I was sorting through boxes, a trunk, drawers, shelves, and envelopes of pictures. I had finally gotten around to a job I had wanted to do for a long time. Our entire family was coming to visit us for a very special occasion. I wanted to have all these pictures together in books, because I thought they would enjoy looking at them. I sorted them into groups by the many different places we had lived. Then from each group I selected the ones of the quality and memories I liked and did my best to get them into chronological order. I had purchased and filled many photo albums covering many years of family fun and was nearing the end. It was a huge job. I had already worked on it for several months. The time for their visit was getting closer, and I knew I needed to be diligent, or I would not have the job completed in time.
I opened the trunk again to put something away, and there I saw an envelope from my husband’s mother that his sister gave to him after their mother’s death the year before. It had old letters, some pictures of my husband as a child, and some of his entire family. At the bottom of the stack I found a little valentine card. I thought, “Why did she save this? It must have been from one of her students. After all, she taught elementary school for many years. This must have been a very special one to her.” I was ready to toss it. Why should I keep it? We did not know most her students, and I thought, why would my husband want to keep a valentine given by a student to his mother? I turned the card over-and there in cursive handwriting was a small child’s signature. I stared at this card in wonder and amazement!
Immediately my thoughts went back to my third grade. It was near the first day of school in a room where third and fourth grades were together. There was a new boy in the fourth grade. I thought he was cute and wanted to get to know him. However, I was only nine years old and very bashful, and this boy seemed rather shy as well. My cousin Billy, who was also in the fourth grade, became friends with this new student who at recess time would give a stick of gum to Billy to give to me. Sometimes I gave Billy a stick of gum to give to this boy.
Many memories of that year came into my mind. It was an enjoyable year for me. I was learning so much. I loved the math I was conquering and the reading time when I could read aloud to other students. Learning to write in cursive was so much fun. I would practice writing even when not in school and was so proud of my ability. Bible class was also especially interesting, and we were learn ing about a young woman who, when in the third grade, believed God called her for a very important work. This story inspired me and I too, wanted to hear a call from God to work for Him.
One Saturday evening my parents invited some company and when they arrived at the door, I was both embarrassed and delighted to realize they had invited the family of this new boy. Maybe now, I thought, I could get to know him a little more. My sisters and I were playing what we called “blocks” on the living room floor. We had built a small church and were having a “wedding” using stick blocks as people. We had recently attended a wedding at church and this gave us the idea of what to do with the blocks. During the Sabbath hours we played “church” with the blocks, taking turns being the preacher or singing the special music, but when the sun went down we could play other things with the blocks. I asked this boy if he would like to play with us, and I could tell he was very embarrassed to be asked to play with girls- especially girls who were playing “wedding” with blocks! My sisters and I giggled and kept on playing as this boy sat off on the sidelines. Our parents visited in the kitchen around the warmth of the wood stove that was both our cook stove and our only source of heat.
When spring came I was saddened to learn this boy’s family was moving away. I would probably never see this cute boy again, but somehow we both managed to get up courage to talk to each other and to exchange pictures. On Valentine’s Day of that year I had given cards to many of the kids, and as I read the words on that card, “To Dale from Carolyn, Lots of love,” my heart jumped a few beats, and tears of deep emotion filled my eyes. The card I was holding in my hand was 61 years old! I knew that handwriting was mine. I had given this card to Dale, now my dear husband, when I was only nine years old!
Why had Mama kept this little card? Only God knows.
Here it is, untouched, just the way I found it.
Dale and his dog Rusty. This is the actual picture Dale gave me
when he was in the fourth grade and I was in the third grade.
This is a duplicate picture to the one I gave Dale. He hid the one
I gave him behind the doorpost in the house in North Carolina.
Dale’s family just before they moved to North Carolina:
Bessie, Opal, Dale, and Joseph.
Denny, (Dale’s step dad) Bessie, Dale Opal, and Everett.
My Cup Overflows. Copyright © 2009 by Carolyn Ratzlaff. All Scripture quotations—except where otherwise noted—are from The New American Standard Bible, © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1975, 1979, 1994 by the Lockman Foundation, used by permission. All rights reserved. Life Assurance Ministries, Inc.
Carolyn has always been a positive person enjoying life and outdoor activities such as hiking and gardening, and she and her husband currently raise a good portion of their own food in small grow boxes. She also reads many health journals and is often surprised at the contrast between what was taught through the writings of Ellen White on forbidden items of diet and health, and the beneficial evidence of these same items which is supported by a plethora of scientific studies.
She and her husband Dale Ratzlaff have two married sons and four grandchildren.
- 25. That Very Special Occasion - March 24, 2022
- 24. Living in the New Covenant - March 17, 2022
- 23. Crisis in Freedom - March 10, 2022