Janette Oke (22 page)

Chapter Thirty

Holidays

Although Janette and her family had now been settled in Didsbury for several years, there were frequent occasions for trips north to visit the farm where she had grown up. And just a few miles down the road from Fred and Amy's farm, Jack and Ila were busy working a farm of their own. This couple had also been blessed with children—four sons and one daughter—ranging in ages just a little older than Janette's four. When the Oke family car rolled into the Steeves' yard, each impatient traveler anticipated good times ahead.

For Janette and Edward there would be leisure chatter and games, familiar laughter around the kitchen table, and the hustle of meals prepared by many hands to feed many people. There was also the contentment of watching children scurry off to play in the barn, the yards, or the fields nearby, certain that the many cousins could be both playmates and baby-sitters—of sorts.

Visits to Hoadley included trips for the children to the barn to look for new kittens, riding horses, playing in the hay, helping with the chores, checking out new calves, and playing games in the fields late into the evening. Everyone loved the farm.

Holiday celebrations were often spent with Jack and Ila, partly because they had the biggest house and also because family was always welcome there. Janette and the aunts filled available beds with cousins and then allowed the rest to scatter across the floor in sleeping bags or blankets. It was fine for everyone concerned. “Uncle Jack's” farm was one of the few opportunities to stay up really late, and the children took advantage of it, not returning inside until parents themselves were tired or the mosquitoes had chased them in.

In the winter months there was time for skating, hockey games, toboggan rides, and snowball fights with many aunts and uncles joining right in. After the fun was over, everyone streamed into Ila's big country kitchen for hot chocolate, fresh-baked bread, and homemade jam. Coats were stacked many layers deep in the entry, and boots piled in such a heap that it was amazing to ever make a matched pair again.

For Janette's family, Christmas was not Christmas without cousins. And it was usually celebrated twice—first with the Oke side of the family in Didsbury, and then with the Steeves. They had waited for Christmas all year long—so it was wonderful to be able to have two celebrations in a row.

There were as many wonderful times to be had farther south in Champion where Joyce and Elmer were farming. Kids loved Uncle Elmer—at least, they usually did. There was one occasion when he slipped on a Halloween mask and poked his head around the door at the unsuspecting twins. He was completely unprepared for their reaction.

The two screamed and grabbed each other, taking a very long time to calm down again. Uncle Elmer felt bad when he realized how terrified they were. But despite his best apologies, Lorne and Lavon kept a careful eye on him for some time after.

Joyce and Elmer's farm provided cousins with plenty of space to play unhindered by adults insisting on quiet and decorum. But occasionally, this freedom had hazardous results. While Janette was busy indoors one day with the other adults, someone burst into the house shouting that Lorne had tumbled out of the second-floor hay-loft door and landed on the cement pad beneath.

In a moment, all the adults were crowded outside near the barn where Janette ministered to her winded son. Then the whole story poured out. A group of cousins had been building a fort of hay against the loft door, and when one too many bodies entered through one side, Lorne had been pushed out the other. Everyone shrieked and ran to him, but after recovering his wind, he seemed to be no worse for the fall.

This farm was also where Terry broke his wrist. Joyce's son Dwain had a small motor bike, and, of course, Terry felt it necessary to take his turn riding it. When the throttle stuck, the bike went out of control and Terry ended up in a heap, not bothering to mention the mishap until they were in the car on their way home. Then he confessed grudgingly, “My wrist still hurts.” Janette took her reluctant son to the hospital in Didsbury for an X-ray, and, sure enough, there was a hairline fracture.

When summertime did not find the family at one farm or the other, they were often headed to James River Bible Camp. The Missionary Church's camp offered weeklong meetings each for boys, girls, families, and youth, so everyone was able to find at least one camp meeting to enjoy.

Janette served as a counselor at girls' camp on several occasions. This meant that for one week she became live-in mother for several young girls. There were late-night chats and pillow fights, along with practical jokes and quarrels in the cabin. But amidst the activity, Janette began special friendships, some which would last for years to come.

When fall arrived the family settled back into life at school and work. College students once more converged onto the nearby campus, and this usually brought one or two Steeves relatives to Didsbury. One year Janette's youngest sister, Sharon, was among them.

Sharon was the family “student.” She had dived into books early on and had always brought home good grades, even though schooling still was not easy to obtain in the Hoadley area. Sharon, too, had needed to board away from home in order to complete grade twelve.

After her time at Mountain View, she planned to get her B.A. at Bethel College in Indiana. When she entered the school, she had only a few dollars in her pocket but a mountain of faith. God saw her through, and she completed the year with her bills miraculously covered—though her willingness to work her way through had certainly helped her situation. She was looking toward missions, with linguistics in mind. Sharon had an aptitude for math and languages, and seemed perfect for work in translation.

When Sharon returned to Didsbury to work at the Royal Bank, she lived with Janette's family for some time. The house was not large but enough beds were found. The boys and Laurel slept in the basement, while Sharon was given the second bedroom on the main floor.

Though it certainly had nothing to do with Janette's well-intentioned exhortation when Sharon was small, she had not grown up spoiled, and she did marry. While Sharon was in Didsbury, a young man seemed to take quite an interest in her—a fine fellow by the name of Richard Fehr.

Richard and Sharon, after spending time working and taking courses in both North Dakota and North Carolina, and then training at jungle camp in Mexico, left for Papua, New Guinea. By then they already had two children, Shawna and Eric. In fact, Ricky was just a few months old when Janette bid him and his family a tearful goodbye.

While the Fehrs were still in New Guinea, they sent news home that baby Amy had joined their family. Then Richard began having trouble with severe allergies, and because proper medical treatment was not available, they were soon home again. Now they continued their ministry in their local church, serving in a number of capacities.

Shortly after Sharon had moved out of their home, Janette had begun plans to redecorate the main floor bedroom for Laurel. First, she gave the room a fresh coat of apricot-colored paint, then hung sheers in a darker shade of peach. She even hung a pair of full-length sheers above the headboard of Laurel's white bed where they perfectly framed a set of four matching pictures. Dainty girls in dresses and parasols smiled out into the cheerful bedroom. It was charming, and Laurel loved it.

The boys had rooms in the basement where three bedrooms, a “rumpus room,” a half bath, a large pantry/storage room, and a shop for Edward's woodworking had been finished over the years. Lorne and Lavon shared a room with a bunk bed, and Terry had a room of his own. The third bedroom had no window but was perfect for a small office for Edward. It became his quiet retreat for many years.

Chapter Thirty-one

Parade of Life

As her kids grew, Janette saw the family travel through the typical stages of pets, music lessons, and school functions. A trip to the mall resulted in a cluster of children entering the house with a small box holding two small gerbils. A rather reluctant parent carried the cage in. Fortunately this pair turned out to be especially mild-mannered and even allowed the children to hold and pet them.

Janette read the brochure about how they played games with their little ones, and finally concluded that gerbils might be interesting and educational. But when they later failed in parenting and turned on their own babies, even though they had been given more than the recommended living space, she soon lost her fascination with them. She could not understand how a mother could kill her own offspring. Through death by natural causes and accidental loss, the gerbils eventually were gone, and their cage set aside.

Terry began the tradition of piano lessons, plodding up and down scales and counting quarter notes while he tried to talk Janette into letting him off early for the day. A ball glove beckoned invitingly on the seat beside him. Lorne and Lavon did their practicing in much the same fashion.

In second grade, Laurel followed in their footsteps, trudging to her piano teacher's house on her way to school. The University of Toronto's Royal Conservatory of Music provided examinations given across Canada. Edward had passed his “grade eight” level in piano, and Laurel began working her way through each level, spending her allotted half hour each morning with the attempt to learn and memorize some simplified classical piece.

Occasionally Grandpa Oke would offer his encouragement for the struggling musicians, promising to give a quarter if a piece could be played for him “perfectly.” There were always a few mistakes, but he was a pretty easy audience, and somehow managed to judge that the effort was worthy of the quarter anyway.

When Terry reached fifth grade, he left piano behind and took up the trumpet. Soon afterward, Lorne and Lavon switched to the saxophone and the clarinet, respectively. Mornings became filled with wild noises. The loud blasting sounds of wind instruments rose from the basement, and careless notes crashed into one another on the living room piano. Janette and Edward's love of music must have been sorely tested, but the occasional recitals and the proud moments made it all worthwhile.

For many years Janette had allowed herself to feel justifiable pride in Terry. Of course, she knew he was not angelic, but he had always been very responsible and truthful. Even in the area of discipline, he seemed to accept his punishments as deserved and appeared almost relieved when they were administered. Janette would have staked her honor on Terry's word alone—until the day in his early teens when she found evidence that he was deeply entrenched in a series of lies. With shocked and wounded heart she went before God, letting her emotions tumble out.

How could Terry have done this? He knew how important truth was to her. She could accept childish mistakes and forgive errors in judgment, but the lies had cut her deeply. How could she trust this son again? How could she help him see the enormity of what he had lost?

Once her thoughts and tears were spent, Janette waited—and in the quietness her answer came. “Satan has desired to sift you as wheat, but I have prayed for you.” Christ's familiar words to Simon Peter echoed in her mind.

Of course, the tempter also desired her beloved eldest son. In her disappointment she must always understand that Terry had been trapped in his own humanity. The inclinations to evil passed along to him by his parents also made him vulnerable to the lies of the deceiver.

But what could she do? Suppose he continued to fail? Suppose any one of her children turned away from God? How could she pull them back again? Surely she would give anything to ensure their eternity with Christ.

Once again she recalled the verse: “But I have prayed for you.” What wonderful assurance God gave to her, reminding her that He was even more concerned about the spiritual well-being of her son than she herself was. She could trust
Him
. It was not in Janette's power to protect her children from temptation. Once again the Lord was asking her to place them each back into His hands.

There could be no hesitation. Her own imperfect ways could not hope to accomplish what her loving Father was waiting to do. She had submitted her own life and then the life of baby Brian; now she would submit again the lives of the children she had been allowed to mother. Peace crept quietly into her heart, releasing her from the burden of worry and confusion. And also releasing Terry from her standard that he be perfect.

Periodically, notes would arrive home from school that the children were to be involved in a school production. Lorne and Lavon were part of the cast for the musical
H.M.S. Pinafore
. It was thrilling for them to participate, although some of the stories that drifted home sounded a great deal like the “fun” had more to do with pranks than with performance. But the night of the actual event proved that they had worked hard. Janette was proud to watch the twins and their classmates perform.

Another source of activity for the growing family was the church youth group but, at least in the small town of Didsbury where everything was within walking distance, Janette was not called upon to provide taxi service very often. And many of the other activities—children's program practices, Christian Service Brigade, Pioneer Girls, and school sports—required little parental involvement.

Janette's own church duties included teaching Sunday school and superintending departments. For some time she served as treasurer of the Women's Missionary Society and was always an active member. There were occasional denominational district committees. At times she wished she could have been more involved in the community happenings in Didsbury, but there were simply too many other priorities that she felt deserved her efforts first.

One day while Janette was at work and Terry was home on break from school, he decided to do something creative with his time off. Being in junior high, Terry was old enough to be left on his own, but even the most diligent parent has overlooked giving some particular piece of advice and then found out too late.

The younger siblings in elementary school had been coming home with wax projects. Apparently it appealed to Terry, for he decided to fill some hours making a wax figure. He found Janette's canning wax and put some in a pan to melt. While waiting he went down to the basement to watch TV.

It was Curious who insisted Terry get back upstairs and check on his project. When Terry finally responded to the dog's insistent barking and opened the door at the top of the stairs, he found the kitchen in flames.

Janette received his phone call at work. Terry carefully told her about the fire, assuring her that he had gotten it out on his own. “But the cupboards are a little scorched,” he added.

What an understatement! Janette had churning, conflicting emotions as she surveyed her kitchen. There were places where the cupboards had been burned all the way through several layers of the plywood. Terry had tried so hard to clean up the mess that it almost made her cry. As she studied the damage and realized how close she had come to losing the house—and more importantly—her son, she uttered little breathless snatches of sincere, thankful prayers for the provision of guardian angels.

As it was, all Terry had suffered was a blistered finger where he had turned on the stove fan to clear out the smoke. If it had not been for Curious sensing the fire and making a fuss, he might have remained in the basement until it was too late.

Her other frightening realization was that Terry likely would have fought the fire alone, no matter how widespread it had become. Janette knew her son. He accepted responsibility for his own actions. He would have felt that the fire was “his fault” and so tried to handle it himself. She shuddered to think what could have happened, and thanked God with all her heart that they'd been spared the worst—even if He had used a little dog to help out.

Edward was pleased that each of his children had received early training in music, which had long been one of his own interests. He was also pleased to see their own interest in sports grow. All the Oke children thoroughly enjoyed participating in sports. Terry began by joining the local Tiny Mite hockey league. He had grown quickly, gaining almost all his height by the age of fourteen. Though his classmates passed him by later, he was one of the biggest boys in junior high. He was also a good player and really threw himself into his games, giving his best.

Lorne and Lavon also joined the local hockey teams, but Janette was not pleased with what she observed when she went to watch their practice. The coach didn't seem to have control, and all the boys, including her own, were complaining and fussing and telling the coach how things should be run. When she heard one of her own twins swear, she had reached the end of her patience. She went home feeling heartsick and poured out her feelings about the hockey team to Edward.

Having participated in the sport for many years, Edward loved the game and felt somewhat that she was being a bit unreasonable and panicky about things. But the discussion became irrelevant when that very night the town arena burned down. In the following years, those who really wanted to be involved with the hockey leagues could travel to neighboring towns to use other rinks at unearthly hours. Even Edward agreed that it was not that important for their young sons to be involved. So there was no hockey for the twins, who soon found other school sports and were quite content.

When the rink finally was rebuilt, Lavon decided he wanted to get back into hockey, only to find that things had not changed during his absence. He didn't stay with the team very long, though neither he nor the other boys gave up the sport entirely. Later when they attended college they happily plunged back into hockey and, as one of them put it, could not “imagine a winter without it.”

Because Didsbury was small, those who were athletic and interested in sports could usually make the team. School sports started in the fall with cross-country, then volleyball, went on to basketball, to badminton, and continued into track season. Janette had always enjoyed sports, although she found it hard to keep up with four enthusiastic participants at one time. Having kids so fully involved certainly exposed their mother to a variety of games and training strategies. But through it all, she and Edward were generally proud of their accomplishments. When the twins were fortunate enough to play on a volleyball team that was ranked as number one in the Province, they could not have been more pleased.

During the summer, the boys played slow-pitch softball. Cool summer evenings were spent sitting in open stands with other parents, cheering and hooting for the team of their choice—which of course was the one with their offspring. The boys played well, and Janette found it thrilling to watch them, especially in a game that brought back so many happy memories of when her daddy had played.