 87 of fast advancing ovarian cancer. She passed about 4 a.m. in an Iowa hospital where she had spent several weeks. Our family flew in to town on Dec. 28 — oddly the precise 100th anniversary of Iowa statehood. Her condition was so grave by then and she was already in a coma, that we did not know if we would get there on time. But she live until early that Wednesday morning. Our family took turns in bedside-watch over those days, listening to her breathing. We traded stories about her life and our blessed life with her, prayed and kept her lips moist. Hospice was on hand.So when New Years Eve approached, we wondered if she would hold out for another year. As the night evolved, it was clear it would be her last. I was among the four family members on hand when death came. There was no happy new year greetings that day. She would be the first of my wife and my parents to pass. She had been just 8 when her own mother, who was 44, died in January 1918 in the great influenza epidemic that killed millions across the planet. My mother never bemoaned that she had been deprived of her mother so young, but talked adoringly of her father who saw after her and a younger sister. She was so grateful that he was able to send her to nursing school in Des Moines. Yet he died in 1936 long before she married and had her three children. Short life spans were a matter of reality in another time.All three of us children took our turns eulogizing our mother at the funeral in the Baptist church in town a few days later. Her life was amazingly easy to celebrate. She and my father had been married a few months short of 56 years. My father would moved that summer to Arizona and died in 2004 at the age of 92.My mother was a prolific letter-writer. Across many years, starting with our leaving for college, she weekly handwrote a letter to us, using carbon paper to make three copies. I still have those letters in three-ring notebooks.They are an intimate account of my parents lives after we left the next. She also took time to write out highlights of her life, and I compiled those in booklet form for the family a few years ago. Now 10 years later, I am often reminded of her character and impact on my life. I wished she were around to know her great-grandchildren today. And New Years Day is always a reminder of her passing.