October 2024, stopping in Danville, IL, on our way to the church's historical sites. We lived here for one year with our boys, Gentzy and Jakob, from 1981 to 1982 when Gentz taught school here. Jakob was discovered to have a brain tumor at 7 months, which eventually took his life at 20 months. It was a rough year, but God never deserted us, and people were so kind to us. 

Danville Poem

We pulled off at a park 

So I could eat my lunch 

Under the trees. 

My heart and mind 

Mainly my heart 

Went back 43 years 

when we lived here 

For a brief moment in time. 

We had two little blonde-haired boys. 

One boy is all grown up now 

45 years old 

With babies of his own.

One boy lived a year longer

And left this earth.

We added three more…

Two girls and a boy

Who filled our hearts.

As I sit here near these trees

I’m now An old mother.

Yet My heart still yearns for those

Fleeting days spent here

Before we knew how

Quickly our lives as parents,

As people

Would change.

The trees were here then 

Still  here now 

Reaching their changing leaves

And branches toward heaven

Like this mother‘s heart.