Every Nice Sunday Afternoon

Create in me a clean heart oh God and renew a right spirit within me, cast me not away from Thy Presence and take not Thy Holy Spirit from me, restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation and uphold me with Thy free spirit.

We sang this. Hard to locate the version we sang on YouTube but here it is:





it is from a psalm....51 or 3, have to look it up. can't even recall my own phone number...






I found the picture of the original church building I started going to with my mom, Emanuel Lutheran Church ( I can NEVER remember how they spelled it, have to look up my confirmation bulletin) in Gary Indiana. It was (maybe still is, took this pic I think 10 years ago_ about 45 years after I started going there - had been converted to housing - the church moved from this building in 64 or so to a new one we built:






Memories of this little white church include walking up the steps, seemed SO BIG, hand in hand with mom....the ornate carved wooden double doors that were probably ripped off years ago as see in the pic there are steel ugly doors.....smiling Pastor Donald Weber, his wife Marilyn Weber who played the organ and piano, the organ which was situated behind the pulpit in the front of the church....how majestic the music was!!!.... I still have 2 versions of the hymnals we used...the thinner green one the Sunday School used, and which I used as I played piano as a teen for the Sunday School, and the dark red book used in the church proper with the gold leafed pages.....the weekly bulletin, which kept me busy for awhile though at age 4 I couldn't read yet....mom shushing me constantly....giving me little things from her purse to keep me busy.....the rustling of all the peoples' clothing and the paper fans or bulletins they used to fan themselves in the summertime....the sun breaking through the colors of the stained glass windows like jewelry....the little yard to the south side of the church, never went in there, was told it was a cemetery but not sure, there was a worn, blue cloaked St. Mary statue, sort of a grotto thing, looked like she had a bathtub set up behind her, the shape of the "shelter" or grotto looked like to me anyway....the ice cream socials we had a few times in the summer and the ladies in their 1950s attire, hats and all and open toed high heels...always dresses, never slacks in the 50s....some of the hats they wore were really something...the ice cream always was a-melting in the summer heat of northwest Indiana.....the 2 sweet daughters of Pastor and Mrs. Weber, poor Bethann was challenged with slow mentality as I recall, the other daughter, wish I could call her name up, they were I believe a little older than I.....the basement of the church, so cool in the summer! and the rope that ran from the bell tower all the way down to the basement where the guy, whoever he was but was always the same guy, rang it manually....if you were not noticed, and were quick, you could go down the basement and somehow there was access up somewhere from a door or passage, don't recall but have had dreams over the years about it, but the dreams cloud the memory..may have been passage up to the bell tower, which is obvious is the pics, bell long gone, but never will I forget its' peal...so many memories!....starting Sunday school...vacation bible school...the B I B L E, yes that's the book for me......hear the pennies dropping, listen while they fall, every one for Jesus, he will get them all.....Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so, they are weak but He is strong......so many. Sang as a child then played for the Sunday School on the piano as a teen. Now play on my Yamaha keyboard with 88 keys and sound effects!.....still have my piano I got age 9, now 50 years old. pics below of it I just took. Remember your childhood. Don't lose your religion, your faith, your backup in times of stress. Peace be with you.
Have to take a pic of my Yamaha keyboard.




This is Indiana. I lived in Lake County, in West Glen Park, which is of course in Gary. My dad was a track foreman at Inland Steel in East Chicago, Indiana located at Indiana Harbor. He had worked for many years for Illinois Railroad before they moved up to NW Indiana so he could get better work in the steel industry. Thank goodness he retired in 1972 before it all went bust in the 80s




My dad made and caned this Kennedy rocker for me - he passed in 1988, so this is precious. there is a pic of my parents, in the 40s before my day, on my piano. Zoom in of it follows the rocker.





a pic of hubby and one of our birds, Pepper,
African Grey, on his shoulder..when he was home Christmas. Pepper remembers him.




Here's Pepper who was out as I was snapping the piano...



and KOKO out watching everybody when Trac was over visiting...








And me a few years ago, and our old dog Pierre - had to be put down this past summer at age 17..with Sugar on his back. what a pair. Sugar got adoped by ma frien' Tracy a few years back

her she is with her cous Leslie, Tracy on the left



and she and her phone before Christmas




here be my BabyDoll thinkin my bed is hers. She sleepin' on it. " Ahm innur bed...sleepin"...even the flash didn't rouse her. but boy she rouses for a treat!!!



the damned cat who pisses on my leather sofa. mom has no money for pro cleaning. get the shovel.



tanx for readin' ma stuff. kat