After moving to Duarte, we had immersed ourselves in church, school and the community.  We made life-long friends.  Our family had become embedded in our church and the children’s school.   Mary joined Girl Scouts and Seth tried out for some sports in the community.  Mary had made good friends and Seth had a best friend that even visited us after we moved back to Indiana.

We continued all the activities we did as a family.  We were happy even as we continued to miss family back home in Indiana.  I took sign language at a community college and it was free.  So many classes were offered.  Ollie took up sign painting in one of the classes and painted the signs for Fiesta.  (It would later become a business in Indiana.)  I started to write songs for children in the public schools and I added sign language to them for my “Sing and Sign” programs at Valley View that I began to perform and teach in various schools.  My program was in many different cities that were within driving distance.  Mary and I did singing telegrams to raise money for a Girl Scout trip.  K of C members filled our schedule and she earned the cost of the trip.  Every year we were involved in Fiesta.

Mary and Seth both had made their First Reconciliation and Communion at I. C.  I wrote songs each year for the children that each class learned to sing and sign for their First Communion.  We were so involved with our parish family and school.  And most important we were a part of a community in which we loved and were loved.  Living in Duarte was a life experience that we never expected to have while being separated from all of our family.  It was a blessing way beyond our expectations.  It was the gift of a lifetime. It was a gift of love.