It's over twenty years since Amanda, Jeannie, and I left Jefferson, Minnesota. I miss it, but I'm glad we're gone.The events of 1989 are still fresh in our minds, especially since Michael Frickstad published his book The Storyteller. At the time, what happened to us and what we did could only be described as earth shattering. Since then, however, our parts in defending and battling for the Word have diminished.
Then, again, these are different times. The Word uses different people in different places. That is how it should be.
As for us, Amanda and I still write, each in our own little offices here in Vancouver. For awhile, our novels and scripts fueled much debate among the literary and movie industries, but the debate proved fruitful. People heard. People listened. People found what was always within them.
As I said, these are different times.
Our physical bodies are older, more tired...at least Amanda's and mine. Jeannie has grown into a beautiful young woman. She and her husband Tom moved to my college community of Middlebury, Vermont, and now have two energetic and inquisitive boys who ask more questions in five minutes than most people think of in a lifetime. Somehow, Jeannie has inherited her stepmother's patience and passion to teach these human sponges all they want to know.
Back to memories.
Moving to Jefferson frightened me, especially after losing both my parents, but it initiated the most formative events of my life.
1. Marrying Sarah Bjornson and having our daughter Jeannie brought stability to what seemed an aimless future.
2. Dealing with the Norske Junta showed me the cruel, hard underbelly of small-town life, but also highlighted the good, the caring, and the glory.
3. Art Benson...What can I say? Without this outcast plumber's assistant, I would never have heard the Word, found my role in the universe, or learned the Truth. I miss him, but ecstatic that I knew...know...him.
4.The events of Grave Swamp are still fresh in my mind, still as frightening, still as difficult to tell. I yield to Frickstad's book for the definitive description of all that happened. (I'm not being lazy. I promise. I'm just preserving my serenity.)
Enough of my ramblings. Maybe next time, I'll let Amanda write. She's far more focused and far more objective than I am, especially remembering facts of the past and their impact on today.
Later,
Beecher
